Aristotle's Six Elements of Theatre

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher who studied all kinds of things from
crustaceans to the cosmos to theatre. He was pretty well rounded. When his teacher Plato, wrote a
treatise condemning theatre as groovy and interesting, but "too dangerous to be allowed in society."
Aristotle countered with a treatise of his own entitled The Poetics. The volume was lost for hundreds of
years until rediscovered by European scholars in the 14th century. In it, Aristotle described what theatre,
especially Tragedy, should contain and how it should be composed. Aristotle was, in the 14th and 15th
centuries, instantly hailed as THE expert on theatre. His famous six elements have retained their
importance through time, and only in our contemporary society have theatre practitioners begun to
question whether or not they always apply. However, these six elements are still the most widely known
and used evaluative tools and general rules for artistic theatre performances. His thoughts still reign
supreme, despite current undermining by some contemporary scholars and theatre practitioners.

The six elements are only a small part of the much longer Poetics. However, they comprise some of the
most vital aspects of theatre from the whole work. They are very useful in identifying the whys and
whats of theatre. His six elements included (and are in order from most important to least important):

Plot

Character

Thought

Diction

Music

Spectacle

Plot

Plot is the first and, in Aristotle's mind, most important of all dramatic elements. Can you guess why that
would be? Why would plot be numero uno for Aristotle? Let's venture a few guesses.
First, imagine a play with lots of really great characters, great scenery and stunning dialogue. Is that
enough to be interesting? Maybe, but don't you crave a story line? Don't you want ... well ... something
to happen? Of course you do. If nothing happens, it is difficult to have a play.

Nowadays, playwrights who think they know better have started experimenting with plays without plot
with limited success. We'll read one later in the semester that comes close! It's called The Bald
Soprano.

There are two major kinds of plots for theatre: dramatic and episodic. There are other experimental
kinds, but they are far and few between.

All plots, however, have a beginning, middle and end.

The Beginning

The beginning of a plot includes the background, setting and introduces the characters. It is usually
called the exposition. Most important, the beginning of a play (or story, movie, or any other narrative)
lets the audience know the routines of the world of the play. What does Cinderella usually do, for
instance? She is a slave in her own house and with her step family. Of all the information we could give
(hair color, how many dead bugs on the window sill, the color of the wall paper, etc.), that's the most
essential thing to know: her routines.

The End

If the beginning establishes the routines of characters in a play, what does the end do? Usually, events of
plays change routines in plays, so the end of a play usually establishes new routines of characters.
Cinderella's new routine?: She is now a princess and lives with the Prince. In short: She lived happily ever
after. In a play, the end is often called the denouement (pronounced "day-new-ma"), which indicates a
resolution to the action or "falling action." And for action to fall, it must rise. That happens in the middle.

The Middle
Here is the meat of the story. It begins with the Point of Attackthat point in the story when the normal
routines of characters change. Cinderella's routine changes when there is a knock at the door and a
princely messenger brings an invitation to the ball. Suddenly, both we and Cinderella have a hope that
things might change for her. This hope leads to suspense. Suspense means our interest in her success
increases. As our interest increases with the actions of the play, the plot is said to rise. More accurately,
the events in the play that lead to our interest are collectively called the Rising Action of a play. After a
while, the stakes become higher and higher, and the chance for success is threatened more and more
until it reaches a "do or die" state: the climax. At the climax of a play, the action and suspense rises to its
highest point. Either Cinderella succeeds and becomes a princess, or she is doomed forever to be a slave
for her step family. For Cinderella, this is near the end of the story when she does or does not get to try
on the shoe.

Cinderella has a typical dramatic plot. It contains rising action and a climax.

Here is a visual representation of how a dramatic plot works:

Basic Plot Structure

Image courtesy of Ryan Harris

An episodic plot is different. Rather than have rising action that increases the energy and suspense of a
story, it shows the audience a series of scenes or episodes that show various events. At the end, the
routine is still changed by these events, but there is no single suspenseful driving action that moves the
plot forward.

