Comprehensive Drama and Theatre Concepts: Play-Events, Genres, and Aristotle's Components

play-events

Performances that happen in time and at a specific place.

conventions

A sort of group agreement about some basics of how something will unfold.

genre

Derived from the French word for 'kind.'

tragedy

A profoundly serious play that almost always ends in the death of one or more of its main characters.

elements of tragedy

Struggle, self-recognition, and catharsis.

comedy

A play that exhibits ordinary life through devices such as mistaken identities and sexual puns.

dramaturgy

Term derived from Greek words 'drama' and 'ergos'.

historical play duration

A full-length play typically lasted between two and three hours.

struggle

One of the three central elements to tragedy.

self-recognition

One of the three central elements to tragedy.

catharsis

One of the three central elements to tragedy.

narrative

Simply the narrative of what happens in the play.

repeated elements

The repeated elements of a play that come to define our experience of the play, text, or performance.

quality of language

Used to describe the quality of a play's language.

sixteenth century genres

Genres that first came to popularity in the sixteenth century when William Shakespeare wrote plays.

ordinary life

A play that exhibits ordinary life through devices such as mistaken identities and sexual puns.

historical drama

Drama that developed in Europe and the United States.

full-length play

Typically lasted between two and three hours.

docudramas

Plays that use actual documents such as court records or transcribed interviews to push a sense of urgent connection to the real world or current events.

music

A component of drama that serves various purposes, including entertainment and underscoring dramatic action.

plot

The sequence of events in a play, including the order of characters' entrances and exits, actions that take place onstage, and the reasons behind events.

character

The individuals who take part in the action of a play, defined by their traits and roles.

thought

Aristotle's concept that is consistent with what we might think of as a play's theme.

diction

The quality of a play's language.

spectacle

The visual aspects of production such as scenery, costumes, lighting, makeup, properties, and the overall look of the theatre and stage.

the rehearsal process

An element of the pre-play that involves practicing the performance before the actual presentation.

advertising the production

An element of the pre-play that involves promoting the play to attract an audience.

ushers that provide the audience with programs

An element of the pre-play that involves assisting the audience by distributing information about the performance.

an announcement asking the audience to silence their cell phones

An element of the pre-play that ensures minimal distractions during the performance.

conflict

A key feature in the orderly plot sequencing of a conventionally Aristotelian dramatic experience.

conversation

A key feature in the orderly plot sequencing of a conventionally Aristotelian dramatic experience.

climax

The point in a play where the conflicts reach their peak.

circumstance

A key feature in the orderly plot sequencing of a conventionally Aristotelian dramatic experience.

exposition

The introduction of background information within a play.

post-play

The events or activities that occur after the main action of the play has concluded.