Elements of Drama
What is drama?
✹A composition in prose that
presents a story entirely told in
dialogue and action, and written
with the intention of its eventual
performance before an audience.
✹The term drama is used for both
literature and theater.
Script
✹ The
written text of a play. Usually
includes list of characters, brief
descriptions of the sets or setting, and
the lines the characters will speak.
Dramatis Personae
✹"People
of Drama" (Latin)
✹A list of the characters in a play,
usually found on the first page
of the script & listed in the order
in which they will appear
Setting
✹ Setting
is, as usual, the time and place.
In a play, the author must convey the
historical period, season, day, moment,
and specific place.
Set
✹ The
decoration of the stage and the
items upon it that are used to create the
illusion of a certain setting
The Fourth Wall
✹A
stage set only has three walls, but
actors usually pretend there is an
invisible fourth wall between themselves
and the audience. When a character
directly addresses the audience,
recognizing that they are being
watched, he or she is “breaking the
fourth wall.” Exposition and monologues
sometimes break the fourth wall.
Act
✹In
most plays, events are
grouped into acts, which
are like chapters in a
book.
Scene
✹A
subdivision
of an act.
Each scene
usually takes
place in one
specific
setting.
Stage directions
✹ Stage
directions are provided in the text
of a play, but are not spoken aloud I a
performance. They are usually
indicated with italics and/or
parentheses, & may indicate where the
scene takes place, what a character is
supposed to do, or how a character
should deliver certain lines.
Blocking
✹ This
term refers to specific directions of
where, when and how actors will move.
✹ Blocking includes use of props, furniture
on stage, and walls/doorways, etc.
Upstage and Downstage
✹
Originally, the stage was built so that it angled
toward the audience; the “back” of the stage
was higher than the “front” of the stage, so
the audience could see equally well actions at
the back of the stage and at the front of the
stage. Now the floor of the seating area is
angled upward to provide the same effect.
This helps explain the terms “down-stage”
and “up-stage.”
All directions should be given
from the actor’s point of view
✹
Stage Right - the right part of a stage from the
viewpoint of one who faces the audience
✹ Stage Left - the left part of a stage from the viewpoint
of one who faces the audience
✹ Down-stage - the part of a stage that is closest to the
audience or camera
✹ Up-stage - the part of a stage that is farthest from the
audience or camera (If you “upstage” someone, you
steal the audience’s attention from someone who is
supposed to be getting it; you may do this physically
by placing yourself down-stage of them [thus putting
them up-stage from you], or by performing better than
they do)
Dramatic Foil
✹
A character who provides a strong contrast
to another character.
✹
A foil may emphasize another character’s
distinctive traits or make a character look better by
comparison.
Costumes
✹The
clothing worn during a play
by an actor to help show the
audience that the actor is
playing a role.
✹Costume can be elaborate or
very simple.
Dialogue
✹A
conversation
between at least
two characters
✹
Dialogue brings characters to life by
revealing their personalities and by
showing what they are thinking and
feeling as they react to other characters.
Monologue
✹A
speech
given by a
single
character
while other
characters are
onstage
Soliloquy
✹
A long speech
delivered by a
character who is
alone onstage,
expressing private
inner thoughts and
emotions aloud to
him/herself and to
the audience
Asides
✹
In a play, one or two characters
may turn “aside” to comment
privately; other characters who are
onstage pretend they cannot hear.
✹ Asides are frequently used to
provide information to the
audience and to reveal the private
thoughts of characters.