Northeastern University Women Writers Project Research and Encoding Training Materials Castlists

This document last updated Thursday, 18-Nov-2021 14:09:48 EST

Castlists:

Tutorial with Examples

Carole E. Mah

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Introduction
2. ID Values in Cast Lists

Examples

1. Example One: Very Simple CastList (No Actors or Role Descriptions)
    
2. Example Two: Longer Castlist Including Column Break
    
3. Example Three: Simple CastList With Added Actors and Fill
    
4. Example Four: Simple CastList With Added Role Descriptions
    
5. Example Five: Castlist With Castgroups
    
6. Example Six: Castlist With Some Items Braced
    
7. Example Seven: Partial Hyperdiv Castlist:
      e.g. a castlist with "Drunken Sailors" in the castlist but with a specific sailor talking in the play itself
    
8. Example Eight: Full Hyperdiv Castlist:
      No castlist exists in the text, yet there are characters who speak in the text.
    
9. Example Nine: Two-part Plays
    

Introduction

A castlist is a list of the characters in a dramatic work.

See page 276 (section 10.1.4) of P3 for basic information on castlist usage.

See entries 155 and 173 in the FileMaker Markup Documentation DB for basic information on WWP castlist encoding.

There are many combinations and permutations of the following examples; they are only a sample. You should be able to figure out how to encode your castlist based on these examples. If you truly have something different or out of the ordinary that is not shown here, please do ask me to add it as an example.

ID Values in Cast Lists

Remember that the purpose of the id= values in a castlist is to provide id=s to which the who= attributes on speeches (<sp>s) can point. Thus, if your id= value for Mr. Feeble (as below) is WITfee you should naturally always use this value on the who= of every speech spoken by Mr. Feeble, e.g.:

<sp who="WITfee"><speaker>Mr. Feeble</speaker>
<p>People think my name means I'm weak, but it ain't true!</p>
</sp>

The id= values in castlists should be unique across the textbase, not merely within one text, and should therefore be composed of a short prefix indicating the name of the play, followed by three or four letters from the character's name. For example:

<castItem><role id="WITfee">Mr. Feeble</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Female Wits")

This could equally well have been:

<castItem><role id="TFWfee">Mr. Feeble</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Female Wits")

The exact abbreviation does not matter; the point is to make sure the abbreviation succeeds in making the whole id= unique across the textbase. Therefore, if someone wrote two plays, one called "The Public Wooing" and one called "The Private Wooing" the id= values could be as follows for the same character in each of the two plays:

<castItem><role id="PUBWblo">Lady Blown-Over</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Public Wooing")
<castItem><role id="PRIWblo">Lady Blown-Over</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Private Wooing")

Similarly, characters should be unique, so that one might have characters in the same play with very similar names but with clearly unique id= values:

<castItem><role id="WOOlbl">Lady Blown-Over</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Insane Wooing")
<castItem><role id="WOOblo">Lord Blown-Over</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Insane Wooing")
<castItem><role id="WOObld">Lord Bloodthirsty</role>.</castitem> (in the play "The Insane Wooing")

All the examples below are invented for the purpose of example only. They are based on the modern made-for-TV adaption of Armistead Maupin's novel More Tales of the City. To constrast this with the first installment, based on the first novel, Tales of the City, I have made up the ID values accordingly. Thus, one might imagine:

<castItem><role id="TALjon">Jon Fielding</role>.</castitem> (in "Tales of the City")
<castItem><role id="MTAjon">Jon Fielding</role>.</castitem> (in "More Tales of the City")

Example One: Very Simple CastList (No Actors or Role Descriptions)

Back to intro
To Example Two
To Example Three
To Example Four
To Example Five
To Example Six
To Example Seven
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Same sample castlist Encoded

<div type="castList">
<castList>
<head rend="slant(italic)">
The Cast.
</head>
<castItem><role id="MTALmad">Mrs. Madrigal</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmas">Mary Ann Singleton</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmic">Michael Tolliver</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTAjon">Jon Fielding</role></castitem>
</castList>
</div>

Example Two: Longer Castlist Including Column Break

Back to intro
Back to Example One
To Example Three
To Example Four
To Example Five
To Example Six
To Example Seven
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

In the following, imagine that the vertical line is solid:

