Drama: key words and definitions

Scripts

define certain roles with particular speech acts and forms of behaviour., in specific situations conceptualized in cognitive frames

Frames

spatio-temporal structures saturated with meaning, such as “home”, “school”, “pub”

Primary text

present direct communication among characters in dialogues

Secondary text

give stage directions

Stage directions are part of…

secondary text

Communication among characters in dialogues is part of…

primary text

Theatrical performance

an unrepeatable, simultaneous and collective production and reception, in which actors play characters in fictional settings for spectators

Performance always…

exceed the text, no matter whether it gives no, few or many stage directions

Stage directions

about the choice of actors, their appearance and performance, the stage design, lighting and music suggest one way of staging a play but hardly exhaust the possibilities of a performance

Discrepant awareness

the gapt between the external communication of the whole performance and the internal communication among characters on stage often leads to this.

is the fact that spectators and characteres have different levels of information.

Reviews and brochures, as well as the genre and the title of the play…

may provide the spectators with some advance information that influences their expectations before they watch the performance

Dramatic introduction of a play…

establishes the situation atmosphere and the relation to the audience, appealing to its attention.

The initial or isolated exposition…

which is presented in a prologue or informatiave reports and dialogues early in the first act, introduces some characters and give the spectators the relevant context

Integrated exposition

reveals relevant information to understand the initial situation or the major problems in the course of the play, a feature brought to perfection in the so-called analytic drama.

suspense

is created by the initial exposition concerning how the action will develop

Intentional irony

expresses the opposite of what is meant

dramatic irony

a character is not aware of the implications and consequences of what they say or do.

it does not always serve a comic purpose

Dramatic language is…

based on, but differs from, ordinary language due to dramatic conventions and theatrical requirements

Why does dramatic speech have to communicate much information?

because it addresses both the characters on stage and the spectators in the theatre

Characters often…

introduce themselves and others, topics, conflicts in speech

they negotiate meanings and relationships, and plan and perform actions in dialogues. Every word is meaningful

Analysing speech

we can analyse the content (what), form (how) and function (why) of an individual speech by itself and in relationship to the preceding and following speeches by the same character and others

Co-operative communication

The norms of it help to understand dramatic speech in general: speakers should respect each other and thell the truth, give the adequate amount of info and say in a comprehensible way what is relevant to the matter at hand.

(un)intentional violation of these rules in a dialogue reveals insecurity, incompetence, alienation, domination or deception.

in terms of content, the logical coherence…

within and between utterances is telling. A character’s utterance can be well structured and logically coherent or rather chaotic and incoherent due to a lack of knowledge, memory, self-control, confidence…

According to the ideals of cooperative communication, characters…

respond to previous utterances in an appropriate and comprehensible way, achieving some sort of a consensus.

About incoherence

In the case of disrupted communication, characters cannot find a common ground for understanding or actively refuse to do so.

Thus, x tells us as much as coherence, if not more, about characters and conflicts. So does silence.

Silence

marked by pauses or gaps in between speeches.

May be caused by the inability to find the right words or the unwillingness to disclose information, for fear of a negative response, for the purpose of manipulating someone to draw conclusions, or for putting someone under pressure.

Harold Pinter commented…

The speech we hear is an indication of that which we don’t hear. It is a necessary avoidance, violent sly, and anguised or mocking smoke screen which keeps the other in its true place …

Interruptions…

are related to silence as they metaphorically “silence” other speakers

The quality of the communication is defined by

colloquial or formal language, limited or large range of vocabulary, simple or complex phrases, incomplete or complete sentences, incoherent or coherent utterances and dialogues.

Quantity matters

Dominants characters are usually given more and longer speeches to reveal their individual complexity, their prominence as agents or their social power

Style matters

the skills in language and communication can be rather limited or sophisticated

what are the six core functions of speech? (Jakobson)

6:

• expressive

• referential

• appellative

• phatic

• metalingual

• poetic

expressive, referential and appellative functions

are self-explanatory

characters express the subjective emotions, attitudes or motives. They exchange info by referring to characters, events and circumstances. They appeal to others with questions and imperatives.

phatic function

maintains contact between characters

metalingual function

reflects on language as a topic in comments on others’ speeches or in requests for ecplanations of what was said

poetic function

foregrounds language, such as its imagery, sound and rhythm. Noticed by the audience.

Dialogue and polylogue

talking in turns by two or more speakers, are the hallmarks of drama

line-by-line exchange

are found in the absurd drama of the 20th century

it may convey passion or wit, but also reticence and alienation

repatees

are witty replies

in absurd drama…

long pauses, short utterances and replies signify skepticism in langauge as a means of communication. In an absurd world that does not make sense, characters without a definite identity, a coherent past or a promising future spend or rather waste time together but remain lonely

monologic dialogue

if the dialogue is completely dominated by one character or if two or more characters share the same opinion

Monologue

tend towards a dialogue if a character talks to him/herself, torn between two positions, or speaks to a potential but absent addressee.

