MODULE 3

LESSON 1

DRAMA, MUSIC DANCE AND FILM

DRAMA

What is drama? The term “drama” is from the Greek word <dran>
that meant ‘to do’ or ‘to act’. In contemporary English, drama is a type of
literature that is expressed through spoken language and acting (Stern
ahd Henderson, 2010). It is written and produced for public exhibition.
Since drama is a written piece, its success as a complete work of art is
dependent upon its presentation – how the interpreter such as the
director, musicians, designers, actors, and (in this digital age) its technical
staff give it life.

Drama serves various purposes at different times and places.

Horace, the leading Roman lyric poet and satirist during the reign of
Emperor Augustus (27 BC to 14 AD), said drama was created “to delight
and to instruct” (Grange, 2012). Sometimes, the primary purpose of
drama is to delight the audience. Sometimes, it is primarily to open
people’s minds. Whatever its purpose may be, at least some degree of
both delight and instruction are generally present in a drama. Drama
uses various presentations to portray stories so that people who watch it
gain a deeper understanding of the human experience.

HISTORY OF DRAMA
For decades, the symbol for drama are two masks – one mask is
sad, the other is laughing. These masks represent the
difference between two types of drama popular in
Athens, Greece – tragedy and comedy. These masks
represent the Ancient Greek Muses, Thalia and
Melpomene. A muse is an ancient Greek goddess
considered to be the patron for poets and musicians,
and later on extended to include the arts and sciences.
Thalia is the patron of comedy. In her hand, she carries
the comic mask. Melpomene is the patron of tragedy
and lyre playing. She holds the tragic mask (Encycopedia Britannica,
2018).

THE GOLDEN AGE OF GREEK THEATER

Grecian civilizations can be traced as far back as the Stone Age with
evidence of human ancestors representing the three stages of the Stone
Age – the Paleolithic, Mesolitihic, and Neolithic periods. Then when people
started to use tools made from bronze, it marked a timeline called the
Bronze Age which were also evidently utilized by the three distinct but
interacting people living around the Aegean Sea. These communities
were the Crete, the Cyclades, and the Greek mainland. The end of the
Greek Bronze is referred to as the Greek Dark Ages spanning from the 13th
century BC until the end of Classicial Antiquity (5th-6th BC). The Classicial
Antiquity is a long cultural timeline of the people living in the land areas
surrounding the Mediterranean Sea comprised by interlocking civilizations
of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Ancient Greece was marked by four
timelines: the Archaic period, Classical Greece, Hellenistic Greece, and
Roman Greece (Encyclopedia Americana, 1991; Kuritz, 1988).

The ancient Greek drama flourished around 700 BC in Ancient

Greece. This period was considered the Golden Age of Greek theater.
The three prominent Ancient Greek tragedy playwrights were Aeschylus
(525-456 BCE), Sophocles (496-406 BCE), and Euripides (485-406 BCE).

Ancient Greek theater would have been very dramatic (almost like a
pantomime), consisting of a Greek chorus, costumes, theatrical masks,
and other ritual characteristics all of which would have been staged in an
open air setting.

If you hear anything along the lines of Agamemnon, Antigone, Agon,

Apollo, Aristotle, Athenian, Attica, Bacchae, Epidaurus, Eumenides,
Dionysus, Oedipus The King, Prometheus Bound, Parados, Perseus,
Dithyrambic, Iphigenia, Seven Against Thebes, Lysistrata, Orestes,
Peloponnesian, Parados, Plato, Socrates, Cyclops, Plautus, Thespis, Zeus,
the list really does go on and on! And all have their own links to ancient
world plays by way of mythology, Greek gods, Greek empire, a
representation of religion or Greek society and culture. Greek theatre
would have painted a picture of the legendary Greek empire.
The most significant playwrights of Greek tragedies are Aeschylus,
Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Menander.

The first three dramatists are commonly referred to as tragedians,

whilst the two latter lyricists were seen as comic writers.

Roman Influences (240 – 100 BC)

Rome was introduced to Greek drama and Greek comedy around

250 BCE, and many Romans reworked the original plays, dividing the
stories into episodes, removing the choruses and replacing them with a
musical element like an orchestra, or having them singing.

