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Elements of Drama

A play tells a story through characters' conversations and actions on stage. It has literary elements like plot, character, theme and conflict. It also has technical elements like scenery, costumes, props, lights and sound. Actors use performance elements like vocal expression, gestures, facial expressions and movement to portray characters.

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Omnia Othman
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397 views19 pages

Elements of Drama

A play tells a story through characters' conversations and actions on stage. It has literary elements like plot, character, theme and conflict. It also has technical elements like scenery, costumes, props, lights and sound. Actors use performance elements like vocal expression, gestures, facial expressions and movement to portray characters.

Uploaded by

Omnia Othman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Elements Of Drama/Theatre

What is a play?

Books and short stories tell a story using


such elements as themes, characters,
plots, and settings. Like these things,
plays also tell a story.

But a Play is a story written to be


performed. The story is told through
the conversation and actions of the
characters.
SO DRAMATIC
• A drama is a story that is meant to be
performed.
Story Drama
Writer: author Writer: playwright
Consists of characters in a Consists of characters in a
particular setting caught up in a particular setting caught up in a
conflict conflict
Plot: events Plot: actions
Plot: exposition, conflict, climax, Plot: exposition, conflict, climax,
resolution resolution
Written in: paragraphs & dialogue Written in: script made up of
dialogue and stage directions
Divided into chapters Divided into acts and scenes
The Elements of Drama
Elements of Drama: The elements of drama, by
which dramatic works can be analyzed and
evaluated, can be categorized into three major
areas:
literary elements

technical elements

performance elements
Playwrights and Scripts

• Playwright- The person who


writes a play
• A Script -The written form of a
play
Script

• A Script is the written play.

• Besides the elements of the play, a script


may have special instructions or
additional suggestions for the successful
production of the play.

• It may give some biographical information


about the author.
Stage Directions
• Tell how a play should be performed
List of characters, props, costumes

Descriptions of settings, lighting, music, sound

Details on how the actors should move, speak,


behave
Cast of Characters
• A list of the plays characters. Sometimes
there will be a description of the character

Characters:
Narrator/Beth Ralph
Mother Ollie
Father Claude
Charlie Mrs. Wendleken
Imogene Leroy
Alice
Literary Elements
Plot: the series of events that take
place in a play. There are 6 stages
Identified by Aristotle in a plot structure:

Initial incident- the event that “gets the story going”

Preliminary event whatever takes place BEFORE


the action of the play that is directly related to the
Play

Rising action: a series of events following the initial incident and leading up to the
dramatic climax.

Climax: the turning point or high point of a story, when events can go either way

Falling action: the series of events following the climax.

Denouement or Conclusion : another term for the ending-it is the French word for
“unraveling”).
Literary Elements
Character: a person portrayed in a
drama, novel, or other artistic
piece.

Exposition is the “who, when, where


and what” part of the play.

Story organization: beginning, middle, end

Conflict: the internal or external struggle between opposing


forces, ideas, or interests that creates dramatic tension.

Suspense: a feeling of uncertainty as to the outcome, used to


build interest and excitement on the part of the audience.
Conflict
• The conflict that the main character, or protagonist,
faces drives the action of the drama.
– External Conflict: protagonist vs. outside force
• Man vs. man (protagonist vs. antagonist)
• Man vs. society
• Man vs. nature
• Man vs. technology/fate/supernatural
– Internal Conflict: a struggle inside the mind of the
protagonist
Literary Elements
Theme: the basic idea of a play; the idea, point of
view, or perception that binds together a work of
art.

Language: in drama, the particular manner of


verbal expression, the
diction or style of writing, or the speech or phrasing that
suggests a class or profession or type of character.

Style: the shaping of dramatic material, settings, or


costumes in a deliberately nonrealistic manner.
Types of Dialogue

Soliloquy: a speech by a single actor


who is ALONE on stage

Monologue: a long speech made by one


actor; a monologue may be delivered
alone or in the presence of others.
Aside: a comment made to the
audience, not meant to be heard by other
characters
Technical Elements
Scenery (set): the theatrical equipment, such as
curtains, flats, backdrops, or platforms, used in a
dramatic production to communicate environment

Costumes: clothing and accessories worn by actors to


portray character and period.

Props: short for properties; any article, except


costume or scenery, used as part of a dramatic
production; any moveable object that appears on
stage during a performance, from a telephone to a
train.
Technical Elements
Lights: the placement, intensity, and color of lights to
Help communicate environment, mood, or feeling

Sound: the effects an audience hears during


performance to communicate character,
context, or environment

Makeup: costumes, wigs, and body


paint used to transform an actor
into a character.
Setting vs. Set
• Setting: Place and time in which the play takes
place; stage directions will name/describe the
setting

• Set- is the construction on stage that suggests the


time and place
Performance Elements
Acting use of face, body, and voice to portray character

Character motivation: the reason or reasons for a character’s


behavior; an incentive or inducement for further action for a
character

Character analysis: in responding to dramatic art, the process


of examining how the elements of drama—literary, technical,
and performance—are used

empathy: the capacity to relate to the feelings of another.


Performance Elements
Speaking: the mode of expression or delivery of lines

Breath control: proper use of the lungs and diaphragm muscle for
maximum capacity and efficiency of breath for speaking

Vocal expression: how an actor uses his or her voice to


convey character

Inflection: change in pitch or loudness of the voice.

Projection: how well the voice carries to the audience

Speaking style: the mode of expression or delivery of lines

Diction: selection and pronunciation of words; clarity of speech.


Performance Elements
Nonverbal expression:

Gestures any movement of the actor’s head, shoulder, arm, hand, leg, or
foot to convey meaning

Body alignment physiologically correct posture and use of the body to


ensure the maximum capacity and efficiency of breathing and movement

Facial expression physical and vocal aspects used by an actor to convey


mood, feeling, or personality

Character blocking the path formed by the actor’s movement on stage,


usually determined by the director with assistance from the actor and often
written down in a script using commonly accepted theatrical symbols

Movement stage blocking or the movements of the actors onstage during


performance; also refers to the action of the play as it moves from event to
event.

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