View single post by Awfly Wee Eli
 Posted: Mon Jan 23rd, 2012 07:55 pm
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Awfly Wee Eli

 

Joined: Thu Jan 12th, 2012
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Posts: 29
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Mana: 
 A recent conversation about proper stage play formatting has me wondering about its history. I see readability cited as the reason the name-above format has prevailed, but when I look at a page, my eyes track this:

MADDOX: My last boss considered himself full of whimsy. Now he lives in a psychiatric hospital.

JULIA: Your last boss walked naked into a junior pond hockey tournament. Relax. It's not that kind of whim.

more easily than this:

                                     JULIA
I'll be good, I promise. This is hardly my first rodeo.

                                   MADDOX
My last boss also had an interest in rodeos.

So how did we end up with name-above as the standard format?

Last edited on Mon Jan 23rd, 2012 08:03 pm by Awfly Wee Eli