Take the story of Hercules (not the Disney movie, PLEEEEAAASE not the Disney movie!). Hercules is a
special guy with great strength. He is the son of Zeus, a god, and a mortal womannotably NOT Hera,
Zeus' wife. Hera, jealous and spiteful of Hercules, is intent on destroying him. The first episode of
Hercules, the beginning, portrays Hercules happy at home with his wife and kids. But suddenly (the point
of attack), Hera manages to make Hercules insane for a time, and he kills his wife and kids, thinking they
are attacking soldiers. He is understandably upset by this and seeks to redeem himself. Apollo, another
god, tells him to visit a certain King who gives him tasks to perform. In one episode, he kills the hydra. In
another episode, he cleans some massive stables by diverting a river. He kills a great lion. He kills other
beasts. He does other great feats as well. But no feat is any greater than the last one. There is not rising
action, only one action after another. At the end, the last episode, Hercules is redeemed of his horrible
crime, he moves to New Zealand, and he starts his own TV show!

For an episodic plot, the visual representation would be the same, except it would have no rising action.

Activity

"Plot"

In your workbook, write a story outline for a dramatic plot in five sentences. Here's how:

First, select a protagonist (main character) from the following: A baby monster, Sammy the Salamander,
Irene the Ibex.

Sentence #1 - The Beginning, (Exposition and Point of Attack). State the most important routine(s) for
your character and then state the point of attack. (Example: "Sammy the Salamander basked in the sun
on his rock as he normally did UNTIL a fish came and began squirting him with water."Note the word
UNTIL. Please use it!)

Sentence #2 - The Middle, Rising Action: State the first attempt that your protagonist makes to rectify
the problem. Your character will not succeed. (Example: "Sammy began yelling and cursing at the fish,
BUT the fish continued to squirt him"Note the word BUT. You will want to use it!)

Sentence #3 - The Middle, Rising Action: State the second attempt that your protagonist makes to rectify
the problem. Your character will NOT succed. (Example: "Sammy threw rocks and pebbles at the fish,
BUT the fish just laughed and continued to squirt him" Again, the word BUT--use it!).

Sentence #4 - The Middle, Climax: State the third attempt that your protagonist makes to rectify the
problem. Your character will usually come up with an unusual and surprising solution and will succeed.
(Example: "Sammy suddenly began absorbing the water through his skin as the fish squirted until he
became swollen and immense and frightened the fish away with threatening gestures."Note the word
AND. You will want to use it.)

Sentence #5 - The End or Denouement: State the new routine of your protagonist. (Example: "From that
day forward, Sammy found a different, fishless place to bask.")
Note how Sammy tries three times to achieve his objectives. Only on the third try (sentence #4) does he
succeed. His two failed attempts increase our concern for him and increase the suspense over whether
he will ultimately succeed. When you write your five sentences, make sure your protagonist (your main
character) makes three distinct attempts at something.

Another dramatic plot model posits that rather than Sammy (or another character) trying three times to
do something, three things HAPPEN to Sammy that he must deal with in various ways. Again, these are
three distinct events.

In a play such as the ones you'll read in this class, you will find that the attempts made and the things
that happen to the protagonists of the plays are far more complex and sometimes more subtle than
found in the story of Sammy. You'll also find that the events often build upon themselves to become
"super-events" of sorts. I hope, however, that you'll be able to perceive how each play is constructed in
terms of structure.

Plays often use scenes and actssubdivisions of the plays actionto clearly show how attempts are
made by protagonists or how things happen to protagonists to which they then must react. Plays are first
divided into acts. Many plays have 3 to 5 acts. These acts are further subdivided into sceneswhich are
then subdivided into units and beatsto which directors and actors must pay attention to succeed. The
end of acts or scenes is often where you will find the end of an attempt or a distinct event that happens
to a character. Most plays and movies can be broken down, ultimately, into 5 sentences like we've done
above. Some have fewer than five, and some have a few more, but five is probably the most common
number. This number is so common and so effective to use, that it has a name: a Well Made Play.

