Topic 1 of 6 · Form 5
Elements of drama and dramatic structure
Plot, character, theme, dialogue, conflict, setting, mood, spectacle, rhythm and the relationship with the audience.
Notes for this topic 1 file, in order
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Elements of drama
Plot, character, theme, dialogue, conflict, setting, mood, spectacle, rhythm and the relationship with the audience.
Dramatic structure
- Freytag's pyramid: exposition, rising action (complications), climax, falling action and resolution (dénouement).
- Episodic structure: loosely linked scenes (common in epic and African storytelling theatre).
- Circular and non-linear structures.
Genres
Tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, melodrama, farce, satire, documentary/verbatim theatre and musical theatre.
Dramatic devices
Soliloquy, aside, monologue, chorus, dramatic irony, flashback, narration, songs, direct address and the play-within-a-play.
Conflict
Person versus person, person versus self, person versus society, person versus nature or fate.
Reading a play as a performance text
Consider stage directions, subtext (meaning beneath the lines), pace and the visual and aural dimensions of performance.
Check yourself
- Name the five stages of Freytag's pyramid.
- What is subtext?
- Give an example of a dramatic device used to address the audience directly.
Show answers
- Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.
- The underlying meaning or feeling not stated directly in the dialogue.
- Any one: aside, direct address, narration, chorus.
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