Form and Structure of Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn
Plays are usually divided into acts and scenes. However in Absurd
Person Singular we can clearly see three acts although there is
evidently one scene in each act which in itself is a continuous
sequence of events. Playwrights often have parallel scenes at
different points in a play, or juxtapose two very different scenes to
make a point. However Alan Ayckbourn juxtaposes the acts by having
each act as the consecutive year therefore highlighting the change
that we see. I find that Alan Ayckbourn has two or three plot lines
going at once, and he uses the sub-plots to illuminate the main plot.
The play is a farce with comical acts however he maintains to
incorporate the serious undertones.
The structure of the play is distinctively unique; it is not a one way
play as each act is a story in its own right linked by past, present
and future. The play also doesn't have a conclusion which illustrates
Ayckbourns suggestion that comedy doesn't need a happy ending, just
like real life doesn't.
The form and structure of the play is the way in which Ayckbourn has
decided to put across his intentions to the audience. Everything he
does in the play has an intended reason and is for a specific meaning.
Form and structure and normally generalized depending on the certain
genre however I find Absurd Person Singular individual in its own
right. Within the structure of the play, Ayckbourn uses different
forms to convey meaning. For instance by having one scene in each act
allows the play to flow keeping a fast pace and sustains our
attention.
The play runs through time in chrono...
... middle of paper ...
...uties and trying to be helpful.
Alan Ayckbourns writing is linear and realistic and he effectively
exploits the elements exclusive to theatrical art. I can clearly see
from analysing the scrip that it is domestic issues, which dominate
Ayckbourn's drama, such as insensitivity in marriage. He chooses to
illuminate social problems indirectly through dramatic presentations.
The way the playwright uses comedy and naturalistic devices to keep
the audiences attention and the situations create suspense. His
specific use of form and structure creates to unique and crucial
aspects of the play. For example, Ayckbourn introduces two characters
at a time which allows us to focus on different people consequently
continuing our curiosity and allowing the characters to be revealed
off each other and creating appealing situations.
shall firstly do a summery of the play and give a basic image of what
The plot, Jackie navigates the life of a preteen in New York during the 1960s. This plot begins late in Jackie’s life since her story begins 12 years prior which is when she was born but begins at the most present moment in the play which is the now. Although all of the characters are being depicted through one phenomenal actress, the characters are limited to her parents, Perespone and her family, and the friends she makes along the way. As well as the scenes and locales are fairly limited all of the scenes take place on a geographic scale in New York, and on Erickson Street or Manhattan at her private school. This shown the privileges of a small set reaffirms the focus and tightness of the
acts of the play, and I'm looking forward to writing it in the way I
There were 3 acts. These three acts are all different days that are years apart. A cycle, born, get married, and die. In Our Town Act one was the beginning of a day and the childhood of George and Emily. Act two was in the middle of the day years later where George and Emily get married. Finally Act three is the end of the day when Emily is dead and goes back for her twelfth birthday. The stage direc...
meanings along with what is going on in the plot of the play, it is
The three one act plays, were all interesting and told about a different story of connection and love when first meeting someone or long term relationships. The first act was titled The Voucher or
The time this play took place in was in modern time, during the twenty-first century.
...particular play acts as a vessel for this message of mocking self-indulgence and the tragedy of the lack of true love and suspicion of relationships that seems to define the present generation.
Not all plays are character-driven, in fact a great many are not. So if the characters are not what keep the audience intrigued, well then what does? There are many possible answers to this question. Paper Wheat uses the history of a group of people, a specific message commenting on a time period, spectacle elements such as song and dance, and the genre of comedy to keep its audience both engaged and entertained.
Like many fiction novels, plays have also been a big part of literature and have been around for not only decades but also centuries. Plays tell a story, a story that a reader could then see with their own eyes. Plays not only entertain a viewer’s eyes, but plays can also entertain a viewer’s mind and make them think critically. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s play Into the Woods is an example of this. If a reader or viewer were to reader or view Into the Woods in a critical way, they might be able to view it in a performance studies way. A viewer could consider the text in relation to their aspects of performance, or any kind of analysis that focuses mainly on the study of performance (Alton, Performance, 1). This theory is perfect for Into the Woods and many other plays because they are text that then are created into a physical performance.
The play also inhibits a vast amount of sub-plots as they allow the listener to create a sense that might bring a emotional connection. These plots allow the listener to...
The play that we read for this unit is Too Much Punch For Judy, by Mark Wheeller. It is a form of Verbatim Theatre, meaning that it is based on the spoken words of real people. This play is about the story of a young woman who kills her sister in an alcohol related accident. When I first read the play I couldn’t empathize with the story as I haven’t experienced such a shocking event before. In this essay I will describe, analyse and evaluate both my work and the work of other actors in my group, focusing on the mediums, elements and explorative strategies of Drama.
reach into the ideas and themes of the play so we will have a good
begin with I am going to look at how setting takes shape in the plays.
of this play. He tells the story. He gives us hints into what is going