When analyzing a play, is it important to question whether the exposition was presented in a dramatic fashion?

One of the hallmarks of bad storytelling in any form is the use of turgid, obvious exposition. In other words, when a character or narrator has to explain the plot or the implications of the plot to the audience, because the actions or motivations of the characters are not clear, then the dramatist has not done a good job. Generally speaking, unless a play is trying to break the rules of Aristotelean Poetics (such as...

One of the hallmarks of bad storytelling in any form is the use of turgid, obvious exposition. In other words, when a character or narrator has to explain the plot or the implications of the plot to the audience, because the actions or motivations of the characters are not clear, then the dramatist has not done a good job. Generally speaking, unless a play is trying to break the rules of Aristotelean Poetics (such as with Brecht or Artaud) the plot, or rising action, should seem to flow naturally from the personality of the protagonist in relation to the circumstances he or she finds himself in, and in direct relation to the other characters, particularly the antagonist or antagonists, who stand in the way of the protagonist's goals.

If a playwright clearly defines his or her characters and gives them the appearance of a fully fleshed out inner life, the reader or audience will not require any outside exposition in order to understand what is happening or why. Instead, the behavior of the characters will seem both surprising and inevitable, and the turns of the plot, even when they are shocking, will seem almost fated.

It is important, however, to distinguish between plot and exposition. Plot is the story and exposition is simply when a character tells another character (for the benefit of the audience) what has happened or is happening. Exposition, defined this way, is never good or dramatic. Rather, it takes the audience out of its suspension of disbelief by breaking the dramatic tension. A play whose plot follows an inner logic that seems inextricably bound to the personalities and motives of its characters, will never seem like exposition.

If a play is written well, the reader or audience will be wholly unaware of its mechanics, and will instead be caught up in the drama of the story, wondering what will happen next.