The Play On The Page deals with those special problems posed for students starting to read play texts, discussing aspects such as the processes or dramatic presentation through which most published plays have passed before being published and reaching the reader; the special stage environment created by every play; the need for students to respond to both dialogue and stage directions in the text. The first section then deals with the main elements of drama, such as dramatic contrast, underlying themes, plot, characterisation, interpretation: the discussion being based on the basic dramatic conventions of naturalism and non-naturalism, using The One Day Of The Year and The Ham Funeral as examples of the two genres.