Script Analysis

Supplimental reading...

What does a designer look for when analyzing a script?

The first reading should introduce the designer to the story. During the second reading he should look for conceptual images and the dramatic mood and during the third reading he should develop lists of the specific design requirements. Below are a few of the questions which should be able to be answered after reading the play...

1. What happens in the scene?
2. Who are involved?
3. Which character dominates the action?
4. What is the climax (or crisis)?
5. What is the setting or location of the scene?
6. What is the period of the action?
7. What images (metaphors) are suggested by the script?
8. What is needed to stage the scene? Entrances and Exits? Set props?
9. What time of day does the scene take place?
10. What are the sources of light?

When analyzing the text, the designer first approaches the script as a member of the audience, then as the director and finally as the designer. Typically as the designer reads the text he will underline or high-lite those lines he finds significant as well as make numerous marginal notations.

Example of Script Analysis
The "Church Scene" from Gounod's Faust

In The Scenic Imagination (1981), Darwin Payne did a detailed textual analysis (pg 133-145) of the "Church Scene" from Charles Gounod's 19th century opera: Faust (1859). I have used this analysis as the source for the following example.

Gounod's opera, with libretto by Michel Carre and Jules Barbier, is based on Part I of Goethe's Faust (1808) and is set in Germany during the 19th century. The production Payne describes was presented at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) in the spring of 1965. Darwin Payne was the stage director and scene designer, Marjorie Lawrence (1909-1979) was the music director and Katherine Dunham (1909- ) was the choreographer. They set the opera in Germany in the late 1920s as Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party was coming to power. There are eight scenes (seven different locations) in the five act opera. In the G. Schirmer score (1902), the "Church Scene" is Act IV, Scene 2 , Music number 13. Below is a brief synopsis of the scene...

Organ music vibrates softly as Marguerite enters, kneels, and begins to pray. Suddenly the voice of Méphistophélès calls harshly that she must not pray. As Marguerite cowers in terror, a tomb opens and Méphistophélès stands before her, thundering that the devils in hell are clamoring for her soul. Marguerite cries out in horror and bewilderment. The choir behind the scenes chants of the awful Day of Judgment. As Marguerite prays, Méphistophélès again proclaims her doom, then vanishes. She faints with a piercing cry as the curtain falls.
(From The New Milton Cross' Complete Stories of the Great Operas, 1955)

Below is the complete text (in English) of the ten minute scene with Darwin Payne's "marginal notes" inserted in italics and centered between [square brackets].

Faust
Music by Charles Gounod, Libretto by Michel Carre and Jules Barbier
Literal English translation copyright © 1998 by Lea Frey
Notes © 1974 by Darwin Reid Payne

[Curtain rises on the first bars of the organ solo. The stage is very dark and shadowy. MARGUERITE enters immediately after the curtain starts to rise. She kneels at the holy fount, dips her fingers into the water, crosses herself, rises, goes to another place, and kneels.]

(1) MARGUERITE.
Lord, deign to permit
Your humble servant
To kneel before you.

(2) MEPH.
No, you will not pray,
No, you will not pray!
Strike her with terror!
Spirits of evil, hasten, all of you!

[Voice only -- where it comes from is unknown to MARGUERITE or the audience]

(3) CHORUS OF DEMONS.
Marguerite!

[Voices only -- unseen. From behind or below? Problem-- Where can the chorus be placed so they can see the conductor or chorus master?]

(4) MARGUERITE.
Oh, what voices?

(5) CHORUS OF DEMONS.
Marguerite!

[MEPH. appears at this point. He should slowly emerge. The quality of light around him should be different than that surrounding MARGUERITE or in the church proper. He should be, literally, "king of the shadows." Not fully revealed, his appearance should have the effect of a snake peering out of a pit. How?]

(6) MARGUERITE.
I am staggering!...I am dying!
Good God! Mild God!
Is it already the hour of chastisement?

[Perhaps she has risen when first hearing the voices and sinks down at this point. She needs something to hold, some support.]

(7) MEPH.
Remember the past,
When under the wing of the angel's
Sheltering your happiness,
You came into his temple
Singing his praises,
To adore the Lord,
When you stammered a chaste prayer
In a timide voice,
And carried in your heart
Kisses from your mother,
And God, all at once!
Listen to those clamours;
It is hell, which is calling you,
It is hell which is following you!
It is eternal remorse,
It is eternal anguish
In the eternal night!

[MEPH. reveals himself more. His movements should not be too hampered or confined. His position should not be level with MARGUERITE but higher so that he can dominate most of the scene.]

(8) MARGUERITE.
God! What is that voice
Which speaks to me in the shadows?
Powerful God! What dark veil
Descends upon me?

[She can't see him. Why]

(9) CHORUS OF PRIESTS AND BOYS.
When the day of the Lord lightens
Its cross in the sky will be resplendent
And the universe will crumble!

[Another chorus, different in quality from the first. Orchestral accompaniment sounds like winds high in the air. Possible change of light to help localize this chorus in a different place -- higher than the first?]

(11) MARGUERITE.
Alas! Alas, this pious song
Is more terrible still!

(12) MEPH.
No! For you, God has no more forgiveness!
For you, heaven has no more dawn! No, no!

(13) CHORUS OF PRIESTS AND BOYS.
What will I say, then, to the Lord,
Where will I find a protector?
When the innocent have no fear?

(14) MARGUERITE.
Ah, this song stifles and oppresses me
I am in a circle of iron!

