Hamizah Sukiman 9B Drama 9 Melodrama Loop Dialogue & Set Emotions Reflection This week we were asked to understand

d how the gestures, emotions and body positions to express certain emotions in melodrama. On Monday, we were asked to get into our original groups during our loop dialogue (Evil villain-Godfrey-Rose Marie dialogue) scripts but we have to incorporate the emotions and body positioning in the dialogue. I believe that we were asked to do this simply because we are in melodrama. In melodrama, everything is exaggerated and over the top. The voice projection only would make a fairly interesting melodrama but when included with emotions and body positioning would make the most effective melodrama of all because the exaggeration of body movements would make the scene more dramatic. In the loop dialogue, I was asked to be the heroine (Rose Marie). I have chosen two emotions; fear and love expressed. I chose fear because in the first part of the dialogue, my character was in the grasp of the evil villain. Fear would portray my characters feebleness as a female and to portray that she needs a hero to come and save her. Secondly, I chose the love expressed emotions because in the second half of the dialogue, my character was saved by the hero and she was reunited with the love of her life. To portray this emotion of overwhelming love to the audience, the body position of love expressed would display the kind of affection and love the character displays. This combination of both emotions and words are very important in melodrama. Back in the 1800s, everyone from every class would go

Hamizah Sukiman 9B Drama 9 Melodrama and see plays. This included the working classes and the peasants as well. The plays in 1800s used very flowery and literature-like language technique and this might not be understood by the least educated. They then wouldnt understand the play if they didnt understand the words. Therefore, the body language of the actors/actresses played an important role in helping the audience understand the storyline.

Body Positioning; Heroine & Aged parent (Anger)

Hamizah Sukiman 9B Drama 9 Melodrama Melodrama Questions 1. What is melodrama? a. Melodrama is a form of theatre in England, mainly. It is the combination of melody and drama inside a play, as they were only a few licensed theatres back in the days. Thus, melodrama (melody drama) was created to go around the law. Melodrama uses very big gestures as they were performed in front of the working class people, who are mostly illiterate. Thus the flowery language that the play had may confuse the audience, thus the large gestures play an important role in melodrama. As well, the voice intonation play an equally large role to portray emotions of the characters and it would make the storyline flow easier. 2. What era/country was melodrama popular in? a. During the Industrial Revolution, which is in the 1800s (the Victorian era) and it was most popular in England. 3. What was happening, historically, at the time and how did they increase the popularity of melodrama? a. The industrial revolution was going on. The working class people would go see melodrama as a form of luxury that they could afford in their very rare free time. Although, as mentioned above, most of them were illiterate and were unable to understand the language used in the plays. Thus, the act of melodrama, the large gestures and the voice intonation, became very popular, as they were able to understand what was happening in the play even without understanding the words of the play itself. The melodrama was also opened to all classes, not only the

Hamizah Sukiman 9B Drama 9 Melodrama rich. Thus this attracted more and more people to it as a social gathering as well as a form of 4. What were the stock characters and what basic characteristics did they each have? a. Stock characters are typical characters, each with their own characteristics, in a melodrama. These characters consist of : i. Hero Brave Saves the heroin at the end of the play Charming Kind-hearted In love with the heroin ii. Heroin Weak/helpless Very feminine In love with the hero Forced to be with the villain Friends with the cheeky servant Daughter from a rich family iii. Aging Parent Parents of the heroin Rich Wants their daughter to marry the villain Rely/trusts the villain iv. Evil Villain Wants the heroin Has some sort of plan to capture the heroin Defeated by the hero in the end v. A cheeky servant Supports the heros & heroins love

Hamizah Sukiman 9B Drama 9 Melodrama Usually a servant of the heroins family Sometimes funny/entertaining 5. Why is melodrama rarely performed today? a. There are a few reasons for the lack of melodrama. This is because: i. Plays are generally not watched nowadays. With movies on TV and cinemas, live plays are becoming less and less popular amongst the people of today. ii. Melodrama is seen as a form of exaggeration rather than a normal play. As people are mostly literate, there is no necessity to big gestures & actions, and these are sometimes seen as quite silly or funny in todays time.