Drama

• General Definition:
• Drama is a literary composition involving
conflict, action crisis and atmosphere
designed to be acted by players on a stage
before an audience.
• 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 composition in prose form that
presents a story entirely told in dialogue and
action and written with the intention of its
eventual performance before an audience.
 Origin of Drama
• Western drama originated in Greece around
500 B.C.
• Ancient Greek drama consists of three kinds of
plays:
– Tragedy
– Comedy
– Satyr plays
 Ancient Greek Drama
• The first tragedies are said to have been
performed in 534 B.C. at the festival of
Dionysus in Athens
• Satyr-dramas were added in 501 B.C.
• Comedies were first officially produced in
Athens in 486 B.C.
 Ancient Greek Drama

• Greek drama flourished in Athens through 500

B.C. to 300 B.C.
• Athens appears to have been the primary
locus of dramatic activity in classical Greece.
• Comedies were also performed from the
beginning of the fifth century B.C. on ward in
Sicily.
• The earliest dramas were designed to worship
gods and goddesses.
• Masks were used to represent characters,
high-soled boots were worn to add height.
• Antigone, Oedipus Rex and Medea are among
the famous plays written during this time.
 chorus
• Among the ancient Greeks the chorus was a group of
people, wearing masks, who sang or chanted verses while
performing dancelike movements at religious festivals.
• A similar chorus played a part in Greek tragedies, where
(in the plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles) they served
mainly as commentators on the dramatic actions and
events who expressed traditional moral, religious, and
social attitudes;
• beginning with Euripides, however, the chorus assumed
primarily a lyrical function.
 Roman Drama
• Roman drama refers to any dramatic form —
tragedy, comedy, farce, mime, and pantomime
— composed in the Latin language.
• Latin was used by the inhabitants of the city of
Rome and eventually became the
administrative language of the Roman
Republic (509–30 B.C.) and the Roman Empire
(30 B.C.– 476 A.D.).
 Roman Drama
• The Romans witnessed the first form of
dramatic performance in Rome in 364 B.C.
• The people of Tuscany staged the
performance in order to help the Romans
avert a plague.
• They performed some form of dance
accompanied by flute music.
 Roman Drama
• The first official dramatic performance was
performed in Rome in 240 B.C.
• Livius Andronicus stage a tragedy and a
comedy at the ludi Romani (Roman games).
• Livius Andronicus was a Greek slave.
• It is unclear whether his performances were
translations or adaptations of Greek dramas.
• Roman comedies and tragedies were
performed at:
• Festivals known as Ludi
• Temple dedications
• Triumphal parades
• Funerals of Roman aristocrats.
 Roman Drama
• Roman theaters were temporary wooden
structures taken down after the performance.
• The first stone stage was seen after 55 B.C.
• Roman nobility funded Roman dramas, the
actors themselves were noble.
 chorus
• Among the ancient Greeks the chorus was a group of
people, wearing masks, who sang or chanted verses while
performing dancelike movements at religious festivals.
• A similar chorus played a part in Greek tragedies, where
(in the plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles) they served
mainly as commentators on the dramatic actions and
events who expressed traditional moral, religious, and
social attitudes;
• beginning with Euripides, however, the chorus assumed
primarily a lyrical function.
 Fall of Rome
• With the fall of the Roman empire, Roman
drama comes to its own end.
• Roman drama and Roman comedy in
particular have enduring effect on the
Western dramatic tradition.
 Death of Drama
• From the fall of Rome in the late fifth century
until the tenth century, the drama was
essentially dead.
• This was due in part to the Romans’ lack of
interest in drama and the Christians of late
antiquity.
 The Death of Drama
• Acting was considered unchristian in the early
Medieval period as Roman Catholic Church
banned theatrical performances.
• Drama remained dead for several years.
 The Rebirth of Drama

• Drama was reintroduced into western Europe

in the tenth century.
• Just as drama was born among Greek as a
part of religious observances, among
Christians it too was reborn as a part of
religion.
• Drama was reborn during The Middle Ages
(Medieval Period).
 Medieval Drama
• The Christian festival celebration had always
included elements that were potentially dramatic.
• In the 10th century bits of chanted dialogue, called
tropes, were added to the Easter celebration.
• This was the beginning of drama in post-classical
western Europe.
 Medieval Drama
• These little plays (troops) grew more
elaborate.
• Some of the later Latin plays were elaborate
and, taking well over an hour to perform.
• The purpose of these plays was to teach
religion.
• Most of Classical learning was lost in medieval times.
• The Middle Ages were dominated by religion and the study
of theological matters.
• The Christian doctrine and Christian values were the
measure of everything.
• During the Middle Ages, drama was looked down upon as
evil and a means of corruption.
• However, faced with the need to spread the word of God to
the illiterate masses, the Church came to devise some form
of dramatic performance to help in teaching Christian beliefs
and biblical stories.
 Late Medieval Drama
• A great deal of dramatic material is found in
the late 12th and early 13th centuries and the
14th century. Most of it is religious.
• These plays can be divided into:
• The mystery plays - life of Christ
• Miracle plays – lives of saints.
• Morality plays – being good/ moral
 Renaissance Drama

• The English Renaissance, a cultural and artistic

movement in England from 16th to early 17th
century.
• It paved the way for the dominance of drama
in the country.
• Queen Elizabeth I ruled during the period
• Great poetry and drama were produced.
 Renaissance Drama
• The renowned playwrights of this time include
William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe,
Ben Jonson, John Webster.
• The dramatists wrote plays based on themes
like history, comedy and tragedy.
• Shakespeare emerged as an artist who
produced plays based on all the three themes.
 Renaissance Drama
• Drama had previously been performed in
temporary spaces.
• In 1567 the first public theatre, the Red Lion
Theatre in Whitechapel, was built.
• With the establishment of public theatres and
acting companies the demand for plays was
met by a group of highly educated men who
were deeply educated in classical literature.
• The chorus in Greek drama is a group of actors
who speak or sing together, commenting on
the action.
• In Elizabethan drama, the chorus consisted
of one actor who recites the prologue and
epilogue to a play and sometimes comments
on the action (As in Doctor Faustus).