-coup in Soviet Union
-what makes real life situations dramatic?

-Respected position
-are plays works of art?
-Greek
    -Aeschylus -contests for playwriting
-Renaissance-
            -commercialization occurred
            -no copyright or control over them
            -fast turn around time
            -publishing plays was considered silly
            -popular appeal was important
            -size of audience was more important than critics opinions
            -Ben Jonson
            -Shakespeare
                    -now more popular than in his time
                    -widespread publications
            -Beaumarchais
            -copyright 5 years after death
            -royalties
            -translations and adaptations
            -today
                -high status
                -awards are given
                -screenplays
                -lucrative not respected

Dramatic Forebears
        -Thepis
        -Terence
        -women
                -Hroswitha
                -Aphra Behn
                -18th-19th century women often wrote for the stage -Hannah Crowley -Belle Strategem
                -wasn't proper to write plays

Artists of Their Times
            -all arts relate to the society they are written in
            -write about their culture
            -styles of their society
Style-fit plays the types of theatres available
            -available actors must be considered
            -imaginative signature of the times
            -Greeks
                    -noble characters and large human struggle
            -Romans- variety of tastes
            -Medieval-heaven vs hell
            -Renaissance-optimism of their times
                    -all aspects of life were represented
            -18th century-neoclassicism
            -Romanticism-more flexibility and freedom
            -19th century- science and analysis
                       -realism and naturalism
                      -victims of environment and heredity
                      -new ideas of reality
                      -new styles of experimentation
                      -expressionism- non-realistic style
                                -inside of the mind
                                -outward expression of internal feelings
                                -distortions of time and ideas
                                -depicted characters meeting even if it couldn't have happened
                                -past and present were both represented
                      -existentialism-being and nothingness
                                -world void of meaning
                                -humans alienated from their environment
            -today
                    -playwrights more inclusive and multicultural
 
 

Developmental Ensembles
            -document improvisations and movement
            -avant garde
            -break down typical theatre conventions
            -focus on input from everyone
            -Nicholas Nickleby
            -playwrights are still used
            -playwrights own personal style, motivation and imagination

Personal turmoil that motivates dramatists.
An Uncertain Romance
            -to work out their own romances with the universe
            -inner conflicts that remain unresolved sources of personal turmoil
            -need to purge an agitating idea
            -their experiences shape the way plays are presented
            -only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself
            -1st plays are usually "kill your parents" plays
                -therapeutic
                -conflicts over religion
           -the successful challenge of living in a male dominated society
            -Sophocles, Shakespeare and Ibsen
            -Christopher Durang
            -David Mamet
            -Wendy Wasserstein
            -Suzan-Lori Parks
            -Samuel Beckett
            -serious ideas or purposes don't always result in a serious play
            -some have written plays defined and redefined the meaning of tragedy
            -agitating idea is the motivation for playwriting

Playwright's Sources
    Write what you know
            -home and local environs
            -some are even autobiographical
                    -Neil Simon
                    -Anton Chekhov
    When what you know is not enough they turn to other sources
            -Tina Howe
            -Mastrosimone
    Real Life Events and Personalities as Sources
            -have been important sources of inspiration
            -plays that have intense personal perspectives
            -court trials
            -select and arrange
            -real life personalities
            -plays of this type can be controversial
            -arguments have occurred over validity of portrayals
            -docudrama
            -selectivity and arrangements of events are still subjective Dramatizing Novels
            -Greeks-Homer
            -Middle Ages-Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
            -Renaissance-Shakespeare used Italian romances
            -19th century-Dicken's Novels
                      -it can be difficult
                      -must be compressed to confines of stage space and time -Nicholas Nickleby
                    -Les Miserables
                    -plot summaries are printed in the program
                    -some dramatized novels are among the all time theatrical financial disasters but many have been hits
    Stage Plays as Sources for Stage Plays
            -the most easily available and most frequently used sources
            -translations, adaptations, sequels and prequels
            -don't have to worry about compressing and expanding
            -the options are many
    High Tech Sources
            -computer programs
            -Idea Fisher, Masterplot, Plots Unlimited
            -it limits the dramatic imagination
    The Theatre as a Source
            -the theatre itself has been the topic of many plays
            -the theatrical imagination is a crucial component of the dramatic imagination
            -Greeks
            -Shakespeare
            -Moliere-
            -Ibsen
            -Brecht
            -Harold Pinter
            -August Wilson
            -Tony Kushner
            -today many playwrights are also actors

Dramatic Limitations and Possibilities
            -Stein
            -every art has its conventions and limitations
            -drama is less restricted

• Limited Time
• One Acts
-write these plays as an exercise leading to full length plays
-many annual one act play festivals
-serial structure

• Full Length Plays
• Limited Space
• more bedrooms than battlefields
• Costs
• The Rules of the Live Audience
-playwrights imagine the audiences hearing and seeing the play
-the rule of three Jacinto Benavente -Shakespeare

Dramatic Structure: the Elements of Drama
Aristotle's elements

1. Plot

I. Intrigue plots-climactic
-unified by a story
-action compresses
-few scenes
-few locations
-few characters
-one or two story lines
-climax happens late in the play
Exposition
Discovery
Foreshadowing
Stasis
Inciting incident (point of attack) Complications
Obstacles
Reversal
Crisis
Climax-highest point of action in the play
Crucible
Obligatory scenes
Resolution
Deus ex machina (god from the machine)
II. Episodic plots-unifying idea, character or image
-action expands rather than compresses
-many scenes
-many locations
-many characters
-much alternation juxtaposition occurs
-less exposition, climax happens early in the play
-flashbacks, flash forward
-many multiple plots, subplots, simultaneous plots, serial plots
III. Serial
IV. Musical Theatre
V. Tableaux
VI. Ritual/Pattern
VII. Avant Garde
VIII. Random
-Multiple Plots, Subplots, Simultaneous Plots
2. Character-observations of people

-biological traits
-physical traits
-professional traits
-psychological traits
-Decisions
Minor Characters
-have less complex character traits Supernumeraries
Supporting characters
Antagonist
Protagonist
Exceptional (modern tragedy)
Extraordinary characters (traditional tragedy)
Prototypical
Stereotyping
Stock characters-commedia dell arte
-sit coms
Characters with Dominant Traits
Characters are a reflection of us-if they are too odd we won't understand or like them.
3. Thought

-main characters are the motivating forces of the play
-soliloquies
-asides
-confidantes
-subtext
4. Diction

-dramatic language-universally understood by theatregoers
-many words made their first appearance in Shakespeare plays
-rhythm
-verse or prose
-monologues
- dialogue
-August Wilson-begins working with diction
5. Melody-total sound of the play
6. Spectacle-totality of the visual elements of the play