Music and performing arts
The Envelope: drama character and script analysis
Explore how objectives, obstacles, tactics, voice and movement reveal what characters do not say aloud. The four-page A4 pack includes a kitchen scene between Tess and Jamie, line-by-line prompts, performance choices and a short rehearsal reflection.
Read the material
Explore how objectives, obstacles, tactics, voice and movement reveal what characters do not say aloud. The four-page A4 pack includes a kitchen scene between Tess and Jamie, line-by-line prompts, performance choices and a short rehearsal reflection.
Activity. Use the preview for diagrams and layout.
Page 1
NAME CLASS DATE LEARNING GOAL Analyse how objectives, voice and movement reveal subtext. SUCCESS CRITERIA I can name a character’s objective, obstacle and tactics. I can choose voice and movement that show subtext. I can annotate a script with performance notes. 1 Read and annotate the scene Read the scene twice: silently, then aloud with a partner. Annotate it using the key. KEY / pause word emphasis S subtext V voice M movement Drama character and script analysis Inside the character DRAMA AGES 13 TO 16 SCRIPT ANALYSIS The Envelope The Envelope Read an original scene, then analyse its two characters. SHH! The Envelope (an original scene) Cast: TESS, 16, and her brother JAMIE, 13. TESS JAMIE (A kitchen, late evening. Rain on the window. TESS sits at the table, revising. JAMIE comes in holding a crumpled envelope.) 1 JAMIE (holding it up) Found this in the recycling. Under the cereal boxes. 2 TESS (not looking up) So? Recycling is for rubbish. 3 JAMIE It’s got your name on it. And a crest. 4 TESS (standing, reaching out) Give it here, Jamie. 5 JAMIE (stepping back, reading) “We are delighted to offer you a place.” Delighted, Tess. 6 TESS Keep your voice down. Mum’s asleep. 7 JAMIE When were you going to tell me? 8 TESS (sitting again, quietly) I’m not going. So there’s nothing to tell. 9 JAMIE It’s six hours away. (beat) You’d live there. 10 TESS Which is why it was in the recycling. 11 JAMIE You’ve wanted this since you were eleven. You made me run lines with you every night. 12 TESS And who walks you to school? Who makes tea when Mum’s on nights? 13 JAMIE I’m thirteen, not five. I can make toast. 14 TESS (a small laugh) Toast isn’t tea. 15 JAMIE (putting the letter down between them) Don’t stay because of me. 16 TESS (looking at the letter, not at him) I’m not staying because of you. (She does not pick it up. The lights fade.) ANNOTATION MARGIN NEXT Page 1 of 4
Page 2
2 Choose a character TESS JAMIE Tick one character. Answer every panel as that character. Give a line number as evidence each time. TACTIC VERBS to dodge to tease to plead to joke to accuse to protect 3 The relationship Drama character and script analysis Voice and lines DRAMA CHARACTER ANALYSIS Inside the character Inside the character Objective: what do they want most? Start: I want to ... (line ...) Obstacle: what is in their way? A person, a fear, a fact or a feeling. Tactics: how do they try to get it? Name two tactics, each with a line number. Given circumstances: the facts Who, where, when, and what has just happened? How close are Tess and Jamie? Write S in a box for the start of the scene and E for the end. DISTANT CLOSE HIGHER STATUS at the start: Tess Jamie at the end: Tess Jamie Circle one name each time. What changes between them, and on which line? Explain. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NEXT A B C D Page 2 of 4
Page 3
4 Voice and movement Pick one line your character says. Circle one choice in each row. Then explain your choices. 5 Line by line objectives For each line, write what the speaker wants from the other person. Start with “to” and an action verb. Example: line 6, Tess: to stop Jamie waking Mum, and to end the conversation. Drama character and script analysis Subtext DRAMA VOICE, MOVEMENT AND OBJECTIVES Voice, movement and lines Voice, movement and lines Voice on line PACE slow steady fast PITCH low natural high VOLUME quiet normal loud Where is the pause? Which word gets the emphasis? What tone? Why? Movement on the same line POSTURE open closed tense PROXIMITY close apart moving away EYE CONTACT holds avoids Describe a gesture and a facial expression. Sitting or standing (levels)? Why? Line 1 JAMIE (holding it up) Found this in the recycling. Under the cereal boxes. Objective: to ... Line 4 TESS (standing, reaching out) Give it here, Jamie. Objective: to ... Line 7 JAMIE When were you going to tell me? Objective: to ... Line 8 TESS (sitting again, quietly) I’m not going. So there’s nothing to tell. Objective: to ... Line 12 TESS And who walks you to school? Who makes tea when Mum’s on nights? Objective: to ... Line 15 JAMIE (putting the letter down between them) Don’t stay because of me. Objective: to ... NEXT V M 1 2 3 4 5 6 Page 3 of 4
