Scribd
Upload
1K views22 pages

Lesson 7. Drama and Theater

This document provides an overview of drama, theater, and their key elements. It defines drama as the written script and theater as the live performance production. Theater involves directors, actors, and technicians who interpret the drama. A drama uses dialogue and stage directions to bring characters to life and advance the plot. Plays are divided into acts and scenes to structure the story. Stage directions provide details on character movement, setting, costumes, and more to aid performance. Props and sets further bring the written drama to life on stage.

Uploaded by

Patrick Sapiera
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
1K views22 pages

Lesson 7. Drama and Theater

This document provides an overview of drama, theater, and their key elements. It defines drama as the written script and theater as the live performance production. Theater involves directors, actors, and technicians who interpret the drama. A drama uses dialogue and stage directions to bring characters to life and advance the plot. Plays are divided into acts and scenes to structure the story. Stage directions provide details on character movement, setting, costumes, and more to aid performance. Props and sets further bring the written drama to life on stage.

Uploaded by

Patrick Sapiera
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 22

Performing Arts Pt.

1:
Drama and Theater
Lesson 7
In this lecture:
1. Performing Arts
2. Drama and Theater
• Difference
• Elements of Theater and Drama
3. History of Theater (video)
4. History of Philippine Theater (video)
Performing
Arts
• from vocal and instrumental
music, dance and theatre to
pantomime, sung verse and
beyond.
• cultural expressions that reflect
human creativity
• positive influence when engaged in
(ex: physical, emotional, social)
Drama and Theater
• Both under the umbrella of Performing Arts; interrelated.
• Drama is the printed script or text of a play.
• Theatre is the entire on-stage play production.
• Drama in print may be interpreted in various ways; it is communication
between author and reader.
• In theater, the directors, actors, costume designers and technicians
operate as intermediaries who may affect the interpretation of the
viewer.
• a branch of theatre that essentially
helps illustrate an event or situation
through acting
• comes from the Greek word dran
which means ‘to do’. Drama is written
to be performed by actors and
What is watched by an audience.
Drama? • episode of life that involves some sort
of profound emotion or conflict
• Used to categorize film, play, TV and
novel genres
DRAMA NATURES

Consists of two Can be presented


types of writing in two ways

The stage
directions that tell As performance,
The dialogue that As literature, the
the actors how to the production of
the characters text of the play
move and speak, the play in a
speak itself
describing the sets theater
and props
Two Major Types of Drama
1. Tragedy 2. Comedy
• shows the downfall or death of a • often shows a conflict
tragic hero, or main character. between opposite age
In ancient Greek plays, the hero groups , genders, or
was a good person brought down personality types.
by a tragic flaw, or defect in • typical comedies
character. In a modern plays, the involve confusion,
hero can be a normal person jokes, and a happy
destroyed by an evil in society. ending.
• emphasizes human greatness. • stresses human
weaknesses.
A drama or play is a form of storytelling
in which actors make the characters
come alive through speech (dialogue)
What is and action (stage directions).

Drama?
How is a play written?
• The author of a play is called a playwright.
• A play in written form is called a script.

• The playwright must write the dialogue, or what the


characters say to each other in conversation, as well
as the stage directions, which tell how the play is to
be performed.
Script

• In a script, to establish
the setting, the part is
labeled the Scene
Heading, also known
as a Slugline. Scene
Headings mark any
change in location or
time in your
screenplay. Every
scene begins with one.
How is a play divided?
• A play is largely divided up into parts, or acts. The
number of acts in a production can range from one to
five, depending on how a writer structures the outline of
the story. The length of time for an act to be performed
can range from 30 to 90 minutes.
• Acts may be further divided into scenes; in classical
theatre each regrouping between entrances and exits of
actors is a scene, while today it describes a quick
change of setting.
Dialogue
• Dialogue is what the characters say, and it is used to reveal
their personalities = Character Traits.

• The name of the character who is to speak is listed usually in


bold at the start of a line, followed by a colon.

• Every time the speaker changes, a new line is started.


Dialogue is necessary in order to develop conflict and
advance the plot.
Staging a Play
• Drama is more than just the words on a page. The
production of a play involves directing the way the
characters move, what they wear, the lighting, and
the scenery.
• Staging is the practice of putting on the play. Some of
the details of staging may be included in the stage
directions, however, the director and the producer take
what the playwright has described and bring it to life
with their own ideas.
Stage Directions
 Stage directions are notes in the script usually written in
italics and enclosed in parentheses or brackets. They
usually describe where and when a scene takes place
(setting), how the characters should say their lines, and
how the characters should move onstage. They may explain
the character’s mood or how the character is feeling.
 Stage directions may also describe sets, costumes, props, lighting,
and sound effects.
 Stage directions use certain terms to describe the stage. Look at the
following slide and see how.
Audience
Downstage Downstage Downstage
Left Center Right

Basic Stage Stage Left Center


Stage
Stage
Right
Vocabulary Upstage Upstage Upstage
Left Center Right
• Stage directions apply to the
actor as he/she faces the
audience
• Stage Right -R- the actor’s
right
• Stage Left –L- the actor’s left
• Downstage -D- nearest the
audience
• Upstage -U- away from the
audience
Basic Stage
Vocabulary
• Onstage – the acting area
within the set, visible to the
audience
• Offstage – the parts of the
stage not enclosed by the
setting
• Backstage – the area behind
the setting
• Wings – the offstage areas to
the left and right of the acting
area
• House – the auditorium where
Sets
• Sets are the scenery, backdrops, and furniture that create the setting.
• A production may have different sets for different scenes.
Props
• Props are other things that actors use onstage during
the performance to support the action.
Dramatization
• A dramatization is a play that was once a novel,
short story, folk tale, biography, or other type of
writing. Some plays are completely new works.
Other plays are adapted from novels, short
stories, or even from nonfiction. A playwright
takes scenes, characters, and action from an
existing work and turns them into a play, or
dramatizes them.
• The actors and actresses who perform the play
are known as the cast.
• The people who build sets, manage lighting, or
work backstage are called the crew.
References:
• Intangible Cultural Heritage. (n.d.). Performing arts (such as
traditional music, dance and theatre). UNESCO.
https://ich.unesco.org/en/performing-arts-00054
• Jewell, E. (n.d.). History of theater [video]. PBS Learning Media.
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/4a89e3a7-7645-402e-
8783-fa26927741c9/history-of-theater/
• Tseterfeed.(Oct. 31, 2020). Philippine Theater history. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rpJ5pydc7g
• Wight, M. (April 18, 2020). Understanding the differences between
Drama and Theatre.
https://lightsuptheatre.ca/understanding-the-differences-between-d
rama-and-theatre/
Performing Arts Pt.1:
Drama and Theater
Lesson 7

You might also like