The Well Made Play became popular at the middle to end of the 19th century. One playwright, Eugene
Scribe, found it so effective, that he made it into a formula and opened a playwriting factory, hired
"playwrights" to write simple Well Made Play plays, and made lots of money. Nowadays, the Well Made
Play is still very popular, though playwrights are beginning to try new ways of crafting plays.

Character

Aristotle ranked this element of theatre as second in importance. I suppose that as many have figured
out, if a play or movie has a good plot, you can have the shallowest of characters to fill it. In a recent
comic strip, a big hulk of an actor was asking: "What's my motivation for this scene?" The director
replied, "I'm paying you ten thousand dollars for junk acting."

Still, many play goers and movie goers demand interesting and engaging characters.

Characters that seem to have deep personalities and complex personalities are known as three
dimensional characters. They may be good or evil, but if they are good, they probably have some failings.
If they are evil, they may have a few redeeming qualities. These characters often must make tough
decisions in which right and wrong are difficult to decipher. Plots that contain three dimensional
characters and rely on them to work are often very interesting and work well. The reason many of
Shakespeare's plays are considered so fantastic is that they are filled with such characters. Think of
characters like Hamlet, Romeo, Juliet, Othello, Henry V, Macbeth: They are all very complex characters
faced with difficult challenges and choices.

Some characters are two dimensional. They are not as complex, and they are usually not as engaging for
longer periods of time in a play or movie. When the same type of 2 dimensional character appears in
many different plays or movies, these characters can be called stock characters. In the past, stock
characters included such individuals as the clever servant, the greedy old man, the damsel in distress,
the knight in shining armor, and others. In our time, many of these characters still exist.

Activity

"Character"

List and describe 5 stock characters with which you are familiar. They can be from movies, TV, plays, or
even video games. Remember, they should be similar in nearly everything in which they appear. Briefly
describe these familiar attributes.

List one 3 dimensional character, and describe him or her in detailmake sure you explain why you feel
this character is 3 dimensional.

Thought
"What's the moral of the story?" is a question that is often asked, even in theatre. It is a tricky question.
Thought is often equivalent to the more used term (that I don't care for very much): "Theme." The
thought of a play can be found by asking "What does it mean?"

We'll start with an example: The story of "The Tortoise and the Hare."

There are two main characters. Describe the Hare: arrogant, fast, foolish, etc. You can think of more
adjectives, I'm sure. Now how about the Tortoise: quiet, humble, steady, etc. You get the picture. In the
story, the Hare brags about how fast he is to the Tortoise, so the slow reptile agrees to a race at which
our arrogant mammal laughs and laughs. Nevertheless, the two race, the Hare takes a short nap only to
find that the Tortoise is at the finish line. The Hare had lost! The moral of the story? Aesop suggests one:
"Perseverance wins the race" or "Slow and steady wins the race." I disagree. That may be a moral, but I
don't think that it is THE moral. Can you think of a good moral for this simple story? How about "Don't be
arrogant." "Don't brag." "Don't take naps in the middle of races." I'm sure you came up with better ones.
With a good story or a good play, one simple theme just doesn't cut it. The story is good because many
themes are presentor are at least potentially present. Some plays just make us ask good and hard
questions about ourselves, and so no theme is overtly evident.

All good drama, and all good art, for that matter, has three attributes that we have noted over time:

First, it is universal: it applies to many different people in many different circumstances. Shakespeare's
Hamlet, for example, is very popular not only in England, American and Europe, but even in Oriental
countries like Japan and China. Its themes are important enough and broad enough to be accessible to
many, all over the world.

Second, good art is individual: it is unique and unlike anything else. A play full of cliches and events that
can be anticipated is probably not great art. Shakespeare again provides a good example. Many of this
plays contain language (phrases and ways of saying things) that he invented and have now become our
cliches. And Romeo and Juliet, though a play about love and young romance (in part), is different and
unique from any other play about this same subject.

