This "Cue Script" workshop asks students to approach a scene from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (5.1.126-348) as if they were actors on the professional stage in early modern England. In this activity, students are not given the whole scene but only their character’s “part” (lines that their character speaks) and their “cues” (last few words that a previous character speaks). This kind of script is called a “cue script.” Thinking about “parts” and “cues” in the classroom provides a fun opportunity to experiment with Shakespeare’s works not only as performance texts but also as rehearsal texts.
Why did actors use cue scripts? In early modern England (roughly 1485-1660), paper was quite expensive, and scripts for performance were written out by hand (a time-consuming process). Thus, when actors were hired to perform a play like A Midsummer Night's Dream, theater companies would not provide every actor with a copy of the full script. Instead, each actor was given only his "part," those lines that he was to speak in the play. To know when to speak those lines, the actor needed to know his "cues," the final line or words spoken by the previous actor. Players had to memorize not just their lines but also the cues for those lines. It is worth considering that the first rehearsal may have been the very first time that an actor heard the whole play and/or realized his character’s relationship with others in the work. If you want to read more about rehearsal practices, evidence of cue scripts, and other performance documents from early modern England, see the “Cue Scripts Bibliography.”
To see images of Cue Scripts from the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, check
1) the "Part for Orlando" from Robert Greene's play Orlando Furioso (1594) and R.A. Foakes' essay on the document from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project
2) the "Part of Poore" from the lost play, "Play of Poore" (1616?), on the Lost Plays Database
Why did actors use cue scripts? In early modern England (roughly 1485-1660), paper was quite expensive, and scripts for performance were written out by hand (a time-consuming process). Thus, when actors were hired to perform a play like A Midsummer Night's Dream, theater companies would not provide every actor with a copy of the full script. Instead, each actor was given only his "part," those lines that he was to speak in the play. To know when to speak those lines, the actor needed to know his "cues," the final line or words spoken by the previous actor. Players had to memorize not just their lines but also the cues for those lines. It is worth considering that the first rehearsal may have been the very first time that an actor heard the whole play and/or realized his character’s relationship with others in the work. If you want to read more about rehearsal practices, evidence of cue scripts, and other performance documents from early modern England, see the “Cue Scripts Bibliography.”
To see images of Cue Scripts from the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, check
1) the "Part for Orlando" from Robert Greene's play Orlando Furioso (1594) and R.A. Foakes' essay on the document from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project
2) the "Part of Poore" from the lost play, "Play of Poore" (1616?), on the Lost Plays Database
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream is perfect for this exercise because the text frequently calls attention to the rehearsal process and the use of “parts” and “cues.” In the scenes with the mechanicals, Bottom and his comrades enact the processes of making a play.
Before doing this workshop, I have students read A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and we consider what different roles the mechanicals take while preparing for their performance. We search the text for textual examples.
For instance, Peter Quince is the playwright, and he prepares the “parts” for the amateur actors. Snug, who is eager to learn his role for the Lion, asks Quince, the playwright:
Before doing this workshop, I have students read A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and we consider what different roles the mechanicals take while preparing for their performance. We search the text for textual examples.
For instance, Peter Quince is the playwright, and he prepares the “parts” for the amateur actors. Snug, who is eager to learn his role for the Lion, asks Quince, the playwright:
“Have you the Lions part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study” (1.2.55-56)
Once Quince prepares the “parts,” Bottom and his fellow actors have to memorize their lines and cues to prepare for rehearsal.
But sometimes the actors make mistakes during the rehearsal process. In this passage, Flute accidentally reads both his lines and his cues, so Quince jumps in to correct him (as well as Flute's pronunciation of "Ninus’"):
But sometimes the actors make mistakes during the rehearsal process. In this passage, Flute accidentally reads both his lines and his cues, so Quince jumps in to correct him (as well as Flute's pronunciation of "Ninus’"):
FLUTE (as THISBE)
Most Radiant Pyramus, most lyly-white of hue
Of color like the red rose on triumphant briar
Most brisky juvenal and eke most lovely Jew,
As true as truest horse that yet would never tire,
I’ll meet thee, Pyramus, at Ninny’s tomb--
QUINCE
“Ninus’ Tomb,” man! Why, you must not speak that yet; that you answer to Pyramus. You speak all your part at once, cues and all. – Pyramus, enter! Your cue is past; it is ‘never tire’ (3.1.80-89)
For the Cue Script workshop, I use the "Pyramus and Thisbe" play-within-a-play scene (Act 5, Scene 1, lines 126-348). The students have to configure the scene on the spot with only minimal props, stage directions, and cue scripts.
1. First, I divide the students into groups of eleven and then give each group a bag containing these items:
1. First, I divide the students into groups of eleven and then give each group a bag containing these items:
- Props: Bush of Thorns, Dog, Lantern, Thisbe’s Mantle, Dagger/Sword.
- Ten Cue Scripts (Bottom, Flute, Snug, Snout, Starveling, Quince, Theseus, Hippolyta, Demetrius, and Lysander).
- Name Tags for the Characters
- Prompter's Copy (the full script for the scene with stage directions).
2. Second, I explain the roles that students will play in the activity and have the students choose their parts, put on name tags, and distribute props:
Prompter: This person is NOT a character in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but this activity goes more smoothly if each group has a “prompter” who is on script throughout the activity. The Prompter will read the stage directions, manage props, and keep the cast on task. You can download the Prompter's Script here
Amateur Actors performing Parts at Court Wedding:
Quince/Prologue
Snout/Wall
Bottom/Pyramus [dagger/sword] [finds mantle]
Flute/Thisbe [drops mantle] [finds sword]
Snug/Lion [picks up mantle after Thisbe flees]
Starveling/Moonshine [holds Bush, Dog, Lantern]
Wedding Party:
Theseus
Hippolyta
Demetrius
Lysander
[Helen and Hermia are in this scene but do not speak and so have been excluded from this activity. Their silence in this scene could be worth some class discussion time.]
3. Third, I then urge the actors to open their "rolls" and read their parts, looking closely at the "cues" that they will need to listen for during the rehearsal.
4. Then, we start rehearsing! This scene takes about 20-25 minutes to stage. If your students are hams, it may take longer.
5. We follow up with a discussion about how this activity has changed students' understanding of Shakespeare's composition process, the rehearsal process in the early modern period, and the “play” as a compilation of characters’ parts.
For more ideas on using cue scripts (or analysis of the part and cue) to teach Shakespeare, see “More Lesson and Activities.”