Same sample castlist Encoded

<div type="castList">
<castList rend="columns(2)">
<head rend="slant(italic)">
The Cast.
</head>
<castItem><role id="MTALmad">Mrs. Madrigal</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmas">Mary Ann Singleton</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALbur">Burke Andrew</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTAjon">Jon Fielding</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTAdede">DeDe Day</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmic">Michael Tolliver</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmon">Mona Ramsey</role></castitem>

 
<cb>

 
<castItem><role id="MTALmuc">Mother Mucca</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALbri">Brian Hawkins</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALfra">Frannie Halcyon</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALdor">D'orothea Wilson</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTAhel">Helena Parrish</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALbet">Betty Ramsey</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALbea">Beauchamp Day</role></castitem>
</castList>
</div>

Example Three: Simple CastList With Added Actors and Fill

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
To Example Four
To Example Five
To Example Six
To Example Seven
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Same sample castlist Encoded

To avoid having to type the same rendition for every <actor> (<actor rend="align(right)slant(italic)fill()">), first add the following to the <tagsdecl>:

<rendition id="rend.itrifi">slant(italic)align(right)fill()</rendition>
<tagusage gi="actor" render="rend.itrifi"></tagusage>

Then, the castlist itself becomes simple:

<div type="castList">
<castList>
<head rend="slant(italic)">
The Cast
</head>
<castItem><role id="MTALmad">Mrs. Madrigal</role><actor>Olympia Dukakis</actor></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmas">Mary Ann Singleton</role><actor>Laura Linney</actor></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmic">Michael Tolliver</role><actor>Paul Hopkins</actor></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALjon">Jon Fielding</role><actor>William Campbell</actor></castitem>
</castList>
</div>

Example Four: Simple CastList With Added Role Descriptions

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
Back to Example Three
To Example Five
To Example Six
To Example Seven
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Same sample castlist Encoded

As in the previous example, I'm assuming you will put the renditional information for the <roledesc> in the <tagsdecl> so as to avoid having to type <roledesc rend="slant(italic)"> over and over again, so I do not show that here.

Also, it is easy to imagine an example involving both actors and role descriptions (simply a combination of this example and the previous example), so I do not include an actual example of that here.

<div type="castList">
<castList>
<head rend="slant(italic)">
The Cast.
</head>
<castItem><role id="MTALmad">Mrs. Madrigal.</role> <roledesc>The landlady and friend of
Michael, Mary Ann, et al.</roledesc></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmas">Mary Ann Singleton.</role> <roledesc>Naive straight girl
from Cleveland and Michael's best friend.</roledesc></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALmic">Michael Tolliver.</role> <roledesc>Our hero; his friends
call him "Mouse".</roledesc></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTAjon">Jon Fielding.</role> <roledesc>Michael's sometime
boyfriend.</roledesc></castitem>
</castList>
</div>

Example Five: Castlist With Castgroups

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
Back to Example Three
Back to Example Four
To Example Six
To Example Seven
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Same sample castlist Encoded

As in the previous example, I'm assuming you will put the renditional information for the <role> in the <tagsdecl> so as to avoid having to type <role rend="case(allcaps)"> over and over again, so I do not show that here.

<div type="castList">
<castlist>
<castgroup>
<head>Men.</head>
<castItem><role>BRIAN HAWKINS.</role> <roleDesc>Lonely straight guy; fellow tenant of Michael and Mary Ann.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>BURKE ANDREW.</role> <roleDesc>Mary Ann's amnesiac cruise-ship boyfriend.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>JON FIELDING.</role> <roleDesc>Michael's sometime boyfriend.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>MICHAEL TOLLIVER.</role> <roleDesc>Our hero; his friends call him "Mouse".</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>BEAUCHAMP DAY.</role> <roleDesc>Mary Ann's very wealthy boss.</roleDesc></castItem>
</castgroup>
<castgroup>
<head>Women.</head>
<castItem><role>MRS. MADRIGAL.</role> <roleDesc>The landlady and friend of Michael, Mary Ann, Brian, Mona et al.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>MOTHER MUCCA.</role> <roleDesc>Runs a whorehouse; turns out to be related to guess who.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>MARY ANN SINGLETON.</role> <roleDesc>Naive straight girl from Cleveland and Michael's best friend.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>FRANNIE HALCYON.</role> <roleDesc>Mother of Dede; recently widowed.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>D'OROTHEA WILSON.</role> <roleDesc>Mona's ex-girlfriend.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>DEDE DAY.</role> <roleDesc>Beauchamp's long-suffering wife</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>HELENA PARRISH.</role> <roleDesc>Friend of Frannie.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>BETTY RAMSEY.</role> <roleDesc>Mona's mother.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>MONA RAMSEY.</role> <roleDesc>Fellow tenant, friend of Michael and Mary Ann.</roleDesc></castItem>
</castgroup>
</castlist>
</div>

