Welcome to
the Theater!
Elements of Drama
– Before an audience
– On state
– Through actors
• Meant to be performed, not read
The Nature of Drama
Not Play WRITE, But WRIGHT
---one who crafts
Derived from “Wrought”
Note on Playwrights
– We know a characters mind
through:
• Soliloquy
• Aside
– Most Characterization is indirect:
• Action
• Reaction
• Objective (also called dramatic)
Limits of POV
 Can utilize all
range of human
expression
 Forcibly commands
audience attention
 Experience is communal,
and therefore intensified
Power of Drama
 Is limited to the
talent and understanding of the actors’
portrayals
 Action is confined to stage
/theater, not limits of imagination
 Must keep audience attention, and be
written so central meanings must be
grasped in a single performance
Drawbacks of Drama
1041
• Title
• Character List
–
–
–
–
• Act & Scene
Numbers
– Roman Numerals
– Arabic Numerals
– Order of importance
– OR order of appearance
• Character Names
• Stage Directions
• Dialogue
Setting
Time
Staging instructions
Usually in italics before the
scenes
– In all caps
– What is actually meant to be
said
• Parenthetical Instruction
– In brackets or parentheses,
italicized
The Format of a Play
• Your task: Present a one act
play
– Requirements
– Staging
– Costume
– Character Analysis
– Marked Script
– Memorized Lines!
Play Project
Our Choices
• Trifles (1029)
• POOF! (1057)
– 5 characters
– 3 characters
• Beauty (1046)
– 2 characters
• Tape (1052)
– 3 characters
• The Sandbox (1064)
– 5 characters
• Time Flies (1071)
– 4 characters
Read the six play options and pick which ones
you would like to do.
HOMEWORK
Realistic and Nonrealistic
Drama
Realistic Drama
• general movement
in theatre
NonRealistic Drama*
• The use of dramatic or
theatrical conventions
that focus on fantasy or
imagination
• time period of 18701960
• Or a theatrical style
that revolves around
• dramatic and theatrical
existentialist theories
regarding the absurdity
conventions aimed at
of human life.
bringing real life to texts
and performances.
*Not to be confused with “un-realistic” which means the drama has no human
“truth”---even fantasy and imagination can carry metaphorically “true” ideas
Realism
Non-Realism
Dramatic Conventions
Necessary
• Room with 3 walls or fewer
represents 4 walls
• Actors will speak the language
of the audience—no matter
the nationality of the
character
• Actors will sit or stand facing
the audience most of the time
Optional
• Writing in prose vs. poetry
– Realistic vs. nonrealistic
• Revealing thoughts through
aside or soliloquy
– Non-realistic
• Using a chorus or narrator
– Non-realistic
• Providing extensive props vs.
blank stage
– Realistic vs. nonrealistic
Page 1153
WHICH WAS GLASS MENAGERIE?
Which is Which?
Set
Character
Situation/Story
Homework: Read Act 1
THE CRUCIBLE
Do Now
Would you describe The Crucible as
Realistic or Nonrealistic? Why?
Set
Crucible Reading
ACT 2
Read Act 3
HOMEWORK
Do Now
Practice Test
The Background
of the Crucible
Homework
Finish the Play & write a short essay
(500 words) about how the play
helped Arthur Miller comment on
the Cold War and McCarthyism
For Later
• The next slides will be used later in this unit.
Characterization
• Pick a character sheet
• How would you introduce
yourself?
– Appearance
– Relation to other characters
– Background
– Motivations
Debrief!
Character Mocktail Party
Subtext
• The message behind the text
• Includes character’s feelings and hidden
motivations
• Influenced by their background, indirect
characterization, and parenthetical
instructions!
Subtext
Using stickynotes:
1. Get into groups of three
2. Read your section—each taking a role
3. Mark your subtext on a sticky note—what is
the character really meaning?
4. Explain how you know on the back side.