Therefore addresses the characters’ intentions, which can be taken from the colon, creating a practical means of engaging with them.
Instruct learners that the colons in the First Folio serve a specific character intention. In the First Folio, the colon is telling the actor that the thought which follows it will be a more articulate summation of the thought that has come before.
It can be helpful to provide learners with a highlighter pen so that they can highlight the colons present in their text. This will make it easier to identify them when performing the scene.
Initially, ask learners to perform the scene; however, every time they reach a colon, they must say ‘therefore’ and then perform the line which follows the colon with the intention of summing up their thought process. There will be lines where adding ‘therefore’ won’t feel right to learners. Initially adding, therfore serves to enforce the characters change in intentions at the colon.
Following this initial performance, ask learners to consider whether a synonym of therefore would better serve their interpretation of the line. Providing examples of synonyms will further aid accessibility here.
Typically, I propose:
Hence
Consequently
So
Thus
Accordingly
Ergo
Once learners have selected their synonyms for the colon, ask them to perform the scene again, adding in their chosen synonyms at the colon.
To conclude, the tool asks learners to perform the scene again, removing the additional word at the colon but playing the intention of that word.
Tray Two : Living The Text