Elements of Drama

1
Elements of Drama
2
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.

3
Script

• The written text of a play. Usually includes
  Dramatis Personae, brief descriptions of the sets
  or setting, and the lines the characters will
  speak.

4
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
• often includes important information about the
  character

5
Dramatic Foil

• A character who provides a strong contrast to
  another character.
• A foil may emphasize another characters
  distinctive traits or make a character look
  better by comparison.

6
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.

7
Set

• The decoration of the stage and the items upon it
  that are used to create the illusion of a certain
  setting

8
Function of the Set Design

• The stage design allows the author of the play to
  create a sense of setting.
• Sets can be elaborate and realistic, or
  minimalistic and dependent on the audiences
  imagination.

9
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.

10
Act

• In most plays, events are grouped into acts,
  which are like chapters in a book.

11
Scene

• A subdivision of an act. Each scene usually
  takes place in one specific setting.

12
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.

13
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.

14
Sample blocking

• Enter tells character(s) to come onto the stage.
  Often includes a direction (left or right) or
  additional information about how characters are
  to enter the scene.
• Exit tells character(s) to leave the stage and
  the scene. Often includes a direction (left or
  right) or additional information about how
  characters are to leave the scene.

15
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.

16
All directions should be given from the actors
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 audiences 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)

17
Director

• The person who decides which actors will be in
  the play, where they should stand or move to, how
  they should speak, and what they should wear.
• A director will give actors LOTS of specific
  stage directions to fit his or her own vision of
  how the play should be brought to life.

18
Actor

• A person, male or female, playing a role in a
  play.
• Females used to be called actresses but in some
  circles, this usage is out of favor.

19
Cast

• The group of actors performing a particular
  production of a play

20
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.

21
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.

22
Monologue

• A speech given by a single character while other
  characters are onstage

23
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

24
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.

25
Strategies for Reading Drama

• Read the play silently.
• Figure out what is happening.
• Read the stage directions carefully.
• Get to know the characters.
• Analyze the plot.
• Read the play aloud.