DRAMA OVERVIEW

MORE THAN ANY OTHER LITERARY

FORM, DRAMA IS A VISUAL & COL-

LABORATIVE MEDIUM, DESIGNED

TO BE PERFORMED BY ACTORS IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE.

DRAMA OVERVIEW
GENERALLY SPEAKING, DRAMA IS

MORE DOMINATED BY DIALOGUE THAN ARE FICTION & POETRY.

DRAMA OVERVIEW
A PLAY (THE COMMON TERM FOR A

DRAMATIC COMPOSITION) ALSO HAS A NUMBER OF DISTINGUISHING CONVENTIONAL ELEMENTS (DIVISION INTO ACTS & SCENES, STAGE DIRECTIONS, A LIST OF CHARACTERS, AND OTHERS).

ORIGINS OF DRAMA
WESTERN DRAMA ORIGINATED IN

ANCIENT GREECE. THE WORD

DRAMA ITSELF COMES FROM THE GREEK DRANMEANING TO DO, TO ACT.

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES BEGINNING

AROUND 530 B.C.E., PLAYWRIGHTS

COMPETED DURING RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS RELATING TO DIONYSUS,

GOD OF WINE & FERTILITY.

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

PLAYS CAME TO BE PERFORMED IN

LARGE OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATERS.

(THE WORD THEATER COMES FROM THE GREEK WORDS FOR SEEING

PLACE.)

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

ACTORS WORE STYLIZED MASKS

THAT SYMBOLIZED THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

ANOTHER CONVENTION OF GREEK

DRAMA WAS THE CHORUS, WHICH

DANCED & SANG BETWEEN SCENES IN

THE ORCHESTRA (THE ROUND AREA

AT THE FOOT OF THE AMPHITHEA-

TER).

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

THE CHORUS REPRESENTED THE

VALUES OF THE COMMUNITY, AND

ITS SCENE-ENDING ODES PROVIDED

COMMENTARY ON THE PLAY AND CLUES TO WHAT WAS TO COME.

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

ANOTHER CONVENTION WAS THE

DEUS EX MACHINA (GOD FROM

THE MACHINE)AN ELABORATE

MECHANISM FOR LOWERING ACTORS

PLAYING THE ROLES OF GODS ONTO

THE STAGE.

GREEK DRAMA (cont.)

THE MOST IMPORTANT GREEK PLAY-

WRIGHT WAS SOPHOCLES, AUTHOR

OF OEDIPUS REX, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL

DRAMA EVER WRITTEN.

ROMAN DRAMA
THOUGH ROMAN DRAMA BASICALLY

ADAPTED THE CONVENTIONS OF GREEK DRAMA, THE PLAYWRIGHT SENECA (1ST CENTURY C.E.) HAD A BIG INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 5-ACT PLAY & THE REVENGE TRAGEDIES (E.G., HAMLET) OF ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND.

MEDIEVAL DRAMA
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES (500-1350)

THE CLASSICAL TRADITION WAS LOST, AND PLAYS BECAME VEHICLES FOR RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION. THE TWO MOST COMMON TYPES OF PLAYS WERE MIRACLE PLAYS & MORALITY PLAYS.

MEDIEVAL DRAMA (cont.)

MIRACLE PLAYS DRAMATIZED BIBLE

STORIES OR THE LIFE & MARTYRDOM OF A SAINT.

MEDIEVAL DRAMA (cont.)

MORALITY PLAYS (SUCH AS THE 15TH-

CENTURY EVERYMAN) DRAMATIZED ALLEGORIES OF THE CHRISTIAN SOUL IN QUEST OF SALVATION & EMPLOYED PERSONIFIED ABSTRACTIONS SUCH AS SHAME, LUST, MERCY, ETC. AS CHARACTERS.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA
AFTER ITS BIRTH IN ANCIENT GREECE,

DRAMAS NEXT GREAT PERIOD OF

DEVELOPMENT WAS IN ENGLAND DURING THE REIGNS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH (1558-1603) & KING JAMES I (1603-1625).

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

EXEMPLIFIED BY THE PLAYS OF WM.

SHAKESPEARE, DEALING LARGELY

W/ THE ACTIONS, INTRIGUES, & ROMANCES OF KINGS, QUEENS, & OTHER

HIGHBORN CHARACTERS.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

AS IN GREEK DRAMA, NO WOMEN

WERE ALLOWED ON THE STAGE.

PLAYS OFTEN BLENDED ACTION,

HUMOR, & VIOLENCE W/ POETRY & PHILOSOPHICAL INSIGHTS.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

EARLY PLAYS WERE PERFORMED IN

INNYARDS & OPEN SPACES BETWEEN BUILDINGS.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

THEATERS WERE CIRCULAR & ONLY

PARTLY ROOFED, WITH THE AUDI-

ENCE ON THE SIDES AS WELL AS IN

FRONT OF THE RAISED STAGE.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

THEATERS HELD UP TO 2500 PEOPLE

IN AN INTIMATE SETTING, INCLUDING

500-800 GROUNDLINGS (COMMONERS WHO STOOD IN THE PIT AT THE

FOOT OF THE STAGE).

