PRODUCTION Drama & Theater

DIRECTOR Deopante, Gogorza, King, Lacson, Macaranas, Otero,

CAMERA Pajes, Punla, Quimpan, Salaarda

DATE SCENE TAKE

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Mar. 31, 2021 225 #1

 DRAMA: Historical Background
• The term Drama comes from a Greek word
meaning "action", which is derived from the verb
meaning "to do" or "to act“

• Drama is a literary composition involving

conflict, action crisis and atmosphere designed to
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be acted by players on a stage before an audience.

 History of Western Drama
 Origin: Greece around 500 B.C.
 Great Dionysia, ancient dramatic festival in which
tragedy, comedy, and satiric drama originated; it was
held in Athens in March in honor of Dionysus, the
god of wine.
 Tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides
 Chorus - group of people, wearing masks, who sang
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or chanted verses while performing dancelike
movements at religious festivals.
 ROMAN DRAMA: Decline of Drama

 In re-working the Greek originals, the Roman comic dramatists abolished the
role of the chorus in dividing the drama into episodes and introduced
musical accompaniment to its dialogue
 Drama went into a period of decline around 400 A.D. (Roman Empire) due
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to the Power of Christians

 Acting has been deemed at times to be unchristian, idolatrous and
depraved or, worse, boring.
 Medieval Period

 The Christian church had traditionally opposed

any form of drama/theater.

 In the Easter service and Christmas service, bits

of chanted dialogue, called tropes, were
interpolated into the liturgy.
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 Priests, impersonating biblical figures, acted out

minuscule scenes from the holiday stories.
 Renaissance Period
 Renaissance drama is English drama written before
the Reformation and the closure of theatres in.
 Early modern English theatre or Elizabethan theatre.
 It includes the drama of William Shakespeare, the
most notable playwright during this period.
 One distinctive feature of the companies that put on
Elizabethan plays was that they included only males.
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 Restoration and the 18th Century

 The theatres established in the wake of Charles II’s

return from exile in France and the Restoration of the
monarchy in England (1660) were intended primarily
to serve the needs of socially, politically, and
aesthetically homogeneous class.
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 At first they relied on the pre-Civil War repertoire;

French-influenced sensibilities
  Romantic period began in Western Europe which
influenced the Theater of that Era.
 Romanticism focused on Emotion rather than
Intellect.
 Romanticism first appeared in Germany.
 Faust by the German playwright Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe.
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19th Century Drama and Romanticism

 MODERN DRAMA

 Romanticism gave way to Realism during 19th Century.

 Early part of 20th Century, musical drama came to dominate stages in New
York and England.
 Primary characteristic – Realism
 Major forms are tragedy, comedy, and melodrama.
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 SYMBOLIST DRAMA
 Symbolist movement in France in 1880’s (de-
theatricalizing) affected the theater.
 Text were loaded with symbolic imagery
 Slow and dream-like
 Strong Symbolist elements can be found in the plays
of
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 Chekhov
 Ibsen
 Strindberg
 EXPRESSIONIST DRAMA

 Expressionist movement in 1910s and 1920s in Germany.

 Non-realistic or super-realistic style that uses various external effects
(settings, lighting, music)
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 CONTEMPORARY DRAMA

 Playwrights of the 1960s and 1970s built plays

around language.
 Sam Shepard in the United States
 Tom Stoppard in England
 In Europe in the 1970s, new playwriting was
largely overshadowed, expressing ideas more
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through action and the use of space than through

language.
 THE HISTORY OF THEATRE
An Exploration into the Human Story
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 What is theatre?
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of
performing art that uses live performers, usually
actors or actresses, to present the experience of a
real or imagined event before a live audience in a
specific place, often a stage. The performers may
communicate this experience to the audience
through combinations of gesture, speech, song,
music, and dance. .
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 • Greek theatre was created to celebrate religious festivals.
• It is unknown if Thespis was a playwright, an actor or a
priest, but he has been credited for creating the “first actor”
who broke away from the chorus and would speak to the
chorus as an individual character. This is why actors are also
known as “Thespians”.
• A chorus was used to either sing or chant the script.
• This lead to the creation of character.
• Masks were used to allow the actors to play more than one
character.
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.
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Greek Theatre
From 7th Century B.C.E
 Greek Theatre – The Creation of Character

