Objective: We will be able to define
elements of a drama
A drama is a story enacted by actors on a stage
for a live audience.
Forms of Drama
There are two main forms of classical drama:
tragedy and comedy.
Forms of Drama
A tragedy is a play ending in sorrow or regret.
• Most classical Greek tragedies deal with
serious, universal subjects such as
right and wrong
justice and injustice
life and death
• Tragedies pit human limitations against the
larger forces of fate or destiny.
Forms of Drama
A comedy also deals with human flaws, but the
play ends happily. The plot usually centers on a
romantic conflict.
boy meets girl
Modern comedies
boy loses girl
boy wins girl
Forms of Drama
In comedy, characters’ choices
lead to confusion and humor—
and an expected,
exaggerated outcome.
In many cases, a comedy
ends with a wedding.
[End of Section]
Forms of Drama
Quick Check
MABEL CHILTERN. How horrid you have
been! You have never talked to me the
whole evening!
LORD GORING. How could I? You went
away with the child-diplomatist.
MABEL CHILTERN. You might have
followed us. Pursuit would have been
only polite. I don't think I like you at all
this evening!
Does this play
sound like a
comedy or a
tragedy? How can
you tell?
LORD GORING. I like you immensely.
from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
[End of Section]
Dramatic Structure
Characters in Conflict
Like the plot of a story, the plot of a play involves
characters who face a problem or conflict.
Complications
tension builds
Exposition
protagonist and conflict
are introduced
Climax
point of highest tension;
action determines how the
conflict will be resolved
Resolution
conflict is resolved;
play ends
Dramatic Structure
Sometimes the dramatist creates a foil, a character
who contrasts with the protagonist.
The foil exhibits
characteristics and
virtues that are the
opposite of those of
the protagonist.
cowardice
Tragic heroes often
have foils.
courage
Dramatic Structure
Forms of Conflict
Comedies and other types of drama often have an
antagonist—a main character who opposes the
protagonist.
The antagonist creates problems for the
protagonist in many ways.
Setting the Stage
Plays are meant to be performed—to come alive
onstage for an audience.
Theater artists, such as
• actors
• directors
• designers
• lighting technicians
• stage crews
help make the playwright’s vision a reality.
Setting the Stage
Even the most basic performance of a play involves
• a stage
• costumes
• a set
• lighting
These help the actors become
the characters—and help the
audience connect with those
characters.
Setting the Stage
The Stage
The stage on which actors perform can take
many forms.
In Shakespeare’s time,
• the stage extended into
the viewing area, and
• the audience surrounded
the stage on three sides
or watched from the
balconies.
Setting the Stage
The Stage
Today, many stages are set
back and separated from the
audience by a curtain.
Other stages are set in
the middle of the
audience, “in the round.”
Setting the Stage
Scene Design
Sets, lights, costumes, and props transform a bare
stage into the world of the play.
Often a playwright gives
directions at the
beginning of a play or
scene, describing the set
he or she envisions.
Setting the Stage
Scene Design
A stage’s set might be
realistic and
detailed
abstract
and minimal
Setting the Stage
Scene Design
Scene design includes lighting, which helps
establish the mood and appearance of the set.
Setting the Stage
Props (short for properties) are items that the
characters carry or handle onstage.
• The person in charge of props must make sure
that the right props are available to the actors
at the right moments.
Setting the Stage
Costumes are the clothes that actors wear.
• Like sets, costumes can be
simple
elaborate
realistic
stylized
Setting the Stage
Quick Check
[The headlights of a car suddenly
illuminate CHARLEY against the
wall. CHARLEY is leaning against
the lamp post, in a very casual
attitude, looking as dapper as
usual. TERRY and EDIE run to
him. The car drives off.]
What stage, lighting,
and props do you
imagine when you read
this setting?
From On the Waterfront: The Final Shooting Script by Budd Schulberg. Copyright ©
1980 by Budd Schulberg. Reproduced by permission of Miriam Altshuler Literary
Agency on behalf of Budd Schulberg.
[End of Section]
Dramatic Elements
Actors rely on a variety of theatrical techniques to
convey ideas and emotions to the audience.
Stage Directions
Playwrights often include detailed notes—or stage
directions—describing how actors should move
and speak their lines.
[Wyona is sitting on the couch. She
sees Paul and jumps to her feet.]
Wyona. [Angrily.] What do you want?
Dramatic Elements
Quick Check
LIZA. No: I dont want no gold and no
diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am. [She
sits down again, with an attempt at
dignity.]
What are the
stage directions
in this passage?
HIGGINS. You shall remain so, Eliza,
under the care of Mrs. Pearce. And you
shall marry an officer in the Guards, with
a beautiful moustache: the son of a
marquis, who will disinherit him for
marrying you, but will relent when he
sees your beauty and goodness—
from Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw
[End of Section]
Words and Action: Characters Onstage
The characters’ speech may
take several forms.
Dialogue
The conversation of characters
onstage is called dialogue.
• Dialogue and action move the play forward.
• Scripts often contain suggestions or
instructions for techniques to heighten the
emotion and tension in dialogue.
Words and Action: Characters Onstage
Monologues and Soliloquies
A monologue is a speech delivered by one
character to another character onstage.
A soliloquy is spoken by a character alone
onstage to himself or herself or directly to the
audience. Soliloquies
• often express a character’s deepest
feelings
• may signal a change in the character’s
thinking
Words and Action: Characters Onstage
Asides
Sometimes a character comments directly on the
action in a play.
These comments, called
asides, are spoken to the
audience or to one other
character.
Other characters do not hear
the comments.
Words and Action: Characters Onstage
Quick Check
LIZA. No: I dont want no gold and no
diamonds. I'm a good girl, I am. [She
sits down again, with an attempt at
dignity.]
What does the
characters’
dialogue tell you
about them?
HIGGINS. You shall remain so, Eliza,
under the care of Mrs. Pearce. And you
shall marry an officer in the Guards, with
a beautiful moustache: the son of a
marquis, who will disinherit him for
marrying you, but will relent when he
sees your beauty and goodness—
from Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw
[End of Section]
Analyze Drama
Your Turn
Analyze Drama
1. Name at least two differences between comedy and
tragedy.
2. What is the difference between a monologue and a
soliloquy?
3. What is the purpose of an aside?
[End of Section]
The End