Explore BrainMass

Explore BrainMass

    Drama

    Drama is a form of acting which is performed in theatres by actors for an audience. In comparison to acting which is done in films, drama is considered "live acting".¹

    For thousands of years, drama has been an integral part of human and societal culture. In fact, early pieces of drama date back to Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations since theatre and the arts were important expressive mediums for these cultures.¹ Furthermore, other anthropological data indicates that drama and religious traditions may have been connected in early societies. Â¹

    For example, Peisistratus, the ruler of Athens from 561-527 BC, created new policies during his reign to strengthen the economy of Athens, with one of his focuses being on the arts. In 534 BC he established the greater and lesser Dionysus, two drama festivals, and the Panathenaic festival.¹ The Panathenaic festival took place every four years and started after Pisistratus commissioned Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.¹

    In addition to the acting component of drama, this art form also includes many behind the scenes and technical jobs. For example, a costume designer, a sound technician, a set designer and a director, fulfill some of the other required tasks needed for theatre performances.¹ All of these tasks, whether they are directly related to the set, the script or preparing the actors, are essential elements which ensure that a performance will run smoothly.¹

    Drama is a performance based art form which has been enjoyed by humanity for thousands of years. Nowadays, drama is sometimes separated into different genres such as the opera, traditional folk tales and fables, and improvisation.¹ Although, different time periods and cultures have practiced drama for various purposes, for instance to pray to a certain God, and following unique performance styles, one commonality of drama is that it is inextricably linked to the overall culture of humanity. Thus, it is a critical art form which deserves appreciation.¹

     

     

    Image source:

    1. Velocity Goals

    Reference:

    1. Slideshare. History of Drama. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from http://www.slideshare.net/ricadeguzman/history-of-drama

    © BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com March 29, 2024, 4:41 am ad1c9bdddf

    BrainMass Solutions Available for Instant Download

    The Children's Hour and McCarthy Hearings parallels

    What are the McCarthy hearings? In reference to the play "The Children's Hour" by Lillian Hellman, what was Hellman's relationship with the McCarthy Hearings? What was the outrage in Hollywood in relation to the hearings? How does the below quote relate to the hearings and the play? "To hurt innocent people whom I knew

    Deviation from Traditional Sequence

    The traditional sequence for plot development is exposition, complication, and dénouement. Why might a writer or director choose to deviate from this traditional sequence? What examples support your reasoning?

    Accessibility in the game industry

    There are several unique physical interfaces such as foot pads, maracas, a microphone, and a fishing pole , that are designed to enhance the game playing experience. Disregarding the obvious (such as guns for first-person shooters0, recommend a unique physical interface that could be used as an alternative physical device for on

    Comparisions between Hamlet and Shining City

    I was given the play Shining city to write an essay on and compare it to Hamlet. I can only come up with the fact that both have ghosts in them that are trying to tell them something..I need a bit more to make a lengthy enough essay..plot, theme, setting anything??

    Judge Brack's Irony and Character

    At the end of the play, Judge Brack exclaims, "But good God! People don't do such things!" Describe the irony of his response and other moments in which this same bourgeois mandate is echoed throughout the play.

    Hedda Gabler

    Identify what social/domestic problem Ibsen is addressing and how the other characters, George Tesman, Thea Elvsted, Judge Brack, Eilert Lovborg, and even Berta and Miss Juliana Tesman complicit in this "problem" and Hedda's subsequent suicide?

    Hamlet help

    When the ghost appears to Hamlet in act I scene V, does this encounter alter or merely affirm Hamlet's position? I have read this act several times and still not sure if isn't really the ghost of his father?

    Hamlet's and Ophelia's Madness

    The notion of "madness" is commonly applied to both Hamlet and Ophelia. Both consider-and one ultimately chooses-suicide. I need to select either character and affirm or negate a case for his or her sanity in full view of his or her choices within the play.

    Hamlet's First Soliloquy of Act I

    Examine the line "O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!" What can you determine about Hamlet's thought process? What does this part of his soliloquy lead the reader to conclude about his character?

    Vocal Qualities

    This job offers ideas for a role play where one person becomes the speaker, who tells the others a 2-minute story in a normal tone of voice. With their eyes closed, the others listen for vocal qualities, noting their reactions to the speaker's volume, speech rate, and regional or ethnic accent. Rotate roles and have each person

    Politics and art merged in the work of Augusto Boal, the Theatre of the Oppressed, Forum Theatre and the work of the Centre for Theatre of Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro when Boal was an elected municipal legislator in the early 1990s.

    What are some of the ways in which the Brazilian-born theatre director, theorist and politician Augusto Boal and his seminal work in "Theatre of the Oppressed" influenced the ways that we practice and conceptualise theatre and drama today? How can theatre and politics combine to become an effective force in society?

    Romantic Poetry Evaluations

    One of Shakespeare's sonnets is explored in terms of themes and the patterns which make these works so well loved. It also reacts to Christopher Smart's poem, "Jubilate Agno," and talks about the radical structure of the poem.

    Phaedra Questions are discussed.

    Various questions about the play are explored: 1. Does this play display verisimilitude by displaying each of its three components (reality, morality, and universality)? 2. Is this play "regular"? Meaning, does it have the proper characteristics for its genre and avoid mixing genre's. 3. Does this play follow the rule o

    Examining the Play "Topdog/Underdog"

    This posting questions, "Is Topdog/Underdog a tragedy according to Aristotle's and Miller's criteria? Is it a tragedy according to your criteria?"

    Drama and Homosexuality

    If M. Butterfly, Cloud Nine, and Angels in America are all examples of Queer Theater, what can you identify as some of the defining characteristics of the genre? In other words, what do they have in common?

    Sex/Gender Theory is Applied in Terms of Today's Media

    Passages below are described in terms of how another play, film, or television show illustrates or explores the theory below: 1. The notion of "obligatory heterosexuality" 2. Child rearing as gender training 3. Vision of a world that acknowledges a plurality of sexual desires

    Glossary of Dramatic Terms

    This four-page glossary of dramatic terms is useful both for the novice student of literature or drama. Below are sample entries from the glossary: Antagonist A character or force against which another character struggles. Creon is Antigone's antagonist in Sophocles' play Antigone; Teiresias is the antagonist of Oedipus in

    How does feminist theatre differ from conventional drama?

    In what ways does feminist theatre differ from the norm, or specifically from conventional or patriarchal theatre, and why has it opted for these variations? 1) What usually characterises conventional theatre forms? 2) What characterises feminist theatre? 3) What is the motivation behind these characteristics? 4) What exam

    Antigone Essay Help

    What effect does the clash between Antigone and Creon have on the wider community? What does this tell us about the importance of theatre at the time? I have defined "wider community" as the communtiy that watched the play. Help is given to create an essay.