Brockett in his extensive book about the theatre has said, "The play script is the typical starting point for the theatrical production. It is also the most common residue of production since the script usually remains intact after its production ends".

Most productions adhere to this viewpoint. However there are different theatrical styles such as mime, pantomime, gibberish, commedia dell' arte and others in which the script is likely to take a backseat. Work-in-process notes yes, but the essence of words that make up the script is not to be found in productions which may follow one or the other of the above mentioned theatrical styles.

Then again the form a particular production may take could make words unnecessary or redundant. Absurd plays are a case in point here. Again, theatre is as much about action or the lack of it as it is about the word.

In short, words in a play are subservient to other important aspects such as form, style, sets, sound, lights, action and so on. Theatre is a composite art form wherein one artistic genre may gain an upper hand but it cannot completely out rule the others.

Play scripts like any other form of linguistic expression are volatile. Experimentation in theatre has led to examining the numerous possibilities a script can present. The dramatic script therefore requires a specialized kind of a reading. Let us see what Brockett has to say about this.

From "On Reading a Play":
There are no rules about how one should read a play. Nevertheless, some observations may be helpful to those for whom play reading is still a new experience. First, one must accept that the ability to read imaginatively and perceptively is a basic skill needed by all persons who seek to become educated, for without it much of human experience is forever lost, and intellectually we remain children suffering from historical and cultural amnesia.

Since all writers do not express themselves in the same form, all written works cannot be read in the same way. Each form has its own characteristics and each makes distinctive demands on the reader. Thus, we cannot read a play in the same way as we do an historical treatise, an essay, a biography, a novel, or a poem.

To read a play adequately, we must first adjust our minds to the dramatic form so that its contents may be perceived. Drama requires the reader to contribute more than any other form does. Not only must the reader see and understand what is explicitly said and done, but he must also be aware of all that is merely implied or left unsaid.