What’s to come in
Advanced
Dramatic Structure
&
Outline of Playwrighting
UIL Play
Elements of
Theatre &
Drama
Subject to change
OZ by Don Zolidis
Reeling from her sister's death, Beth suddenly
finds herself journeying through a world suspiciously
resembling the film The Wizard of Oz. But with the
yellow brick road sold to foreign investors after a
financial meltdown, the Scarecrow reveling in his
ignorant bliss, the Cowardly Lion acting like a paranoid
sociopath, and the Tin Man embracing his emotional
numbness, Beth wonders what role she plays in this
classic story gone awry. A hilarious and heartwrenching exploration of grief and perseverance on the
road to acceptance.
5/21/2015
Name and Class Period
Table of Contents
Theatre 2
Basic Elements
Script/ Text, Scenerio, Plan
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I.
II.
III.
Basic Elements
a. Script
b. Process
c. Product
d. Audience
Playwright
a. Overall Idea
i. Steps
ii. Types of Theatre
iii. Style/Mode/”ism”
Elements of Theatre
a. Overall Idea
i. Thoughts
ii. Action/Plot
iii. Characters
iv. Language
v. Music
vi. Spectacle
Starting Point of theatrical performance
Most often considered the Domain of the playwright
Text by which theatre is created
From simplistic (16th cent. Commedia dell’ arte) to
elaborate (Shakespeare)
Director uses it as a blue print
Heart of the theatrical event, MUST be respected!
The
Process of the creative efforts usually headed by
 Coordination
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the director
Pure process where the work of the playwright is
brought into realization by director, actors, designers,
techs, dancers, musicians, etc.
The Product
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End result of the process of work involved
What the audience will witness as they sit and view the
work
The Audience
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It is required!
For All of the Arts Public is essential
Changes a performance, inspires actors, and creates
expectations
Living Breathing artform
Live Audience sets it apart from modern films and
television
Drama VS. Theatre
Drama is the printed text
and theatre is the actual
production.
Playwright
Basic Steps involved in no particular order:
I.
The Overall Idea
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“One who writes the plays”
How a play is written depends on many factors:
o intended audience and purpose
o playwrights current views about the human
condition
o how the playwright perceives the truth around
him/her.
Must understand and know the established artistic and
theatrical conventions of the theatre
Must appreciate the working procedures, materials, ad
technical aspects of the production.
Recreates and restates the human experiences and the
universal mirror of mankind.
II.
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V.
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VII.
VIII.
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Coming up with Thought/Theme/Ideas to be
expressed through the work.
Determine the Genre and Style of the work
Outlining Basic Action of the work and
Creating Plot.
Establish the Structure of the Play and Overall
Framework
The Development of Characters presented in
the work.
The Creation of Dialogue and the Language of
the Characters.
Creating Music: This can involve the Rhythm
of the Language or actual Music Composition
and the Lyrics of the songs.
Establishing Spectacle: The visual and
Environmental elements of the work
Research of Subject Matter and Relevant issues
presented in the play.
Steps of the Playwright’s Work
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Can be distinctly different for every playwright
Plays can develop out of any combination of starting
points and patterns
Further Considerations made….
The Genre and Form of the play is an
important aspect. Some playwrights are pure in the
choice of genre for a play. They write strictly tragedy
or comedy. Other playwrights tend to mix genre,
combining both comedy and tragedy in one piece of
dramatic work.
Genre/Form
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Comedy
Divided into categories
o Tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and
tragicomedy.
 Can be further subdivided by
style and content.
Tragedy
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Imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and
of a certain magnitude.
Presented in the form of action, not narrative
It will arouse pity and fear in the audience
Serious by nature in its theme and deals with
profound problems
Universal when applied to the human experience
Protagonist at the center of the drama that is a great
person, usually of upper class birth
o A good man that can be admired
o But he has a tragic flaw, a hamartia, that will
be the ultimate cause of his down fall
 Often too much pride/hubris
o Learns, too late, his flaw and becomes selfaware.
o Accepts his fate and takes full responsibility
Must have acceptance of fate in tragedy
Must be a cause and effect throughout the play
Must be logical in the conclusion
Will involve the audience in the action and create
tension and expectation
Audience will learn a lesson and will leave not
depressed or sullen, but uplifted and enlightened
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Should have a view of “Comic Spirit”
Physical and energetic
Tied up in rebirth and renewal
o Such as weddings
Absence of pain and emotional reactions and
replaced with the use of mans intellect
Behavior is Ludacris and absurd
Result in audience is the correction of behaviors
o Didactic element that acts as a mirror of
society
Types can vary
o Situation
o Romantic
o Sentimental
o Dark
o Comedy of manners
o Farce
Comic devices used
o Exaggeration
o Incongruity
o Surprise
o Repetition
o Wisecracks
o Sarcasm
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Melodrama
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Elements of Drama
Thought/Theme/Ideas
Drama of disaster
Forces cause all significant events of the plot
o Usually a victim of circumstance
o Acted upon by antagonist (anti-hero)
o Suffers without having to accept responsibility
and inevitability of fate
Clearly defined character types
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Sense of strict moral judgment
Good characters are rewarded and the bad characters
are punished in a means that fits the crime
Actions/Plot
Tragicomedy
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most life like of all of the genres
non-judgmental and ends with no absolutes
focuses on character relationships
shows society in a state of continuous flux
mix of comedy and tragedy side by side
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Style/Mode/”ism”
 Shaping of dramatic material, setting, or costumes
in a specific manner.
 Each play will have its own unique and distinctive
behaviors, dress, and language of the characters
 Style of a playwright is shown in the choices made
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characters
time periods
settings
language
methods of characterization
use of symbols
use of themes
What the play means
If stated clearly
o Through title
o through dialogue
If less obvious
o After some study or thought
o Abstract issue and feeling grown out of
the dramatic action
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Events of a play; the story; what happens
Have unity and clarity through pattern
Characters are involved in conflict that has a
pattern of movement
Action and movement in play begins
o From initial entanglement
o Through risings action
o Climax
o Falling action
o Resolution
Elements of Drama
o Followed theories of playwriting and
drama established by Aristotle
 He wrote the Poetics
Characters
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People presented that are involved in perusing the
plot
Each one should have their own
o Distinct personality
o Age
o Appearance
o Beliefs
o Socio economic background
o Language
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Language
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Word choices made by the playwright
Enunciation of the actors language
Moves plot and action along
Provides exposition
Defines distinct characters
Each playwright can create their own specific
style in relationship to language choices
Music
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Encompasses the rhythm of dialogue and
speeches
Each presentation delivers music, rhythm, and
melody
Not part of every play, can be included to mean
all sounds in a production
Can expand to
o Actor’s voices
o Songs
o Sound effects
o Instrumental music
Creates patterns and establishes tempo
o Used to push plot forward and move to
story to a higher level of intensity
Spectacle
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Can involve all of aspects of
o Scenery
o Costumes
o Special effects
Known as the visual elements of the play created for
theatrical event
Qualities determined by the playwright that create
the world and atmosphere of the play for the
audience’s eye.