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A DRAMA is a narrative written to be performed on a stage.

A DRAMA presents the characters directly to the audience.

The word DRAMA means “to do” or “to act” in Greek.

What are the TYPES OF DRAMAS?

1. Comedy  
   1.   Tone is light
   2. Plot centers around ordinary life rather than world-shaking events
   3. Resolution is happy for the main characaters
   4. Types of Comedies
      1. High Comedy
         1. uses verbal wit between sophisticated characters
         2. Appeals to the educated and cultured audience
      2. Low Comedy
         1. Uses physical comedy: pratfalls, slapstick to get laughs
         2. Uses ridiculus characters doing ridiculus things
         3. Uses crass and offensive verbal and physical humor
      3. Romantic Comedy
         1. Plot centers on a love affair between two (usually beautiful) characters
         2. Suitor must overcome many obstacles to get their beloved
      4. Satire
         1. Plot centers around human imperfections: vanity, hypocrisy, stupidity, greed
         2. Evokes laughter by showing the audience human faults
2. Tragedy 
   1. Tone is serious
   2. Intention is to emotionally move the audience
   3. Always ends in disaster for the Protagonist
   4. Types of Tragedies
      1. Classical
         1. Began in Ancient Greece
         2. Plot centers on a tragic hero who commits an error of judgement (usually resulting from hubris) and pays dearly
         3. Definition – Hubris – Noun. Excessive Pride
      2. Revenge
         1. Began in the Elizabethan Era of Drama
         2. Plot features elements like ghosts, grisly murders, ruthless villians, and horrible schemes
         3. Violence usually appeared off-stage, so the audience would not be frightened.
      3. Domestic
         1. Plot centers around everyday middle-class characters who deal with everyday middle-class problems: financial debt, raising kids, marital strife, losing a job, etc.
3. Tragicomedy
   1. A tragic plot with a happy ending
4. Theatre of the Absurd
   1. New form of Drama in 20th Century
   2. Questions the meaning of life and the universe
   3. Does not have a well-established setting, logical dialogue, or resolved conflict
5. Closet Drama
   1. Drama that was written to be read rather than acted out on a stage

What are the PERIODS OF DRAMA?

ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA - 5th Century BCE (Before Common Era) to 3rd Century BCE

Playwrights from the period – Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes, Aristophanes

ROMAN DRAMA – 3rd Century BCE to 1st Century BCE

Playwrights from the period – Seneca, Plautus, Terrence

ENGLISH MEDIEVAL DRAMA - 1400′s to early  1500′s CE (Common Era)

Playwrights from the period – Most were anonymous / Popular Plays include The Castle of Perseverence, Everyman, The Second Shepherd’s Play

ELIZABETHAN DRAMA – Around 1558 to 1625 CE

Playwrights from the period – William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Webster, Ben Johnson

RESTORATION (18th CENTURY) DRAMA – Around 1660 to 1785 CE

Playwrights from the period – John Dryden, William Congreve

MODERN DRAMA – Around 1800 CE to today

Playwrights from the period – Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Oscar Wilde, Samual Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller

HERE are the ELEMENTS OF THE DRAMA! – Click Here!