The following playwrights contributed to the

creation of character:
• Aeschylus introduced the idea of using a
Aeschylus second and third actor which allowed for
interaction between characters.
• Sophocles continued the creation of character
by using the chorus less, and creating more
dialogue between characters.
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Sophocles
 ROMAN THEATRE
(From Approximately the 4th Century B.C.E)
• The Romans were greatly influenced by Greek Theatre.
• Roman Theatre was less influenced by religion than Greek theatre.
• The word “play” comes from the Latin word “ludus” which means recreation or play.
• The audience was often loud and rude. The audience did not applaud, but rather were always shouting insults and booing.
• Since the audience was so loud, much of the plays were pantomimed and repetitive.
• The actors developed a code which would tell the audience about a character just by looking at them.
For example:
A black wig: the character was a young man
A red wig: the character was a slave.
A yellow robe: the character was a woman
A yellow tassel: the character was a god.

• The Important people are Plautus, Terence and Seneca

.
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 2 TYPES OF PLAYS
Physical space Fabula Palliata
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Fabula Togata
 Medieval European Theatre
(Approximately began in the 5th Century)
• After the fall of the Roman Empire, cities were abandoned, and Europe became
increasingly more agricultural.
• After several hundred years, towns re-emerged.
• The Roman Catholic Church dominated religion, education and politics. It also had a
strong influence on theatre.
• Theatre was “reborn” as “liturgical dramas” which were written in Latin and performed by
priests or church members. Plots were taken from the Christian Bible.
• Performances also were held to celebrate religious festivals (as in Greek times)
• Later “vernacular dramas” were written in common language (therefore everyone could
understand).
• These plays were performed in town squares on wagon stages.
• There were three types of “vernacular dramas”:
• Mystery plays – based on the Old and New Testament
• Miracle plays – based on the lives of the saints
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• Morality plays – taught a lesson through symbolic characters representing virtues or faults
 Commedia Dell’ Arte
Italy’s contribution
 In italy, a unique form of theater was created for the common
people
 Required few props and no sets
 The plays did not come from scripts but by “scenarios” which
were an outline of plot
 The actors improvised the dialogue with comedic stunts —
lazzi
 Actors wores half masks which indicated to the audience
which character they were playing
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 A Commedia troupe typically consisted of 10 to 12 members
 Dialogue within these acts were sometimes vulgar and actors
uses physical elements during the performance
 Renaissance and Reformation
(Approximately began in the 15th Century)

Italy’s contribution
Further contribution to theater were made by
italians through the development of the proscenium
or picture frame stage.
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 Renaissance and Reformation
(Approximately began in the 15th Century)

England’s Experience
 In England — “apron stages were used which created a more
“open” stage
 Audience members surrounded the stage and sometimes on the
stage
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 The emphasis in plays were on the dialogue

 Later religious were replaced by themes
 Performers were organized into trouped or companies who
developed a repertory of plays that they could perform
 Renaissance and Reformation
England’s Experience cont.
 In 16th Century England’s government swung back and forth
from Catholicism to Protestantism
 Playwrights who worked to revive written in Latin, were
believed to be supporting the Catholic Church
 Playwrights who worked to revive Greek plays were
associated with Protestantism
 Depending on who was in power at the time, a playwright
could be put death for reviving the “wrong play
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 Many playwright began to avoid the revival of classic work,

and wrote non-political and non-religious plays
 Renaissance and Reformation
Theatre is Threatened

 The political problems in England at the time made theatre

“dangerous”
 Civil unrest could be inspired by performances
 Theatre were also associated with the temptation to spend time
watching performances instead of working
 Theatres were also associated with prostitution since prostitutes
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would be in the area where plays were performed and sometimes

were even in the audience
 Added to the political problems, fear of the plague closed
theatres
 These conditions lead to the licensing of acting companies which
lead to more control of theatres by the state
 Elizabethan Theatre
(16th Century)
 William Shakespeare is the most notorious playwright in
the history of theatre
 There are other notable playwrights including: Cristopher
Marlowe and Ben Jonson
 Shakespeare and his contemporaries encouraged a more
natural style of speaking and acting.
 They also explored the theme of “good
government”
 Shakespeare‘s characters were also more “human”
with both positive and negative aspects of their
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character being explored

