凸顯出劇本不只是一種文學的表現形式，更是活生生的戲劇演出素材——有時候其中的結構特點甚至與樂譜相仿。文學和戲劇之間的差異其實非常巨大，一場演出的聲音、音樂、動作、視覺、整體氛圍等等更多元素都等著被從劇本的深處挖掘出來，那是沒有辦法經由嚴謹的文學手段，例如劇本的閱讀與分析來理解的。閱讀本書，就像是窺探劇作家的工具箱，翻找出他在造藝時的特殊器械。
對劇本閱讀的新手來說，這本書所提供的技巧，不只有助益，更幾乎延伸涵括了各種層面。對進階者－即使是經驗十分豐富的老手－來說，本書就像是更進一步探索劇本原始樣貌的指路牌和照明燈，讓未來的體驗可以更加豐富並且充滿個人獨有的感受。
這本書，寫給所有把戲劇搬上舞台臺的人：演員們、導演們、各種設計師們、技術人員們，以及劇作家們，也是為了那些單純享受閱讀劇本樂趣的人而寫——如果他們同意劇本存在的意義是為了被放在舞台臺上演出的話。但是本書主要還是寫給那些真正在舞台臺上搬演劇本的人，書中的種種技巧，可以幫助你以一種分析的方式，去看清楚劇本是怎麼樣變成一齣戲。

This guide to playreading for students and practitioners of both theater and literature complements, rather then contradicts or repeats, traditional methods of literary analysis of scripts.Ball developed his method during his work as Literary Director at the Guthrie Theater, building his guide on the crafts playwrights of every period and style use to make their plays stageworthy. The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, exposition, imagery, motivation/obstacle/conflict, theatricality, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play. He includes guides for discovering what the playwright considers the play's most important elements, thus permitting interpretation based on the foundation of the play rather than its details.Using "Hamlet" as illustration, Ball assures a familiar base for illustrating script-reading techniques as well as examples of the kinds of misinterpretation readers can fall prey to by ignoring the craft of the playwright. Of immense utility to those who want to put plays on the stage (actors, directors, designers, production specialists) "Backwards and Forwards" is also a fine playwriting manual because the structures it describes are the primary tools of the playwright.