Read the excerpt from Trifles.MRS. HALE. Duty’s all right, but I guess that deputy sheriff that came out to make the fire might have got a little of this one. (Gives the roller towel a pull.) Wish I’d thought of that sooner. Seems mean to talk about her for not having things slicked up when she had to come away in such a hurry. MRS. PETERS. (who has gone to a small table in the left rear corner of the room, and lifted one end of a towel that covers a pan). She had bread set. (Stands still.) How would an audio recording of this excerpt help establish the setting of the play?
Read the following scene from Trifles.MRS. HALE (resentfully). I don’t know as there’s anything so strange, our takin’ up our time with little things while we’re waiting for them to get the evidence. (She sits down at the big table, smoothing out a block with decision.) I don’t see as it’s anything to laugh about.A possible disadvantage to hearing this scene, as opposed to reading it silently, is that Mrs. Hale may not
Read the following scene from Trifles.SHERIFF. Nothing here but kitchen things. (The County Attorney, after again looking around the kitchen, opens the door of a cupboard closet. He gets up on a chair and looks on a shelf. Pulls his hand away, sticky.) COUNTY ATTORNEY. Here’s a nice mess. (The women draw nearer.) MRS. PETERS (to the other woman). Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. (To the Lawyer). She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break. SHERIFF. Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves. What would be one advantage of reading this scene as opposed to watching or listening to it?
Read the following scene from Trifles.COUNTY ATTORNEY. Yes, but I would like to see what you take, Mrs. Peters, and keep an eye out for anything that might be of use to us. MRS. PETERS. Yes, Mr. Henderson. (The women listen to the men’s steps on the stairs, then look about the kitchen.) MRS. HALE. I’d hate to have men coming into my kitchen, snooping around and criticizing. (She arranges the pans under sink which the Lawyer had shoved out of place.) MRS. PETERS. Of course it’s no more than their duty. MRS. HALE. Duty’s all right, but I guess that deputy sheriff that came out to make the fire might have got a little of this on. (Gives the roller towel a pull.) Wish I’d thought of that sooner. Seems mean to talk about her for not having things slicked up when she had to come away in such a hurry. A possible advantage of hearing this scene, as opposed to reading it silently, is that
Read the following scene from Trifles.COUNTY ATTORNEY. You mean that they didn’t get on very well? MRS. HALE. No, I don’t mean anything. But I don’t think a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it. COUNTY ATTORNEY. I’d like to talk more of that a little later. I want to get the lay of things upstairs now. (He goes to the left, where three steps lead to a stair door.) SHERIFF. I suppose anything Mrs. Peters does’ll be all right. She was to take in some clothes for her, you know, and a few little things. We left in such a hurry yesterday. COUNTY ATTORNEY. Yes, but I would like to see what you take, Mrs. Peters, and keep an eye out for anything that might be of use to us. What is one possible advantage of hearing the characters’ voices as opposed to silently reading the scene?
What is one advantage of reading a play as opposed to watching or listening to it?
Read the following scene from Trifles.COUNTY ATTORNEY (with the gallantry of a young politician). And yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? (The women do not unbend. He goes to the sink, takes dipperful of water from the pail and, pouring it into a basin, washes his hands. Starts to wipe them on the roller towel, turns it for a cleaner place.) Dirty towels! (Kicks his foot against the pans under the sink.) Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?MRS. HALE (stiffly). There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm. What is one possible disadvantage of hearing the characters’ voices in the theater as opposed to silently reading the scene?
What is true about both the stage and film version of a drama?
Read the following scene from Trifles.MRS. HALE (stiffly). There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm. COUNTY ATTORNEY. To be sure. And yet . . . (With a little bow to her.) . . . I know there are some Dickson county farmhouses which do not have such roller towels. (He gives it a pull to expose its full length again.) MRS. HALE. Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be. COUNTY ATTORNEY. Ah, loyal to your sex, I see. But you and Mrs. Wright were neighbors. I suppose you were friends, too. What is one possible disadvantage of hearing the characters’ voices as opposed to silently reading the scene?
Read the excerpt from Trifles.SHERIFF. Nothing here but kitchen things. (The County Attorney, after again looking around the kitchen, opens the door of a cupboard closet. He gets up on a chair and looks on a shelf. Pulls his hand away, sticky.) COUNTY ATTORNEY. Here’s a nice mess. (The women draw nearer.) How would an audio recording of this excerpt help establish the setting of the play?
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