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 Play were still presented in a open-air theatres or

at times presented at court
 The Republic and The Restoration
(Approximately began in the 17th Century)

France’s Contribution
 In 1642, the English Parliament closed all the theatre in England
 Many English actors fled to France
 Theatre in France began to focus on scenery and creating spectable
 Plays now included costume, dance and clever scenery which also
required scene changes. These aspects of theatre were more
emphasized than acting or the plot.
 Threatre also hsed the proscenium style of stage
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 The French also allowed women to perform on stage.
 18th Century Theatre

• In the 18th Century, Theatre became a popular

pastime.
• During the first half of the 18th century, actors
assumed poses and performed their lines in a
“sing-song” manner.
• Actors dressed in modern fashionable clothes.
• There was a rivalry between actresses as to who
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would wear the finest dress.

• Pantomime was still popular and promoted the
development of spectacular staging, slapstick and
special effects.
 18th Century Theatre
David Garrick
• Garrick is one of Britain’s greatest actors and the first to
be called a star. From 1741 until his retirement in 1776, he
was a highly successful actor, producer and theatre
manager. He wrote more than 20 plays, and adapted many
more (including plays by Shakespeare)
• Garrick emphasized a more natural form of speaking and
acting that mimicked life.
• This form of acting inspired the movement towards
realism and naturalism in theatre.
• Garrick “banished” the audience from the stage, and actors
now performed among the furnishings and scenery.
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• Plays began to be written about ordinary people.
• This could also explain why theatre and become more
commercial, since it could reach a wider audience.
 19th Century Theatre
Lighting and Stage Advancements

• The Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century

changed theatre as well.
• Gas lighting was first introduced in 1817 in
London’s Drury Lane Theatre.
• By the end of the century, electrical lighting made
its appearance on stage.
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• Elaborate mechanisms for changing scenery were

developed, including fly-lofts, elevators, and
revolving stages.
 19th Century Theatre
Melodrama
• The poor quality of lighting and the advances in set
design lead to a theatre style which emphasized action
and spectacle and not acting.
• Melodrama was created.
• Comes from "music drama" – music was used to
increase emotions or to signify characters .
• Actors performed their characters using gestures and
body poses to demonstrate their characters.
• A simplified moral universe; good and evil are
embodied in stock characters.
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• Many special effects were part of the performance: fires,

explosions, and or earthquakes.
• Traditional form: the villain poses a threat, the hero or
heroine escapes, etc, ends with a happy ending.
• During the first half of the century, playwrights were
poorly paid.
 19th Century Theatre
“The Era of Theatre Greats”

• In the later half of the 19th Century, 3 incredible

Henrik Ibsen playwrights changed theatre.
• Their work began the movement of “realism”
(which was to bring “real life on stage”)
• It would be as if the audience was watching through
a “fourth wall” spying on these characters.
These amazing playwrights were:
George • Henrik Ibsen, who wrote in Norwegian
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Bernard • George Bernard Shaw, who wrote in English
Shaw • Anton Chekhov, who wrote in Russian

Anton
Chekhov
 19th Century Theatre
The Greatest of All
• The serious and realistic drama that was being
created in the second half of the 19th century
challenged actors to learn a new method of acting.
• Konstantin Stanislavski wrote several works on the
art of acting, such as “An Actor Prepares”.
• Stanislavski’s method of acting is still used today and
is considered to be the best training for actors.
• The following actors have studied Stanislavski’s
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methods: Jack Nicholson, James Dean, Marlon

Brando, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Benicio Del Toro,
and Johnny Depp. (And many more).
 20th Century Theatre – Modern Theatre

• During the 20th Century, the world changed forever (2 world wars, and
much social and political upheaval).
• The Realism movement in theatre. and the creation a more naturalistic
acting style continued to flourish in the 20th Century.
• Many other Theatre movements also began; one such theatre style was
Theatre of the Absurd.
• Theatre of the Absurd, which grew out of the post-modern movement
which believed that life has no meaning, and there is no God.
• This style of Theatre grew out of Europe in the late 1940’s.
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 ARISTOTLE SIX ELEMENTS
OF DRAMA

PLOT
THEME
DIALOGUE
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CHARACTERS
MUSIC/RHYTHM
SPECTACLE
 PLOT
 The story of the play or the arrangement of events
or incidents in the stage.

