More Play Features.

A lot of the things you'll find odd when you read a scene from Shakespeare are there because it's a play. Learn what it all means now and save yourself a lot of confusion.

Plays are written to be Acted.

There is a massive difference between a Shakespeare play and a novel or short story. A novel tells a story by describing it to you. A play tells a story by showing it to you.

You don't get any long describing bits in a play. The actors show the audience what's going on by the way they say their lines - laughing, shouting or whatever - as well as what they say.

The audience don't have the playscript in front of them, so the actors have to do all the work.

When you read the play you have to do all the work. You have to work out what's going on just by reading the scenes.

Sometimes…