Objective: We will be able to define elements of a drama

A

drama

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

Forms of Drama

There are two main forms of classical drama:

tragedy

and

comedy.

Forms of Drama

A

tragedy

is a play ending in sorrow or regret. • Most classical Greek tragedies deal with serious, universal subjects such as right and wrong justice and injustice life and death • Tragedies pit human limitations against the larger forces of fate or destiny.

Forms of Drama

A

comedy

also deals with human flaws, but the play ends happily. The plot usually centers on a romantic conflict.

boy meets girl boy loses girl boy wins girl Modern comedies

Forms of Drama

In comedy, characters’ choices lead to confusion and humor— and an expected, exaggerated outcome.

In many cases, a comedy ends with a wedding.

[End of Section]

Forms of Drama

Quick Check

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

[End of Section]

Dramatic Structure

Characters in Conflict

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

conflict.

Complications

tension builds

Climax

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

Exposition

protagonist and conflict are introduced

Resolution

conflict is resolved; play ends

Dramatic Structure

Sometimes the dramatist creates a

foil,

who contrasts with the

protagonist.

a character The the

foil

exhibits characteristics and virtues that are the opposite of those of

protagonist.

cowardice Tragic heroes often have foils. courage

Dramatic Structure

Forms of Conflict

Comedies and other types of drama often have an

antagonist

—a main character who opposes the protagonist.

The

antagonist

creates problems for the protagonist in many ways.

Setting the Stage

Plays are meant to be performed—to come alive onstage for an audience.

Theater artists, such as • actors • directors • designers • lighting technicians • stage crews help make the playwright’s vision a reality.

Setting the Stage

Even the most basic performance of a play involves • a stage • costumes • a set • lighting These help the actors become the characters—and help the audience connect with those characters.

Setting the Stage

The Stage

The stage on which actors perform can take many forms.

In Shakespeare’s time, • the stage extended into the viewing area, and • the audience surrounded the stage on three sides or watched from the balconies.

Setting the Stage

The Stage

Today, many stages are set back and separated from the audience by a curtain.

Other stages are set in the middle of the audience, “in the round.”

Setting the Stage

Scene Design

Sets, lights, costumes, and props transform a bare stage into the world of the play.

Often a playwright gives directions at the beginning of a play or scene, describing the set he or she envisions.

Setting the Stage

Scene Design

A stage’s

set

might be

realistic and detailed abstract and minimal

Setting the Stage

Scene Design

Scene design includes

lighting,

which helps establish the mood and appearance of the set.

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.

Setting the Stage

Costumes

are the clothes that actors wear.

• Like sets, costumes can be

simple elaborate realistic stylized

Setting the Stage

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.

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

[End of Section]

Dramatic Elements

Actors rely on a variety of theatrical techniques to convey ideas and emotions to the audience.

Stage Directions

Playwrights often include detailed notes—or

stage directions

—describing how actors should move and speak their lines.

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

Dramatic Elements

Quick Check

LIZA. 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 What are the stage directions in this passage?

[End of Section]

Words and Action: Characters Onstage

The characters’ speech may take several forms.

Dialogue

The conversation of characters onstage is called

dialogue.

• Dialogue and action move the play forward.

• Scripts often contain suggestions or instructions for techniques to heighten the emotion and tension in dialogue.

Words and Action: Characters Onstage

Monologues and Soliloquies

A

monologue

is a speech delivered by one character to another character onstage.

A

soliloquy

is spoken by a character alone onstage to himself or herself or directly to the audience. Soliloquies • often express a character’s deepest feelings • may signal a change in the character’s thinking

Words and Action: Characters Onstage

Asides

Sometimes a character comments directly on the action in a play.

These comments, called

asides,

are spoken to the audience or to one other character. Other characters do not hear the comments.

Words and Action: Characters Onstage

Quick Check

LIZA. 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 What does the characters’ dialogue tell you about them? [End of Section]

Analyze Drama

Your Turn Analyze Drama

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

2. What is the difference between a monologue and a soliloquy?

3. What is the purpose of an aside?

[End of Section]

The End