Elements of Drama

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA A. PLOT: This is the arrangement of events in a play, the selection and order of scenes based on a story. A story is different from a plot in a way that a story has full account of events while a plot has a selection of scenes from the story in chronological order for stage presentation. The plot has elements like exposition; this is everything the audience needs to know about a play. Conflict; this is the clash of opposing forces. Climax; this is the point at which one of the conflicting forces is favoured and resolution where the clashing ideas reach a stable point. The resolution is not always satisfactory and sometimes it leads to unrealistic and unbelievable endings.

B. DIALOGUE: This is action and conversation between characters. It consists of two or more people speaking to each other in exchange of ideas and discussion of events in the play. The dialogue is extracted from a written script and is spoken by the actors in the play. (a) SUBTEXT: It is the implied meaning and movement of a play below the surface. According to Constantine Stanislavski, a subtext consists of the emotions, tensions, and thought expressed directly in the text. These appear much stronger than surface expressions and are abundantly clear to the audience if presented properly. C. CHARACTER: This is the essence of human behaviour, distinguished from each other by what they say to each other and reacts to the unfolding circumstances. It is the behaviour of the characters (the people the actors are portraying) judged by what they say, think, and do according to the unfolding circumstances. (a) PROTAGONIST: The lead character in a play, on the pro side of the struggle. This is the person whom the main theme is centred on. (b) ANTAGONIST: The opponent of the protagonist on the anti side of the struggle. He is often the bad guy but could be anyone or anything that struggles or whose ideas conflict with the protagonist. D. CONFLICT: Tension