Thirdly, good plays (and good art) contain suggestion: it isn't readily apparent or extremely clear what
the themes are. It doesn't bang you over the head with some kind of message. This is in part because, as
in The Tortoise and the Hare, good art can have several themes simultaneously, depending on how it is
received by a particular audience member. It is also important to remember that good art often asks
more questions than it answers. I like to say that "Good art is exploratory, not explanatory." Good art
provides a vehicle for exploration rather than a vehicle for pat and simple answers to often complex
problems. When you go to church and the pastor reads a poem that hits you over the head with a theme
or lesson to be learned, it may be appropriate for church, but it is probably not considered great art. The
opposite problem is just as deadly: when after you've seen a play you ask, "What was the point?" or
"What was all that about?" This is probably not good either, though in this case, it may be you who isn't
thinking deeply enough or making enough connections with the clues given in the play.

In sum, Thought is the subject matter of a play. Aristotle considered it to be third in importance. This
element will be addressed in your play critique (see the syllabus), as you discuss the possible themes of a
play and how the various arts of theatre (acting, directing, costume design, etc.) helped or hindered a
production's attempts at communicating these themes.

One final note: the themes of great plays are often difficult to state concisely! Nevertheless, it is
important to try.

Activity

"Thought"

Using your best educated guess from the information above, write a short paragraph describing why
your instructor (me!) does not like the word "theme" very much, though he is forced to use it himself
quite often. Go ahead and take your best guess! Then defend your answer and explain whether you
agree or disagree with him.

Diction

Sometimes in a play (or a movie) it's not what is said, it's how it's said. This is diction: the words and
language used in a play. Plays with "good" diction have language that is appropriate and often lovely. If a
play has "bad" diction, it probably contains language that does not fit the characters or the tone of the
play.
Once again, Shakespeare is a supreme example. "To be or not to be, that is the question." Sure it's
poetry, but it also says in a very appropriate way, "Do I kill myself, or not?" Or take Romeo looking up at
Juliet's balcony: "Behold! What light through yonder window breaks? 'Tis the east, and Juliet is the sun!"
That's a very appropriate way of saying "Dude! She's a babe!" Comparing her to the sun is a wonderful
way of alluding to all sorts of things: Imagine what the sun is and does for you, and you can imagine
what Juliet is and does for Romeo. It's the diction that Shakespeare uses that makes this famous scene so
rich and beautiful.

Some plays have poetic diction, like many of Shakespeare's plays. Some do not. At the end of the play,
The Bald Soprano, by Eugene Ionesco (that you will read later in the course, by the way), the characters
say nothing but vowel sounds and strange syllables. In the play, Ionesco explores issues about
communication, so even that diction (or non-diction) is appropriate for that particular circumstance.

Imagine yourself in a romantic situation. If you're a guy, what kind of language would you use? What
does your partner want to hear? Poetry? "Sweet nothings?" Even you use diction in your daily life. In
fact, the more power you have over the words you use, the more flexible you'll be in various social
situations.

How about the job interview? I doubt you'd say "Dude!" very often, unless you were applying for a
position as surf board instructor.

Activity

"Diction"

Take the following common and benign statement, and make it poetic by using more lyrical or poetic
diction. Romeo took, "Dude, she's a babe!" and made it into "What light through yonder window
breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!" Show me what you can do with this sentence!:

"My midterm exam really sucked."

Music
When Aristotle wrote his Poetics and outlined his six elements of drama, nearly all plays had music.
Either the actors sang many of their lines, or they acted with musical accompaniment.

In today's theatre, there is sometimes a music soundtrackthis appears much more in moviesbut
Aristotle's element of music is now said to be the sound elements of a play.

In one play, Anton Chekov's The Cherry Orchard, for instance, the characters are sitting around chatting
when a sudden plunk is heard, as if a harp string broke. It is a very symbolic sound, announcing the end
of one era and the beginning of another. The play really couldn't be done without it.

