The play "The Heirloom" tells the story of Greta receiving a special gift from her Oma. Greta has been impatiently waiting for her Oma to arrive with a wrapped present. Oma tells Greta the story behind the figurine gift - that it has been passed down through the generations in their family since Greta's great-grandmother. Greta is overjoyed to receive this family heirloom and treasure. The play highlights the importance of cherishing items that connect us to our family history.

1. Elements of Drama
 Drama – A story written to be performed by actors.
o There are several different forms of presenting a
drama; each has a very specific format. Plays have a
very simple format; teleplays, for television shows, or
screenplays, for movies, have more complex and strict
rules for formatting.
o The first dramas to be written for the express purpose
of being performed were created by the Greeks. Many
of our modern drama terms derive from Greek origins.
 Comedy – In the Greek sense, a play that doesn’t end in
death. In modern usage, refers to a play that is humorous.
 Tragedy – In the Greek sense, a play that ends with the
death of at least one of the main characters. In modern
usage, refers to a play that doesn’t have a happy ending.
 Irony – general name for moments in literature that involve
surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions
 Dramatic irony – a contradiction between what the
character thinks and what the audience or reader knows to
be true
 Script – the written text of a play. Usually includes a list of
characters that appear in the play with a brief description of
what the character is like (Dramatis Personae), brief
descriptions of the sets or setting, and the lines the
characters will speak.

2.  Dramatis Personae - "People of Drama" in Latin; a list of
the characters in a play, usually found on the first page of
the script; often includes important information about the
character
 Character - as in a story, people or creatures that appear in
a script by speaking or doing something (the "something"
may be as simple as walking on stage, then walking off
again); someone in a script who is involved with a plot
 Dialogue – the lines spoken by the actors; in the script,
preceded by the name of the character that is to speak the
words
 Monologue – A speech given by a single character while
that character is alone on stage; also called a soliloquy
 Soliloquy – In drama (especially Elizabethan
[Shakespearean]), an extended speech by a solitary
character expressing inner thoughts aloud to him-or herself
and to the audience; a monologue
 Aside – A monologue performed by a character while other
characters are on stage; the information in an aside is not
heard by the other characters on stage, even though they
may be standing very close by; it is intended to convey the
character’s private thoughts to the audience. Other
characters on stage at that time may freeze, to show that the
words being said are not being overheard; other times, the
other characters will go about their business but ignore the
character giving the aside.

3.  Exposition – A speech or discussion presented in a very
straight-forward manner that is designed to convey
information or explain what is difficult to understand
 Stage directions – a description (as of a character or setting)
or direction (as to indicate stage business) provided in the
text of a play, 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.
 Enter – A stage direction – tells the 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 – A stage direction – tells the 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.
 Act – A major section of a play, similar to a chapter in a
book; an act is usually made up of several scenes
 Scene – a subdivision of an act; usually, a scene indicates a
specific location or time, and changes if another location or
time is supposed to be presented. A scene usually ends
when all the characters in the scene leave the stage.
 Line – Shakespeare’s plays were written in blank verse
(unrhymed iambic pentameter, 10 syllables per line); as in a

4. poem, a line might end though the sentence
continues. Current copies of Shakespeare’s scripts usually
have numbers listed in the margins of the pages so readers
can find lines quickly.
 ***Specific points in the play can be found with a three
number system (ex: “3.1.159” refers to a specific line: Act
Three, Scene Two, Line One hundred fifty-nine; “2.2.2-7”
indicates a series of lines in Act 2, Scene 2, starting at Line
2 and ending at Line 7)***
 Chorus – a character or group in a drama who speaks the
prologue and epilogue and comments on the action
 Extra – a minor character who doesn’t have many or any
lines; usually, extras don’t have names, but are identified
by what they do (“servant,” “boy,” “policeman”) and
sometimes a number if there are more than one of that type
of extra
 Elements of Drama
 Drama is a story that is acted out in front of people, or an audience. A drama can
be a play, a puppet show, a song, or a dance story that a person on stage performs
for a group of people.
 Have you ever pretended tobe someone else? Have you ever acted out a story
with a friend? Have you ever gone to see a show or a play? All of these are
examples of drama.
 Plays are written in a special form, which helps you to picture what is happening
on stage. This special form is called a script. A script contains the list of
characters, the lines the characters say, and the stage directions.
 Read the play below. Then click on the elements of drama to learn how each is
represented in the play “The Heirloom.”

5. The Heirloom
Cast of Characters:
Greta
Oma
Setting:
The living room of Greta’s house in the afternoon
[Greta has been sitting on the sofa, impatiently waiting for her Oma to
arrive. She hasn’t seen her Oma in several months. Greta can hardly
contain her excitement; shortly Oma arrives at the house with a small
wrapped gift in her hand.]
GRETA: [very excited] Oma! What did you bring me?
OMA: [Oma sets the gift on a coffee table.] Before I show you, I want to tell
you a story. [Oma and Greta sit on the sofa together.] Did you know that
when my mother was a young girl, she attended art school in Germany?
There she became friends with a woman named Berta Hummel, who drew
lifelike pictures of the children from her village. Berta was so gifted that a
man decided to make her drawings into figurines. [Oma hands Greta the
box and Greta unwraps the present.] This girl was one of the first figures
that Berta ever made.
GRETA: [happy] It is beautiful Oma. Thank you.
OMA: Berta gave it to my mother, who absolutely adored it. My mother
gave it to me, and now I am giving it to you. This heirloom has been in our
family for many years.
GRETA: [Greta holds the figurine in her hand, admiring the object that had
meant so much to her great-grandmother.] I know just where I am going
to put it in my room. This is the best gift I have ever been given.

6. Characters
The list of characters at the beginning of the play tells who will be appearing in the
play. Some plays have a narrator. The narrator gives the audience information
about what is happening in the play.
Greta and Oma are the characters in the play, “The Heirloom.”
Setting
The setting is where and when the play takes place. Many plays have more than
one setting.
The living room of Greta’s house during the afternoon is the setting of the play,
“The Heirloom.” Because it is a short play, there is only one setting.
Descriptions
Descriptions are related to the setting of the play, but provide much more
information about what has already happened before the play begins or how the
characters are feeling before the first lines of dialogue. Descriptions can also
provide detailed information about the setting.
This is the description for “The Heirloom.”
[Greta has been sitting on the sofa, impatiently waiting for her Oma to arrive. She
hasn’t seen her Oma in several months. Greta can hardly contain her excitement;
shortly Oma arrives at the house with a small wrapped gift in her hand.]
Dialogue
The dialogue is the lines of text the characters speak in the play. The characters’
names appear before the lines they speak. A play’s dialogue often tells what the
characters are thinking and feeling.
The lines the character Greta speaks have the name GRETA at the beginning. The
lines Oma speaks have OMA at the beginning. Together these lines make up the
dialogue of the play.

7. Stage Directions
Stage directions tell the actors what to do. They tell actors where to go on the
stage, how to move, and how to say their lines.
In the first line Greta speaks, the stage direction says she is very excited, sothe
line should be spoken with excitement in the actor’s voice. The stage direction at
the beginning of Oma’s first line tells the actor that she should put the gift down
on the table as she speaks this line.
Theme
Theme is the lesson or message of a play. Toidentify the play’s message, look for
clues in what the characters say and do, what happens as the result of their
actions, and how the characters change.
The theme of the play, “The Heirloom,” is to treasure items that are passed down
from generation to generation. They are special parts of people’s past.