Example Six: Castlist With Some Items Braced

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
Back to Example Three
Back to Example Four
Back to Example Five
To Example Seven
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Same sample castlist Encoded

The <trailer> solution to the <roleDesc> problem in the <castGroup> is sort of a hack, but for now it is what we do. For an even more complicated example, see the file cavendish.bridals.sgml.

<div type="castList">
<castlist>
<castItem><role>MRS. MADRIGAL.</role> <roleDesc>Landlady and friend of Michael,
Mary Ann, et al.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castGroup rend="braced()">
<castItem><role>BRIAN HAWKINS.</role></castItem>
<castItem><role>MICHAEL TOLLIVER.</role></castItem>
<castItem><role>MARY ANN SINGLETON.</role>lt;/castItem>
<castItem><role>MONA RAMSEY.</role></castItem>
<trailer>Tenants of<lb>Mrs. Madrigal</trailer>
</castGroup>
<castItem><role>BURKE ANDREW.</role> <roleDesc>Mary Ann's amnesiac cruise-ship boyfriend.</roleDesc></castItem>
<castItem><role>JON FIELDING.</role> <roleDesc>Michael's sometime boyfriend.</roleDesc></castItem>
</castlist>
</div>

Example Seven: Partial Hyperdiv Castlist

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
Back to Example Three
Back to Example Four
Back to Example Five
Back to Example Six
To Example Eight
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Same sample castlist Encoded

The problem here is that the drunken sailors may actually speak individually within the text of the play, so that putting an id= value on the whole entity "Several Drunken Sailors" does no good, because you need a unique way to refer to each individual sailor, and the castlist does not provide this since it lumps them all in together as a group.

The normal <castlist> should be encoded as usual and in its usual place, although you need not specify an id= value for the drunken sailors here at all, unless they actually speak or sing as a group in the play:

<div type="castList">
<castList>
<head rend="slant(italic)">
The Cast.
</head>
<castItem><role id="MTALmic">Michael Tolliver</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTAjon">Jon Fielding</role></castitem>
<castItem><role>Several Drunken Sailors</role></castitem>
</castList>
</div>

What you need to do to accomodate the sailors is add an extra or "fake" <CASTLIST> inside the <hyperdiv> which contains your made-up list of the sailors and any other similarly problematic characters. You make up this list based on the play itself, so that if the play has:

First Drunken Sailor:  I lost my parakeet.
Second Drunken Sailor: That's because I stole it.

then you would compose your 2nd <castlist> (the one in the <hyperdiv>) as follows:

<hyperdiv>
<castList>
<castItem><role id="MTALfds">First Drunken Sailor</role></castitem>
<castItem><role id="MTALsds">Second Drunken Sailor</role></castitem>
</castList>
</hyperdiv>

Of course, you might have some <note>s in the <hyperdiv> as well. If you do, you must make sure to put the <castlist> before the <note>s, since the reverse is not valid.

Example Eight: Full Hyperdiv Castlist

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
Back to Example Three
Back to Example Four
Back to Example Five
Back to Example Six
Back to Example Seven
To Example Nine

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

If there is no actual <castlist> at all in your text, and yet there are speeches with speakers, you simply invent an entire <castlist> in the <hyperdiv>, as described above for the drunken sailors. The only difference in this case is that you would only have the one (invented) <castlist>, instead of having two as in the previous example.

Example Nine: Two-part Plays

Back to intro
Back to Example One
Back to Example Two
Back to Example Three
Back to Example Four
Back to Example Five
Back to Example Six
Back to Example Seven
Back to Example Eight

How the sample castlist looks in the Office Text

Two-part plays usually contain a separate <castlist> for each part, with some redundancy of characters. Characters appearing in both parts should be given a single unique id= value in the first <castlist>, and no id= value in the second <castlist>. Characters appearing only in the second part should be given an id= value in the second <castlist>.

For an example, see the text cavendish.wits.sgml. That particular example contains three <castlist>s: one in the <hyperdiv> and one in each of the two parts of the play.