In this essay I will be taking different plays and analysing their features and characteristics within them. I will be analysing ‘Beautiful Burnout’ performed by Frantic Assembly, ‘Lysistrata, or Loose Strife’ by David Stuttard, and ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ by William Shakespeare. Within these plays I will be looking at the style of writing it is, (eg – formal, informal, old English), the genre (eg – comedy, tragedy) and the themes.
In the play ‘Beautiful Burnout’ is written in verses, like a poem. It doesn’t follow a pattern and doesn’t rhyme like a poem, but reads like a poem would. The way the setting at the beginning of each scene is described is also in the same way as the actual lines. The language is fairly informal as it includes Scottish words written phonetically such as “nae mare nae less” meaning “no more no less”, which helps the actors/actresses pronounce the words in a Scottish accent effectively. It also uses colloquial language to Glasgow (Scotland in general) the place where the play is set such as “lassies” and “aye” to make the setting and the characters both realistic when compared to each other. In comparison to this, ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ is not written in verses. This play includes monologues that are made into lines depending on when the actor/actress would pause. In ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’, the language is mainly informal, similarly to ‘Beautiful Burnout’, but for the purpose to make the play humorous. The way sex throughout the play is portrayed is informal such as in the beginning scene where everything Lucy is saying is being turned into innuendos by Nikki to make the audience laugh, such as “They’re Greeks, everything they do, they do late. And everything takes so long – starting, finishing, coming, g…” “Sometimes I wish my husband was a bit more like that!” and “is it something big?”