DRAMALYZER – INSTRUCTIONS

Hello everybody! Welcome to our Italian Writing Group MateâriuM. In our activities, we found out that giving good feedback can completely change the result of an artistic work. With this in mind, we are glad to present to you DRAMALYZER!

DRAMALYZER is a very useful tool for analysing drama and learning how to give constructive feedback about a play or show.

You can use Dramalyzer for yourself, as a performer or writer, or  for other performers and writers. Dramalyzer is based on a list of 10 points that we consider very important to the success and effectiveness of a play or a show.

Let’s analyse the points one by one!

Comprehensibility

Have you ever seen a play that you didn’t understand? If this has happened to you, it might mean that the play (and not you) had a problem.

Every work must be written and staged to communicate something. It must use all its means to achieve this purpose. If communication fails, this probably means that the work is self-referential or simply not cared for enough.

However, this does not mean that everything has to be completely understandable to everyone. It is equally important to leave gaps for the viewer to insert their thoughts, questions, and answers. If all the passages are unveiled and explained, the viewer will lose interest, and the show will be boring.

Internal consistency

Every play is based on rules, which are freely established by the author, the director, and the company while staging it, following only the limitations of the stage. Once established, the rules must be adhered to. Internal consistency must be found in the construction of the characters and their evolution, in the choice of genre, the linguistic proposal, and the pact with the spectator (e.g., let’s imagine a show in which one or more characters address the spectator directly in the first few scenes and then forget about it forever).

Established rules can be broken consciously to create a surprise effect or change the rhythm of the show; the important thing is that this break is decipherable by the viewer and thus results in a game of breaking the audience’s expectations rather than a break in coherence.

Rhythm and structure

Life is based on rhythm: breathing is rhythmic, the heart beats, time marks our hours, day prepares night, and seasons mark the years. Since a play is a living work, the play, like life, cannot exist without rhythm.

To understand what is the right rhythm to build within a work, it helps to work on a structure. 

Apart from classical models of structure, there are also other models that create nonlinear structures. Experimenting with and mastering them allows us to create a compelling dialogue with the audience: creating and disregarding expectations, arousing curiosity, and knowing how to handle information are all part of working the play’s rhythm.

After finding the general structure of a play, then we work on the rhythm of individual dialogues, pauses, and form of language. When will it be useful to place a monologue? Or a dialogue? How about an action? And when to vary an already defined rhythm?

Auditory level

In evaluating a performance, it is interesting to try and focus only on the auditory level. Especially in dramatic theatre, the choice of language is crucial: how do the characters speak? What voices are present? How many puns, silences, and repetitions are used, and in what way? Are they effective? Through conscious use of language, much more can be told than mere content. Poetic writing builds a sound environment that conveys emotions, moods, and associations, even before concepts. What lies in between spoken words – namely the unspoken, what is not heard – also plays an important role.

 Sounds and music are then added to the verbal language, and they can also have a narrative function or provide keys to interpretation.

Visual level

Next to the auditory level, the second major plane to consider is the visual level. This level is evident in the case of a play. However, the basic images and montage that are applied to the stage are already built into the text, through the suggestions of places,  atmospheres, and the structure of the play as a whole. In other words: it is from the text’s suggestions that the directorial and scenic visions are constructed, as a form of enrichment over the text alone.

The visual level can develop the text logically, or bring out unexpected aspects that emerge in staging, since the text is not the only element of a theatre performance. This can stimulate associations of thought and broaden the horizon and topicality of a work.

Layers of Meaning

Every performance can have multiple layers of meaning that enrich it and give it depth. The important thing is to clarify the priority of meanings and not to confuse the layers, which must each have an internal coherence. The most classic example of playing with layers of meaning is when a story is a metaphor for something broader. 

Emotional experience

A performance is never a neutral experience, but it sets in motion a compelling emotional energy that spreads in every direction.

What impact does this energy have on us? What memories does it stir? Which emotions do we engage and which do we reject?

Even more, every performance is a collective experience, involving a community of performers and spectators. Has the audience rumbled? Did it protest? Was it divided? Was there open applause? What do these emotions and the intensity with which they were experienced say about our society?

Target audience

Every performance, when created, must be designed for a specific target audience. This will make it possible to play with the spectator’s expectations, surprising or indulging them. If a work lacks a target audience, it will be less effective because it will speak to us less directly. Theatre is the most vivid form of interaction between a work and its user, don’t forget that! If as a spectator you do not feel considered, it means that the work has failed.

If a performance works for more than one type of target audience, it means that it most likely has a future.

Actuality and Horizon

Theatre as an art form lives in the here and now, so in whatever way the work is written – from historical drama to a purely fictional tale – it is crucial that it speaks to today’s readers.

At content level,  every play speaks to us about our society because it is made by humans. For this reason there is great potential in every play, namely the questioning of thoughts and behaviours. Varied and multifaceted characters, breaking gender clichés and including new perspectives, offer an enriching horizon of thought for the viewer.

Theatre works that look into the future build unknown horizons that show the consequences of urgent and possible changes in our society.

Bonus

Pay attention to what a show offers you as additional bonuses. Sometimes a good theatre program can be a sign of extreme care for the viewer and can help stimulate further reflection on what you have seen. Similarly, an evocative character description or account of how a text came into being can be a stimulating premise in reading.

Anything that is a stimulus to deeper understanding should be considered a benefit. Be careful not to confuse something that stimulates with, instead, something that explains. Performances must stand on their own, otherwise, they are not usable, but they can make the experience easier for us if they provide us with a pair of small glasses on the side to point out details that seemed irrelevant to us!

…in conclusion

These are some of the reflections you can develop from our tool: the Dramalyzer. As you see, each point can be further explored. It is up to you to expand the reflections and get in touch with others!

Name the weaknesses in your work, express doubts, and suggest possible solutions not based on taste but on the functionality of the points.

Always be open to accepting criticism and teach others to welcome it: criticism made with depth is a godsend.  

Now you are ready: Let’s dramalyze!