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QCR520 Approaches
- Drama
Definition
• A drama tells a story, usually of human conflict, through dialogue and action.
• “A story in dramatic form, typically emphasising conflict in key characters and written to be performed by actors” (from Harris, et al. The Literacy Dictionary, IRA, 1995)
• “…three necessary elements in drama: (1) a story (2) told in action (3) by characters who impersonate the characters of the story” (Thrall and Hibbert, A Handbook to Literature, Odyssey Press,1960)
Quick History of Drama
• Started in 6th Cent BC (600-500 BC) Greece.• Drama - comes from the Greek word meaning
“action” or “to do.”• First actor was Thespis; thus, the term thespian
(theater actor/actress).• Wore big masks so their facial expression could be
seen from afar. (The amphitheater is big.)
Development of Drama
• Western Drama: Began in Greece (600 BC)– Greek tragedies– Roman liturgical plays
• Miracle plays• Passion plays
– Italian Renaissance Operas (1500)• Music plays an important role
– English Renaissance: Elizabethan Theater (1500)• Queen Elizabeth promoted drama.• William Shakespeare wrote and staged his plays.
Forms of Western Drama
1. Tragedy - a death of a hero or a simple downfall of the hero.
2. Comedy - All’s well and ends well.a) No particular hero.b) Ends happily ever after; ends with a festivity (e.g.
dancing, eating).c) Themes: ridicules social norms; basically, comedy tends
to be irreverent3. Offshoots of tragedy:
a) Melodrama - fight between good and evilb) Suspense - begins with someone’s death
Purpose
• To entertain• To provoke thought and emotion• To present a visual and aural experience for the
audience
Drama…
• Plays on your emotions.• Asks you to believe and be involved in it.• Makes you feel for the hero and the heroine.• Subject matter: reflection of the drama of everyday
life – concentrates life, focuses it and holds it up for examination.
Audience
• The fact of a live audience has an important impact on the way plays are created
• Essential feature of a play – involves fact that audience and actors have a common experience.– Drama plays before a live audience of real people who respond
directly and immediately to it.
• Drama usually conceived by playwright for a particular response.
Conventions
• Greek– Worked with familiar story material– Relied on messengers to report off-stage action– Relied on chorus for interpretation, echo of reactions
common to community– Written in metered verse arranged in elaborate stanzas
Conventions
• English Drama– Minor characters play an important role in providing info
& guiding interpretation.• Casually comment among themselves on major characters and
plot development
– Soliloquy• Enables major character to reveal his thoughts
– Asides• Remarks made to the audience but not heard by those on stage
Conventions
• Realism– Realistic depiction of everyday life– Characters may be unconventional & their thoughts
turbulent and fantasy-ridden
Conventions
• Contemporary– Key word – experimentation– Narrator replaces the messenger, chorus and the
confidante– Flashbacks often substitute for narration.
Dialogue• Provides substance of a play• Decorum what is said is appropriate to the role and
situation of the character• Exposition of play falls on dialogue of the characters– Establishes relationships, tensions, conflicts
Plot• Drama uses the resources of the theater to show
human actions in such a way that we gain a deeper understanding of the human experience.
• Structured story which develops the action of the play– More than a story – involves causes & results, interactions
of characters and a devt in time– Allows story to develop logically, presenting characters in
an unfolding situation
Plot
• Open Conflict plays– Rely on suspense of a struggle in which the hero, against all odds, is
not doomed• Dramatic thesis
– Foreshadowing, in the form of ominous hints or symbolic incidents, conditions the audience to expect certain logical developments
• Coincidence– Sudden reversal of fortune plays depict climatic ironies or
misunderstandings• Dramatic Irony
– Fulfilment of a plan, action or expectation in a surprising way, often opposite of what was intended
Dramatis Personae
• Some mystery should be left in the revelation of character in a play, just as a great deal of mystery is always left in the revelation of character in life, even in one’s own character to himself (Tennessee Williams)
Dramatis Personae
• There is usually at least one antagonist and one There is usually at least one antagonist and one protagonist. protagonist.
• Characters’ names are listed at the beginning of the Characters’ names are listed at the beginning of the drama/play, usually in the order of their appearance. drama/play, usually in the order of their appearance. This listing often includes brief information This listing often includes brief information including: age, appearance, role in the play, and/or including: age, appearance, role in the play, and/or relationship to other characters in the play.relationship to other characters in the play.
Character
• Studying Character– Costumes– Appearance– What they say– What others say about them– Interaction between characters– Times of silence– Motivation – what makes a character tick?
Things to look out for• How is character revealed?• Does the language of the play demand a particular style of
acting or direction?• How significant are sound effects, on stage and off? Is music
necessary?• How important are stage effects & the use of such aspects as:
a revolving stage, different acting levels etc• How impt is costume in giving life to the play & in reinforcing
the ideas and intention of the playwright?• How important is the audience to the success of the play?
Setting
• The place(s) where the action occurs; created through the manipulation of sets, lights, scenery, and references.– Often revealed through stage directions. – Ranges from bare minimum to very elaborate, realistic or
left to the imagination
Stage Directions
• Stage directions describe setting, lighting, movement of characters and props, intonation of dialogue, costumes
• Setting for each scene is usually given in italics at the beginning of the text for that scene.
Activity
• In your prose/drama package groups, work out a scene that begins:– “Ma’am, it is done.”
Reflection
• What do you think are the challenges faced by a tutor in the teaching of drama and how can these be overcome?
• Are there differences in management of a mixed gender class and a single gender class? If yes, what are the differences and how can they be managed?