Sound, outside of the actors speaking, happens quite often in theatre. In the past five years or so, with
the advent of personal computers with a bit of umph to them, sound design for theatre has exploded.
Almost anyone can now edit and produce sound just like Hollywood!

My own personal experience with sound design has been varied. I have designed sound for several
productions. One production, Fool for Love, required that the walls be microphoned so that when the
actors banged against the wall, it would echo in surrealistic ways. There was also a scene in which the
actor stormed out the motel room and shot a car with his shotgun which made the car explode which
made some horses panic and run away and then the fire burned for 40 minutes until the end of the play.
That was all sound. None of it was seen. I created it by finding first of all the sound of a shotgun. All gun
sounds were too wimpy for my tastes, so I found a mortar explosion sound and sped it up. It sounded
great! A nice dull and deep BUMPH! I then needed the sound of a windshield smashing from the
shotgun. None of the sounds of glass breaking were any good, so I had to find one and speed it up as
well. I found some horses okay, and I had access to many explosions, so that wasn't a problem, but I
didn't have 40 minutes of fire noise. So I went to my back yard barbeque pit, soaked some newspaper in
some gasoline, and lit a match. The resulting explosion and subsequent mushroom cloud singed my
eyebrows off! But I had fire. And my tape player was recording. I recorded over 60 minutes of fire that
dayand melted my tape player by putting it too close to the fire! The editing I did for Fool For Love was
all reel to reel and took me over 60 hours. It sounded great, though. With the personal computers of
today with the really nice software that exists, I have done other similar sound projects and have taken a
tenth the time.

Recently, I had to design sound for a production of Selkie, a play for young people by playwright Laurie
Brooks. The play takes place on the Scottish coast, and I needed over an hour of waves and sea sounds. I
also needed the sounds of seals braying and howling and making a general ruckus. For this production, I
went to the internet and found a cool site with which I could search for sounds. I found lots of different
seal sounds, which I downloaded. I also found lots of whale sounds, which sound mysterious and which I
thought would give a cool touch to the atmosphere of the play. After about 5 hours on my nifty
Macintosh computer, I had created a series of overlaid sounds of great complexity that I used throughout
the show. The sea sounds were done in much the same way: digitally. I also needed music for the
opening and closing of the show, and special music for when the seals came and danced on the beach
and in the water. Additionally, there needed to be party music and party sounds for the end of the play. I
spent about 20 hours on this show, and the sound was much, much more complex than Fool for Love
had been. I had more fun doing it digitally. It is indeed fun to play with sound!

Aristotle called it music, and in the eyes (or ears) of one sound designer, my seal sounds and fire sounds
were just that!

To find cool sounds on the internet, try going to FindSounds.com.

Spectacle

Remember this: Aristotle ranked this LAST! And yet, when one thinks of a Broadway show, this is what
one often things of: Spectacle. Simply put, spectacle comprises the visual elements of a play.

In the hit musical Phantom of the Opera, the phantom rows his boat through a maze of floating candles.
The boat actually lifts off of the stage and moves through a bunch of candles. It is breathtaking.

In the hit musical The Lion King, amazing things are done with puppets, and in one scene, a vision in the
sky of Mufasa, the protagonist's dead father, suddenly becomes a flock of birds that fly away.

In the hit musical Miss Saigon, an actual helicopter lands on the stage. Incredible! No wonder tickets for
these shows cost $50 or more. This spectacle costs a lot of money!

Spectacle includes the set design, costumes, properties (the things the actors hold like swords, etc.),
lighting and special effects.
Activity

"Spectacle"

There are some who say that with the rise of spectacle in theatre, the literary and other artistic qualities
go down. Why would this be? Is it true? Can the two co-exist? Write your own opinion in a short
paragraph. (Incidentally, as one studies theatre history, this has often proved to be truebut not
always).

This is the end of the workshop, please see activity summary .