Dramatic Interpretation

Dramatic Interpretation (often shortened to "Dramatic Interp," "Drama" or just "DI") is an event in National Forensic League (and NFL-related) high school forensics competitions.

In a typical round of DI, five to seven performers will each perform a "cutting" (excerpt) from a readily available, published (copyrighted or non-copyrighted) play, novel, or short story. As the name suggests, the cuttings are invariably from non-comedic (e.g., dramatic) works. Some performers select monologues, others may adopt the roles of many different characters, changing their tone, manner, and the position of their body to indicate a change in character.

After all of the competitors have performed, the judge (or judges) in the round will rank them from best to worst, and assign each of them a score. Contestants who score well will "break" out of preliminary rounds and continue to advance through octo/quarter/semi/final rounds if they continue to score well.

In college, DI cuttings must be from a play. Novels and short stories are used in prose.

The use of props is forbidden. Wearing a costume or attempting to dress "in character" is seen as a kind of propping.

The time limit for Dramatic Interpretation is ten minutes, with a 30-second grace period. There is no minimum time limit. If the performer exceeds the 30 second grace period, he/she can not be ranked first in the round.

Within the ten minutes, there must be an introduction which states the title and author of the selection, which must be an original work by the performer. A "teaser" from the selection may precede the introduction.

...
Wikipedia