Elements of Drama

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
“All the World’s a stage…” William Shakespeare

DRAMA
 Comes

from the Greek word
‘dran’
 Means ‘To act’ or ‘To do’
 The doing/acting makes drama

DRAMA…


…is a story told in front of an audience.

TERMS
PLAYWRIGHT- the author of the play
 PLOT- action of the play
 SETTING- time and place
 ACTS- Divisions within a play (much like chapters in a novel)
 SCENES- smaller parts of an act.
 ASIDE- lines that are spoken by a character directly to the audience.


DRAMATIC SPEECH
DIALOGUE- conversation between or among actors. It reveals the most about a characters.  MONOLOGUE- long speech by a single character 

CONFLICT
Types of Conflict





Internal- Character has conflict within himself. External- Character has conflict with an outside force, person, animal, etc.

STAGE DIRECTIONS
Written in italics or found in brackets [ ]
 Describes scenery, lighting, costumes, props, movement of characters and the their emotions.
 C- Centre Stage
 L- Stage Left
 R- Stage Right
 U- Upstage or Rear
 D- Down Stage or Front


THEATRE


Where a play takes place SET


Construction on the stage that shows time/place 

Could also be called
Scenery

PROPS


Small moveable items that the actors use to make the actions look real

CHARACTERIZATION


The playwright’s technique for creating believable characters. 

Each character has a motivation which influences his actions and decision. TYPES OF DRAMA
 COMEDY- form of

drama that has a happy ending.


Humour comes from the dialogue and situations. TYPES OF DRAMA
 TRAGEDY- drama in

which the events lead to the downfall of the main character, usually because of his own actions. This character often a person of great significance, like a king or a hero.
 Function of tragedy was to create pity or fear in the audience which created a catharsis or emotional purging.

ITS FRAMEWORK
Characters are whom the audience cares about.  The characters have a conflict or a problem
that