Shaffer raise the play 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun' from a simple tale of history to a memorable and spectacular theatrical experience with the use of theatre effects and the use of contrasting characters, conflict and the narrative. These theatre techniques are going to explore and explain why it makes the play so memorable and spectacular.

The setting of 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun' consists of a theatre with an upper level and a huge ring, twelve feet in diameter. This was hung in the centre of a wooden back-wall with twelve pedals around its circumference to form a great medallion. When the great medallion was opened the pedals formed the rays of a giant golden sun, this was the emblem of the Incas. When it was closed, it formed the emblem of the Conquistadors. Shaffer uses this medallion to symbolise the contrast in the setting, cultures and the different philosophies.

The way Shaffer uses the narrator is a major part of the play as the narrator gives enlightenment into the story. The narrator is played by Old Martin who has an integral role in the action with flashbacks from the past when he

The different philosophies of the Spanish and Inca are vivid throughout the play and they become apparent in scene four. The Inca philosophy from the point of Villac Umu is as stated 'Here on earth gods come one after another, young and young again, to protect the people of the sun. Then they go up to his great place in the sky, at his will.' The Spaniards philosophy is summed up in a good way by De Nizza while trying to explain what sin means to Atahuallpa. 'Let me picture it to you as a prison cell, the bars made of our imperfections. Through them we glimpse a fair country where it is always morning. We wish we could walk there, or else forget the place entirely. But we cannot snap the bars, or if we do, others grow in their stead.'

rise again to protect their lord who stands bewildered in their midst.

The mood of this scene changes abruptly, this is achieved by the strange use of dialogue, with the words of Manco 'I bring truth from many runners what has been seen in the Farthest Province. White men sitting on huge sheep! The sheep are red! Everywhere their leader shouts aloud 'Here is God!' This changes the scene abruptly by the conversation that follows, Atahuallpa exchanged the words of white men sitting on sheep to The White God. Atahuallpa referred to an 'all-powered spirit who left this place before my ancestors ruled you! ... The White God returns!' The Inca people believed that their great God of creation, Viracocha would return one day in white.

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Approximate Word count = 2651
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)