Unit 4: Introduction to Drama

A drama is a story told through characters played by actors.

A comedy, in its original sense, was an entertainment with a happy ending.

A tragedy was originally a drama that told the story of the fall of a person of high status.

Those elements compose the script, or written form of the play.

An act is a major division of a play.

Acts are often divided into scenes, shorter sections that usually mark changes of time and place.

In tragedies, such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the main character (or characters, in this case) is frequently a tragic hero.

Such heroes have a tragic flaw, or a weakness of personality, that causes them to make unfortunate choices.

A foil is a character who contrasts with a central character in order to highlight each other’s strengths and, more usually, weaknesses.

To relieve the seriousness or emotional intensity of tragedy, playwrights often introduce a humorous character for comic relief.

One of the elements that makes a drama memorable is the dialogue, the words spoken by the actors.

A monologue is a long speech made by one character.

A soliloquy is a speech delivered by a character alone on stage that reveals the character’s thoughts and feelings.

An aside is a statement made by a character in a play that’s intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage.

Stage directions are the notes provided by the playwright to describe how the play should be presented or performed.

Stage directions may describe these aspects of the drama:
The setting, or when and where a scene takes place, as well as any related background information

The action, or how the actors should move and behave, including when they should enter and exit the stage and how they should employ facial expressions, gestures, and tones of voice