General course in Drama Definition & Types

1. An Introduction to Drama
Dr. Amal Riyadh Kitishat
Al Balqa Applied University

2. What is a play
A play is a representation of human beings
“in action.” But “action” does not mean
mere physical movement, it includes
psychological motivations that lie behind
visible behavior. The dramatic action
incorporates what is actively done and the
purpose for which it is done.

3. What is a play
• A drama, or a play, is a piece of writing that is
presented almost exclusively through dialogue
• Like a short story or novel, it has a setting,
characters, plot and even symbolism.
• A play is meant to be performed in front of an
audience, not read.

5. Elements of Drama
According to Aristotle there are six elements:
* Plot
* Character
* Thought
* Diction
* Music
* Spectacle

6. Plot
Plot is often considered merely the
summary of a play’s incidents, but-
though it includes the story line - it also
refers to the organization of all the
elements into a meaningful pattern. Plot
is thus the overall structure of a play. It
has a beginning, a middle and an end.

7. Plot
• Plot refers to the sequence of events inside a
story which affect other events through the
principle of cause and effect.
• Aristotle in The POETICS considered plot or
mythos as the most important element of drama,
even more important than character.
• (main plot / sub-plot)

8. Plot Structure
*Exposition
*Rising Action
*Crisis, Climax
*Falling Action
*Resolution, Denouement

9. Like the plot of a story, the plot of a play involves
characters who face a problem or conflict.
Climax
point of highest tension;
action determines how the
conflict will be resolved
Resolution
conflict is resolved;
play ends
Complications
tension builds
Exposition
characters and conflict
are introduced
Dramatic Structure

11. Character and Characterization
Character is the primary material from which plots are
created, for incidents are developed through the
speech and behavior of dramatic personages.
Characterization is the playwright’s means of
differentiating one personage from another. It may be
divided into four levels.

12. Dramatic Personae

14. Levels of characterization
* Physical
* Social
* Psychological
* Moral

15. Physical
Basic facts as:
* Sex
* Age
* Size
* Coloration

16. Social
The factors that place a
character in a particular
environment.
* Economic status
* Profession
* Trade
* Religion
* Family relationships

17. Psychological
The inner workings of the mind:
* A character’s habitual responses
* Desires
* Motivations
* Likes
* Dislikes
Since drama most often arises from conflicting
desires, the psychological is the most
essential level of characterization.

18. Moral
*It is most fully developed in serious
plays.
• It reveals what characters are willing
to do to get what they want (as
opposed to what they have said they
or others should do in such situations).
*Moral decisions differentiate characters
more fully than any other type.

19. A playwright can emphasize one or more
of these levels and may assign many or
few traits, depending on how the
character functions in the play.
*Minor characters
*Principal characters
The principal characters need to be
drawn in considerable depth.
How Characters Function in a Play?

20. A characterisrevealedinseveralways:
How can we judge /evaluate a character?
* Through descriptions in stage directions an
* What the character says
* What others in the play say and, most impo
* Through what the character does.

21. Thought
Sometimes the author’s intention is
clearly stated in the script.
Dramatists in different periods have used
various devices to project ideas:
* Direct statement:
chorus, soliloquies, asides
* Allegory
* Symbol.

22. Diction
Language ( diction) is the
playwright’s primary means of
expression.
The basic criterion for judging
diction is its appropriateness to
the characters, the situation, the
level of probability, and the type
of play.

23. Music
Music, as we ordinarily understand
the term, does not occur in every
play. But if the term is extended
to include all patterned sound, it
is an important ingredient in every
production.

24. Music (cont.)
The performers- through the elements of
pitch, stress, volume, tempo, duration,
and quality- transform print into sound.
It is through these elements that
meaning is conveyed.
In addition to the sound of the actors’
voices, a play may also use music in
the form of incidental songs and
background music.

25. Spectacle
The visual elements of a production:
* the movement and spatial relations
of characters
* lighting
* settings
* costumes
* properties

26. Spectacle (cont.)
The reader of a script must try to
envision the spectacle in order to grasp
a play’s full power.
Many older plays contain almost no stage
directions, and all clues must be
sought in the dialogue to help the
reader visualize the action.

27. Stage Directions
• Stage Direction: instructions for the director, the
performers, and the stage crew.
• These are printed in italics or are enclosed in
parentheses
• Many stage directions tell the actors how to
speak or move.
• They describe the scenery- all the decorations
on the stage that help create the setting.

29. Dialogue
• Dialogue: is the conversation between
characters.
• Both the plot of the play and the
characters’ personalities are revealed
through dialogue.

31. Forms of a Character’s Speech
• Dialogue: conversations of characters on
stage
• Monologue: long speech given by one
character to others
• Soliloquy: speech by a character alone
onstage to himself or herself or to the
audience
• Asides: remarks made to the audience or
to one character; the other characters
onstage do not hear an aside

32. Form in Drama
* Tragedy
* Comedy
* Tragicomedy
* Melodrama
* Farce

33. Form in Drama
(cont.)
Critics have divided plays into dramatic
forms on the basis of certain
characteristics, the most important of
which are type of action, overall tone,
and basic emotional appeals.
Throughout much of history, tragedy and
comedy have been considered the two
basic forms.

34. TRAGEDY
• Tragedy is a type of drama that shows the
downfall and destruction of a noble or
outstanding person, traditionally one who
possesses a character weakness called a tragic
flaw (discussed by Aristotle in The POETICS)
• Macbeth (ambition)
• Othello (jealousy)
• Hamlet (indecisiveness)

35. COMEDY
• Comedy is a type of drama intended to
interest and amuse the audience rather than
make them deeply concerned about events
that happen.
• The characters overcome some difficulties,
but they always overcome their ill fortune and
find happiness in the end.
• A Midsummer’s Night Dream
• As You Like It

36. Tragicomedy
• Tragicomedy is a play that does not adhere
strictly to the structure of tragedy.
• This is usually serious play that also has some
of the qualities of comedy. It arouses thought
even with laughter.
• The Merchant of Venice

37. FARCE
• Farce is a play that brings laughter for the sake
of laughter, usually making use of grossly
embellished events and characters.
• It has very swift movements, has ridiculous
situations, and does not stimulate thought.

38. MELODRAMA
• Melodrama shows events that follow each
other rapidly, but seems to be governed
always by chance.
• The characters are victims in the hands of
merciless fate.