The Roman times were still influenced by Greek gods and

mythological Greek culture, but Roman theatre was equally expressive of
themes significant to Rome, Sicily and society in Italy in general, as well
as classical literature and religious rites. Performances would have been
composed of Venetian masks, ceremonial dancing and stylized with a
range of facial expressions.

Medieval and Renaissance Drama (5th – 15th Century)

Hundreds of years after the first ever creations of tragedy and

comedy, Medieval Drama brought something totally new to theatre,
in a move away from reworking older styles. With the Christian Church
originally opposing theatre, seeing it as controversial, religious holiday
stories and scenarios from the Bible naturally started to be performed
by leaders of the churches, and eventually, these performances
became more elaborate and moved to other parts of the community (i.e.
the stage).
 Elizabethan drama developed during the Renaissance period thanks
to a rejuvenated celebration of all types of art. The first ever
Elizabethan playhouse opened around this time and plays by famous
playwrights (like the acclaimed William Shakespeare, of course) were
performed regularly across the country. His plays were more structural
than had ever been seen before, and represented comedy tragedy
combined to give well-rounded performances offering something for
everyone.

18th And 19th Century Drama

Classes were very much divided in the 18th century, and writers
drew on this in their texts. Many plays were therefore written for and
about the middle class, moving away from the outdated themes that
were covered by Shakespeare and his peers. Plays played on the battle
of the sexes and were witty and humorous.

In the 19th century, Romanticism in Western Europe was born and

focused on emotion and spiritualism, heavily influencing drama of the
period. Romantic plays began to dominate the continent, with famous
writers like Faust and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe becoming hugely
popular.

Modern Drama (late 1870s, known as the Victorian era in Great

Britain)

Modern drama is what we would call many of the plays

that emerged from the 20th century onwards, which developed due
to further experimentation. Music played a big part in modern drama,
while realistic drama was also increasingly popular. For some, though,
this seemed a step too far from the origins of drama and theatre and
they wanted the art to be revitalised once more.

TRAGICOMEDY

A tragicomedy is a literary genre that uses the elements of the

tragic and comedy dramas. A tragedy play that has several comical
scenes to lighten the mood or a serious play with a happy ending could
both be described as a tragicomedy.

Satyr plays are a genre of drama that uses the structure and
characters of the tragedy but adopts a happier atmosphere such as that
of the comedy. During the Athenian festival competitions, satyr plays
were presented fourth on the list right after a tragic trilogy. The actor in a
satyr play reprise the roles of mythical heroes and the play tell mythical
stories. Meanwhile, the group performers are satyrs or nature spirits who
have human traits such as hairs and beards, but they also have ears and
tails of a horse. The satyrs love dancing and drinking in contrast with the
more serious main characters. This contrast, which is characteristics of a
satyr drama, serves to ease the tension and emotions of the preceding
tragic trilogy.

THE ELEMENTS OFA TRAGEDY

 1. Tragedy is, first and foremost a representation of human
action.
2. The actions shown have serious consequences and the
characters are not ordinary people, but from a high social
status.
3. The plot is complete and coherent presentation that
adequately shows the reversal of the hero’s fortune.
4. The language used in a tragedy turns away from conventional
word usage. This style include metaphors, similes,
repetitions, and other figures of speech.
5. A tragedy evokes pity and fear from the audience for the hero.
As these feelings arise, people will also begin to understand
its root causes ultimately resulting to a catharsis.
6. The manner by which a tragedy is presented to the audience
is drama.

PARTS OF A TRAGEDY

1. Plot 4. Dialogue
2. Character 5. Spectacle
3. Thoughts 6. Music

The plot is activity of the characters and the series of events that
make up a story. These series are incident, rising action, falling action
and denouement (at the end). In Grecian drama, climax refers to the
moment of truth – also called recognition. When a protagonist’s fortunes
turn from good to bad, it is called the reversal; and when this happens
suffering follows. Powerful tragedy dramas depict protagonists who fail
mainly because of character flaws. In other words, he had it coming.

These events are divided into Acts and Scenes. The difference
between an Act and a Scene is their length and depth. The act is the
major division of a drama where the basic structure of the performance
stands on. Acts last for about 30 to 90 minutes depending on the
conventional full-length duration.