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Box 65
Sunday evening. A highroad jammed with cars. In a car, a man and woman are
talking.
Sue: Why didn’t we stop at that snackbar we passed five miles back?
Bob: Oh, stop complaining.
Sue: I’m not complaining. I’m hungry, that’s all.
Bob: Me too. I’m sure we’ll find something soon.
Sue: What? Out here in the middle of nowhere! You must be joking! You really get
on my nerves sometimes.
Bob: Oh, shut up! (Pause) Hey, wait a minute. Look over there. What about that?
He jumps out of the car and runs over to an old peasant sitting on a wall. The
peasant is eating something. It is obviously delicious.
Bob: Excuse me … That looks really delicious. Have you got any more?
Man: More what? Goes on eating.
Bob: More of those pies – like the one you’re eating.
Man: Sorry.
Bob: Are you sure? What about that one in the paper bag over there?
Man: Sorry. I can’t let you have that. I’m keeping it to eat later for my supper.
Bob: Look, I’ll give you five pounds for it, OK?
Man: I told you – I can’t sell it. Sorry.
Bob: OK, I’ll make that seven pounds. Try and help me out – we’re starving.
Man: Well …
Bob gives him the money and takes the pie back to the car.
Bob: Here you are, darling. I told you we’d find something.
Sue: Mmm. Smells delicious. Takes a bite. Oh yes. It’s really tasty.
Bob: Hey. Leave some for me! Takes a bite too. Mmm. You’re right. It’s really
good.
Sue: You’re so clever, darling …
The traffic begins to move again. The old peasant goes behind a wall and takes
another pie from his basket hidden there.
Man: Idiots! Anyway, I’ve only got a few left now. It’s been a good day’s business. It
shouldn’t take long to get rid of the rest of them. Here comes another one
now!! I wonder how much he’ll be willing to pay?
ALAN MALEY
© Cambridge University Press 2005
3 There are a number of collections of short plays specially written for
EFL/ESL learners (see Bibliography). One of the best is Case and Wilson
(1995a; 1995b), English Sketches (two books at two levels). The sketches
I have found most effective and popular with students have been: The
Working from/into scenarios and scripts
225
Ticket Inspector; Gussett and Rose; Mr Jones; The Dentist; The Bank;
Gerry Brown’s Driving Test; Giovanni’s Café. This collection is doubly
useful as it has accompanying audio cassettes.
10.11 Real theatre scripts
Aim To introduce students to authentic drama scripts written for
performance in real theatres
Focus Appropriate pronunciation, stress, intonation and voice quality
Level Intermediate and above
Time At least one class hour
Preparation You will need to find and reproduce either a complete short play or a
self-standing extract. You need enough copies for one between every
two students. Box 66 provides an example of a short extract from
Harold Pinter’s play The Dumb Waiter. In this play, two hired killers
are waiting in a deserted room for their instructions. They are tense
and nervous. They have been arguing about football teams.
Procedure
1 Distribute the scripts, one for every pair of students. Allow a few minutes
for them to read through the script.
2 Go through the script with them. What do they notice? What is the
relationship between the two characters? Who is more dominant? What
do you think they look like? Why does one character ask questions to
which the answers are obvious, e.g. What’s that?, when he can see it’s an
envelope? Why does one character say there is nothing in the envelope,
when it is still sealed? Why does one character never seem to understand
anything the first time? What is the reason for putting matches in the
envelope? Who pushed the envelope under the door? What is the
atmosphere like in this scene? What do you think will happen next?
3 Students work in groups of four. Distribute two copies of the script per
group. In each group, two students will prepare a dramatised reading.
The other two will be directors of the play. They should actively offer
advice on the way the lines are to be spoken, any movements, facial
expressions, etc. Allow 15 minutes for this.
4 Each group takes turns to perform the script for the whole class. Elicit
feedback after each group’s performance. How effective was it? How
could it be improved? How different were the groups’ performances?
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226
Box 66
An envelope slides under the door, right. Gus sees it. He stands, looking at it.
Gus: Ben,
Ben: Away. They’re playing away.
Gus: Ben, look here,
Ben: What?
Gus: Look.
Ben turns his head and sees the envelope.
Ben: What’s that?
Gus: I don’t know.
Ben: Where did it come from?
Gus: Under the door.
Ben: Well, what is it?
Gus: I don’t know.
They stare at it.
Ben: Pick it up.
Gus: What do you mean?
Ben: Pick it up!
Gus slowly moves towards it, bends and picks it up.
Ben: What is it?
Gus: An envelope.
Ben: Is there anything in it?
Gus: No.
Ben: Is it sealed?
Gus: Yes.
Ben: Open it.
Gus: What?
Ben: Open it!
Gus opens it and looks inside.
Ben: What’s in it?
Gus empties twelve matches into his hand.
Gus: Matches.
HAROLD PINTER The Dumb Waiter
© Cambridge University Press 2005
Follow-on
1 In the next class, choose another similar script for two actors. Students
work in the same groups. This time, those who acted become the
directors; the directors become the actors.
Working from/into scenarios and scripts
227
2 If students enjoyed this extract, let them read (act?) the continuation of
this scene or perhaps the whole play (see Chapter 11 Into Performance).
Variation
Using the same script, and working in the same groups of four, students try
to flesh out the dialogue by adding lines to the very minimal utterances of the
two characters.
Notes
1 Step 2 is important. Students need help to ‘get inside the skin’ of the text.
They cannot be expected to empathise with it immediately. This is
especially true of contemporary scripts, such as this one, which is a kind
of ‘theatre of the absurd’. Much of what happens in scripts of this kind is
going on below the surface, e.g. the vaguely menacing atmosphere
brought about by unexplained happenings, the way one character
compensates for his own fear by bullying the other, etc.
2 Step 4 is equally important in helping students to realise how many
different ways there are of speaking these very simple-looking lines.
See also Chapter 11, Warming up, Improvisation and Rehearsal.
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11 Into performance
For many people, doing drama work and putting on a play are the
same thing: ‘Why do all those activities if it doesn’t lead to a finished
product? What’s the point?’ We hope that the answer to that question is by
now obvious. Drama activities have a value in contributing to the language-
learning process quite apart from any finished product they may lead to. Yet
it is undeniable that there is real value in putting on real performances – for a
real audience. This option may not be open to everyone, however. Why not?
• Preparing a performance requires a great deal of time. Not every class
will have enough time available, either in terms of class time or extra time
outside class.
• It is difficult to do with large classes. One of the benefits of putting on
performances is that everyone in the group can have an active role, even if
this is not as an actor (see below). But in a large class, this is simply not
possible.
• Both teacher and students have to be motivated enough to cheerfully take
on all the hard work and setbacks involved in a real production. Such
commitment is relatively rare, sometimes for very good reasons, such as
heavy teaching loads.
Nonetheless, it is possible to settle for less than a full-length, elaborately
costumed, public performance. A short sketch, if properly rehearsed, can
still share many of the advantages of ‘performance’. Even a rehearsed
reading is better than nothing. What then are the main benefits of putting on
a play as a project?
Benefits from performance
• There is a high degree of linguistic reinforcement. The number of
purposeful repetitions of the script involve students in ‘deepprocessing’
of the language in a way which is usually impossible in normal lessons.
• Repeated rehearsal allows time for intensive work on pronunciation,
especially supra-segmental features such as stress, rhythm and
intonation. In class there is rarely enough time for this kind of
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	11 Into performance