Brighton
2022 — Rochester, NY/US
Dramatic Interpretation
Event Description:
1. The best speaker should be given the rank of 1.
2. No two speakers may be given the same rank.
3. Time Limit: Maximum of ten (10) Minutes with on minimum. There is a mandatory thirty (30) second grace period during which time no penalty may be assessed. Speakers who exceed this grace period may not be ranked first in the round.
4. The presentation must be from memory. No scripts, props or costumes are permitted.
5. The selections should be accurate cuttings from published, printed plays, novels, short stories or poetry. Adaptation may be for the purpose of continuity only. During the presentation, the contestant must name the author and source from which the cutting was made. Selections should be judged on their appropriateness as contest material and their suitability to the particular speaker using them. Coaches are encouraged to guide their speakers in the direction of literary awareness.
This is a contest in interpretation. The contestants should be evaluated on: poise, vocal quality (inflection, emphasis, enunciation, pronunciation, diction, phrasing), and especially the ability to accurately and consistently interpret character(s) and the piece of literature as a whole. While these presentations are clearly intended to have an impact on the audience, the extent to which the audience responds should not be a prime consideration in rendering a judgment. Humor may be utilized as a part of the presentation, but the overall impact should be serious (which is not necessarily equated with somber or tragic). The final test of good interpretation is the ability of the speaker to employ all of these elements so successfully and unobtrusively that the audience forgets that this is a contest and is carried away to the time and setting of the scene.