Drama

What Is Drama?

A drama is a story enacted onstage for a live audience.

What Is Drama?

• Origins of Drama
• The word drama comes from the Greek verb dran, which means “to do.”
• The earliest known plays . . .
• were written around the fifth century B.C.
• produced for festivals to honor Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility

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Dramatic Structure

Like the plot of a story, the plot of a play involves characters who face a problem or conflict.

Climax

point of highest tension;�action determines how the conflict will be resolved

Resolution

conflict is resolved;

play ends

Complications

tension builds

Exposition�characters and conflict are introduced

Dramatic Structure

Conflict is a struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces. A conflict may develop . . .

• between characters who want different things or the same thing
• between a character and his or her circumstances
• within a character who is torn by competing desires

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Tragedy

A tragedy is a play that ends unhappily.

• Tragedies pit human limitations against the larger forces of destiny.

right and wrong

justice and injustice

life and death

• Most classic Greek tragedies deal with serious, universal themes such as

Tragedy

The protagonist of most classical tragedies is a tragic hero. This hero

• is noble and in many ways admirable

• has a tragic flaw, a personal failing that leads to a tragic end

rebelliousness

jealousy

pride

Comedy

A comedy is a play that ends happily. The plot usually centers on a romantic conflict.

boy meets girl

boy loses girl

boy wins girl

Comedy

The main characters in a comedy could be anyone:

nobility

servants

townspeople

Comedy

• Comic complications always occur before the conflict is resolved.

• In most cases, the play ends with a wedding.

Modern Comedy

• Modern Comedies
• In modern comedies, the genders in this romantic plot pattern sometimes are reversed.

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Modern Drama

A modern play

• usually is about ordinary people

• may be tragedy, comedy, or a mixture of the two

• usually focuses on personal issues

Modern Drama

Modern playwrights often experiment with unconventional plot structures.

long flashbacks

music

visual projections of a character’s private thoughts

Performance of a Play

When you read a play, remember that it is meant to be performed for an audience.

Performance of a Play

• Theater artists include
• Actors
• Directors
• Lighting technicians
• Stage crew

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Setting the Stage

Stages can have many different sizes and layouts.

“Thrust” stage

• The stage extends into the viewing area.

• The audience surrounds the stage on three sides.

Setting the Stage

“In the round” stage is surrounded by an audience on all sides.

Setting the Stage

Proscenium stage

• The playing area extends behind an opening called a “proscenium arch.”

• The audience sits on one side looking into the action.

upstage

downstage

stage left

stage right

Setting the Stage

Stages in Shakespeare’s time were thrust stages.

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Setting the Stage

Scene design transforms a bare stage into the world of the play. Scene design consists of

• props

• sets

• costumes

• lighting

Setting the Stage

A stage’s set might be

realistic and detailed

abstract and minimal

Setting the Stage

A lighting director skillfully uses light to change the mood and appearance of the set.

Setting the Stage

The costume director works with the director to design the actors’ costumes.

• Like sets, costumes can be

detailed

minimal

Setting the Stage

Props (short for properties) are items that the characters carry or handle onstage.

• The person in charge of props must make sure that the right props are available to the actors at the right moments.

The Characters

The characters’ speech may take any of the following forms.

The Audience

Finally, a play needs an audience to

experience the performance

understand the story

respond to the characters

The End

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