Understanding Theatre: Essential Elements and Genres
Theatre
Drama presents a unique set of challenges, existing as both text and performance. While narrative and poetry readings often seek solitude, theatre thrives on staging. Theatrical discourse is crafted so that the audience receives the message live; the audience cannot directly or actively participate. Therefore, a number of people are needed to bring the text to life, along with a venue for the performance, and other supporting elements such as set design, makeup, and wardrobe.
We can define drama as a literary text that tells a story featuring characters in conflict. The form of discourse is direct dialogue, which is the text that reaches the viewer, and a series of descriptive and narrative asides. Mixed within it are extra-linguistic elements.
Features
- It leads to representation. The work loses meaning that can only be verified through staging. To carry it out, people and objects are needed.
- The transmission and reception of drama are collective.
- The natural language code is only one of those involved in the communicative act of drama. Sometimes, nonverbal elements are more significant. In the representation, there is a double act of communication: between the actors and the audience.
- It consists primarily of dialogue. Direct style prevails.
- The immediacy of representation does not alter the established fiction pact between the author and the audience. The viewer knows from the beginning that the show is fiction but experiences it as real.
Basics
The basic elements are action, characters, dialogue, space, and time.
- Action is synonymous with the story. It is the axis of the work and is a process of resolution. It starts with a conflict in which a series of characters are involved, advancing to the outcome and creating dramatic tension.
- Characters are very similar to those in a novel. The protagonist can be an individual or a community. Sometimes, the protagonist is opposed by the antagonist. Both are round characters; they evolve throughout the story, change their behavior, and are known through their actions. The supporting characters accompany the main players with whom they dialogue. They are flat characters because they do not evolve and respond to an archetype.
- Dialogue is known as the main text, although there can also be monologues. These are used to reveal the depth of the characters. It is structured in acts, scenes, and stage directions.
- Stage directions are a type of text that appears in the work; their purpose is practical. Therefore, they are not heard by the public. These contain notes on costumes, gestures, sound, etc.
- Space and time are similar to those in a novel. The physical space of the theatre is divided into the stage and the audience space. Time may be external or internal.
Main Genres
- Tragedy: Presents a terrible conflict between the characters and leads them to a final tragedy. Usually, it ends with death. It produces a cathartic effect on the viewer.
- Comedy: Develops a kind, funny conflict, often involving humble characters. It has a happy ending.
- Drama: An intermediate category, also called tragicomedy. It presents a conflict of some gravity and involves all sorts of characters.