["Circle of iron" -- Prison -- Can the walls of the church have a closed in aspect or seem slightly prison like. Narrow, confining -- no exit!]

(15) MEPH.
Farewell nights of love,
And days full of intoxication!
To you a curse! To hell with you!

(16) MARGUERITE and CHORUS.
Lord, receive the prayer
Of unhappy hearts!
May a ray of your light
Descend upon them!
Lord, receive the prayer, etc.

[This is the main part of the scene, the highest point it reaches. She is borne up by this prayer and must be in a strong position.]

(17) MEPH.
Be damned! To hell with you!

[The climax. He pronounces a judgement on her as if in a court. Is this scene a trial?]

(18) MARGUERITE.
Ah!

[She collapses under the weight of the sentence. Curtain starts to fall immediately after her collapse.]

From the script and "marginal" notes, a number of basic questions can be answered and lists developed.

1. What happens in the scene?
   Marguerite enters the church to pray; is condemned by Méphistophélès and collapses.

2. Who are involved?
   Marguerite, Méphistophélès and the Chorus. Although the chorus is heard, they are not seen, so for all practical purposes, there are only two -- Marguerite and Méphistophélès -- involved.

3. Who dominates the scene?
   Méphistophélès.

4. What is the climax (crisis)?
   When Méphistophélès condemns Marguerite to Hell. Line 17.

5. What is the setting?
   "A cathedral in Germany."

   1. Where in Germany?
      Although there is no direct reference in the text of the opera, Dr. Johann Faustus, the "real" Faust lived in Wittenberg during the 16th century. (Historia von D. Johann Fausten. Frankfurt, 1587).

   2. What part of the cathedral?
      A side chapel. The Wittenberg Cathedral, (SchlossKirche) was probably shaped like a large Latin cross with the main alter at the intersection of the two arms. There were probably a number of small side chapels off the main sanctuary. Each chapel would have an alter with a sacred object. The object may be a Crucifix, a statue of the Madonna, or perhaps a painting depicting a Biblical scene.

6. When does the scene take place?
   According to the score, the action of the opera takes place in the 19th century. The source material, Goethe's Faust, is generally set in the 16th century during the period in which the "real" Dr. Johann Faustus "lived." The scene designer is probably more interested in when the cathedral was built. The Wittenberg Cathedral (SchlossKirche) was built by Frederick the Wise between 1490 and 1511 -- the beginning of the 16th century.

7. What metaphorical images are suggested by the script?
   A prison, perhaps a court room. In line 14 Marguerite proclaims "I am in a circle of iron!." According to Darwin Payne's translation (by Peter Fuchs) Marguerite is "caught in a prison of gloom." Payne writes in his marginal notes to line 17: "He (Méphistophélès) pronounces a judgement on her as if in a court."

8. What is needed to stage the scene?
   Let us take another look at what actually happens in the scene. Marguerite enters the church (From where?), stops at a Holy fount (Where?) and continues to an alter (Where?) to pray. Méphistophélès appears (From where?) and condemns Marguerite to Hell. She collapses as the curtain falls. To stage the scene we will need a Holy fount, an alter and the answer to a number of additional questions.
   1. From where does Marguerite enter?
      Obviously she enters the church from outside. Do we need to see the door and the street beyond or can she simply enter from the shadows? Does she enter from the left, the right, or perhaps, up stage? These are obviously decisions a designer makes wearing his director's hat. Payne has Marguerite enter from the shadows down stage left.
   2. Where is the Holy fount?
      Somewhere between the alter and the point from where Marguerite enters.
   3. The alter?
      Since the prayer is the major action in the scene, the alter, and the sacred object it holds, should probably be center stage.
   4. From where does Méphistophélès appear?
      Both the score and the synopsis have Méphistophélès appearing from a tomb." A tomb opens, and discovers Méphistophélès who bends toward Marguerite's ear. " (Gonoud, #13, measure 54). This can be a technical challange, especially if the stage floor is not trapped. Darwin Payne has him emerging from the Madonna. "In the actual presentation of the scene, he was made to appear, at first, as part of the robe of the figure and, after his first words during which he is not seen at all, to slowly detach himself from the main body of the statue." (Payne, pg. 141). Inorder to dominate Marguerite he needs to be elevated -- perhaps playing the entire scene on the alter.

9. What time of day does the scene take place?
   Night.

10. What are the sources of light?
    We are in a German cathedral that was built at the beginning of the 16th century. Light would probably come from windows located high on the tall stone walls, from a few iron chandelier hanging above the sanctuary, racks of flickering votive candles and a perhaps a few candles on the alter. The scene is set at night so the interior of the church would be dark and shadowy. Perhaps a shaft of moonlight streaming through one of the windows might isolate Marguerite as she prays. The flickering light from a few votive candles could dramatically illuminate Méphistophélès as he rises from Hell, perhaps casting a menacing shadow on the tall stone walls.

It is at this point in the process that "the designer should be able to make drawings that will not only show pictorial and decorative possibilities, but will take into consideration the needs of the performers as well. Many designers also make a practice of including in these drawings (usually small and quickly made) pertinent notes. " (Payne, pp. 142-143).

Below is Payne's thumb-nail sketch for the Church Scene. Note the Holy fount stage left, Marguerite down center, the large statue of the Madonna (with Méphistophélès emerging) right center and the rack of flickering votive candles stage right. The two high narrow stone walls (which were used in all eight scenes) helped define and restrict the stage space.

Darwin Payne's sketch for the "Church Scene" in Gounod's Faust
(Payne, pg 143). Sketch © 1974 by Darwin Reid Payne