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Theatre Arts for Advanced Secondary Schools



            An example of stage directions


                 Stage directions
                 Scene One
        FOR ONLINE READING ONLY
                 [Jessica is outside her family home winnowing rice for the dinner. Her friend
                 Maggie is coming on her side but Jessica does not see her until Maggie comes
                 close. Jessica suddenly sees her friend; she is excited to see her]
                 Jessica: Hey Maggie [she puts the winnow on the floor, then she hugs her friend
                          tightly]. I am happy to see you here. When did you come back? You
                          have surprised me!
                 Maggie: I am happy to see you too. [She takes a parcel and gives it to Jessica]. I
                          arrived yesterday. My mother bought me a gift. I have decided to give
                          half of it to you.
                 Jessica: [with happy emotions] What a love Maggie!




                   (e)  Characters:  Character  names are written  after  the stage  directions
                       and before characters’ dialogue and parentheses. Character names are

                       indented left side of the script and are always bolded and written in
                       lower cases.

                   (f)  Dialogues, monologues and soliloquies: These are spoken words by
                       characters in a play. They are the essence of character’s interaction with
                       fellow characters, audience or oneself respectively. The dialogue is a
                       conversation between two or more characters, whereas a monologue
                       is a single character utterance addressing the audiences. A soliloquy
                       is an act of characters speaking their thoughts aloud.

                   (g)  Parentheticals: These present characters’ reactions, actions and new
                       stage directions within a scene. Indented center-left. All parentheses
                       should be italicized.

                   (h)  Title: This is the name given to a play. It is usually written in the cover
                       page. The name is used to identify the play among other plays. The
                       title of the play reflects the content of a play either directly, ironically
                       or sarcastically. Examples of titles  of written  plays include  Lina
                       Ubani, Hawala ya Fedha, Nguzo Mama, I Will Marry When I Want,
                       Ngoswe Penzi Kitovu cha Uzembe and Mashetani.



                                                49                             Form Five




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