DRAMA

Drama is a genre of literature which creates/recreates human experiences through dramatization. It

is the representation of human action on stage by actors/actresses before an audience. Drama
involves bringing to the stage what happens in the society. Drama can not only be displayed on a
built stage in a theatre or any other place, but also in village squares, motor parks etc. where
provisions are made for performers and spectators. Drama is also called a ‘play’ and the writer a
‘playwright’.

Characteristics of Drama

1. It is usually written to be acted on stage.

2. It is fictional.
3. It is usually divided into acts (major division) and scenes (minor divisions).
4. The characters speak for themselves.
5. Those that are assigned roles in the play text are called characters while those that perform
it on stage are called actors (for males) and actresses (for females).
6. The characters communicate with themselves.
7. The characters or actors/actresses work hand-in-hand to achieve a common. That is to say
that drama is communal and not a one-man thing.
8. The writer provides stage direction on the setting, costume and action, to guide those that
will act it.
9. To some people, watching drama acted out on stage is more entertaining than sitting down
to read a text.
10. The actors/actresses while on stage, perform the actions indicated on the play text as well as
utter the written dialogue.
11. Even though a drama text is not acted, it can still be appreciated through a study of its
literary elements.

Types of Drama
1. Tragedy: This is a play that deals with serious issues. It is an imitation of action of high
importance in the society. It evokes in the audience the feeling of fear and pity for the
protagonist who is usually a person of high social status (though not always) but is
entangled in a conflict which eventually leads to his death, banishment or maiming.
Tragedy teaches moral lessons and the audience are purged of their emotions at the end
of the play (catharsis). Examples: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; The Gods are not
to Blame by Ola Rotimi; Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
2. Comedy: This is a humorous/funny play in which the events and characters make people
laugh. It teaches a moral lesson through the evocation of laughter in the audience. It
starts and ends happily. The aim of the writer is to amuse and entertain the audience.
The audience are made to laugh out their sorrow and enjoy themselves while
unknowingly, they are laughing at the ugliness of the society, its leaders and others that
may have been held up for ridicule by the comic writer. It aims at laughing at the failures
of man in order to correct him. Examples: Trials of Brother Jero by Wole Soyinka; The lion
and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka; She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith.
3. Tragi-comedy: This is a play that combines the features of both tragedy and comedy. The
story is usually serious and moving towards a tragic disaster, but suddenly turns out to
end happily. Example: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.
4. Melodrama: This is an emotional play that is accompanied by music. It arouses strong
feelings in the minds of the audience. There is a clear demarcation between good and
bad. The hero/heroine is usually an all-good person while the villain is an all-bad person.
At the end, good triumphs over evil, making it end on a happy note. Examples: Arms and
the Man by Bernard Shaw; The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe.
5. Farce: This is a very humorous play with a lot of exaggerations in order to make the
audience laugh out loud. The characters are usually very funny. It is a form of comedy.
Examples: Peppersoup by Elechi Amadi; The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare;
Holding Talks by Ola Rotimi; The Wizard of Law by Zulu Sofola.

