UNDERSTANDING DRAMA

Drama is a composition that tells a story through action and dialogue and designed for theatrical
performance. Drama, writes Aristotle is an imitation of action. The medium of drama is not words,
but persons moving about using words.

Types of Drama
1. Tragedy – a serious play in which the char meets with disaster, either because of a personal
fault/events. It ends with a catastrophe.
2. Comedy – a play with happy ending, intended to reform. It appeals to intellect rather than
emotion. It ends with a denoument.

Elements of the Drama

1. Plot. This refers to the sequences of events in the play. The essential parts of a dramatic plot
are the ff:
a. The exposition of the situation out of which the problem arises.
b. The rising action which works up of the situation by a series of events leading to the
conflict.
c. The development that may complicate or simplify the situation;
d. The end, which may settle the problem satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily.
Kinds of Plot
a. Man on a road. The event(s) move(s) through a single character walking through
various
stages on the road of live.
b. Man in a hole. The action begins with a man or group of men getting trapped in a
problem and they try to get out of the problem.
c. Man in a tub. This is a plot that starts with a commonplace event then in a flash a
sudden
realization form the skeleton of the story.

2. Character. Character refers to the persons acting in the play.

a. Protagonist. This is the main character.
a. Antagonist. The anti-hero in the story.
b. Static or flat. Quality of a character that does not change, predictable, limited.
c. Dynamic or round. Quality of a character that undergo changes or improvement,
diverse.

3. Characterization is the attributes of the characters.

a. Direct - a characterization that is stated. (“Maria is beautiful,” Mario said to Kulas..)
b. Indirect – a characterization that is dramatized. (Mario and Kulas had been staring at
Maria)
4. Setting/ Scenery/ Stage. The background which suggests the environment of the play.
5. Dialogue. The dialogue refers to the conversation between the chars. which reveals the style
of a play.
6. Theme. The message. It may be specifically stated in a story or it may be derived from the
total effect.