Studying Plays

How should we study drama? What possibilities (and limitations) does the genre present? Beginning with an examination of "A Dolls House", the conventions of which frame much "serious" television drama, the book goes on to explore issues of characterisation, of transmission from page to stage,of authorship and the construction and deconstruction of the genre. It considers the uses (and abuses) of "space" and in a final chapter examines the varieties and functions of play. Complex ideas and technical terms are introduced in a way that will give the reader a secure preliminaryunderstanding, with constant reference to a range of plays and to their dramatic interpretation helping firmly to embed this knowledge.