Drama is a story told through dialogue and performed on stage. It originated in ancient Greece and follows a dramatic structure with exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. There are several genres of drama including tragedy, comedy, melodrama, farce, and musicals. Productions require literary elements like script, plot, and characters, technical elements like scenery and costumes, and performance elements like acting and speech.

1. Drama

2. What Is Drama?
Drama is a composition in prose form that
presents a story entirely told in dialogue.
It´s a story enacted onstage for a live audience.

3. ORIGINS OF DRAMA
The word drama comes from the
Greek verb dran, which means “to
do” or “to act”
• The earliest known plays...
– were written around the
fifth century B.C.
– produced for festivals to
honor Dionysus, the god
of wine and fertility

4. Dramatic Structure
Like the plot of a story, the plot of a play involves
characters who face a problem or conflict.
Climax
point of highest tension;
Plot: action determines how the conflict
Sequence of events that will be resolved
develop the drama
(complications)
Resolution
Exposition conflict is resolved;
characters and conflict are play ends
introduced

5. Dramatic Structure
• Conflict is a struggle or
clash between opposing
characters or forces. A
conflict may develop . . .
• between characters who
want different things or
the same thing
• between a character and
his or her circumstances
• within a character who is
torn by competing desires

6. FORMS OF DRAMA

7. TRAGEDY
A tragedy is a play that ends unhappily.
Most classic Greek tragedies deal with serious, universal themes
such as
• right and wrong
• justice and injustice
• life and death

8. The protagonist of most
classical tragedies is a tragic
hero.
This hero is noble and in many
ways admirable has a tragic
flaw, a personal failing that
leads to a tragic end.

9. MELODRAMA
It 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.

10. COMEDY
It is a type of drama intended to interest and
amuse the audience rather than make them
deeply concerned about events that happen. The
plot usually centers on a romantic conflict.
It is a play that ends happily.
Comic complications always occur before
the conflict is resolved. In most cases,
the play ends with a wedding.

11. FARCE
Farce is a sub-category of
comedy, characterized by greatly
exaggerated characters and
situations.
Farces typically involve mistaken
identities, lots of physical
comedy and outrageous plot
twists.

12. MusiCAL
In musical theater, the story is told not only through
dialogue and acting but through music and dance.
Musicals are often comedies, although many do involve
serious subject matter.

13. TRAGiCOMEDY
It is a play that does not adhere
strictly to the
structure of tragedy. There is a
mix of comedy and
Tragedy side by side in these
types of plays.
It focuses on character
relationships and shows
society
in a state of continuous flux.

14. HOMEWORK
• Find two or three examples of each genre of drama.
Justify your answers.

15. Elements of Drama

16. There are three types of Drama
Elements.
• Literary
• Technical
• Performance

17. Literary Elements
(What is needed to write a script or story?)
• Script
• Plot
• Character
• Story Organization
• Setting
• Dialogue
• Monologue /soliloquy/aside
• Conflict

18. Technical Elements
(What is needed to produce a play?)
• Scenery
• Costumes
• Props
• Sound and Music
• Make-up

19. Performance Elements
(What do the actors do on stage to make a character come alive?)
• Acting
• Speaking
• Non-verbal Expression

20. But…what do all these
words mean?

21. All the elements of drama combine
to make a good production. They
are all important. Some
demonstrate more of one element
than others.

22. Literary Elements
• Script?
• A script is the written words and directions of
a play.

23. Literary Elements
• Plot?
• The plot is the storyline or arrangement of
action.

24. Literary Elements
• Character?
• A character is a person portrayed in a drama.

25. Literary Elements
• Story Organization?
• The story organization is how a story is told –
the beginning, middle and end.

26. Literary Elements
• Setting?
• The setting is where the action takes place.

27. Literary Elements
• Dialogue?
• A dialogue is a spoken conversation between
two characters.

28. Literary Elements
• Monologue?
• A monologue is a long speech made by one
person.
• Soliloquy? A character alone on stage reveals
private thoughts.
• Aside? A character briefly expresses private
thoughts to the audience that other
characters on stage cannot hear.

29. Literary Elements
• Conflict?
• The internal or external struggle between
opposing forces, ideas, or interests that create
dramatic tension.

30. Technical Elements
• Scenery?
• The scenery is theatrical equipment such as
curtains, backdrops, and platforms to
communicate the environment. An example
might be trees to show a forest environment.

31. Technical Elements
• Props?
• Props are any article other than costumes or
scenery used as part of a dramatic production.
An example might be a table on the stage.

32. Technical Elements
• Sound and Music?
• Sound is the effect an audience hears during a
show, like the sound of rain. And music – well,
you know what music is!

33. Technical Elements
• Make-up?
• Make-up is the use of costumes, wigs and
body paint to transform an actor into a
character.

34. Performance Elements
• Acting?
Acting is how speaking and moving help to
create characters.

35. Performance Elements
• Non-verbal Expression
Non-expression includes gestures, facial
expressions, and movement.

36. Performance Elements
• Speaking
Speaking is vocal expression, projection,
speaking style and diction.

37. Conclusion
A comedy ends happily after an amusing
series of problem.
Tragedy stresses human greatness, but
comedy emphasizes human faults and the
weaknesses of society