Drama Notes

1. Drama Notes

2. What is Drama? • A play is a story acted out, live and onstage.

3. Structure of a Drama • Like the plot of a story, the plot of a drama follows a rising-and-falling structure

4. Kinds of Plays • A play may be a tragedy, a comedy, or, in modern drama, a mixture of the two. • A tragedy depicts serious and important events that end unhappily. • A comedy ends happily. Although most comedies are funny, they may also make us think and question.

5. Tragedy • Most classical tragedies deal with serious subjects—fate, life, and death—and center on a tragic hero.

6. Tragic Heroes • Are usually noble figures • Have a tragic flaw, a personal failing that leads to their downfall • Examples: rebelliousness, ambition, passion, excessive pride

7. Innocent Heroes • Some tragedies, such as Romeo and Juliet, portray the suffering of innocent characters who are not responsible for their own downfall.

8. Comedy • In a comedy, the characters usually face humorous obstacles and problems that are resolved by the end of the play.

9. Comedic Heroes • May be ordinary people instead of nobility • Eventually overcome their flaws and achieve happiness

10. Comedy • The conflict in comedies is usually romantic. • Someone wants to marry but faces an obstacle—opposing parents or rival suitors. • Complications can involve misunderstandings, mistaken identities, disguises, or transformation. • The obstacle is always overcome.

11. Modern Drama • Many of today’s dramas can’t be neatly defined as either comedy and tragedy. • Modern plays: • Often mix the serious with the humorous • Focus on characters that audiences will identify with rather than look up to

12. Performance of a Play • Plays are meant to be performed. A play comes to life in each unique performance.

13. Performance of a Play Stage Directions Playwright describes setting and actions Interpretation Actors, directors, and designers interpret these directions creatively Performance Audience experiences the story through the actor’s speech and actions

14. The Stage • A stage is like a small world unto itself. A stage • Can be grand or intimate • Has its own coordinates upstage stage right stage left downstage

15. The Stage • The stage’s set might be: • A set can be changed from scene to scene—sometimes with machinery and sometimes with just a change in lighting. realistic and detailed abstract or minimal

16. The Stage • Other important elements of set design are costumes and props. • Costumes tell us about the characters and the time and place. They can be elaborate or minimal. • Props are items that the characters carry or handle onstage.

17. “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford No betterterm than this: thou art a villain”

18. “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford No betterterm than this: thou art a villain”

19. The Characters • The actors and director bring characters to life by • Deciding how to interpret and speak the lines of the play • Building on the playwright’s stage directions for actions and movements

20. The Characters • Characters’ speech takes the form of • Dialogue: conversation between characters • Monologue: a long speech by one character to one or more other characters • Soliloquy: a speech by a character alone onstage, speaking to himself or herself or to the audience

21. Aside • Sometimes a character speaks to the audience or to another character in an aside, dialogue that is not supposed to be heard by the other characters onstage.

22. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Tragedy: a narrative about serious and important events that lead to a disastrous outcome • A tragedy usually ends with the deaths of the main characters • Their downfall may be the result of • Character flaws that lead to unwise actions • Fate (events beyond the characters’ control) • A little bit of both

23. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Shakespeare’s tragic plays usually follow a five-part sequence: Act IIICrisis, or turning point Act IIRising action, or complications Act IVFalling action Act IExposition Act VClimax and resolution

24. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Exposition • Establishes setting • Introduces characters • Explains background • Introduces characters’ main conflict

25. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Rising actionconsists of a series of complications that occur when the main characters take action to resolve their problems.

26. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • The crisis, or turning point, is the moment when a choice made by the main characters determines the direction of the action. • In a tragedy, the action heads downward, toward disaster. • In a comedy, the action heads upward, toward a happy ending.

27. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • The crisis is the point when all the forces of conflict come together to create the greatest drama and tension of the play. • Look for the turning point as you read Act III of Romeo and Juliet.

28. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Falling action presents events that result from the action taken at the turning point. • With each event, we see the characters falling deeper into tragedy.

29. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Climax is the moment of greatest emotional intensity in the plot • In a tragedy, the final and greatest climax occurs near the end of the play and usually consists of the deaths of the main characters.

30. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet • Resolution (or denouement) is the final part of the play • All the loose ends are tied up, and the play is over

31. Foil • A foil is another character in a story who contrasts with the main character, usually to highlight one of their attributes

32. Shakespeare’s use of Language • Prose: normal written/spoken language that does not rhyme or have rhythm; the type of language the lower class typically speaks in Shakespeare’s plays • Verse: writing that has a rhythm and may rhyme; the type of language the upper class typically speaks in Shakespeare’s plays