Genre- type of play
 Tragedy- 5th c. BC hero larger than life, gains
moral victory but suffers physical defeat; he
has tragic flaw that participates in his own
downfall
 Comedy: deals with light and amusing themes,
a farce has wildly active, trivial theme, a
satire uses ridicule and irony
Genre- type of play
 Tragicomedy- mixed form with no happy
ending, but at least catastrophe is avoided
 Melodrama- characterized by stereotyped
characters, implausible plots, and an
emphasis on spectacle- the forces of good
and evil battling in exaggerated
circumstances
The Play
 Plot- structure of the play, the
framework on which all the other
elements hang, how the play moves
through time from one event to the
next
 Point of attack- where the playwright
takes up the story, if set in
chronological order, little exposition is
needed
How It’s Put Together
 Exposition- necessary background
information through which the
playwright introduces the characters;
can be delivered in the form of
dialogue, narration, setting, lighting, or
costume; often at the beginning
How It’s Put Together
 Complication- frustrates the expected
course of events, keeps audience
interested
 Inciting incident- in the complication,
an action or decision that upsets the
current state of affairs
How It’s Put Together
 Foreshadowing- prepares the audience
for subsequent action, gives credibility
for future action, and moves the play
forward by pointing to events that will
occur later
 Discovery- revelation of information
about characters, relationships, and
feelings
Reversal
 Reversal –a sudden turn of fortune
Reversal
 In comedy it often changes the roles
of the social classes
How It Ends
 Climax- the ultimate crisis, the
dynamics of the play rise in intensity
until this moment
 Denouement- the final resolution,
material following the crisis, the
intensity lessons to the end of the
action
The Actors
 Script- dialogue of actors, language & tone
 Character- the psychological motivation of
the persons in play; shows how persons with
specific character motivations react to the
circumstances in which they find themselves
 Protagonist- central personage, which is not
always clear, it depends upon whom the
director chooses to focus. We journey
through the workings of the play by the actions
and decisions of the protagonist.
Actor’s portrayal of the role
 The Actor: the main channel of
communication between the playwright and
the audience. The actor’s portrayal of a role
that enhance our response and understanding
are two-fold:
 (1) speech, words written by playwright,
manner in which the lines are delivered
 (2) physical reinforcement of the character’s
motivation
 The consistency of the motivations drives
the decisions and actions of the actor
Theme
 Theme-the ideas that comprise the
intellectual content of the play; not
necessarily the plot, which is what the play is
about, but the thought behind the play which
is for us to discover and develop
 There are three aspects of this
a) The playwright’s idea,
b) The interpretation of the director & his
decisions
c) The audience’s perception
Visual Elements: Types of
Theatres
 The theatre provides aesthetic
distance, our response is shaped by
the design of the space in which the
play is produced
 Arena : audience on all sides
 Thrust: audience on three sides
 Proscenium : audience views play
through a frame
Visual ElementsScene Design
 Scene design (stage setting)- creates an
environment conducive to the production’s
ends
 Tools of composition are used- line, form,
mass, color, repetition, and unity- but scene
design sculpts in 3-D space
 Scene designer limited by the stage space,
concepts of the director, & the abilities of
the staff available to execute the design
Visual ElementsLighting Design
 Lighting design- reinforces the dramatic
structure and dynamics of the play by
working with light and shade; without
shadows and highlights the human face and
body become imperceptible
 The lighting designer works to sculpt with light
and shadows; they must enhance the color of a
costume, accent the physique of an actor and
reinforce the plasticity of a setting
Visual ElementsCostume Design
Stage Costuming- costume designers work with
the entire body of the actor including hair styles
and makeup to suit a specific purpose
-stage costuming has three functions:
 accents which actors are the most important
& their relationships
 reflects particular era, time of day, climate,
season, or location
 reveals the style of the performance, the
characters of the personages, the personages’
social position, profession, cleanliness, age,
physique, and health
PropertiesSet Props
Set props- these are part of the scene
design, such as furniture, pictures, rugs,
fireplace accessories, etc.
 They identify the mood of the play and the
character of those who inhabit the set
 Properties can be significant to our
understanding of a play- if all is neat and in
order as the curtain opens, but as the play
develops the actors disrupt the properties,
that transition can help illustrate what may
have happened

PropertiesHand props
 Hand props- used by the actors to help
portray characters, such as cigarettes,
papers, glasses
 Whatever an actor carries on and off stage
 If the actor carries it, it’s a prop, if the
actor wears it, it’s a costume
Aural Elements
 Background music
 Actor’s voices
 Sound effects
Dynamics
 Structural pattern of a play
 The director establishes audience
interest
 This must peak and then relax to keep
audience engaged
 Director controls the actors’ volume &
intensity, both bodily and vocal