What is Drama?

What is Drama?

"All the world's a stage, and all the people, players!"

William Shakespeare

What are the various meanings of drama?

dra·ma. noun

1.a play for theater, radio, or television."a gritty urban drama about growing up in Harlem" Similar: play, showpiece, theatrical work, spectacle, dramatization, screenplay

2. an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances. "a hostage drama"

Aristotle's six elements of drama

• Plot – The Story of the play.

• Dialogue – The spoken interactions between the characters

• Idea – The central meaning of the play. The themes.

• Music – The elements that deal with sounds.

• Spectacle – The overall look of the play.

• Character – Any person appearing in the play

Types of Plays

• Comedy- A dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.

• Tragedy- A dramatic composition, dealing with a serious or somber theme
  

• Pantomime- A type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. Loosely based on well-known Fairy Tales.

• Satire- Poking fun at social institutions or people in a clever and intelligent fashion. 

Basic Theater Terms

• Allegory- A narrative in which the story represents a specific abstraction or idea.

• Allusion- A reference to a person, place, idea, or event in history or literature.

• Aside- A short speech made by a character to the audience that other characters cannot hear.

• Denouement- (Pronounced Day-New-Maw) Literal translation- French word meaning to unknot. It is the final part of a play, movie, or televsion show, in which all strands of the plot are concluded. May include a resolution.

More Theater Terms

• Exposition- A Literary Device used to introduce background information.

• Foil- A Character who, through difference or similarity, brings out a particular aspect of another character.

• Foreshadowing- Ominous hints of coming events to create suspense.

• Irony- Contradictions that reveal a reality that differs from what appears to be true.

  -Dramatic Irony- When a character believes in a different reality from the one the audience knows to be true.

  -Situational Irony- When a character’s actions create a result that is the opposite from the character’s intentions.

How will all of this apply to the play we will read, "A Raisin In the Sun"?

• Is it a comedy?

• Is it a tragedy?

• Is it a satire?

• We shall soon see!