Script Writing and Performance
Senior 6 · Literature in English
Script Writing and Performance
5 lessons
Lesson 5 of 5
Performing Set Plays: From Page to Stage
25 min
Reading a play and performing it are different kinds of understanding. When you perform, you must decide things the page leaves open: how loud, how fast, where to stand, when to pause, what your hands are doing. Those decisions are interpretations, and making them is one of the best ways to understand a set play for the examination. Try it with this short exchange from Macbeth. Macbeth has just murdered King Duncan in his sleep; Lady Macbeth has been waiting below.
MACBETH I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?
LADY MACBETH I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.
Did not you speak?MACBETH When?
LADY MACBETH Now.
MACBETH As I descended?
LADY MACBETH Ay.
MACBETH Hark!
Who lies i' the second chamber?LADY MACBETH Donalbain.
MACBETH (looking on his hands) This is a sorry sight.
LADY MACBETH A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.
Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2
Notice how the lines get shorter and shorter: "When?" "Now." "As I descended?" "Ay." Shakespeare has written the characters' panic into the rhythm. Two frightened people are whispering in the dark, finishing each other's lines, listening for footsteps. A performance that rushes or shouts these lines throws that tension away.
Definition
- projection: making the voice carry to the back of the audience without shouting, using breath from the diaphragm.
- pace, pitch, pause: the speed of speech; how high or low the voice is; a deliberate silence.
- articulation: speaking each sound clearly, especially consonants.
- gesture and facial expression: movements of the hands, arms, head and face that show thought and feeling.
- proxemics: the distance between characters on stage and what it suggests about their relationship.
- ensemble: a group of performers working as one, aware of each other.
- interpretation: the performers' and director's choices about what a scene means and how to show it.
The performer's tools
| Tool | Questions to decide | Applied to the Macbeth extract |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | Volume, pace, pitch, pauses, tone | Urgent whispers that still reach the back row; a pause before "Donalbain" |
| Body | Posture, gesture, facial expression, stillness | Macbeth frozen, staring at his bloody hands; Lady Macbeth restless, listening |
| Space | Blocking, levels, distance between characters | They begin far apart and draw close, like conspirators |
| Props and costume | What is held, worn, used | The daggers Macbeth should have left in Duncan's room; blood on his hands |
| Light and sound | Mood, time of day, focus | Near darkness; a single candle; an owl's cry; a knocking later in the scene |
Annotating a script for performance
| Line | Voice | Movement | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| "I have done the deed." | Flat, barely audible | Enters slowly, stops DC, does not look at her | He is in shock; the deed is too big for his voice |
| "Didst thou not hear a noise?" | Sudden, sharp | Turns his head towards the door | Guilt makes every sound a threat |
| "When?" "Now." "As I descended?" "Ay." | Quick, overlapping | She crosses to him; they whisper face to face | The short lines show panic and closeness |
| "This is a sorry sight." | Slow, wondering | Lifts his hands into the light | The first image of the blood that will haunt them both |
| "A foolish thought …" | Firm, scornful | Grips his wrists, lowers his hands | She tries to control him, and herself |
Performing a set play in class
- Choose and cut a scene of three to five minutes with a clear conflict.
- Understand it: paraphrase every line; decide what each character wants in the scene.
- Annotate your script for voice, movement and pauses, as above.
- Block and rehearse, then learn your lines.
- Warm up body and voice before you perform.
- Perform, then evaluate with the criteria below.
| Criterion | Strong performance | Needs work |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding | Every line's meaning is clear from how it is said | Lines recited without sense |
| Voice | Audible everywhere; pace and pauses varied for effect | Too quiet, too fast or monotonous |
| Movement | Purposeful; uses the space; open to the audience | Wandering, or backs turned to the audience |
| Character | Consistent and believable, with reactions while others speak | Comes alive only when speaking |
| Ensemble | Listens and responds; cues are picked up | Long gaps; actors waiting for their turn |
Worked example: writing about your own performance choices
Question: Explain how you would perform Macbeth's lines "I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?" and why.
I would enter slowly from upstage, holding the two daggers away from my body as if they did not belong to me, and stop at downstage centre without looking at Lady Macbeth. I would say "I have done the deed" almost in a whisper and without expression, because Macbeth is in shock: he avoids the word "murder", and the flat delivery would show that he cannot yet feel what he has done. Then, after a short pause, I would snap my head towards the door on "Didst thou not hear a noise?", speaking quickly and sharply. The sudden change would show the audience how guilt has already made him afraid of every sound, which prepares them for the knocking at the gate later in the scene.
Tip
Every line has a want. Before you decide how to say a line, decide what your character wants from the other person at that moment: comfort, silence, information, control. The want will tell you the voice and the movement.
Warning
- Volume is not emotion. Shouting a frightened whisper of a scene makes it less frightening, not more.
- Stage violence must be planned and rehearsed slowly. Never use real blades or sharp objects; use safe props, and never actually strike another actor.
- Don't change a set play's words in an examination performance unless you are told you may cut lines.
The National Theatre's "An Actor's Warm-Up: Voice". Follow the exercises before your own performance, and notice how breath supports projection.
✦
Practice
- Name five tools a performer uses and give an example of each.
- Why does Shakespeare use such short lines in the middle of the Macbeth extract? How should they be performed?
- Annotate Lady Macbeth's line "A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight" with a choice of voice, movement and a reason.
- What is ensemble, and why does it matter even in a two-person scene?
- Choose three or four minutes from a set play you are studying. Write a performance plan: a cut script, blocking, voice notes and props.
- Perform your scene with a partner and evaluate it with the criteria table. Write one paragraph on what you would change.
Show answersHide answers
- For example: voice (a whispered line), gesture (lifting the hands), facial expression (a frozen stare), movement and blocking (crossing downstage), props (the daggers), and lighting or sound (an owl's cry).
- They show panic and the speed of whispered talk in the dark. They should be quick, quiet and close together, with little pause between them, so that the tension builds.
- For example: firm, scornful voice; she seizes his wrists and pushes his hands down; because she wants to stop his fear spreading, and to hide her own.
- Performers working as one, listening and reacting to each other. Even with two actors, the scene lives in the reactions and timing between them.
- Answers will vary.
- Answers will vary.
Further reading
- Literature in English Senior 6 Student's Book, Rwanda Basic Education Board, revised 2026–2027. The official course book, with its unit on script writing and performance and REB's set plays.
- The Art of Dramatic Writing, Lajos Egri, Simon & Schuster, 1946. A classic guide to building a play from a premise, through character and conflict.
- The Empty Space, Peter Brook, MacGibbon & Kee, 1968. A great director's short, provocative book on what makes theatre live, beginning with the idea that a stage needs only an empty space, someone crossing it and someone watching.
- Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, Keith Johnstone, Faber and Faber, 1979. Games and ideas for actors and writers, used by drama teachers around the world.
Sources and credits
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare: public domain.
- Image: Rwandan men performing traditional dance called 'GUHAMIRIZA', Isma250, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Video: An Actor's Warm-Up | Voice, National Theatre, embedded from YouTube.
- Tables, annotations, worked example and practice written by Ganzaa.
- This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.