Because a play presents its action through actors, its impact is direct, immediate, and heightened by the actor’s skills. Instead of responding to words on a printed page, the spectator sees what is done and hears what is said. The experience of the play is registered directly upon his senses. It may therefore be fuller and more compact. Where the work of prose fiction may tell us what a character looks like in one paragraph, how he moves or speaks in a second, what he says in a third, and how his auditors respond in a fourth, the acted play presents this material all at once. Simultaneous impressions are not separated. Moreover, this experience is interpreted by actors who may be highly skilled in rendering nuances of meaning and strong emotion. Through facial expression, gesture, speech rhythm, and intonation, they may be able to make a speaker’s words more expressive than can the reader’s unaided imagination. Thus, the performance of a play by skilled actors, expertly directed, gives the playwright a tremendous source of power.
It is clear from the passage that unlike a staged play, a work of prose fiction ____.
mainly focuses on character and action
is very effective in arousing the reader’s emotions
allows no possibility of multiple interpretation
makes much use of various literary devices
makes its impact slowly
It is emphasized in the passage that the effectiveness of a play’s action ____.
disappears as soon as the performance is over
is maintained only temporarily depending on the audience
is largely created through facial expression and the playwright’s skill
is increased both through skilled performance and through professional direction
can be further strengthened through character analysis
It is pointed out in the passage that the performance of a play on the stage ____.
enables the audience to be more closely involved
has the same impact on the audience as that of the printed text
depends much more on the director than on the actors for its success
can best be accomplished through close attention to the playwright’s instructions
should not guide the way the audience feels
Clearly, the passage is mainly concerned with ____.
the techniques a director makes most use of in the staging of a play
the sense of immediacy and the intensity that a well-staged play offers
the role of imagination in prose fiction and drama
the question of how a play can best be performed
the relationship between the actors and the writer of a play