Perform a Play in Various Languages
Senior 3 · Music
Perform a Play in Various Languages
4 lessons
Lesson 2 of 4
Writing a play script in several languages
25 min
A script is written for actors, not readers
A story says: Keza was angry, so she told the engineer that the tap had been broken for three days. A play cannot say "she was angry"; the actor has to show it. So a play is written as a script: only what the characters say, plus short instructions for the actors and the crew. Every line must be something an actor can speak or do.
Rwanda's schools and streets are full of several languages. A play can use that: characters can speak Kinyarwanda, English, French or Kiswahili, as real people do. The skill is to keep the whole audience following the story.
Definition
Script: the written text of a play, with all dialogue and stage directions. Example: the page of The Broken Tap below.
Dialogue: the words the characters speak to each other. A monologue is a long speech by one character.
Stage directions: instructions in the script, usually in italics and brackets, telling actors where to move and how to act, and the crew what is needed. Example: (KEZA enters with two jerrycans.)
Aside: a short line a character speaks to the audience, which the other characters on stage are taken not to hear.
Cast list: the list of characters at the start of the script, each with a few words of description.
Laying out a script
| Part | How it is written | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Title page and cast list | title, author, then each character with a short description | KEZA, 15, an S3 pupil; MUGABO, her neighbour |
| Scene heading | scene number, place and time, in bold or capitals | SCENE 2. The tap, early morning. |
| Character name | in capitals, at the left, followed by a colon | MUGABO: |
| Dialogue | after the name; no quotation marks | Mwaramutse, Keza. |
| Stage direction | in brackets and italics, present tense | (standing, angry) |
Writing in several languages
In the page above, Mugabo speaks Kinyarwanda, the engineer Uwera speaks French and the driver Juma speaks Kiswahili. The audience still follows, because the script uses these techniques:
- Language fits the character. Choose each character's language for a reason: where they come from, their job, who they are talking to.
- A bridge character. Someone who speaks two languages, like Keza, repeats the key point for others ("She asks if this is the broken tap").
- Action carries meaning. Turning a dry tap, pointing, a shrug: the audience understands "Nta mazi?" when they see the empty jerrycan.
- Repetition across languages. "Nta mazi … Hakuna maji … No water" lets everyone catch the idea and can make the audience laugh.
- Short lines for the less familiar languages, and plot information that the audience must not miss in the language most of them share.
- Check every line with a fluent speaker, such as a language teacher, before rehearsal, and write a translation in brackets in the actors' copies.
Worked example
Worked example: turn narration into script. Narrative: Keza was angry because Mugabo kept blaming her brothers, so she told the engineer, in French, that the tap had been broken for three days.
- Remove "was angry": the actor must show it, so it becomes a stage direction.
- Turn the reported speech into the words she actually says, in French.
- Script:
KEZA: (turning her back on MUGABO, to UWERA) Madame, le robinet est cassé depuis trois jours !
MUGABO: (to the audience) Three days, she says. Three days of her brothers' football! - Mugabo's aside repeats "three days" in English, so those who do not speak French still follow.
Video: "How to write a play - five golden rules", Radius: the religious drama society. Playwright James Lark gives five tips on script layout and on telling a story on stage. Note his advice on stage directions and compare it with the table above.
Tip
Read it aloud. Before you show a script to anyone, read every line aloud. If you stumble, an actor will too: shorten the line or change the words.
Warning
Common mistakes. (1) Writing feelings into dialogue ("I am very angry with you now") instead of showing them. (2) Long stage directions that tell the whole story: keep them short and practical. (3) Using a language just to show off: if the audience is lost for a whole scene, the play fails.
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Practice
- What is the difference between dialogue and stage directions?
- How is a character's name written in a script?
- What is an aside?
- Correct the layout: "I am late," said Juma, running in.
- Name three ways to help an audience follow a scene in a language some of them do not speak.
- Write a cast list of four characters for a play set in a busy bus park in Kigali, and give each a language with a reason.
- Write eight lines of dialogue, with at least two stage directions, for the moment the bus driver discovers a lost bag. Use at least two languages.
Show answersHide answers
- Dialogue is what the characters say; stage directions are instructions for actors and crew, in brackets and italics, and are not spoken.
- In capitals, at the left, followed by a colon.
- A short line spoken to the audience that the other characters are taken not to hear.
- JUMA: (running in) I am late!
- Any three: a bridge character who repeats the point; meaning shown by action; repetition across languages; short lines; key plot information in the shared language.
- Model: a bus driver from Rubavu (Kinyarwanda, his first language); a tourist from Senegal (French); a trader from Tanzania (Kiswahili); a student who translates (Kinyarwanda and English).
- Answers will vary; check the layout: names in capitals with colons, directions in brackets, and a clear way for the audience to follow each language.
Remember
- A script shows, it does not tell: dialogue plus stage directions.
- NAME: dialogue; (direction in brackets and italics); scene headings give place and time.
- Several languages work when meaning is carried by action, repetition and a bridge character.
Sources and credits
- Lesson text, script page and extract from The Broken Tap, table, worked example and practice: written by Ganzaa. Kinyarwanda, French and Kiswahili lines should be checked by the class's language teachers before performance.
- Video: "How to write a play - five golden rules", Radius: the religious drama society, embedded from YouTube.