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Script to Stage Adaptation

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Script to Stage Adaptation

A short story gives you the events. A script helps actors and a stage crew show those events to an audience. Read the original scene, study its script adaptation, and then make your own stage-ready choices.

Read the Original Scene

The creek had risen after the storm. Emily reached the footbridge and stopped. A paper boat was caught between two rocks on the far side. “I can reach it with the lantern pole,” she said. Her brother Eli shook his head. “The boards are slippery.” Emily looked at the boat, then at the dry path beside the reeds. “Then let’s find another way.” Together, they hurried along the path.

Read the Script Adaptation

SETTING: A creek after a storm. A footbridge crosses the water. A paper boat is caught between two rocks. (MAYA steps onto the bridge and reaches for the lantern pole. ELI catches her sleeve.) ELI: The boards are slippery! (Emily pauses. She looks from the boat to a path beside the reeds.) MAYA: Then let’s find another way. (They hurry off along the path.)

1.Match each excerpt from the adaptation to its script element. Write the correct element number beside each letter. Script elements: 1. Character name; 2. Dialogue; 3. Stage direction; 4. Setting description. A. “ELI:” B. “The boards are slippery!” C. “(Emily pauses.)” D. “SETTING: A creek after a storm.”

“SETTING: A creek after a storm.”
“ELI:”
“The boards are slippery!”
“(Emily pauses.)”

2.Why does the script include the direction “(Emily pauses. She looks from the boat to a path beside the reeds.)”?

To show Emily thinking and noticing another option
To tell the audience that the storm has ended
To explain what the paper boat is made of
To show Eli leaving the stage

3.Name one event from the original scene that the script keeps, and explain how an actor or stage crew could show it.

4.True or false: “(They hurry off along the path.)” is dialogue because it tells what the characters say.

TrueFalse

5.Complete the stage direction to show how Eli feels when he warns Emily: “(Eli catches Emily’s sleeve and .)”

6.The script needs to show the paper boat caught between rocks without using real water. Give one simple prop or set idea that could represent the boat and creek.

7.The original says, “The creek had risen after the storm.” Write one stage direction that helps the audience understand that the creek is high.

8.Adapt this story moment into a script with two character-name labels, dialogue, and at least one stage direction: Emily and Eli find the dry path and decide to follow it.

9.Emily’s original line is “I can reach it with the lantern pole.” Rewrite it as dialogue that makes her sound unsure, then add a short stage direction that shows her uncertainty.

10.In one or two sentences, explain one way a script is different from the original story and why that change helps actors or the audience.