Folk Play Scripts Explorer - Introduction

The Scripts Explorer lets you:

1.

Search for lines containing specified words, phrases or strings of letters

If you wish, you can use the drop-down menu to specify that search keywords should at the beginning or at the end of the line; otherwise the string may appear anywhere.

You may also search for a specific line type using its Standard Identification number (Std.ID).

The search results are displayed in a table such as this:

• Clicking on an Std.ID will find all the major variants of that line - if there are any.
• Clicking on the appropriate number of hits will display all the relevant examples of the line.
• Clicking on 'Map' will plot the relevant set of results on an outline distribution map.
• Clicking on a icon will plot the relevant set of result on a Google Map. If you then click on the map markers you can view the variants of the line at each location.

2.

View all the variants of a given line type

The 'Previous Std.IDs' and 'Next Std.IDs' give the line type for the preceding and following line for each example shown. Clicking on one of these numbers will search for the relevant Std.ID.

Clicking on a play title will display the full script for that play, in a new browser window or tab.

3.

See the line in the context of a script extract

4.

Plot distribution maps

With the mapping options, you can choose the colours for plotting locations on the map for each of your sets of search results. Multiple sets can use the same colour, in which case they are grouped together in the key.

You can optionally display columns for the lines' Std.IDs and for the approximate date of the earliest examples, if you wish.

Some scripts cannot be assigned to a specific location (e.g. 'North Somerset'), but rather than omit them from the map, they have be assigned representative generic coordinates. On the Google maps, the markers for these plays bear a question mark, and the marker captions say 'Imprecisely located'. Question marks may also indicate other uncertain locations, for instance for a composite version.

'Print Views' of the outline distribution maps are of better quality than those on the map editing page. The map title and key panel also display better. If you right-click on the image of an outline map, you are welcome to save it for use in your own publications or web pages, provided you acknowledge the source.

Permission to reproduce Google Maps may be affected by Google's Terms and Conditions or those of its partners. They tend to look favourably on re-use for academic and not-for-profit purposes. However, it is your responsibility to check.

For a case study on making the most of the Scripts Explorer's mapping facilities, see my conference poster: 'Mapping the Uncharted Territory of Folk Drama' (Millington, 2009).

5.

View the full script at www.folkplay.info

6.

References

Peter Millington (1994-2006) Historical Database of Folk Play Scripts
Internet URL: http://www.folkplay.info/Texts.htm, 1999-2006, accessed 1st Jan.2007

Peter Millington (2002) The Origins and Development of English Folk Plays
PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield, May 2002     [Extended Abstract] [Full Thesis PDF - 2.7MB]

Peter Millington (2003) Textual Analysis of English Quack Doctor Plays: Some New Discoveries
in: Folk Drama Studies Today: The International Traditional Drama Conference 2002, ed. by E.Cass & P.Millington
Sheffield, Traditional Drama Research Group, 2003, ISBN 0-9508152-3-3, pp.97-132     [PDF Download - 841kB]

Peter Millington (2009) Mapping the Uncharted Territory of Folk Drama
in: Conference on: 'Sites of Performance: Mapping/Theatre/History', University of Nottingham, 2-4 April 2009
[Abstract] [Introduction - PDF - 878kB] [Case Study - PDF - 874kB]

© 2007-2009, Peter Millington (peter.millington@mastermummers.org). Last updated: 16-Mar-2011