What amount of time is covered in the action? How much of the action is presented as a report rather than dramatized on stage? Does the play feel loose or tight in its construction?
Conveniently, A Raisin in the Sun states very clearly the timeline it follows alongside the Act/Scene numbers. It's page 22 in the First Vintage Book Edition. Act I, Scene 1 takes place on a Friday morning, and Scene 2 takes place the following morning-- a Saturday. Act II, Scene 1 takes place later on the same Saturday, and Scene 2 takes place on a Friday night a few weeks later, and Scene 3 takes place on "moving day," one week later. Act III takes place an hour later on moving day. The total time span adds to about a month.
Most of the action is conveyed through the dialogue, as far as I can tell. The few actions not mirrored by the dialogue are italicized and placed within parentheses in the middle of the dialogue, with the exception of some stage directions at the beginning of new scenes.
The large gaps between some scenes left the construction feeling loose. It bothers me that the author doesn't think we need to know more of what happened in between those scenes.... It's like how I haven't watched Days of Our Lives since I was in pre-school, but I still no exactly what the plot is because it's just a ridiculous cycle.
I said "no" instead of "know" in this blog. I did not proofread, apparently.
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