Page 4
6 Find the subtext Subtext is what a character really means but does not say. Write each character’s private thought. 7 Rehearse and review Rehearse the scene with a partner using your choices. Perform it for another pair. Ask them to tick what they saw and give feedback. WE SAW a clear pause a change in proximity a change of level eye contact held or avoided GO FURTHER: DIRECT THE LAST MOMENT Tess does not pick up the letter. Write a director’s note: where each actor stands, what Tess does with her hands, and how long the silence lasts. HOW DID I DO? Not yet Getting there Got it Drama character and script analysis CURTAIN DRAMA SUBTEXT AND PERFORMANCE Subtext and performance Subtext and performance HMM! Line 13, JAMIE: “I’m thirteen, not five. I can make toast.” JAMIE REALLY THINKS Line 16, TESS: “I’m not staying because of you.” TESS REALLY THINKS What worked: a line and a choice Even better if: one change Page 4 of 4
A teaching sequence
Analyse a character’s objective, obstacle and tactics, then choose voice and movement that communicate subtext in performance.
Connect objective, obstacle and tactics
Identify what Tess or Jamie wants most, the obstacle and two tactics, each tied to a line.
Which line supports what Tess or Jamie wants and tries?
Track relationship and status changes
Describe the relationship and consider how status or closeness changes during the scene.
What line or action supports the start-to-end change you describe?
Choose voice, movement and subtext
Choose pace, pitch, volume, pause, emphasis and movement for one line, then explain the subtext behind the choice.
Why does this pause, emphasis or movement fit the selected line?
Rehearse and direct the final silence
Rehearse the scene, ask a partner what they noticed and write a director’s note for the final silence. Link the performance choice to a line.
What audience feedback connects the performance choice with textual evidence?
Before you teach
Look for the thinking behind an answer, choose the support your class needs and leave room for an independent response.
What to look for
Look for choices tied to a line, objective or subtext rather than generic acting labels. Ask: “What did the audience learn from the pause or movement?” The scene supports interpretation; more than one performance choice may be justified.
Give a little support
Choose one character and one section of the scene. Offer a line-numbered script, tactic word bank and a voice/movement choice chart; pupils can explain choices orally before writing a full analysis.
Take the idea further
Ask pairs to direct the final moment in two contrasting ways and explain how each changes the audience’s understanding of Tess’s decision. They can annotate an additional line with a new tactic.
Things to keep in mind
No answer key is included, and interpretations are open. Ask pupils to support their reading with reliable textual evidence.
Keep the idea. Make it yours.
Bring your topic, learning goal and class context to PLAI™, then review what you create.
Ideas to try with your class
Sample teaching perspectives on what to try, what to adapt and what to watch for.
Meet The Creators
Meet the creators whose teaching interests connect with this template. Find an approach to try with your class.
Rachel Sim
I use roles, movement, voice and short improvisation to give quieter pupils a way into Drama, with supported participation and room to build on one another’s ideas.
Meet the creatorPriscilla Amoah
As Head of Drama, I look for devising stimuli that give students something to respond to and help them move into practical exploration.
Meet the creator
One Last Sticky Note
The original scene centres on Tess finding an offer letter in the recycling and her brother Jamie reading it aloud. The four-page task asks pupils to annotate objective, obstacle, tactics, voice, movement and subtext rather than summarise the plot only.
Helpful Highlighter
Reading silently and then aloud with a partner gives pupils two encounters with the scene before performance choices. The envelope creates a playable conflict around Tess’s offer and her claim that she is not going.
The Curious Pencil
The annotation key separates pause, emphasis, subtext, voice and movement. Pupils can mark one tactic at a time, then test whether the choice communicates what Tess is withholding from Jamie.
Planning List
The scene is original fiction, so interpretations should be grounded in its lines and stage directions rather than presented as a real family situation. A performance choice is one possible reading, not the only valid portrayal.