Question

FRED JORDAN'S cell. Slowly, at the end left unchalked, as for a door, she goes in. Her hand goes up as against a wall; looks at her other hand, sees it is out too far, brings it in, giving herself the width of the cell. Walks its length, halts, looks up.) And one window—too high up to see out.

(In the moment she stands there, she is in that cell; she is all the people
who are in those cells. EMIL JOHNSON [who works at the courthouse],
appears from outside.)

MADELINE: (stepping out of the cell door, and around it) Hello, Emil.

EMIL: How are you, Madeline? How do, Mr Morton. (IRA barely nods and does not turn... EMIL turns back to MADELINE) Well, I'm just from the courthouse. Looks like you and I might take a ride together, Madeline. You come before the Commissioner at four.

A possible disadvantage to watching this scene, as opposed to reading it silently, is that viewers are
required to conceptualize the setting of the jailhouse.
required to interpret movements in absence of stage directions.
required to imagine the appearance of the characters.
required to visualize the props used within the scene.

Answer 1

required to interpret movements in absence of stage directions.

Because the printed script includes stage directions that explain gestures, positioning, and internal states, a live audience must infer those intentions from actors' performances rather than reading the explicit directions.