The Art of Dialogue. Jurij Alschitz

not real dramatic action, but a verbal skirmish, a quick exchange of short phrases. Each waits for the other’s line before they can reply. The text which they speak is not as important as the shift in context which it brings. What’s important is the form of the reply – theatrical, literary – and the paradoxical nature of the question and answer.

      Look at Oscar Wilde’s plays, for example, they have ­series of contextual explosions. The shorter the line, the more likely is the change of context. And that is of value here, first and foremost.

      Gentleman’s discourse