Drama tells a story through dialogue and stage directions meant to be performed on stage or screen. It includes elements like characters, setting, plot, theme, costumes, makeup, scenery, props, sound effects, music, acting, speaking, and nonverbal expression. A playwright authors a play and a scriptwriter authors a script for movies or television. Drama provides a different experience than novels or short stories because it is meant to be performed and enacted rather than simply read.

1. Elements of Drama
Apple Jane Salutan

2. How do you think does drama provide
the reader a different experience than
short stories or novels?

3. Drama
Comes from the Greek
Word, “Dran”
It means “to do” or “to act”
The doing/acting makes
drama

4. Drama
 A drama tells a story and includes such
elements as character, setting, plot, and
theme.
 A drama is written to be performed in a
theater OR to be performed on screen or
film.

5.  In a play or a drama, there are no long
descriptions of setting or characters, instead, the
entire action of the play is told through dialogue
and stage directions.
 Novel is written in basic prose while drama is
almost in dialogues.
 Novels and short stories are written to be read
while a drama is written to be enacted on the
stage, to be performed.

6.  A SCRIPT is the written form of a
play.
 Scripts are used in stage
productions, for movies, and for
television shows.
 A PLAYWRIGHT is the author of a
play.
 A SCRIPTWRITER is the author of a
television or movie script.

7.  The two mask represent
the traditional generic
division between comedy
and tragedy.
 They are symbols of the
ancient Greek Muses:
 Thalia was the muse of
Comedy (the laughing face)
 Melpomeme was the muse
of tragedy (the weeping
face)

8. Elements of Drama
Literary
Technical
Performance

9. Literary Elements
• The storyline or plot is what happens in the play.
Each plot has a beginning, middle, and end.
• The setting is where and when the story takes
place.
• The characters are the people or animals played
by actors.
• The conflict is the problem that the characters
have in the play.

10. Technical Elements
• Costumes are the clothing and additional
items that actors wear during the play.
• Makeup is any powder, paint, wig, or mask
worn by an actor during the play.
• The scenery is the collection of
decorations, such as backgrounds, on the
set. It lets the audience know where and
when the play takes place.

11. Technical Elements
• Props, or properties, are all items on stage,
except the scenery. Set props include large items
like furniture. Hand props are objects actors use
during the play.
• Sound effects are sounds, such as thunder and
birds chirping, added to make the play seem more
realistic.
• Music can also be added to a performance. The
music should match the mood, place, and
characters in the play.

12. Performance Elements
• Acting is the process actors use to make the
characters in the play seem real.
• Speaking includes vocal expression (the mood
actors demonstrate when saying their lines),
projection (the way actors control their breaths
and push their voices), speaking style (how actors
say their lines), and diction (clearly saying
words).

13. Performance Elements
• Nonverbal expression includes gestures,
facial expressions, and movements that
actors use to communicate, without
talking.
• Developing a character means using the
performance elements to turn the
character into someone the audience will
believe.

14. END