Drama Notes
History of Drama
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Primitive
Egyptian
Greek
Roman
Medieval
Elizabethan
Jacobean--Macbeth
Primitive Drama
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Four types of dramatic dances:
 Story
dances
 War dances
 Religious dances
 Initiation dances
Egyptian Drama
First formal drama recorded
 Most dealt with the afterlife
 Performed in temples or special tombs
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Now, read your notes and pull out the key pieces of information and
summarize them.
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Summarizing exercise sheet
Greek Drama
Considered to be the best drama the
world has ever known
 Tragedies
 Major influence: Aristotle
 First type of crudely-built theatres
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Aristotle’s Rules:
1. The main character, or hero, must be a man
of elevated social position with a tragic flaw
which leads to his downfall and death.
 The two types of character flaws are hubris
and hamartia.
 2. The play must include discovery (where the
hero goes from ignorance to knowledge) and
reversal (where the hero’s wishes are thwarted
and his efforts boomerang.)
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3. The play must conform to the three
unities of:
time (all action takes place within 24 hours)
 place (there is only one setting)
 action (all events support the central conflict).
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4. The play must provide catharsis, or a
purging of emotions, through which we all
learn to live better lives.
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5. The play must be written in the highest
form of poetry.
Roman Drama
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The construction of “theatres” & what
they had: curtains, pulpitum, awnings,
claque, etc.
Ban on drama from the Church
Influences:
Plautus’ comedies & stock characters
• Seneca & his “closet dramas” or tragedies…
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First of all, what are Tragedies?
a serious play or narrative in which the
hero becomes engaged in a conflict,
experiences great suffering, is finally
defeated, and dies.
 In England, tragedy plays began during
Elizabethan times. The chief influences
(dramatic tradition & theory) were
classical pieces written by Aristotle and
Roman philosopher Seneca.
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Senecan Tragedies
Roman philosopher Seneca (Thyestes) wrote
many revenge tragedy plays in the late 16th
century.
 Most Senecan tragedies followed the basic
pattern:
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5 act play
Chorus (for comment)
Stock characters (ghost)
Cruel tyrant
The faithful male servant/female confidante
Presentation of much of the action through
messengers’ reports
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Sensational themes (adultery, incest, infanticide)
often motivated by revenge
Prevailing theme: the revenge of a father for a
murdered son or vice versa (the revenge is directed
by the ghost of the murdered man)
Highly rhetorical style (hyperbole, detailed
descriptions, exaggerated comparisons, epigrams,
stichomythia, etc.
Lots of introspection and soliloquies
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Shakespeare was influenced by the
Senecan tragedy…Shakespeare based
Macbeth on the Senecan tragedy format
and plot, but it is classified as a Revenge
Tragedy.
Summarize again…but this time in
the form of a précis!
What is a précis?
A
condensed version of the original document
(summary)
 1/3 of the original version’s length
 Keep to the main facts/points
 Do not put your ideas/interpretations into it
Why learn to write one?
A precis demonstrates that you have assimilated the key
information provided in an article.
Writing a precis (or any summary) of an article is an
excellent way of learning material for the long term,
and gives you a record to “jog your memory”.
How to write a précis:
1 - Read the article carefully all the way through
2 - Consider the main points/theme
3 - Go over the article again, jotting down the
main points (NOT whole sentences)
4 – Seam together the points, in order, in a logical
narrative
5 – Edit to place proper stress on main points, cut
out extra details
6 – Take a count of your words. You should have
no more than 1/3 of the original document.
An example of a précis:
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(Mastering Effective English)
Evaluating a précis:
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Is every statement in the original clearly condensed?
Are all important ideas included?
Are all minor details and all unnecessary words excluded?
Are the sentences compact with ideas clearly subordinated?
Is the language straightforward and idiomatic?
Is the paraphrasing that of the original?
Will the précis be clear to one who has not read the original
selection?
Are the spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence structure
correct?
Does the finished work read smoothly? Is it coherent?
Is the précis 1/3 as long as the original or within 5 words of the
specified limit?
Medieval Drama
Tropes
 Switch from religious drama to secular
 The three M’s:
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 Mystery,
Miracle & Morality Plays
Elizabethan Drama
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Traveling acting companies
 Magistrates
 Closed
in winter
 Vagabonds
 Apprentices & shares
 Props vs. costumes
 Puritanism
 Repertoire of plays
 Playhouse pirates
 Men and boys (wife to cook/costume)
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Stationary Acting Companies
 Blackfriars
(mostly university students)
 Lord Chamberlain’s Men
 Philip Henslowe’s Actors
Elizabethan Drama
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Shift in social acceptance of actors
 Queen
Elizabeth I
 Sponsor
 Whitehall
Palace
 Demand a play to be written with certain
characters, actors, etc
 Lord
Chamberlain’s Men
 Shakespeare,
Burbage, Henslowe
Elizabethan Drama
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Public & Private Playhouses
 Blackfriars
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
(private/closed)
Swan
Curtain
Theatre
Rose
Fortune
Globe
Elizabethan Drama
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Globe Theatre
Shakespeare/Burbage
Open-air
3 stories
Shillings for seating/eating
Pennystinkers & pit
 Apron stage & trap door
 Balcony
 Canopy
 Tiring rooms
 Music hut
 Flag
 Playbills
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Jacobean Drama
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Macbeth
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Revenge Tragedy-most popular format