WRITING DRAMA

Creative Writing 12
 DRAMA

All the world’s stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits
and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages, said
Shakespeare (in http://www.brainyquote.com). It is a metaphorical comparison of the world
we live in and of the stage.
If the world is a stage as already stated, the stage may also be considered as a
representation of the world. The reason is that drama, like any other forms of art, is an
imitation of life. A play describes one or several human experience/s. This is done by acting
out characters on the stage or in other venues of performances, with the intelligent use of the
other elements of drama.
 Definition and Features of Feature of Drama

Drama is broadly defined as any story told in dialogue form that is performed by actors
for an audience. In fact, the word drama comes from the Greek word dran, meaning to do or
act. Today, drama includes movies, TV shows, live stage productions, and radio plays.
Dramatic works can be poetry or prose, fiction or fact, a one-person show or a cast of
thousands (Applebee, et al., 2000).

Simply put, drama is literature that develops plot and character through dialogue and
action. In other words, drama is literature in play form. Dramas are meant to be performed by
actors and actresses who appear on a stage, before radio microphones, or in front of television
or movie cameras (Applebee, et at., 2000).
 Definition and Features of Feature of Drama

Unlike other forms of literature, such as fiction and poetry, a work of drama requires
collaboration of many people in order to come to life. In an important sense, a drama in
printed form is an incomplete work of art. It is a skeleton that must be flashed out by a
director, actors, set designers, and others who interpret the work and stage a performance.
When an audience becomes caught up in a drama and forgets to a degree the artificiality of a
play, the process is called the suspension of disbelief.

Most plays are divided into acts, with each act having an emotional peak, or climax, of
its own. The acts sometimes are divided into scenes; each scene is limited to single time and
place. Shakespeare’s plays usually have five acts. Contemporary full-length plays have two or
three acts. In play production classes in schools, the more popular type of plays that students
stage is the one-act play, comprising of, as the term implies, one act only, in one scene.
 Kinds of Drama

A. Comedy- is a dramatic that is light and often humorous in tone, usually ending happily
with a peaceful resolution of the main conflict. A comedy differs from farce by having a
more believable plot, more realistic characters and less boisterous behavior (Applebee, et
al., 2000).
B. Tragedy- is a broad term in literature, but especially in drama, in which actions and
events turn out disastrously for the main character or characters. In tragedy, the main
characters and sometimes other involved characters and innocent bystanders as well are
destroyed.
C. Melodrama- in between the two discussed kinds of drama. The difference only is how
melodramas’ ending turn out for the main characters. Usually, protagonists succeed at the
end of melodrama, while antagonists suffer the consequences of their antagonistic
behaviors.
 Elements of Drama

1.Character- in drama, as in fiction, the story revolves around main characters, with minor
characters contributing to the action. Round or dynamic characters change during the course
of the story, while flat or static characters remain the same. Audiences usually identify with
the central character or protagonist. Opposing the protagonist is the antagonist. The struggle
between them creates the conflict in the story. Characters known as foils have qualities that
offer a striking contrast to the traits of other characters (Applebee, et at., 2000).

2. Setting- refer to the time and place in which the events occur, including the environment
and atmosphere. It is established through the use of sets which comprise the props, aided by
lighting, sounds, and other effects.
 Elements of Drama

3. Stage Directions- are the playwright’s instructions for how the play should be staged and
performed. They often provide background information on characters, historical periods, and
actions occurring before the play begins. They also used to describe scenery, or setting- the
physical environment that suggests a specific time or place.
4. Plot- is a series of related events that usually begin with a problem or conflict that
intensifies, reaches a peak, and is eventually resolved. The elements of plot are a) exposition,
b) rising action, c) climax, d) falling action, and e) resolution.
5. Dialogue- dialogue or conversation between characters conveys everything in drama, from
plot details to character revelations.
a. Monologue- a long uninterrupted speech by one character that reveals his or her thoughts
and feelings.
b. Soliloquy- the character is alone and speaks his or her private thoughts aloud as if the
audience were not there.
c. Aside- a short speech delivered directly to the audience as if the other characters could
not hear it.
 Intertextuality

According to https://en.Wikipedia,org, intertextuality is the shaping of a text’s

meaning by another text. It is a literary device that creates an interrelationship between texts
and generates related understanding in separate works.
Examples of intertextuality are an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior
text, and a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.
Intertextual figures include:
1. Allusion
2. Quotation
3. Parody
4. Pastiche
 Intertextuality

Intertextuality and intertextual relationships can be separated into three types. These
variations depend on two key factors: the intention of the writer and the significance of the
reference:
1. Obligatory- is when the writer deliberately invokes a comparison or association of two
or more texts. For example, to understand the specific context and characterization within
Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, one must be familiar with
Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
2. Optional- is a possible to find a connection to multiple texts of a single phrase or no
connection at all. For example, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series shares many
similarities with J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
3. Accidental- is when readers often connect a text with another text, cultural practice or a
personal experience, without there being any tangible anchor point within the original
text (Fitzsimmons, 2013). For example, when a Hernan Melville’s Moby Dick, a reader
may use his or her prior experiences to make a connection between the size of the whale
and the size of the ship (https://en.Wikipedia.org).
 Tips in Writing Drama

1. Establish and maintain a clear voice.

2. Speak in vernacular.
3. Give stage directions.
4. Show. Don’t tell.
5. Leave them hanging.