1 Identify who you think is the main character of your prescribed text. Justify your choice. As a director, explain and justify how you would want this character acted in performance.

Identify the character and explain in detail why you feel s/he is important. (Don’t say s/he is onstage all the time.) Better perhaps to say, for example, if it was Proctor, he features in every Act and his action and indeed his inaction drives the plot and has a significant impact on the fate of other characters (or significantly affects other characters). You might also say that he embodies the main theme(s) of the text which are: the responsibility of the individual to challenge a corrupt (or unjust) authority; and the search for personal integrity (self respect). You may want to say that he embarks on an emotional journey that tests him to the core of his being. Take at least a paragraph to do this.

Exemplify how this importance is introduced in Act 1. Select a key scene. (What scene in Act 1 in your view sums up his importance or embodies the main theme(s)?) Describe this key scene clearly and concisely. Use relevant quotations to back up your opinions.

Then explain how you would direct this key scene so that the character’s importance/important themes are conveyed. Begin with the

Staging - what type and why? Blocking – where would he enter from (if relevant)? How would you position him onstage in relation to other characters? Why? Would you use levels (standing/sitting; rostra?) Why? Movement – his stance, gait, posture, body language, facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms? (They may not all be relevant) Why? Use of Space – Does he take up a lot of space by, for example, crossing the acting area? Are his movements generally large and expansive or small and self contained? Why? Voice – his use of tone, volume, pitch, pace, pauses, emphasis, accent. Are there particular words or phrases that you would want him to emphasise? Why?

Use this pattern for the rest of the essay, explaining and demonstrating: - how his importance/the main theme(s) is developed in Act 2

- how his importance/the main theme(s) is intensified in Act 3

Conclude with the key scene in Act 4 and your direction of it and convey how the character’s importance/main theme culminates/reaches a pinnacle/climax.