Comprehension: Playscript Extract Set 2
Comprehension: Playscript Extract Set 2 gives further 11+ practice reading a script rather than continuous prose: character names down the left, dialogue set out line by line, and stage directions in brackets describing action, tone or setting rather than being spoken aloud. Building confidence with a second playscript extract helps pupils apply the format-reading skill quickly, since this layout appears less often in general reading than a story extract does.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Check the layout before reading closely: a character's name appears before their line, and stage directions in brackets are instructions, not spoken words.
- Read stage directions as clues to how a line should be delivered or what a character is doing, since there is no narrator to explain this separately.
- Follow who is speaking to whom across the extract, since playscripts move quickly between speakers and rarely repeat a character's name unnecessarily.
- Infer each character's feelings from a combination of their exact words, any stage direction attached to their line, and how the other character responds.
- Notice pauses, interruptions or unfinished lines, since these usually signal hesitation, being cut off, or a strong unspoken feeling.
- For 'find and copy' questions, check whether the required detail is in a line of dialogue or inside a stage direction, since both count as text.
Worked example
Extract: DAD: (still looking at his phone) Give me a minute, I'm nearly done. ZARA: You said that ten minutes ago. DAD: (finally looking up) Did I? Sorry. What were you saying? ZARA: (quietly) It doesn't matter now. Question: Explain what Zara's feelings are in this extract, using evidence from her dialogue and the stage directions. (3 marks)
- Identify the line 'You said that ten minutes ago', which shows Zara is frustrated that her dad has not kept his word.
- Identify the stage direction '(quietly)' before her final line, which suggests a change from frustration to something more subdued.
- Identify the line 'It doesn't matter now', which suggests Zara has given up trying to get her dad's attention, rather than that the matter genuinely does not matter.
- Link these details together: Zara's tone shifts from pointed frustration to quiet resignation across the extract.
- Final answer: Zara starts out frustrated, shown by her pointed comment about the ten minutes, but by her final line she has become quietly resigned, suggesting she feels let down and has stopped expecting her dad to properly listen, rather than that her news truly does not matter.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1What is Dad doing when the extract begins, according to the stage direction?Show answer
Answer: Looking at his phone.
Q2What does Zara's line 'You said that ten minutes ago' suggest about how long she has been waiting?Show answer
Answer: It suggests she has been waiting for some time already and this is not the first time Dad has made this excuse.
Q3True or False: the stage direction '(quietly)' tells the reader exactly what Zara is thinking.Show answer
Answer: False - stage directions describe tone or action, not a character's inner thoughts directly; her thoughts must still be inferred.
Q4What does Zara's final line, 'It doesn't matter now', most likely suggest, given everything that came before it?Show answer
Answer: That she has given up trying to share her news, not that the news genuinely stopped mattering to her.
Q5Why might a playwright choose to have Dad say 'Did I? Sorry' rather than simply apologising fully and clearly?Show answer
Answer: A brief, slightly distracted apology suggests he still is not fully paying attention, adding to Zara's sense of being ignored.
Q6Give one stage direction from the extract that shows a change in Dad's attention during the scene.Show answer
Answer: '(finally looking up)', which shows he stops looking at his phone and turns his attention to Zara, though only after some delay.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Extract: ZARA: (quietly) It doesn't matter now. Explain what the stage direction and the line together suggest about how Zara feels. (2 marks)
Show mark scheme
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Explain how the writer uses the playscript format, dialogue and stage directions together, to show a change in the relationship between Dad and Zara across the extract, without using any narration. (4 marks)
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the comprehension: playscript extract set 2 worksheet pack - 11 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 18 of 11+ English Workbook 2, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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