Studying a Drama

Studying a Drama

1. What is a drama?

   • Drama is the portrayal of fictional/ non-fictional events represented through a performance.
   • Represented through different mediums; on stage, on the radio, films.
   • Typically called plays, and their creators are called 'dramatists' or 'playwrights'.
   • A drama provides a live setting where the characters in a story are real, in a natural way.

2. Characteristics of a drama

   • Characters: one of the people who appears in the play. They're important for building up the story.
   • Plot: a plot has an exposition, a rising action, a falling action, climax and resolution.
   • Symbol: the use of gestures, objects or people to show the inner meaning.

3. Types of drama

   • Comedy: lighter in tone as they're intended to make the audience laugh. Typically have a happy ending. They can also be sarcastic. The characters are represented in comic and absurd ways. There's several sub-genres of comedies: romantic comedy, sentimental comedy, comedy of manners, tragic comedy.
   • Tragedy: based on darker themes such as; death, disaster and human suffering. They rarely have a happy ending. Typically, the protagonist carries a tragic flaw which leads to an unavoidable downfall.
   • Farce: a nonsensical genre of drama in which characters intentionally overact and engage in physical humour.
   • Melodrama: an exaggerated form of drama. They depict dimensional characters, such as heroes, dealing with sensational, romantic and perlious situations. Sometimes the protagonist becomes the victim of the situation. Good and bad characters are distinctly presented.
   • Opera: a dramatic story told through song that combines theatre, dialogue, music and dance. Performers must be skilled actors and singers.
   • Docudrama: dramatic portrayals of historic events or non-fictional situations. More often presented in movies and television.

4. Key terms

   • Drama: the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events in theatre, film, radio or television.
   • Thalia: The Greek Muse of comedy, depicted as the two masks of drama.
   • Melpomene: The Greek Muse of tragedy, the other mask of drama.
   • Dramatic tension: the most basic element of drama used to stir the emotions of the audience.
   • Comedy: the humorous genre of drama to keep the audience laughing. Happy ending.
   • Tragedy: the portrayal of darker subjects like death, disaster, betrayal and human suffering.
   • Farce: an 'over the top' form of purposely over-acted and exaggerated comedy.
   • Melodrama; the depiction of simple classic characters like heroes and villains dealing with sensational, romantic and perilous situations.
   • Opera: the artful combination of dialogue, music and dance to tell grand stories of tragedy or comedy.
   • Docudrama: historical or non-fictional events portrayed in a dramatic fashion

5. Example of comedy and tragedy

   • Comedy: A Midsummer Night's Dream
     • Romantic comedy written by Shakespeare
     • Shakespeare explores the theme 'love conquers all'. He includes a humorous twist.
     • Young couples keep falling in and out of love due to comical and unpredictable situations.
     • Their amusing real-word problems are resolved by a sprite named Puck.
     • It has a very Shakespearian happy ending; old enemies become friends and the true lovers live happily ever after.
     • An example of how playwrights utilise the conflict between love and social convention as a source of humour.
   • Tragedy: Romeo and Juliet
     • Tragedy written by Shakespeare
     • The love between Romeo and Juliet is doomed by the raging feud between their families.
     • Romeo kills Juliet's cousin the night before they're married.
     • Juliet fakes her own death so her parents don't force her to marry someone else.
     • Romeo believes she's dead, therefore he kills himself.
     • When she finds out of Romeo's death, she also kills herself.
     • Shakespeare creates dramatic tension by switching moods between hope and despair.