By ; Hayley and Deborah.

BEGINNING YOUR PRESENTATION.  In the analysis of narratives you should locate all key situations and climaxis  In drama you will find not only key speeches but scenes and key actions as well  The key actions often are handled best as narration and given to the audience directly  Often when there are one or more subplots, the scenes will alternate with those that move

CUTTING STAGE DIRECTIONS.  Stage directions can be paraphrased, put into appropriate style, and then used as narrative inserts, which you speak directly to the audience in your own person  If you keep insertions brief, and give them directly to the audience as a narrator they will not seriously interrupt the flow of the scene

VOCAL AND PHYSICAL TECHNIQUES.  Both the actor and interpreter pay particular attention to the style of dress, agem and physical condition that affects the way a character sits down, gets up, enters and leaves the room,and handles objects within the room

MUSCLE MEMORY.  Actually moving about as the character would on stage, adds vitality to the real performance  You can get so involved in moving about that you take the scene right out of the audience’s minds where it ought to be and move it up on stage with you  Let your muscles get the feel of each big open action until they are accustomed to it

FINAL STAGES IN YOUR PRESENTATION.  Actors begin to add exterior details to make their characterizations physically explicit  Interpreters now begin to eliminate physical explicitness, refining their gestures to suggest the underlying tensions  Actors and interpreters have memorized lines, use real properties, and are fitted for costumes  As an interpreter you only have a book that you always take with you

ESTABLISHING SETTINGS.  The scene being set is not on the stage, or wherever you are standing  The stage must be set in the minds of the audience

INTRODUCING THE CHARACTERS.  Having created the “visual aspects” of the setting in your listeners’ minds, you introduce the character or characters in your reading  It is helpful to establish the relationship of the characters to each other with a phrase such as “her husband” or “their daughter.”  Make sure that you understand the mood and thought of the scene; then use whatever you find suitable

ESTABLISHING CHARACTERS’ ATTITUDES, EMOTIONS, AND ACTIONS.  the readers physical response is in eliciting emotional response from the audience  Whatever is going on the mind, muscles, and emotions of the character speaking must also go on in your mind, muscles, and emotions as you say the speech  If you become so worked up that you forget your responsibility to the audience you are not a successful performer

SUGGESTIONS ON TECHNIQUES.  The audience must always know who is speaking  Vocal and physical techniques must be sharply defined to suggest exterior and interior aspects (sex, age, and physical attributes) of a character

INDICATING THE SEX OF A CHARACTER.  Distributing weight  Men usually distribute their weight to the center or the heels of their feet  Women tend to balance forward on the balls of their feet with more pressure on the toes than the heels  Voice Alteration  A woman trying to sound more masculine only needs to relax her throat so all the overtones and undertones are given a richer quality, if she takes a good full breath so there is strength in her voice, the altitude of the character will dictate any other vocal variations  A man trying to sound more femine only needs to lighten his voice and use less vigorous projection to allow his tone to come primarily from the top of the throat but he does not lift his voice above its natural pitch

INDICATING AGE.  Many old people carry themselves erect and speak firmly  Let the frailty be dictated by what the author tells you about the vigor and vitality of the character  If you make the character too frail you may not be able to build a convincing climax that requires strength and energy Old people don’t become so actively excited and the pace of their speech is slower and the rhythm less staccato than when they were young

SUGGESTING MORE THAN ONE CHARACTER.  The interpreter or the the one who translates speeches orally must handle the entire cast as it moves on the stage that has been created in the audiences mind

ANGLE OF FOCUS.  a specific character speaks in the same general direction no matter who is being addressed  If speaking as a narrator when establishing setting and character you look and speak to the audience  When speaking as a character focus on a specific area behind the audience and slightly above their heads  Be careful to keep the areas you assign to the various characters as close together as possible so that the continued change of direction does not become obstructed  There cannot be a sag between characters

SUGGESTING CERTAIN PROPERTIES.  Why and how a character acts is often more important than what he or she does  The empathy and timing involved are important  If the emotional response is carefully suggested the action will be clear