9 Drama 1

Dramatic Text

A script meant to be performed on stage; includes spoken dialogue and stage directions

Theatrical Performance

A live, multimedia realization of a dramatic text using voice, visuals, body language, and space

Collective Nature of Drama

Drama is created by a team—actors, directors, designers, technicians—working together

Multimedia Presentation

Theatrical drama engages multiple senses: acoustic (sound, music), visual (gesture, set), and sometimes others

Performance Uniqueness

Each theatrical performance is unique and cannot be exactly reproduced

Theatre Studies

Studies live performance: staging, acting, production techniques, and historical practices

Literary Studies

Analyzes dramatic texts as literature: structure, themes, language, and genre

Performance Criticism

Analyzes how a dramatic text suggests or relates to stage performance, or how it was actually performed

Stage Types Through History

Ancient Greek amphitheatres (Epidaurus), Renaissance apron stages (Globe), 17th-century indoor theatres (Blackfriars), modern picture-frame stages (proscenium)

Ancient Greek Amphitheatre

Large open-air theatres built into hillsides, like Epidaurus, with excellent acoustics and tiered seating

Apron Stage

Renaissance-era stage extending into the audience, like the Globe Theatre; surrounded on three sides

Indoor Theatre (17th Century)

Enclosed theatre with galleries and box seating, such as the Blackfriars Theatre; used candlelight and smaller space

Picture-Frame Stage (Proscenium)

A modern theatre design with a framed opening through which the audience views the stage like a picture

Communication in Drama

Includes intratextual (character-to-character) and extratextual (author-to-audience) communication

Intratextual Communication

The characters within the play talk to each other through dialogue

Extratextual Communication

The author communicates to the real-life audience or reader through the dramatic text

Overview of Dramatic Genres

Tragedy focuses on downfall, recognition, and catharsis; Comedy centers on ordinary people, wit, and happy resolutions

Tragedy (Aristotle)

A noble character falls due to a mistake (hamartia), leading to emotional purification (catharsis)

Hamartia

A tragic flaw or error in judgment causing the hero's downfall

Anagnorisis

Moment of recognition or realization of a critical truth by the tragic hero

Catharsis

Emotional release experienced by the audience through pity and fear

Comedy

Depicts ordinary people, often with mistaken identities and witty twists, ending in harmony or marriage

Comic Elements

Cross-dressing, trickery, mistaken identities, and surprise reversals are common

Textual Components

Primary text (spoken dialogue) and secondary text (stage directions, usually italicized)

Structural Units

Act (major division), Scene (subdivision by situation/characters), Prologue (intro), Epilogue (outro)

Prologue

An introductory speech or section before the action begins

Epilogue

A final speech, often directly addressing the audience at the end of the play

Overview of Dramatic Forms

Closed Form presents linear structure and emotional impact; Freytag’s Pyramid models a 5-act plot; Open Form is episodic, reflective, and often unresolved

Closed Form

Follows Aristotelian unities; has a beginning, middle, and end with resolution

Aristotelian Unities

Unity of action (one plot), time (within 24h), and place (one location)

Freytag’s Pyramid

Five-act structure: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, catastrophe

Open Form

Breaks classical rules; episodic, fragmented, and often unresolved

Open Form Features

Scenes are loosely connected, focus is on reflection and reason rather than emotional closure