Play Analysis for Hamilton; The Musical
Hamilton;
Please analyze the play using the following 10 elements. Please do not make anything up. Details need to come from the script or from your research around the time period, location, etc. Each question should be answered with 5 or more sentences.
1. SPACE
Where does the story take place? Do the scenes take place inside/outside? Are these spaces natural or manmade? Is space confined or wide open? Describe the rooms or landscapes (mountains, valleys, island, jungle, etc.). If the script does not describe it specifically, you may need to do some research around the locations to get more information.
2. TIME
If time were a character in the play, how would you describe it? Does it move quickly or slowly in the story? Why do you say this? Are there moments when it stands still? Is time frantic or leisurely, easy-going? How do people tell time in this world? (With a clock, the sun, or maybe be the sounds of footsteps) How would you describe the structure of time throughout the story (is it linear, one-day, one lifetime? Does it repeat and is cyclical or is it eternal?)
3. CLIMATE
What is the climate like in the story? Does the dialogue or stage directions ever specifically describe the climate? What season of the year is it (winter, spring, etc.)? You might have to do some detective work / extra research to find details about the region and possible season.
4. TONE
What is the general mood of the story? (Jolly, serious, sad, ironic, sepulchral) What is the tone of the writing? (Delicate or coarse? Cerebral or passionate? Restrained or violent?) How are mood and tone created in the script? Are there any references to music, light, sound, color, shape that help to create this tone?
5. UNSEEN SPACES
Are there any places characters talk about, but the audience never sees? Describe these unseen, referenced places. [They could also be from a location we never see or a memory from a character’s past]
6. SOUNDSCAPE
Describe the sounds you would hear if you spent the day with the main character. Would you hear music, sounds of mourning, celebration, children’s patter, or an incantation? Please explain what sounds are described in the script vs. artistically chosen as part of the production vs. the sounds you imagine taking place (but not mentioned in the script or heard in the production).
7. SOCIETY & POWER
Is this a public world, or private? What are its class rules? Aristocratic? Popular? Mixed? In this society, who has power? Who lacks power?
8. CHARACTERS
How do the characters come across in the script? Do they feel natural or cartoonish? Are they subtle or exaggerated? Maybe some are more rounded and complex, while others are flat and never change. Give specific character references and details.
9. LANGUAGE
Analyze the language in the play. Is it verse or prose, dialogue or monologue? What kinds of language predominates—thoughts or of feelings? Specifically, what kind? Is language colorful or flat, clipped or flowing, metaphorical or logical? Exuberant or deliberate? What about silences?
10. YOUR TRANSFORMATION
Describe how you changed while reading the story. Talk about your opinions of characters in the beginning versus the end. How did your understanding of the theme change?
————————————————
RUBRIC FOR GRADING
Answers will be graded with the following criteria
Comprehension
Do the student understand the question?
Specificity & Details
Student refers to specific events, quotes or examples in the script with reasonable detail
Justification & Evidence
Student uses quotes or facts or outside research to justify and explain their answers
Accuracy
All details are accurate and match the circumstances in the script (not the production)
Analysis & Research
Student demonstrates they have used deductive reasoning to come to some more complex conclusions and/or they have done outside research to supplement their understanding and support their answer (if needed).