Transcript Forms of Drama
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.
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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The End