Read the excerpt from Trifles.MRS. HALE. Duty’s all right, but I guess that deputy sheriff that came out to make the fire might have got a little of this one. (Gives the roller towel a pull.) Wish I’d thought of that sooner. Seems mean to talk about her for not having things slicked up when she had to come away in such a hurry. MRS. PETERS. (who has gone to a small table in the left rear corner of the room, and lifted one end of a towel that covers a pan). She had bread set. (Stands still.) How would an audio recording of this excerpt help establish the setting of the play?
Read the following scene from Trifles.MRS. PETERS. She was piecing a quilt. (She brings the large sewing basket, and they look at the bright pieces.) MRS. HALE. It’s log cabin pattern. Pretty, isn’t it? I wonder if she was goin’ to quilt or just knot it? (Footsteps have been heard coming down the stairs. The Sheriff enters, followed by Hale and the County Attorney.) SHERIFF. They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it. (The men laugh, the women look abashed.) COUNTY ATTORNEY (rubbing his hands over the stove). Frank’s fire didn’t do much up there, did it? Well, let’s go out to the barn and get that cleared up. (The men go outside.) How would a film version most likely emphasize the men’s emotions during this scene?
Read the following scene from Trifles.COUNTY ATTORNEY. Here’s a nice mess. (The women draw nearer.) MRS. PETERS (to the other woman). Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. (To the Lawyer). She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break. SHERIFF. Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves. COUNTY ATTORNEY. I guess before we’re through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about. HALE. Well, women are used to worrying over trifles. (The two women move a little closer together.) In a film production, where should the camera focus if the director wants to emphasize the men’s emotions?
Read the following scene from Trifles.COUNTY ATTORNEY. You mean that they didn’t get on very well? MRS. HALE. No, I don’t mean anything. But I don’t think a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it. COUNTY ATTORNEY. I’d like to talk more of that a little later. I want to get the lay of things upstairs now. (He goes to the left, where three steps lead to a stair door.) SHERIFF. I suppose anything Mrs. Peters does’ll be all right. She was to take in some clothes for her, you know, and a few little things. We left in such a hurry yesterday. COUNTY ATTORNEY. Yes, but I would like to see what you take, Mrs. Peters, and keep an eye out for anything that might be of use to us. What is one possible advantage of hearing the characters’ voices as opposed to silently reading the scene?
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