Elements of Drama
1. Dialogue: This is a conversation between characters in a play text and also
actors/actresses on stage.
2. Acts and scenes: This is the traditional division of a play. Act is the major division of a
play while scene is the minor division. That is, scenes are under acts. Act is to drama
what chapter is to prose and scene is to drama what paragraphs is to prose.
Nowadays, other divisions like Movements, Events, Episodes and Happenings can be
seen.
3. Impersonation/imitation: The characters in the play texts imitate what people do in
real life and the actors/actresses imitate what the characters in the text do.
4. Characterization: This is the creating of characters and assigning different roles to
them.
5. Characters/figures: These are the persons that perform different roles in a play. You
can dictate a character’s personality by what he says and does and what other
characters say about him.
6. Setting: This is the geographical location/environment and period of time that a play
takes place.
7. Plot: This is the sequential/chronological arrangement of events in a work of art. It is
simply the story-line of the play. It is how the story is arranged from the beginning to
the middle and then the end. A plot structure builds from the
beginning/exposition/introduction which rises to a climax (the highest peak of
tension) and then falls to a resolution/denouement.
8. Subject matter: This is the general idea that the play is talking about.
9. Theme: This is the message that the playwright intends to pass across to the
audience. It is the underlying message behind a text. Every text should have one
subject matter and several themes.
10. Protagonist: This is the chief/main character of a play. The story revolves around the
protagonist. He/she is the main focus of the playwright and therefore attracts the
attention of the audience or readers. A hero is a male protagonist while a heroine is
a female protagonist.
11. Antagonist: This is the second most important person in a play. He/she stands as an
opposition to the protagonist. If the protagonist is a good person, the antagonist will
be a bad person and vice versa.
12. Flashback: This is recall of what had happened before what is currently happening in
order to create better understanding of the present situation. It is a narrative
flashback if the past events are verbally narrated and a dramatic flashback if the past
events are revealed through actions and dialogue.
13. Foreshadowing: This is the playwright giving the audience a hint of what will happen
in future so they’ll be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
14. Suspense: It is a state of anxiety and expectation in the reader/audience of a play as
to how an event is likely to unfold. It raises a reader’s interest and keeps him/her
guessing as to what will happen next. It is a technique that writers use to sustain the
interest of the readers/audience.
15. Conflict: This refers to a situation of opposing interests of different characters.
Conflict could be internal (a character and himself) or external: a character and
another character; a character and the society; a character and the supernatural.
There is always a bone of contention.
16. Theatre/gallery: This is a room where the works of art are exhibited. It is also a
building in which plays are acted. It includes the stage and the sitting position of the
audience.
17. Decor: This includes all the things used to beautify the stage. It forms part of the
setting of the play. It includes the furnishings, painted canvass, wall, wood works and
arrangement of the place. These things contribute to the meaning of the story.
18. Costume: These are the clothing the characters put on to display their roles. The
clothes or dress codes should reflect the period, profession/occupation and social
class of the characters.
19. Props: These are household property, kitchen utensils, icons and all the various items
or materials that are used by actors and actresses on stage. Props could be real-life
materials or improvised forms.
20. Prompter: This is a person who stays behind the stage to remind the actors and
actresses of what to say (lines) or what to do (cues).
21. Cast: This is the list of all the actors and actresses who play various roles in a play.
The process of selecting people to play the various roles is called casting. First, the
prospective candidates are subjected to audition (a trial performance by the
applicants for the acting positions or roles). Casting is therefore the outcome of a
process of audition.
22. Audience: This is a group of people watching a play.
23. Tragic flaw: This is the fault of the tragic hero which leads to his downfall. It could be
anger, pride, stubbornness, reckless living, womanizing etc.
24. Soliloquy: This is when a character thinks aloud. It allows the audience to assess the
thoughts of the character, revealing certain parts of his character which the audience
wouldn’t have known.
25. Aside: This refers to a speech by a character directed to the audience to the
exclusion of fellow characters. It is to the benefit of the audience and not the other
characters.
26. Monologue: It is a long speech by one actor. It is when a character speaks all by
himself and some of his words are actually addressed to some absent fellow
characters.
27. Chorus: This refers to a group of actors/actresses in a play whose members act in
unison and share the same opinion. It serves to prepare the audience for what is yet
to happen.
28. Prologue: It is a formal introduction to a play written in prose or verse form whose
content is important to the unfolding events in the play. It is like an introduction
given before the actual performance begins. It could be events that happened
 before the events in the play. It could also be the playwright’s interpretation of the
play.
29. Epilogue: This is the closing comment in a play which justifies an earlier course of
action or fills an untreated gap in the play. It is given at the end of the play.
30. Dramatic irony: It is when the audience/reader is aware of something that one or
more of the characters is not aware of.