Drama

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Chapter 10:Drama

A composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage; a play.

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History of Drama3

Ancient Drama

The origins of Western drama can be traced to the celebratory music of 6th-century BC Attica, the Greek region centered on Athens. It started as a religious ritual to honor the Greek gods and goddesses.

Medieval Drama

When it emerged hundreds of years later, was a new creation rather than a rebirth, the drama of earlier times having had almost no influence on it. The reason for this creation came from a quarter that had traditionally opposed any form of theater: the Christian church. In the Easter service, and later in the Christmas service, bits of chanted dialogue, called tropes, were interpolated into the liturgy. Priests, impersonating biblical figures, acted out minuscule scenes from the holiday stories.

Renaissance Drama

This period in English history saw a great growth in drama as an art form and public entertainment. William Shakespeare, widely thought of as the greatest writer in English literature, is the most famous of many important playwrights, poets, and writers who worked in this era.

In its purest form, Romanticism concentrated on the spiritual, which would allow humankind to transcend the limitations of the physical world and body and find an ideal truth. Subject matter was drawn from nature and "natural man" (such as the supposedly untouched Native American). Perhaps one of the best examples of Romantic drama is Faust (Part I, 1808; Part II, 1832) by the German playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.Romanticism Era

(19th century to present)

The works of both playwrights are, in their different ways, both modernist and realist, incorporating formal experimentation, meta-theatricality, and social critique.Modern DramaThe Elements of DramaPlotThe sequence of events or incidents of which the story is composed. These are actions that drives the drama forward to the conflict and, eventually, to the resolution. It is the crisis and conflict and both rising and falling action that the characters face and experience in the drama.

Parts of PlotIntroductionRising ActionClimaxFalling ActionResolutionThe beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed. This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax)This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not? The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The Part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict. CharacterMost simply a character is one of the persons who appears in the play, one of the dramatis personae (literally, the persons of the play). In another sense of the term, the treatment of the character is the basic part of the playwright's work. Conventions of the period and the author's personal vision will affect the treatment of character.

Types of Characters

ProtagonistThe main character is the central or main figure of a story. It is not necessarily clear what being this central figure exactly entails. The terms protagonist, main character and hero are variously (and rarely well) defined and depending on the source may denote different concepts.

AntagonistA story about an exceptional character being a driving force behind the plot, facing an opponent (the antagonist) and undergoing an important change like it is the case with the protagonist may be told from the perspective of a different character (who may, but will not necessarily also be the narrator). In such cases it may be helpful to define the character through whose perspective the plot is followed as the main character, the main character having here a separate function from the protagonist.

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DialogueIt is a conversation between two or more people. In literary works, it refers to a composition in a conversational form. Dialogue could be described as a verbal interchange of thoughts or ideas. It involves two or more people and could be in form of expression, conversation, talk, chat, debate, argument, exchange of views, discussion, conference, interlocution, confabulation, gossip, script, and lines.

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Staging

The transformation of idea into performance. Staging includes not only the physical set, but also the lighting, sound system, backdrops, costumes, furniture, and scenery employed in the production. Another element of staging is the physical movement of the actors. Do they stand still; flail their arms, pace back and forth frantically, sulk in a corner? How close to one another do they stand? Do they look at one another or avert their eyes? What gestures do they make?

The point or argument the playwright is trying to make. Often it springs from a relatively universal concept, such as the evils of power or the virtues of protecting the weak. Theme is related to but different from the subject: Where the subject of a play is specific to the setting, the plot, and the characters, the theme is the broad-based philosophical issue explored by their story.

Theme

Genres of Drama

Tragedy

Treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual. .

Entertainment consisting of jokes and satire, intended to make an audience laugh. Comedy

Tragicomedy

Dramatic work incorporating both tragic and comic elements. The term can variously describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or, often, a serious play with a happy ending.

Farce

Dramatic piece that uses highly improbable situations, stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration, and violent horseplay. The term also refers to the class or form of drama made up of suhc compositions. Farce is generally regarded as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to comedy in its crude characterizations and implausible plots, but it has been sustained by its popularity in performance and has persisted throughout the Western world to the present.Melodrama

A dramatic or literary work in which the plot, which is typically sensational and designed to appeal strongly to the emotions, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Characters are therefore often relatively simply-drawn, and may appear stereotyped; However because of the long timeframe in which the style has existed, and the variety of formats used, it is difficult to give a precise definition.

Drama in the PhilippinesBefore the Spanish period, the early forms of the Philippine drama were the Duplo and the Karagatan. Duplo was a poetical debate held by trained men and women in the ninth night, the last night of the mourning period for the dead. The male participants were called as Bellacos which heads the game

Karagatan was also a poetical debate like the duplo, but its participants were amateurs.In 1598, the first recorded drama was staged in Cebu. It was a Comedy written by Vicente Puche and was perfomed in honor of Msgr. Pedro de Agurto, Cebus first bishop.

In 1609, eleven year after, another stage play portraying The Life of Santa Barbara was staged in Bicol.

During the Spanish Era, there were three kinds of plays:

SenakuloA very heavy drama shown in relation to the life sacrifices and death of Jesus Christ. It is like a passion play presented and celebrated during the month of March or April depending the exact date of the Holy week.

Moro- Moro

A cloak and dagger play depicting the battle between the Christians and the Muslims with the Christians always on the winning side. Fr. Jeronimo Perez wrote the first moro- moro and was staged in Manila in 1637, to commemorate Governor General Consueras victory over the Muslims of Mindanao. It became the favorite play of the people, especially during the town fiestas.

Zarzuela

A melodrama with songs and dances that have a three in one act play. It is intended to make the mass feeling towards love, fear, grief, sorrow or any emotional reactions sublime. It sometimes shows the political and social conditions of our country.

The Modern Philippine DramaAt present, the drama in the Philippines faces a difficult stage due to the lack of support from the Filipinos. As of now 2 organizations spearhead the revitalization of drama in the country the Repertory Philippines and the Philippine Educational Theater Organization (PETA). PETA is an organization of creative and critical artist-teacher-cultural workers committed to artistic excellence and a peoples culture that fosters both personal fulfillment and social transformation. Example of works done by PETA were RAK OF AEGIS, LOLA BASYANG and BATANG RIZAL.