The book completes and updates certain aspects of Thaiss and Davis (not repeated here), but also adds more extensive examples of a writer’s thought process, suggestions for improving the examples given, along with a useful series of checklists for several genres. Just like Thaiss and Davis, Ferguson also includes general steps for writing a logical, cohesive, and engaging theatre essay (thesis statement, outline, introductory and body paragraphs, conclusion, and multiple drafts). Below are some of the most interesting points.

1. Writing about Theatre

Stresses the importance of conversation after the show – either initiated or listened to – as a first step toward the writing process in view of a thoughtful essay.

Questions specific to theatre:

• Does this response give a sense of what it was like to be in the audience?
• Does the essay incorporate the writer’s personal point of view on the material?
• Does it support its argument with specific references to lines, scenes, elements of the set, etc.?

2. Preparing to Write and Writing the Essay

Suggests careful reading of the assignment as a pre-writing activity and guide for structuring the essay, including for understanding the scope and tone required.

Describes the conventional ways of describing placement on the proscenium stage (US, SR, SL, etc.) and the relative positions of the performer’s body (full front, one quarter left/right, left/right profile, three-quarter back left/right, full back).

“A checklist for taking good notes:

• Have you focused on your own reactions (e.g., things that annoy, astonish, delight, bore, or puzzle you) and on key moments and effects?
• Have you taken notes (or fleshed out briefly scribbled ones) as soon as possible after watching a live production?
• Have you used glossaries and dictionaries to look up words or  phrases you are unfamiliar with?
• Have you noted lines of dialogue, body positions, and stage compositions for important moments in a live production?
• Have you asked yourself questions (What function does it have? What does it do? Why is it important?) about particular themes, images, relationships, or actions that you have noted
  about a production or play text?”

3. The review response and the production response

Distinguishes:

• Review response: has the ultimate goal of recommending or not a performance seen by the reviewer.
• Production response: is more focused on demonstrating an understanding of principles of stagecraft.

This is perhaps the most useful chapter as it contains a list of specific questions for several aspects of the performance (acting and casting, design, directing, venue and audience, idea).

4. The Analytical Theatre Essay

Proposes two main approaches:

• “1. Using the play’s form and content, such as its structure (the way it is put together), shape. themes, or symbols, to analyze the way the play creates its theatrical effect and meaning.
  In the section about form and content, there is a some ambiguity in regard to how each item is assigned to either list, in particular when under the heading “content” we find items that have a clear formal component (e.g. the overall shape of the play or recurring patterns in the language).
• 2. Using theatre history to explore the play’s meaning in terms of its background and cultural underpinnings.”
  This section focuses on information coming from the biographical, social, and artistic contexts to provide fodder for the essay.

For each approach, there is a long list of specific, and appropriate questions to stimulate observation and attention to different aspects of the play at hand.

5. Research: Methods and Materials

A complete resource for students starting their research that includes primary sources (biographies/memoirs, prefaces and author’s notes, performance documents, reviews, photographs, museums, and libraries, etc.) and reference works at physical and online libraries.

Includes guidelines on how to effectively incorporate carefully selected bits of research while maintaining the author’s voice relevant.

6. The Character/Scene Analysis

“A functional tool used by actors and directors”: this chapter concentrates on the playtext as a script, the actual version utilized for a performance. It includes analysis of given circumstances, beats, action, objective/obstacles, transitions, and climax/turning point.

• “A Checklist for Writing a Character/Scene Analysis
  Have you taken the given circumstances of the scene into account?
• Does the analysis make a good case for the overall interpretation of the scene? That is, does it break the scene down into beats or units, and are the objectives, actions, transitions, obstacles, and climax all linked logically into a compelling or convincing interpretation?
• Does the analysis provide a clear, concise, “actable” guide to the scene?”

Glossary of Theatrical Terms and Concepts