Drama Principles (1)

8/12/2019 Drama Principles (1)

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Drama


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What are the basics of Drama? The terms mostly associated with the study of

dramatic literature (Aristotle) are:

Plot Character

Diction & Music

Thought Spectacle


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Plot Plays are normally structured into acts and

scenes. A play may have one (contemporary

dramas), two, three, four (Ibsen, Checkhov,Shaw), or five acts( Shakespeare & Molire)

The plot involves the characters in action,which follows the traditional pattern

(exposition, rising action . . .)


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Character: Who is speaking? There are four levels of characterization:

Physical

Social

Psychological

moral


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Physical: you examine external characteristics as

age, sex, height, weight, race, etc.

Social: you examine a character s circumstances

with regard to family, religion, and business in

order to depict character interrelationships within

scenes.


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Psychological: you examine the attitudes,

beliefs, desires, likes, and dislikes, and

especially the motivations of a character.This analysis helps to get at why characters

say what they say and why they do what they

do. It gets at the inner workings of a

character s mind.


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Moral: you examine the kinds of choices

characters make and the way in which they

live their lives (The ethical or non-ethicalbehavior of characters)

This dimension is controversial becauseeverybody may not share the same moral values.


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How do the Characters speak?

Diction & Music Diction is the language of the play. The play

may be written in prose or in verse.

Language is the primary determinant of

character because what characters say is the

primary way of understanding theirpersonalities


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The style of language (formal, consultative, casual,&intimate) a character uses is another method of determiningcharacterization

Formal style: characteristic of dialogue between two characters whoeither do not know each other well or who have a relationship inwhich one feels or is superior to the other because of position, age,reputation, and so forth. It is used to convey a feeling of respect orawe, or to convey an air of propriety.

Man: Excuse me, please. I am sorry to bother you, but have you byany chance the correct time?

Woman: No trouble at all, sir. It is precisely four o clock.


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Consultative language

Man: Do you have the correct time, please?

Woman: Sure. It s four o clock.

Casual language

Man: Got the time?

Woman: Yeah. It s four.

Intimate language

Man: Time?

Woman: Four.


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Music: Not all the plays have the elements of

song and dance common to musical theater

and some melodramas, but the language ofmany plays has a musical, rhythmic quality of

its own.


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Why are the Characters speaking?

Thought

Aristotle s term thoughtmay be described as the

play s meaning or theme.

The theme involves why the playwright wrote the

play (purpose) as well as the motivation or intention

of the characters.

The theme is often not explicitly stated in a play. It

is something you understand after reading and

studying it.


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The playwright uses different devices that help toconvey the thought of the play.

Asides (when someone else is on stage, and the characters words are unheard)

Soliloquies (character alone on stage speaking his/herthoughts)

The reasoner (a character who represents thephilosophical position of the playwright)


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Spectacle

Spectacle includes all the visual and auditory

elements of a playset, props, costumes,

makeup, music, sound, lighting, and soforthit is probably more important to the

production of a play than to the play as

literature.

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Drama Principles (1)