Play Review Guidelines

This play review over one of the five plays you saw on October 30, 2009 will be worth 50 points.

Paragraph 1 – Introduction (the basics) Include the five W’s : Who? (the playwright, director, actors), What? (the title of the play), Where? (the name of the theater), When? (when did you see it) and Why? What is the story about? Include thesis statement.

Paragraph 2- Body paragraph This includes concrete details about the play and commentary that support your opinion in your thesis statement.

Paragraph 3 – Body paragraph Same as paragraph 2, but different concrete details and commentary

Paragraph 4- Body paragraph Same as paragraph 2 and 3, but different concrete details and commentary.

Paragraph 5- Conclusion

Things to consider:

Use your play review notes to assist you and also think about the following items.

Characters Describe the characters in the play. What did they look like (what were they wearing?) and what was their personality like? Music What were all of the sounds in the play? In addition to music, what other sound effects were there? Thought What was the moral or message of the story? How was that portrayed in the play? Diction Describe how the characters spoke. What vocabulary did they use and how did they sound? How were their dialects? How was their articulation? Spectacle Describe what you saw. What did the stage look like? What props were used? What special effects were featured? Genre Which of the six dramatic genres did this play fit into? Justify your genre choice with examples from the play. Strengths/Weaknesses of the Production What were the strengths of the play (the parts you liked)? What were the weaknesses (the parts you didn’t like)? How the Play Affected Me After viewing the play, what were your feelings? What did you learn from the play? Format Chart

Paragraph#1 Introduction 3+ sentences Thesis statement

Paragraph #2 8 sentences Format: #1 Topic sentence #2 CD, starts with For example, #3 CM #4 CM #5 CD, starts with In addition #6 CM #7 CM #8 Conclusion/clincher, all commentary

Paragraph#3 8 sentences Format: #1 Topic sentence #2 CD, starts with For example, #3 CM #4 CM #5 CD, starts with In addition #6 CM #7 CM #8 Conclusion/clincher, all commentary

Paragraph#4 8 sentences Format: #1 Topic sentence #2 CD, starts with For example, #3 CM #4 CM #5 CD, starts with In addition #6 CM #7 CM #8 Conclusion/clincher, all commentary

Paragraph#5 Concluding paragraph All commentary No repeat of key words or intro paragraph Gives a finished feeling of the whole writing piece