Elements of Drama

Elements of Drama

Playwright

•Author of a play

Actors

• People who perform a play

Cast

• Sets of actors that perform a play

Script

•Text of a play, with dialogue and directions for actors

Acts

•Units of action in a drama. Acts are divided up into scenes.

Scenes

• Small parts of an act. •Most of the time they each have

a different setting.

Characterization

• Playwright’s technique for creating believable characters

Dramatic Speech

•Advances the stories action. •Most important•Two types: Dialogue and

Monologue

Dialogue

•Conversation between or among characters

Monologue

•Long speech that is spoken by a single character. •Often reveals a character’s

private thoughts and actions

Stage Directions

• Sets of bracketed information that describe the scenery and how the characters should move and speak

• Some playwrights use abbreviations• Center Stage – C• Stage Left – L• Stage Right – R• Upstage or rear of stage – U• Downstage – front of stage

Stage Directions

Audience

Center Stage LeftStage Right

Downstage

Upstage

Set

•Construction on the stage that suggests the time and place of the action• Scenery is another word for it

Props

• Small movable items that the actors use to make their actions look realistic

Types of Drama

• 4 Types•Comedy•Tragedy•Drama

Comedy

• Form of drama that often features everyday characters in funny situations

Tragedy

•Events lead to the downfall of the main characters•Character can be an average

person, but is often a person of great significance

Drama

•A word that is often used to describe plays that address serious subjects

Screenplays

• Scripts for films. • Includes camera angles and can

allow for more scene changes than a play

Teleplay

• Scripts written for television • Similar to screenplays

Radio Plays

•Written to be performed as radio broadcasts• Include sound effects and

require no set, stage or directions that explain movement.

Question 1

•What details in the paragraph beginning “I heard the clink…” let the readers know that Red Rabbit is a horse?

Question 2

• I got up on the seat and almost bowled Uncle over. For once Uncle did not worry about his dignity but caught me up and returned my hug. “Ouch,” he said, and pushed me away. He patted himself lightly on his chest. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”

• What do these lines tell us about the character and personality of uncle?

Question 3

• “But you don’t believe in flying machines.” “I still don’t,” Uncle said sternly. “But I still feel as if I Owe you something for what was done to you by that man who once was my son. I’ll be there to haul your machine up the hill, and I’ll be there to haul it back down when it doesn’t fly”“We were all getting fat anyway,” White deer said, “especially Uncle.”

• Why do you think it would be easy for the author to adapt this portion of the excerpt from prose into drama?

Question 1

• Miss Whitlaw: I could have gotten down from the wagon by myself.

Uncle Bright Star: Watch gopher hole. Miss Whitlaw: I’m younger than you.

• What do you learn about the characters Miss Whitlaw and Uncle Bright Star based on these three short lines?

Question 2

• Author’s Insight - The friendly competition between Uncle Bright Star and Miss Whitlaw wasn’t in the novel but it was developed with the actors.

• What does the competition between Uncle Bright Star and Miss Whitlaw add to the drama?

Question 3

• Left-Handed Compliment – a compliment that is partly an insult

• Uncle Bright Star: And I’ll haul that thing back down when it doesn’t fly. Red Rabbit and me were getting fat anyway. But look at how tall you’ve grown. And how thin. And ragged. (pause) But you haven’t broken your neck which was more than I ever expected.

• Which sentence in Uncle Bright Star’s sentences is a left-handed compliment and how did you recognize it as one?

Question 4

• Look at the picture on page 730, does this hill look steep enough to launch Dragonwings?

Question 5

• Windrider: Take the ropes. [Pantomimes taking a rope over his shoulder as he faces the audience.] Got a good grip?

Others: [Pantomiming taking the ropes.] Yes, right, etc.

• Why is it necessary for the author to include these stage directions?

Question 6

• Uncle Bright Star: [Imitating the intonation of the Cantonese.] Push, push. Work, work.

• Why do you think the author wanted the actors to use the Cantonese accent with these lines?

Question 7&8

• Author’s Insight: We needed to establish the hilltop was flat so I had them trample the grass; but the actors had such a good time doing it that I put it into the stage direction.

• What does the last part of the author’s insight mean?

• Why, realistically, do you think grass would need to be stamped down in front of the plane on the flat hilltop?

Question 9

• Moon Shadow: Father, you did it. [Wonderingly.] You did it.

• What about this line shows Moon Shadow helped his father because of duty rather than because he believed his father would actually fly?

Question 10

• Windrider: Uncle says he’ll make me a partner if I stay. So the western officials would have to change my immigration class. I’d be a merchant, and the merchants can bring their wives here. Would you like to send for Mother?

• What thoughts and feelings do Windrider’s words reveal to the audience?