PERRINE’S DRAMA: CHAPTER 1

The Nature of Drama

DRAMA IS LIKE PROSE

• It will:
• Develop themes (U.T.s)
• Arouse emotional responses.
• May be literary (artistic).
• May be commercial (for us regular people who want to entertained if we pay to see something).

DRAMA IS ALSO LIKE POETRY

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• May include verse (written like a poem. Often in Iambic Pentameter). REMEMBER THIS!
• Much Drama is poetry (Shakespeare).

HOW IS DRAMA DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER GENRE?

• It is written to be performed and not read.
• It presents its action through:
• Actors
• On a stage (or in front of a camera)
• Before an audience (in a theatre or in a theater, or on TV).

THE EFFECTS OF DRAMA

• We are not reading, we are hearing what is said, seeing what is done.
• Our senses (visual and audial) are affected immediately.
• We see and hear immediately what a character sounds like and what he looks like.
• We can SEE emotions through facial gestures, speech rhythm, and intonation (how it’s said in tone).

POINT OF VIEW

• All plays (well maybe not all)I have not read them all) are written in OBJECTIVE (or Dramatic) Point of view. It’s like a camera above the actors just showing what is said and done. (If I was you I would remember OBJECTIVE).
• Writers cannot comment on any actions.
• They cannot present the thoughts of the characters.

WAYS AROUND THE P.O.V. ISSUE

• SOLILOQUY: When one character seems to be speaking to himself/herself.
• It will be a long speech.
• It will be by one character.
• He will be alone on stage.
• He will reveal thoughts and feelings about present feeling or future plans.
• ASIDE: Characters will turn away from other characters on stage and speak DIRECTLY to the audience. They will let the audience know what they are REALLY thinking. And the other characters DONOT HEAR it.

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LIMITATIONS OF DRAMA AT LEAST ON A STAGE

• Action confined to a limited space (the stage).
• Cannot introduce complex actions (like a wild animal attacking).
• Cannot shift scenes quickly.
• Are stuck to one setting for a longer period of time.
• Are limited to the confines of the stage, so large scale action (like a huge battle scene) can not happen.

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SO WHAT DO PLAYWRITERS DO?

• Stage settings are made simple.
• Add a short scene to create the transition. Dancing or singing is one way.
• Drop a curtain.
• Cut the lights.

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THE COOL THING ABOUT A PLAY

• There is a crowd. The experience is “communal” (common to all people in the audience who are not asleep or on their phones).
• Experience of the play is affected by others’ laughter, gasps, screams, sighs, etc.

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SO A GOOD DRAMA SHOULD:

• Have a well defined plot.
• Fast exposition (where we learn the characters, conflict and setting).
• Have a great conflict (problem) to be solved.
• Dramatic confrontations between the main characters (good and bad).
• Each part will build to its own climax (when there are multiple acts).
• The UT will be understood on ONE viewing (not multiple readings as we have seen in some of the stories and poems).

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AND WE ARE DONE

• I bet that I found some things that you did not put in your outline. So add to it.