How do I cite a scene deleted from a play?
Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.
Cite the version of the scene you consulted, whether a typescript from an archive, an online resource, an appendix to a print edition, or a live or recorded production that includes the scene.
If the version you consulted is published separately from the edition of the play you use, create an entry for it as well as the play:
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Bookman House, 1998.
———. “Handout: Deleted Act 2, Scene 2.” English 101, La Posada High School, spring 2018.
When you are quoting from or paraphrasing the deleted scene, your in-text citation should direct the reader to the entry for the handout:
Miller, in a deleted scene, reveals that Proctor intended to confess to adultery before he testified in court (“Handout”).
If the edition of the play you’re citing includes the deleted scene, creating an entry for the edition is sufficient. For example, the following version of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible includes in an appendix a scene that Miller removed from an early version of the play:
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. Penguin Books, 2016.
In this case, when you are quoting from or paraphrasing the deleted scene, referring the reader to the appendix is sufficient:
Miller, in a deleted scene, reveals that Proctor intended to confess to adultery before he testified in court (appendix).
Read more about how to cite an appendix.