The events
| Event | What it is |
|---|---|
| Dramatic Interpretation (DI) | A solo performance of serious published material, up to ten minutes, memorized. |
| Humorous Interpretation (HI) | A solo performance of comedic published material, up to ten minutes, memorized, often with several characters. |
| Duo Interpretation | Two performers, one published piece, up to ten minutes. Performers may not touch or make eye contact with each other except during the introduction. |
| Program Oral Interpretation (POI) | A program of selections from at least two genres (prose, poetry, drama) built around a theme, up to ten minutes, performed with a manuscript. |
Material must be published. Each event has rules about what counts and about introductions, so read the current NSDA event rules and ask your tournament host about local variations.
Choosing a piece
- Choose material with a clear arc: a character who wants something and changes, or fails to.
- Choose characters you can voice distinctly. Two or three well-drawn characters beat six blurry ones.
- Choose something you can perform forty times without losing interest. You will.
- For HI, comedy comes from character and situation, not from jokes. A funny piece read flat is not funny; an ordinary piece performed with committed characters often is.
Cutting
A published play or novel is far longer than ten minutes. Cutting means selecting the scenes and lines that carry the arc and removing the rest, without changing the author's words. Start by finding the ending you want, then work backward: which scenes are necessary to earn it? Write a thirty-second introduction, spoken as yourself, that gives the audience the situation and the title and author. Then time the cut and trim until you have a fifteen-second margin under ten minutes.
Characters
Give each character a posture, a vocal placement, and a focal point (where they look). Switching between them, called popping, has to be instant and consistent so the audience always knows who is speaking. Practice the pops alone, without the lines, until they are automatic.
Blocking
Blocking is the physical staging: where you stand, when you move, what you do with your hands. Every movement should mean something. Plan the blocking on paper, then rehearse it until you no longer think about it. In Duo, blocking is the whole art: two performers who cannot touch or look at each other have to create the sense of a shared scene through timing and focal points.
Rehearsal
- Run the full piece daily once it is memorized, with a timer.
- Record yourself weekly and watch with the sound off, then listen with the picture off. Each reveals different problems.
- Perform for anyone who will watch: a class, a family member, a CUDL coach. Ask one question afterward: where did you lose interest?
Interp at a new program
Interp requires no evidence, no partner (except Duo), and no topic research, so it is a natural addition for a club with a range of students. It also brings drama students into speech and debate. Public libraries and school libraries have plays and story collections to cut from. CUDL coaches can help students find and cut material; ask us about a workshop.
Get new guides and topic primers by email
One email when a new topic primer or guide is published, about twice a month during the season. No other mail.