 It is composed of “clearly defined problems for

characters to solve.”

 Plot is to be differentiated from story which is a

chronological detailing of events that happened on
and off stage.
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 The playwright must create a plot that is both

credible and astonishing.
 THEME

 The theme refers to the meaning of the play.

 It is the main idea or lesson to be learned from the play.

 In some cases, the theme of play is obvious; other times it is quite

stable.

Some General Themes:

- Conflict-between two individuals
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- Conflict between man and a supernatural power

- Conflict between the man and himself
 DIALOGUE

 This refers to the word written by the playwright

and spoken by the characters in the play.

 The dialogue helps move the action of the long play.

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 CHARACTERS
 The agents of the plot.

 The people (sometimes animals or ideas) portrayed by the actors in the play.

 It is the characters who move the action or plot.

 Characterization is the way a present a character.

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 MUSIC/RHYTHM

 The heart of the play.  

 While music is often, featured in drama, in this case Aristotle was

referring to the rhythm of the actors voices as they speak

 Plot, character, language, and spectacle all have their individual

rhythms in time
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 SPECTACLE

 This refers to the visual elements of a play: sets,

costumes, special effects, etc.

 Spectacle is everything that the audience sees as they

watch the play.
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 PRODUCTION LITERARY ELEMENTS
OF DRAMA
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DATE SCENE TAKE

225 #2
 Literary elements

Initial incident
”the event that gets the story going”
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 Literary elements

Preliminary event
Whatever takes place BEFORE the action of the
play that is directly related to the play
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 Literary elements

Rising action
The part of the plot where the round characters are
developed, the conflicts are increased and acted out
in many ways, motives are introduced. Rising action
includes the series of events (usually the conflicts or
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struggles of the protagonist) that increase tension,

propel the plot forward, and lead to the climax of the
story.
 Literary elements
Climax
The part of the plot that is the point of
greatest tension in a work of literature and
the turning point in the action or plot; it is
the most intense moment – either mentally
or in action.
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 Literary elements

Falling action
The series of events following the climax
and diminishes tension before the
resolution.
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 Literary elements

Denounement
Another term for the conclusion from the French
word for “unraveling”
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 PRODUCTION TECHNICAL
ELEMENTS OF
DRAMA :
PERFORMANCE
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DATE SCENE TAKE

225 #3
 ACTING
- Use of body, face, and voice of a character

CHARACTER MOTIVATION
-- The reason/s of a character’s behavior
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-- Incentive or inducement for further action of a character

 EMPATHY
-The ability to release the feelings of
another

BREATH CONTROL
- Proper use of the lungs and diphragm
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muscle
- For maximum capacity and efficiency of
breath while speaking
 INFLECTION PROJECTION DICTATION
- Change in - How well the -Selection and
pitch or voice carries to pronounciation of
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loudness of the the audience words

voice. -Clarity of the
speech
 Non-verbal expression
GESTURE
- Movement of the actor’s head,
shoulder, arm, leg, or foot to convey
meaning

FACIAL EXPRESSION
- Physical and vocal aspects by an
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actor to conver mood, feelings or

personality
 OTHER LITERARY ELEMENTS

EXPOSITION
STORY ORGANIZATION
CONFLICT
SUSPENSE
LANGUAGE
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STYLE
SOLILOQUY
MONOLOGUE
 • EXPOSITION – what is the beginning of story, who are the characters, where is the
setting.
• STORY ORGANIZATION – beginning, middle, end
• CONFLICT - internal or external struggle that leads to dramatic tension
• SUSPENSE - build interest and excitement on the part of the audience
• LANGUAGE - particular manner of verbal expression, the diction or style of writing, or
the speech or phrasing that determines the type of character
• STYLE - shaping of dramatic material, settings, or costumes in a deliberately non-realistic
manner
• SOLILOQUY - speech by a single actor who is ALONE on stage
• MONOLOGUE - long speech made by one actor and involves one character speaking to
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another.