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Drama

Drama. “ I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries ” (Frank Capra). History of Drama. All drama originates from Ancient Greece where groups of people worshiped the god Dionysus by singing and dancing together.

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Drama

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  1. Drama “I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries” (Frank Capra).

  2. History of Drama • All drama originates from Ancient Greece where groups of people worshiped the god Dionysus by singing and dancing together. • YEARLY RIGHTS TO DIONYSUS EVOLVED INTO THE STRUCTURED FORM OF GREEK DRAMA. • THE GREATER DIONYSIA WAS HELD FOR FIVE DAYS DURING THE SPRING. • EACH WRITER WOULD PRESENT THREE TRAGEDIES AND A SATYR PLAY (A FARCICAL, OFTEN BAWDY PARODY OF THE GODS AND THEIR MYTHS). • 15,000 PEOPLE WOULD SIT THROUGH THE PLAYS IN THE DIONYSIAN THEATER AND WOULD VOTE FOR THEIR FAVORITE PLAYS BY CASTING STONE BALLOTS. • WINNERS WOULD RECEIVE THE LAUREL WREATH

  3. Early Theatrical Conventions • THEATERS WERE BUILT INTO NATURAL HILLSIDES • THE GREEK ACTORS WERE ALL MEN • THE ACTORS EACH WORE A LARGER THAN LIFE MASK, WHICH INDICATED THE NATURE OF THE CHARACTER TO THE AUDIENCE. • EACH MASK ALSO CONTAINED A MEGAPHONE, SO THOSE FARTHEST AWAY IN THE AMPHITHEATER COULD HEAR THE ACTORS AND CHORUS SPEAK.

  4. Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero • Comes from nobility • Has a tragic Flaw (caused by a simple mistake or a character flaw) maybe pride or hubris • Undergoes a Reversal of Fortune (Falls from high to low) • Has a Downfall • Recognizes his mistakes (in a catharsis or purgation of pity and fear)

  5. Structure of drama • 1. Exposition • 2. Rising Action • 3. Climax • 4. Falling Action • 5. Denouement/Resolution

  6. Aristotle’s Unities:a way of providing a focus to tragedy • Unity of Time: The play takes place in a 24 hour time period • Unity of Place: The play has only one setting • Unity of Action: The play has one plot and no mixture of tragedy and comedy

  7. Goals of a tragedy • Tragedy is meant to reaffirm the fact that life is worth living, regardless of the suffering or pain that is part of human existence. • Tragedies are about people in conflict with the universe. • Tragedies are always about spiritual conflicts, never about common events. • Tragic actions arise from a character's inner conflict. • A tragic protagonist must have magnitude; his struggles are great because he is important to society.

  8. More goals • The tragic protagonist must fall from high to low; they will have a noble soul. • The audience must care about the tragic protagonist. • The tragic protagonist is a good man, but not perfect. He usually suffers from hubris. •  Once the transgression is realized, the character enters the stage of recognition and will undergo a reversal of fortune. • The protagonist's actions should arouse feelings of both pity and fear in the audience: pity because the protagonist is better than we are, so we place ourselves into his position (empathy) and fear because we too do not know our future or fate. • By the end of the play, the audience should be purged of pity and fear, so they go through a catharsis.

  9. “To be or not to be…” (William Shakespeare) • The tragic protagonist must ask the first and last of all questions: What does it mean to be?    • He must face the world alone and kick against his fate.    • He can never escape his fate, but he will insist upon accepting fate on his own terms.

  10. Did you know? • Tragedy was at its height in Greek society when the society was at its height. • Comedy—an outlet for the frustrations of society—was most popular during the decline of the Greek government.

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