Hi Trom. Just asking: when tension does show up on page, do you as an actor get put off. Do you think the writer is treading on your territory. I"m asking because I have till now thought tension in written dialogue is a good thing. I want to know whether I was wrong in thinking that.
I'm not quite sure if this is what you are asking:
ROLLO: (Stunned, eyes widening, he slowly sets his coffee cup onto the table) You told her
what?is too much from the playwright. In a screenplay? I don't know, I've only done one movie, with the writer in the lead role and buddies with the director.
ROLLO: (Stunned) You told her
what?is probably too much: the dialog makes it obvious, and it's up to the director and the actor how best to fit it to the style of the production.
The way it actually looks on the page is irrelevant. As zmjezhd says, the text is just text, not a play, any more than a score is a symphony. It's a map, not the terrain itself.
My favorite director usually tells us to ignore the playwright's stage directions.