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

THOUGH SCENERY & PROPS WERE

LIMITED, COSTUMES & SOUND EFFECTS WERE QUITE ELABORATE.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

STAGES INCLUDED A SECOND-LEVEL

BALCONY, DOORS AT THE BACK FOR ENTRANCES & EXITS, A CURTAINED ALCOVE, AND A TRAP DOOR IN THE STAGE FLOOR FOR THE ENTRANCES & EXITS OF SPIRITS.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

ONE CONVENTION WAS THE ASIDE:

COMMENTS DIRECTED ONLY TO THE

AUDIENCE THAT MAKE THEM PRIVY TO A CHARACTERS THOUGHTS & THAT ALLOW THEM TO PERCEIVE IRONIES & INTRIGUES UNKNOWN TO

OTHER CHARACTERS.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

ANOTHER CONVENTION WAS THE

SOLILOQUY (FROM THE LATIN FOR TALKING TO ONESELF).

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

A SOLILOQUY, WHICH IS NOT PART OF

THE DIALOGUE OF THE PLAY, IS A SPEECH DELIVERED BY A LONE ACTOR ON THE STAGE FOR THE PURPOSE OF

REVEALING HIS OR HER THOUGHTS,

MOTIVES, & INNER NATURE.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS SOLI-

LOQUY IS HAMLETS TO BE OR NOT TO BE SPEECH.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

IN ELIZABETHAN DRAMA, THE CHOR-

US OF GREEK DRAMA EVOLVED INTO A PERSON WHO SOMETIMES SPOKE THE PROLOGUE & EPILOGUE OF A PLAY, PROVIDING AUTHORIAL COMMENTARY AS WELL AS EXPOSITION REGARDING THE SUBJECT, TIME, SETTING, ETC. OF THE PLAY.

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA (cont.)

SOME PLAYS HAVE WHAT IS CALLED

A CHORAL CHARACTER (E.G., THE

FOOL IN KING LEAR) WHO STANDS

APART FROM & COMMENTS ON THE ACTION OF THE PLAY.

MODERN DRAMA
THE MOST POPULAR FORM OF DRAMA

IN THE 19TH CENTURY, ESPECIALLY IN

THE U.S. & ENGLAND, WAS MELODRAMA.

MODERN DRAMA (cont.)

MELODRAMAS ARE LOVE STORIES &

ACTION-PACKED, INTRIGUE-FILLED

PLOTS W/ HAPPY ENDINGS & FLAT,

STEREOTYPED CHARACTERS REPRESENTING EXTREMES OF GOOD & EVIL.

MODERN DRAMA (cont.)

THE LATE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CENTU-

RIES SAW THE RISE OF REALISM,

WHICH PRESENTS THE CRISES AND

CONFLICTS OF ORDINARY PEOPLES

EVERYDAY LIVES (WORK, FAMILY,

RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.).

MODERN DRAMA (cont.)

THE PICTURE-FRAME STAGE BECAME

THE NORM, OFTEN REPRODUCING

SETTINGS IN REALISTIC DETAIL.
SCENERY & PROPS ARE IMPORTANT.

MODERN DRAMA (cont.)

FOUR-ACT PLAYS BECAME THE NORM,

AND CONVENTIONS SUCH AS ASIDES & SOLILOQUIES FELL INTO DISUSE.

MODERN DRAMA (cont.)

THE 20TH CENTURY ALSO SAW THE

RISE OF THE THEATER OF THE AB-

SURD, W/ ITS SEEMINGLY UNINTELLIGIBLE PLOTS & IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR.

MODERN DRAMA (cont.)

IN WAITING FOR GODOT, FOR IN-

STANCE, TWO TRAMPS AMUSE THEMSELVES W/ AIMLESS CONVERSATION & MEANINGLESS ACTIVITY WHILE WAITING IN A WASTE PLACE FOR A PERSON NAMED GODOT WHO NEVER COMES (AND WHO MAY OR MAY NOT EXIST).

MAJOR TYPES OF DRAMA

TRAGEDY FOCUSES ON LIFES SOR-

ROWS & DIFFICULTIES, RECOUNTING A SERIES OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SIGNIFICANT PERSON, TREATED W/ SERIOUSNESS & DIGNITY, AND CULMINATING IN AN UNHAPPY CATASTROPHE.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
THE BASIC STRUCTURE & PURPOSE OF

TRAGEDY WERE FIRST DEFINED IN ARISTOTLES POETICS.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE, A TRAG-

IC HERO IS A GREAT MAN OR WOMAN WHO SUFFERS A REVERSAL OF

FORTUNE (LIKE OEDIPUS IN OEDIPUS

REX) B/C OF A WEAKNESS, ERROR IN

JUDGMENT, OR ACCIDENT.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
ARISTOTLE CALLED THIS ERROR ETC.

