What should I focus on specifically when analysing a play or dramatic text?

It is important to remember that any play or dramatic text will have 'non-physical' or 'literary' aspects that refer to the literature as something to be read by a reader, as well as 'physical' aspects which allow the written literature to become a physical piece of drama performed to an audience. Both the literary and the performed elements of a dramatic text are equally important in creating a profound impression on an audience.Let's take the example of the play 'A Doll's House' by Henrik Ibsen. At the very end of Act 3 Ibsen uses an abundance of both 'literary' and 'dramatic' methods to present an effective conclusion to his drama. The final stage direction of '[The street door is slammed shut downstairs]' is an excellent example of a physical element of the play. A playwright's use of stage directions throughout a piece of drama can be linked to central issues explored within a play, its recurring motifs and symbolism, and the tensions and relationships between characters. In the case of 'A Doll's House', Ibsen's instruction that the protagonist of Nora '[slam the door'] can be seen to be synonymous with the play's exploration of power dynamics in 19th century Norwegian society. Ibsen also makes use of linguistic devices to enhance his dramatic conclusion. Despite the fact that Helmer, Nora's husband, is given the power of the closing line of the play, Ibsen presents this as an undignified calling to his free and powerful wife, 'Nora! Nora'. This is an example of how the themes of a play can be transposed into physical performance. As you can see from this brief analysis of the ending of 'A Doll's House', playwrights often combine literary and physical aspects to create a piece of drama. Unfortunately there is no check list of things to include in an analytical essay. Instead, I would recommend that you ask yourself a series of questions when you analyse a dramatic text. For example: how is staging (lighting, sounds, furniture, set) used to reflect a play's central themes? Is the staging typical of the period the play was written in? How do the stage directions affect the action onstage? What are the characters directed to do and say, and what does this symbolise? How do characters talk? Do they perform soliloquies alone to the audience? Or is there heavy use of stichomythia between antagonistic pairs? How does the playwright adhere to the classic 'Unity of Place'? Does all the action take place in one room, or does it move locations throughout the drama? What is the effect of this? Does the drama break the fourth wall and directly involve the audience, or is the audience a distanced observer to the action?