The audience has heard Iago's plot when Othello calls him "This fellow's of exceeding honesty." What does that gap do to the praise?

After the audience has heard the Macbeths plot Duncan's murder, Duncan enters saying, "This castle hath a pleasant seat." How does the irony work?

In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet has taken the Friar's potion when Capulet says, "Death lies on her like an untimely frost." What does the gap do?

The audience hears Claudius admit his guilt but fail to pray; Hamlet then says, "Now might I do it pat, now he is a-praying." What does the audience know?

The audience watches Maria's letter trap before Malvolio reads, "Some are born great..." What does that extra knowledge do?

Macbeth asks Banquo where he rides and whether Fleance goes with him, then says, "Fail not our feast." Once Banquo leaves, Macbeth arranges his murder. What does that sequence do to the invitation?

In Much Ado, the audience has seen Don John's deception before Claudio rejects Hero: "There, Leonato, take her back again." What does the gap do?

A Doll's House ends not on a speech but on the sound of the street door closing. What does that staging do?

Macbeth's banquet includes the direction, "Enter the Ghost of Banquo, and sits in Macbeth's place." What can that staging do that dialogue alone could not?

Macbeth opens with "Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches." What does starting with that stage picture accomplish?

Hamlet's Ghost first appears as a silent apparition before it tells its story. What does putting the Ghost onstage first accomplish?

The Cherry Orchard closes after Firs is left behind and the sound of an axe striking the trees is heard offstage. What does that direction add?

Ibsen's set for Hedda Gabler includes General Gabler's portrait and his pistols in Hedda's house. What does that arrangement carry through the play?

Ibsen places a Christmas tree in the Helmers' room; later it is "stripped of its ornaments and with burnt-down candle-ends." What does the object carry?

In Trifles, the dead canary is found in Mrs. Wright's sewing box rather than announced in a confession. What does that placement do?

After Duncan's murder, Macbeth enters still holding the daggers, and Lady Macbeth asks, "Why did you bring these daggers from the place?" What does the prop do?

At the close of Measure for Measure, the Duke proposes to Isabella, and the text gives her no reply. What does the missing line do?

At the end of The Cherry Orchard, the family leaves, Firs is locked in, and no one answers him. What does the unanswered stage moment accomplish?

In King Lear, Cordelia says aside, "Love, and be silent," before refusing the contest's speeches. What does that withheld public reply do onstage?

At the end of Trifles, the women hide the dead bird and answer the men only with a remark about quilting. What does that withheld explanation accomplish?