A “take” is a precise “look” in a given direction, for instance, towards the audience or another character or anobject on the stage. Particularly with masks and puppets, the “take” to the audience is an essential technique for suggesting the subtext of a character by exploiting the audience’s imagination. In unmasked play it serves to emphasize moments of anticipation and reaction. The aparte, the aside to the audience, and the soliloquy are a natural evolution of the take.
The double-take, two takes in quick succession, is a well known comic technique. A special case of the double-take is the "slow burn," in which the interval between the two takes is extended while the realisation of what was seen in the first take slowly reaches conscious understanding.
