elements of drama

• Tragedy:

  • Series of unhappy events that lead to catastrophe or death
  • Main character experiences a lot of sadness and hardships
  • May have the death of the main character in the end
• Comedy:

  • Light, funny and generally has a happy ending
  • Often ends with the protagonist winning
  • Experience difficulties but overcome at the end
• Tragicomedy:

  • Serious play with qualities of comedy
  • The audience has mixed emotions
  • Has good and bad times experiences
  • Endings could be a happy ending after multiple trials
  • Endings could be the death of the main character after a glimmer of hope and happiness
• Melodrama:

  • Has challenging situations
  • Focuses more on the life of the main character
  • Deals with sensational and romantic topics that appeal to the emotions of the common audience
  • Exciting; tension between characters, emotions, exaggerations, etc.
• Role:

  • Protagonist: the main character
  • Antagonist: the protagonist opponent (villain)
• Tertiary

  characters who appear in one, perhaps two scenes for a specific, limited purpose

  Love Interest

  every hero/main character needs a love interest

  can be unrequited

  Confidant

  a trusted friend or servant who serves as a device for revealing the inner thoughts or intentions of a main character

  gives honest advice about a characters worries or problems

  ex: Pilosopo Tasyo

  Deuteragonists

  second most important character after the protagonist

  Foil

  contrast with another character

  • makes the characteristics and personality of the protagonist stand out
• Dynamic - undergo changes

  Static doesn’t change

  • Round has many complex personality

  Flat - limited personality

  Stock - recognizable stereotype (Evil Stepmother)

  Symbolic - a character that represents or embodies a concept or theme
• Proscenium

  an arch framing the opening between the stage and the auditorium in some theaters

  one pov, classic theater stage

  Thrust

  a stage that extends into the auditorium so that the audience is seated around three sides

  Arena (Theater-in-the-round)

  is a theater space in which the audience surrounds the acting are difficult for performers 
• Black Box (studio or a flexible stage)

  seats are not fixed and can be altered

  Promenade

  • is when the audience stand or follow the actors through their performance (ex. concert)
• Monologue:

  • A lengthy speech that one character addresses to others on stage
• Asides:

  • Speeches, often short, made to the audience or to himself, or even to another character but out of earshot of the other characters on stage
• Soliloquy:

  • A long speech that reveals a character's true thoughts or feelings, unheard by other characters, usually while alone on stage
• Script:

  • The written content for a visual story such as a play, television show or movie
• Stagecraft:

  • A technical aspect of theatrical film and video production
  • Includes constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting design, procurement of costumes, makeup, stage management, audio engineering, and procurement of props
• Stage Directions:

  • An instruction in the text of a play, especially one indicating the movement, position or tone of an actor
  • Can also indicate sound effects and lighting