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Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are the Elements of Drama?

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Page 1: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

Origins of Drama

Forms of Drama

Tragedy

Comedy

Dramatic Structure

Setting the Stage

Dramatic Elements

Characters Onstage

Your Turn

Feature Menu

What Are the Elements of Drama?

Page 2: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

A drama is a story enacted by actors on a stage for a live audience.

Origins of Drama

Page 3: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

• written around the fifth century B.C.

Origins

The word drama comes from the Greek verb dran, which means “to do.”

The earliest known plays were

• produced for festivals to honor Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility

Origins of Drama

[End of Section]

Page 4: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

There are two main forms of classical drama: tragedy and comedy.

Forms of Drama

Page 5: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Forms of Drama

Page 6: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Forms of Drama

Page 7: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

The foil is the character who is used to contrast another character—usually the tragic hero.

The foil is often an antagonist

who displays a characteristic

that is opposite of the hero.

couragecowardice

Forms of Drama

Page 8: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Modern comedies

Forms of Drama

Page 9: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

The main characters in a comedy could be anyone:

nobility servantstownspeople

Forms of Drama

Page 10: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

• Comic complications always occur before the conflict is resolved.

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

Forms of Drama

[End of Section]

Page 11: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

Quick CheckDoes this play sound like a comedy or a tragedy? How can you tell?

MABEL CHILTERN. How horrid you have been! You have never talked to me the whole evening! LORD GORING. How could I? You went away with the child-diplomatist.

MABEL CHILTERN. You might have followed us. Pursuit would have been only polite. I don't think I like you at all this evening!

LORD GORING. I like you immensely. from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

Forms of Drama

Page 12: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

A modern play

• usually is about ordinary people

• may be tragedy, comedy, or a mixture

• usually focuses on personal issues

Dramatic Structure

Page 13: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Climaxpoint of highest tension;

action determines how the conflict will be resolved

Resolutionconflict is resolved;play ends

Complicationstension builds

Expositionprotagonist and conflict are introduced

Dramatic Structure

Page 14: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Dramatic Structure

Page 15: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

In an external conflict, characters struggle against something or someone outside themselves.

Internal conflicts happen inside a character’s mind.

Dramatic Structure

[End of Section]

Page 16: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

Dramatic Structure

Quick Check

The brilliant yellowy-green skin and its great size made me certain it was a green mamba, a creature almost as deadly as the black mamba, and for a few seconds I was so startled and dumbfounded and horrified that I froze to the spot. Then I pulled myself together and ran round to the back of the house shouting, “Mr. Fuller! Mr. Fuller!”

“The Green Mamba”

What is the conflict? Is it an external or internal conflict?

Page 17: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

Stages can have many different sizes and layouts.

“Thrust” stage

Stages in Shakespeare’s time

• The stage extends into the viewing area.

• The audience surrounds the stage on three sides.

Setting the Stage

Page 18: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Setting the Stage

Page 19: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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 leftstage right

Setting the Stage

Page 20: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

• props

• sets

• costumes

• lighting

Setting the Stage

Page 21: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

A stage’s set might be

realistic and detailed

abstract and minimal

Setting the Stage

Page 22: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Setting the Stage

Page 23: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

• Like sets, costumes can be

detailed minimal

Setting the Stage

Page 24: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

[End of Section]

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

Setting the Stage

Page 25: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

What stage, lighting, and props do you imagine when you read this setting?

Quick Check[The headlights of a car suddenly illuminate CHARLEY against the wall. CHARLEY is leaning against the lamp post, in a very casual attitude, looking as dapper as usual. TERRY and EDIE run to him. The car drives off. From On the Waterfront: The Final Shooting Script by Budd Schulberg. Copyright © 1980 by Budd Schulberg. Reproduced by permission of Miriam Altshuler Literary Agency on behalf of Budd Schulberg.

Setting the Stage

Page 26: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Stage Directions

Playwright describes setting and characters’ actions and manner.

[Wyona is sitting on the couch. She sees Paul and jumps to her feet.]Wyona. [Angrily.] What do you want?

Performance

• Theater artists bring the playwright’s vision to life on the stage.

• The audience responds to the play and shares the experience.

Dramatic Elements

Page 27: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

Modern playwrights often experiment with unconventional plot structures.

[End of Section]

long flashbacksmusic

visual projections of a character’s private thoughts

Dramatic Elements

Page 28: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

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

Dialogue: conversations of characters onstage

Monologue: long speech given by one character to others

Soliloquy: speech by a character alone onstage to himself or herself or to the audience

Asides: remarks made to the audience or to one character; the other characters onstage do not hear an aside

Characters Onstage

Page 29: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

What are the stage directions in this passage?

What does the characters’ dialogue tell you about them?

Quick CheckLIZA. No: I dont want no gold and no diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am. [She sits down again, with an attempt at dignity].   

HIGGINS. You shall remain so, Eliza, under the care of Mrs. Pearce. And you shall marry an officer in the Guards, with a beautiful moustache: the son of a marquis, who will disinherit him for marrying you, but will relent when he sees your beauty and goodness—

from Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw [End of Section]

Characters Onstage

Page 30: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

Analyze Drama

1. Name at least two differences between comedy and tragedy.

2. How might “fatal flaws” affect a character’s ability to make wise or informed choices?

3. Think of a movie. Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? What is the conflict, and how is it resolved?

4. Consider all of the theater jobs involved in putting on a play. Which do you think you would like to have? Why?

Your Turn

What Are the Elements of Drama?

Page 31: Origins of Drama Forms of Drama Tragedy Comedy Dramatic Structure Setting the Stage Dramatic Elements Characters Onstage Your Turn Feature Menu What Are

The End