Elements of Drama
Download
Report
Transcript Elements of Drama
Remember to use Cornell Style with a summary
Need to express/communicate
emotions/feelings/ideas
Need for social change
Universal themes (good/evil)
Show common ideas/emotions
Oral tradition
Narrative
Storytelling
Folktales
Religious rituals/ceremonies
Entertainment
Adventure movies (Indiana Jones)
Sci-Fi (Star Wars)
Action (Batman)
Etc.
Express/communicate emotion/ideas/feelings
When drama is performed on a stage in front of an
audience
Parts that a playwright uses in the play
Plot (the story)
Theme (meaning of the story)
Characters
Suspense
Language (dialect, slang, etc.)
Monologue (soliloquy)
Dialogue
Stage Directions
5 main parts of plot:
Exposition
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Conclusion
Setting – time and place
Plays are divided into Acts which are further divided into
Scenes
Very important in modern theater, less so in the past
Scenery:
Suggest a location, time period, or physical setting
(castle, doctors office, school, etc.)
Flats – painted canvas covered frames
Flats can also be curtains, wood, cardboard, Styrofoam,
paper mache, etc.
Sound
Sound effects or mood music
Microphones if needed
Lighting
Creates effects that signify mood, time, and
place
Colors are often used to give a sense of the
time of day
Used to work with colors of costumes
Make-up:
Lighting can “wash out” actors faces, so make-
up is used to accentuate features
Used to help create character
Allows for creativity (fake noses, fake blood,
etc.)
Includes fake hair and hair styles
Costumes:
Create feel for time, setting, and place
Need to consider colors that will work well
with the lighting used
Props:
Set props – stationary items on the stage (sofas, chairs,
tables)
Hand props – carried by the actors to enhance their
character (swords, handbags, feather dusters)
Props are used to help build a sense of time, place,
socio-economic situations
Acting, verbal and nonverbal, reflects a character’s motivation:
Wants
Obstacles
Strategies
Age
Wealth
Where from
Emotions
Education
Basically how everything from a character’s past, present, and future effects
their actions
Empathy
Main goal of actor
To indentify w/ an actor
Share feelings
Speaking
Breath control
Volume/Projection
Pronunciation
Vocal expression:
Diction (correct words/pronunciation)
Rate
Articulation (dialect)
Volume
Nonverbal expression:
Facial expressions
Body alignment
Gestures and basic movement
Proscenium Stage – raised picture-frame stage (box
stage)
Arena Stage – audience sits on all sides – often lower
than the audience
Thrust Stage – extends into the seating area of the
audience – seating on three sides
Cast – group of actors who perform in the play
Crew – group of designers and technical staff working
behind the scenes
Coordinates all important aspects of a production
Audition and cast characters
Meet with designers
Deal with scheduling
Creates the material to be performed
Should be clear about the theme (meaning) they want to
convey
The central “must have” in any production
Royalty – money paid to a playwright or publisher for the
rights to perform a play
Also referred to as a dramatist
The person who backs a play by paying:
Bills
Salaries
Royalties