Read the following scene from The Inheritors.FRED JORDAN'S cell. Slowly, at the end left unchalked, as for a door, she goes in. Her hand goes up as against a wall; looks at her other hand, sees it is out too far, brings it in, giving herself the width of the cell. Walks its length, halts, looks up.) And one window—too high up to see out. (In the moment she stands there, she is in that cell; she is all the people who are in those cells. EMIL JOHNSON [who works at the courthouse], appears from outside.)MADELINE: (stepping out of the cell door, and around it) Hello, Emil.EMIL: How are you, Madeline? How do, Mr Morton. (IRA barely nods and does not turn. . . . EMIL turns back to MADELINE) Well, I'm just from the courthouse. Looks like you and I might take a ride together, Madeline. You come before the Commissioner at four.A possible disadvantage to watching this scene, as opposed to reading it silently, is that viewers are
Answer
A
unable to infer the characters’ emotions for themselves.
B
unable to interpret the stage directions for themselves .
C
forced to imagine the appearance of the characters.
D
forced to visualize the props used within the scene.
Explanation
In a stage performance, the actors and director decide how to present the written stage directions—for example, how Madeline moves through the imagined cell and how she reacts to it. Viewers see that interpretation rather than forming their own from the text, so they may be less able to interpret the stage directions for themselves. The scene does not establish that viewers must imagine the characters or props; those are visible in a performance.
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