Professional Documents
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Unit 1
Unit 1
Unit 1
Drama:
From the Greek word drama, which means action, deed.
It is the form of composition designed for performance in the theatre (Abrams
and Harpham, 95). Drama needs actors to perform the characters, a stage
design, and it's temporary - every performance is unique.
Theatre:
From the Greek word theatron, which means a place to see, therefore, it refers
to the space.
1st meaning: the physical space where the performance takes place.
2nd meaning: the whole production of the drama play.
ORIGINS OF THEATRE
o The general term for the visible part of the play, in opposition to the text. Other
names: mise-en-scene, staging, spectacle.
o The director is the official responsible for organizing the production.
o It refers to all the resources used for the stage performance: acting, costumes,
stage-design, lighting, music, digital media, etc.
o It's the concretization of the text, using actors and the stage space, an
explanation of the text. The audience has access to the play only through this
reading by the director.
o The same dramatic text may produce an infinite number of stagings which
cannot be predicted just from the text.
AUDIENCE/SPECTATOR
Stage design:
The placement of the audience and the playing area influences the transmission
and reception of the performance.
- Identification
- critical distance
DRAMATIC GENRES
Tragedy (Classical Greek): Deals with gods, demi-gods and heroes. Fate is
central: heroes fall because of a deed provoked by fate but in which the hero
had had some responsibility (hamartia or “tragic flaw”). Its aim is to produce
catharsis. It follows the three unities: unity of action (a main story and, if there
are sub-plots, they are organized around the main plot), unity of time
(everything happens in 24 hours) and unity of place (everything happens in one
place).
Comedy (Classical Greek): Characters from the low and middle-class. Must end
happily. Its aim was to moralize, that is, to criticize some aspect of the society of
the time.
Melodrama: Popular 19th century drama. A kind of tragedy but in a lower key.
The characters don’t belong to the high classes, and it is not about historical
events. It emphasizes action and suspense. Use of stock characters (characters
easily recognized by the audience as being archetypes – the miser, the vain
lady, the brave soldier, etc. They are either villains or heroes – goodies or
baddies ). It usually ends in disaster. The situations lack verisimilitude and are
always extreme: extreme unhappiness or unspeakable joy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU_oURZv2FQ
Comedy of Manners: Comic drama from the second half of the 17th century.
Witty dialogues and intention of ridiculing a society vice.
Romantic Drama: Late 18th and early 19th centuries. Use of supernatural
elements. The Romantic hero is often an outcast.
Well-made Play: Late 19th and early 20th centuries. Surface realism but a tightly
contrived plot with a perfectly logical arrangement of the action. It is based on
verisimilitude and identification. It must keep suspense all along the play until
the climax, where all the threads of action are brought together and profound
thoughts can be expressed. It influenced Shaw and Ibsen. Nowadays, it has
become the prototype of trivial dramaturgy.
Problem Play: Late 19th and 20th centuries (even until today). The play is used
to discuss current moral or political issues. The characters embody the different
and usually controversial points of view. Documentary theatre is one example.
Symbolism: Late 19th and early 20th centuries. Use of myths and symbols in an
attempt to reach beyond everyday reality. It can be influenced by Japanese Noh
theatre.
Theatre of the Absurd: Second half of 20th century. Nihilist, plot is absent and
dialogues are nonsensical and non sequitur. Characters are often stripped of
their humanity and their actions lack both meaning and direction. The story is
often circular, guided not by action but by word-play.