it is a speech that is addressed to nobody on stage, but expresses a character’s inner life to the audience

soliloquy

if the speaking character is alone on stage

perspective

gains its significance in the relationship to corresponding and contrasting perspectives of others

speech and action are…

interrelated in many ways. Speech triggers off action

Speech

can be considered as action in general, and promises, apologies, requests, curses, condemnations… as performative speech acts in particular

the ending of the play

towards it, speeches often terminate the action, form judgements and draw conclusions

the image of a dramatic figure…

is defined by all the information given within the limits of the play on the basis of dramatic conventions

the conception of characters or figures and the styles of acting is influenced by

dramatic conventions

drama constructs a fictional character as

a complex sign defined by psychological disposition, external appearance, speech action and relationships to other characters and circumstances

flat or round characters…

simple types or complex individuals

static or dynamic characters…

unchanging or developing

transparent or opaque characters…

fully explained, closed or enigmatic, open

psychological or transpsychological

ordinarily or extraordinarily self-aware and perceptive

Explicit authorial information

is given in telling names and in direct descriptions in the secondary text

implicit authorial information

is conveyed in the structure of characters and relationships

the performance unfolds a character’s relationship to others in a sequence of scenes with specific

configurations of characters

characters appear in pairs…

which call for comparisons of similarities and differences between them

a character can serve as…

a mirror of or a foil for another one inverting the other’s features

a confidant/e…

whose interaction with a major character allows the audience insight into the protagonist’s private feelings and thoughts.

how dramatic figures characterise themselves and others?

explicitly: in dialogues and monologues

implicitly: through the quality of their voice, the way they talk, their physical appearance and behaviour

typical features of the absurd drama

difference between their words and acts expresses a lack of motivation, intention or ability in a situation with little meaning and less change

Discrepancy

in a character suggests internal conflicts, often realted to external conflicts between characters, motivated by an imbalance of power and differences in passions, opinions and interests

external action

traditionally requres a character’s motivation, intention and ability to change a situation, which can be impeded by powerful forces or circumstances

story

actions and events follow the chronological arrangement of it

plot

already contains important structural elements, such as casual and other kind of meaningful relationships, segmentation in phases, temporal and spatial regrouping…

acts

are larger stages of the action and composed of sceness

scenes

marked by changing character configurations and situations

the Aristotelian or closed form of drama conceives…

characters as agents in a coherent story with well-defined beginning, logical development in the middle and a solution to the conflict at the end

in comedies…

the harmony disturbed at the beginning is reestablished in marriages and celebrations

in tragedies…

the violent conflict is followed by a mourning of the dead and usually also by the restoration of public order

five acts of closed form present…

plot in the shape of a pyramid:

1. exposition

2. complication

3. climax

4. reversal

5. catastrophe

sub-plot

often highlights particular qualities of the main plot by comparison

open form of drama

violates the neoclassical demand for the unities of time, space, linear action, which were thought to promote a convinving illusion of reality on stage.

characters tend to be determined by circumstances rather than mastering them by goal-directed action

often episodic, fragmentary scenes loosely connected to each other and may not end with a definite solution to problems.

closed form (Klotz)

• immediate presentation of characters

• coherent and linear sequence of actions (plot)

• human being as central agent

• involves spectator’s feelings

open form (Klotz)

• narrative elements of presentation

• loose sequence of scenes

• circumstances tend to determine thought and action

• appeals to reason and reflection

fictional locale

transformed on the stage by:

• stage design(size, form): settings, properties

• lighting

• sound effects and music

• special effects

in the dramatic text, stage directions and characters locate the action by descriptions of this

boundaries (external appearance)

define territories of different shapes and sizes, and symbolise barriers that prevent interaction or thresholds that enable contact and development

characters express their subjective perception of locales in the…

primary text

and enact space through their position and movements, which in turn build the rhyth, of the performance

Open-air theatres

Middle Ages and Renaissance. No realistic locale and not clearly separated stage from the audience

Apron stage

Spakespeare’s time, big public theatres

word scenery

the poverty of the stage design and props was made up for by it

indoor theatres

from 17th c onwards. Gradually separated stage from audience.

picture frame stage

realistic settings

“fourth wall”

ab ovo

early point of attack

from the beginning

in media res

late point of attack

middle

in ultima res

at the end

Time can be

linear chronology and anachronic

Tragedy is

(Aristotle)

mimesis or imitation of a serious, heroic and complete action through a direct representation on stage

due to misbehaviour or error in judgement: protagonist’s fortune from good to bad, loss of several lives.

Action implies terror and invites pity because we empathise with suffering of the hero/ine

recognition

pity and fear has the effect of a catharsis

domestic tragedy

replaces noblemen and public life with middle-class characters and private life because these would bring pity and fear as well as a moral message closer to the middle-class audience of the 18th c.

comedy

often stages ordinary people of the middle or lower classes as flat types with stereotyped forms of behaviour that may hold the mirror up to society for its pleasure or education

comic characters…

reveal shortcomings, make mistakes, violate rules and are frustrated by failure, but their weaknesses, transgressions and defeats and consequences not as serious as in tragedy

romantic comedies

conceive romantic lovers, able to remove impediments to happiness, often with supernatural help and a happy ending that represents the ideal commonwealth of good life and harmony.

it favours tolerant humour and entertainment

satiric comedies

subject individual flaws and social vices to ridicule for the sake of spectators’ laughter, recognition and motivation to amend the problems.

stress the relevance of calues and rules

poetic justice

called for in order to drive the moral message home that virtue is rewarded and vice punished.

comedy of manners

second half of the 17th century

less strict in moralising than its precessor, the comedy of humours.

celebrates sophisticated taste and manners, delighted in battles of wit and the sexes and in wordly pleasures as opposed to naivety, sobriety and hypocrisy.

objects of laughter: failed to meet these elevated standars because they were3 morally and intelectually innocent or exaggerated fashionable style or behaviour.

tragicomedy

combines serious conflicts or topics with light-hearted elements

metadrama

discuses the nature and function of drama and theatre itself

epic drama

uses narrative techniques, such as a figure who introduces characters and convey the action of the play to the spectators