HAMARTIA, WHICH DURING THE RENAISSANCE EVOLVED INTO THE

CONCEPT OF THE TRAGIC FLAW.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
ARISTOTLE ALSO SAID THAT WATCH-

ING THE HEROS DOWNFALL (THE

CATASTROPHE) AND SEEING THE DRAMAS RESOLUTION (RESTORA-

TION OF ORDER), . . .

TRAGEDY (cont.)
. . . THE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCES A

CATHARSISI.E., RELIEF FROM THE

TENSIONS OF THE PLAY (A PURGING

OF PITY AND FEAR) AND A SENSE OF

HAVING GAINED INSIGHT, ENLIGHT-

ENMENT.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
TRAGIC HEROES AROUSE PITY B/C

THEY ARE NOT EVIL & B/C THEIR MISFORTUNE EXCEEDS WHAT THEY DESERVE; THEY AROUSE FEAR B/C THE AUDIENCE RECOGNIZES THEMSELVES IN THE HERO & THE POSSIBILITY OF A SIMILAR FATE.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
PLAYS FROM ELIZABETHAN TO MOD-

ERN TIMES HAVE DEVIATED GREATLY

FROM THE ARISTOTELIAN NORM. FOR

EXAMPLE, SOMETIMES THE HERO IS NOT A GOOD PERSON (MACBETH).

TRAGEDY (cont.)
ALSO, AFTER THE 18TH CENTURY, TRAG-

IC HEROES BEGAN TO BE DRAWN FROM THE MIDDLE & LOWER CLASSES IN WHAT ARE CALLED DOMESTIC TRAGEDIES, THUS LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR MODERN DRAMAS LIKE DEATH OF A SALESMAN.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
COMIC RELIEF WAS ALSO INTRO-

DUCED INTO TRAGEDIES, AND THE

GENRE OF TRAGICOMEDY (ESSENTIALLY A TRAGEDY W/ A HAPPY ENDING) EVOLVED.

TRAGEDY (cont.)
SINCE MODERN TRAGEDIES DO NOT

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE CONVENTIONS

OF CLASSICAL TRAGEDY, SOME CRITICS ARGUE THAT THEY ARE NOT TRUE

TRAGEDIES & THAT THEIR PROTAGONISTS NOT TRAGIC HEROES.

COMEDY
A COMEDY IS A PLAY OF A LIGHT,

AMUSING NATURE IN WHICH CHARACTERS OVERCOME ADVERSITY TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS & A HAPPY END-

ING, OFTEN IN THE FORM OF MARRIAGE.

COMEDY (cont.)
PROBLEMS ARE EITHER NOT VERY

SERIOUS OR ARE TREATED IN A

LIGHT-HEARTED MANNER, CONVEYING THE SENSE THAT NO GREAT DIS-

ASTER WILL BEFALL THE CHARACTERS.

COMEDY (cont.)
THE DISTINCTION IS OFTEN MADE BE-

TWEEN LOW COMEDY (WHICH IS CRUDE, PHYSICAL, EVEN VIOLENT) & HIGH COMEDY (WHICH IS MORE

THOUGHTFUL & INTELLECTUAL IN ITS

APPEAL).

COMEDY (cont.)
IN ROMANTIC COMEDY, LOVERS

MUST ENDURE HUMOROUS TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS EN ROUTE TO A LIFE OF HAPPILY EVER AFTER (A MID-

SUMMERS MIGHT DREAM, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE).

COMEDY (cont.)
A COMEDY OF MANNERS IS A SAT-

IRICAL PORTRAYAL OF THE CONVEN-

TIONS & MANNERS OF A SOCIETY,

USUALLY THE DOMINANT ONE AT THE TIME A PLAY IS WRITTEN.

COMEDY (cont.)
THE COMEDY OF MANNERS DELIGHTS

IN THE FAULTS & FOIBLES OF HUMAN-

ITY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IS MORE

REALISTIC & CRITICAL THAN ROMANTIC COMEDY.

COMEDY (cont.)
THE COMEDY OF MANNERS WAS HIGH-

LY DEVELOPED IN THE LATE 17TH CENTURY IN WITTY PLAYS THAT EXPOSED THE HYPOCRITICAL CONVENTIONS &

RIDICULOUS ARTIFICIALITIES OF HIGH

SOCIETY.

COMEDY (cont.)
THE COMEDY OF MANNERS EVOLVED

INTO SATIRIC COMEDY, WHICH RIDICULES THE VAIN & FOOLISH, TREATING THEM W/ SARCASM &

MAKING THEM SEEM LUDICROUS &

REPULSIVE.

COMEDY (cont.)
ANOTHER POPULAR FORM OF COM-

EDY IS FARCE, WHICH PRESENTS EXAGGERATED CHARACTER TYPES IN IMPROBABLE OR LUDICROUS SITUATIONS, AND EMPLOYS SEXUAL MIXUPS, BROAD VERBAL HUMOR, & A LOT OF ANTIC PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.