1. Dramatic Conventions

2. Essential Question
What dramatic conventions do I need to know in order to understand and interpret a play?

3. Drama Story written to be acted for an audience.
Made up of scenes and acts
Scenes: settings for the events, the environment of the characters
Acts: a major formal division of a play which marks a clear, unified portion of the total action

4. Dramatic Conventions
Dramatic conventions are rules in which the actors and audience engage during a play.
For example, the audience knows to become quiet when the lights dim.

5. Fourth Wall
The imaginary wall that is supposedly removed to allow the audience to peer into a room to see the drama unfold.

6. Expressionism
Refers to both a type of drama and the way it is portrayed on the stage.
This dramatic style exaggerates reality.
On the stage, it is known for its use of bright lights, loud sounds, colorful scenery, and expressive dialogue.
Expressionism in theater is a reaction to how one FEELS. It relates more to the emotional side of theater rather than the realistic.  "Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist doesn't try to portray reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in him." 

8. Minimalism Is the opposite of expressionism.
It relies on sparse scenery and limited dialogue.
MINIMALISM
[AT RIGHT: A couple of chairs in a dark space become a minimalist set depicting anything from the simply concrete to the complexly abstract.]
Some writers, by emphasizing the sparseness, or even the
blankness, of the drama "space", will try to achieve a maximum impression from a minimum of details and props. Many modern stage productions of William Shakespeare's plays, for example, utilize this technique.

9. Stage Directions
Stage directions are the instructions that the playwright gives the actors to tell them how and where to move or act onstage.
Stage directions can describe the
setting
characters’ appearances, personalities, thoughts, and movements
Stage directions are usually in italics and enclosed in parentheses or brackets

10. Stage directions help readers
understand what the characters are feeling
Julie (wearily). Here we go again.
Julie (cheerfully). Here we go again!
see what actions are taking place onstage
[Grabbing his keys, he turns and jumps back when he sees Ed lurking in the doorway.]
know when the mood changes onstage
[A bell tolls as the lights dim and fade out, except for the light upon Hannah, who stares blankly at the telegram in her hand.]

11. Stage Directions help actors
Know where to go onstage
C, Center Stage
L, Stage Left
R, Stage Right
U, Upstage or Rear
D, Downstage or Front
[The father enters stage left.]

12. Character A character is a person in the play.
The protagonist is the main character, the person who drives the play’s action. The protagonist is often, but not always, the play’s hero.
The antagonist is the character or force that blocks the protagonist. The antagonist is often, but not always, the villain.

13. Dramatic Speech Dialogue-conversation between or among characters
Monologue-long speech by one single character (private thoughts)

14. Comedy A lighthearted play intended to amuse the audience.
Comedies usually end happily.

15. Tragedy
A serious play that ends in disaster and sorrow.

16. Political Drama
A drama or play with a political component advocating a certain point of view or describing a political event.

17. Modern Drama Explores themes of alienation and disconnectedness.
Modern drama, which became popular in the early 1900s, strives to let the audience feel as if it is peering in on real-life situations and experiencing real-life emotions.

18. Plot series of related events that make up a drama/story Exposition
Rising Action
Turning Point/Crisis
Falling Action (Climax)
Dénouement