drama first lecture

• Drama


  The word "Drama" comes from the Greek Word, "Dran" which means "to do", "to act" or "to perform"
• Drama


  • The Doing/Acting/ Performing makes Drama
  • Drama is also called a play
  • Drama is peculiarly written to be performed, not read
  • Drama is written in the form of a script
  • Drama is a presentation of action(s) through actors (on stage) before audience
• Playwright


  A writer of drama
• Wright


  (from 700AD old English) means 'maker of'
• Theatre


  • A building or outdoor area in which plays and other dramatic performances are given
• Drewal M.1991: '"In Africa, performance is a primary site for the production of knowledge, where philosophy is enacted, and where multiple and often simultaneous discourses are employed. Not only that, but performance is a means by which people reflect on their current conditions, define and/or re-invent themselves and their social world, and either re-enforce, resist, or subvert prevailing social orders. Indeed both subversion and legitimation can emerge in the same utterance or act."'
• Script


  The written pages of a play. The script includes the dialogue of characters
• Script


  • Scripts are divided into Acts and Scenes
• Script excerpt


  • MOIRA: Look at what they're saying about me!
  • HARMONY: Who is saying what about you?
  • MOIRA: It's all over TwitFace! Everyone at school is seeing it.
  • HARMONY: I don't think everyone is seeing it.
  • MOIRA: You see how many likes it's getting!
• Acts


  Long sections of a play which are made up of multiple scenes. They are usually designed to separate the play into its main parts and to give the audience a "break" from the performance.
• Scenes


  Shorter sections of a play, usually each scene occurs in one location at a specific time. Multiple scenes make up an act.
• In a performance or a drama, acts and scenes are vital in sequencing or separating the narration or story into manageable parts for the audience, the actors, and the people working behind the performance. The division of the performance is also important to have a good flow of the narration or story itself.
• Props


  Items used on stage by actors. The primary aim of props is to enhance the shot realism. They add a sense of ambiance (the character and atmosphere of a place) or character to the scene in addition to the clothing and the rest of the set.
• Theatrical property


  The term "props" is not normally used to describe clothes. Originally, costumes were owned by actors. They were not properties owned by the theatre company. It is other items that are props; they are the items or objects held or used by actors during the shoot.
• Props for Western Drama

  • African Indigenous Props
• Stage directions


  Instructions written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or production requirements. Found in brackets [ ] or parenthesis ( ). They describe scenery, action(s), and how character(s) speak.
• Monologue


  One person talking or an extended speech by one person.
• Soliloquy


  A type of monologue in which a character directly addresses an audience or speaks his thoughts aloud while alone or while the other actors keep silent.
• Difference between Monologue and Soliloquy

  A monologue refers to a long speech delivered by a single character to an audience. A soliloquy refers to the act of speaking one's thoughts aloud. It is a speech that one gives to oneself.
• Dialogue


  Exchange of spoken words between two or more characters in a play.
• Prologue


  A speech, often in verse, addressed to the audience by one or more of the actors at the opening of a play.
• Epilogue


  A section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.
• Characters (Cast)


  • People portrayed in the play. Characterisation can be defined as a literary device that playwrights use to describe and provide information about specific characters in their work.
• Ways the playwright creates a character

  • Physical description (The appearance of the character / how s/he looks like)
  • Physical actions (Execution of actions)
  • Speech of the character (What they say and how they say it / use of language)
  • Self-revelation (monologues, direct address to audience)
  • What other characters say about the character in question
• Conflict


  The internal or external struggle that creates dramatic tension.
• External Conflict


  • Character vs. Character - When one character has a problem with another character in the story
  • Character vs. Nature - When the character is opposed by a natural force
  • Character vs. Society - When the character has a problem with the societal issues such as laws, culture, or social norms
• Internal Conflict


  • Religious conflict: It occurs when a character's thoughts or feelings contradict their religious beliefs
  • Moral conflict: It is a struggle between two opposing values
  • Self-perception conflict: It happens when characters fight internally about their authenticity (Characters doubt their self-image and self-awareness)
  • Political conflict: A political conflict can occur when a character discovers a policy they oppose within their own party
  • Existential conflict: Occurs when characters question their place or purpose in the world
• Plot


  Organising principle that shapes the play/ The sequence of events in a play.
• Theme


  Major concern in the play. A play can have more than one theme.
• Structure of Drama


  Refers to how the plot or the story of a play is laid out, the way the characters play their parts, and/or the way the themes are explored. It involves the overall framework or method which the playwright employs to organise the dramatic material and/or action.
• Structure of Drama


  1. Exposition

  2. Rising action (conflict / obstacle ensues)

  3. Climax

  4. Falling action

  5. Resolution
• Plot


  The sequence of events that make up a story / play. It has a beginning, a middle and an end.
• Subplot


  A separate storyline or a narrative strand that runs alongside the main plot. It allows the audience to perceive and understand the journey of different characters (including minor-characters) and events within the plot.
• Exposition


  The initial stage in drama where the background information of the play is given. It is a prerequisite for understanding the theme or the story. It gives the information such as the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, and the setting.
• Preliminary situation


  Also called the antecedent action. It explains the events that have occurred in the lives of the leading characters before the play begins.
• Rising Action


  A series of events that create suspense in the narrative. It is the section of the plot beginning with the point of attack and/or inciting incident and proceeding forward to the crisis onto the climax.
• Climax


  The turning point in a play. This is the part of the play in which the suspense reaches its highest point. It is the pinnacle or the culmination point (the story cannot rise further than this) where the protagonist's affairs undergo a change, for the better or the worse.
• Falling Action


  The action following the climax of the work. The main conflict starts to resolve, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist.
• Resolution / Denouement / Catastrophe

  The final clarification of a dramatic plot. Comedy ends with a denouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. Tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.
• Non-linear structure of drama

  The action of the play moves forward and backward in time through flashbacks, flashforwards or foreshadowing. It can mimic the recall of human memory, or weave in fantastical elements like time travel or clairvoyance.