THE ONE-ACT PLAY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19626, 21 October 1933, Page 12

THE ONE-ACT PLAY

NATURE OF ACTION. (Contributed.) To write a play without action would be an effortless piece of work, for the dialogue, gestures, stage movements, and the evolving of the plot all combine to make the action. Many people maintain: that brevity is the soul of drama, therefore, to avoid long tiresome scenes, every part of the play should bear its burden in the way of contributing towards the action of the whole. So the talk in the play should be agile, lifelike—that is seemingly natural—and making the most of opportunities where gestures and stage movements can be used without being forced. Speech is a highly concentrated form of music, and in a psychological conflict between minds where contrast of character is shown, action of a different and a higher type is made; although there is no rushing about the stage. Of course, that does not mean that the play is to be only a string of dialogue; and the author would be wise to write in his stage directions the actions he has in mind lor his imaginary stage, for by doing so it makes the play easier to produce and gives the actor a better interpretation of the meaning of the text. But the playwright should beware of introducing action of an impossible kind. There are some things that cannot be acted intelligibly on small badly equipped stages of halls or schoolrooms, for as yet there are not many model amateur theatres. Strange as it may seem, a dramatic pause, if rightly constructed, can also develop action, and in a tense moment no one should move. Lighting can give its share of action, too, and even shadows may be used sometimes with dramatic effect. There is no golden rule for the theatre and the secret of success often lies in the author's unconscious Intuitive development, or how he can get the audience to indentify themselves with the experience acted—in making the audience and performers one. The writer then should use his imagination and his powers of originality, and he will find that his play has action. When the producer and the players come forward with other ideas and put their personalities into the parts, he will often find that he has written a better play than he thought he had —or a worse one!