Interpreting and staging a sceneThe aim of your work

When interpreting and staging a scene, you must have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and the effect you wish to have upon the audience. Do you want the audience to be moved, shocked, entertained or educated? To do this you should consider the importance of the scene within the work as a whole. If it’s part of a slow build in tension towards a climax later in the play, then it would be foolish to make it too heightened or urgent in pace. This will leave you nowhere to go.

Looking at the function of the scene in its wider context will help you make interpretative decisions about pace and mood. Consider if your work has a clear message you want the audience to understand and how you'll bring this out for them. Perhaps there is another aim, such as building empathy with a key character, communicating important information about plot or making the audience laugh.