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Drama

    Drama Editor's Picks

    • What is a Drama?

      Drama comes from the Greek word for "action." In theater, drama is presented by actors to an audience. Many times, dramas use dance and music to convey their message. For example, opera uses song throughout the entire performance, and musicals include dialogue and songs. Most drama or theater today comes from classical Greece and... more »

    • Introduction to Drama

      Drama began in ancient Greece. The word "drama" has its roots in Greek words meaning "to act" and "to do." A play is a collaborative process, and the study of drama involves the study of acting, directing, writing, music and art. History, psychology, and even religion also have a part in understanding drama. more »

    • How to Start a Drama Ministry

      Drama is becoming more popular to use in the church as it is an effectual visual tool to communicate God’s message. Beginning a drama ministry to use in your church is a wonderful way to serve, and it’s fun! Acting is something everyone can do to some degree. Practicing skills for skits and plays allows a person to grow in their... more »

    • How to Write a Drama for a Church Service

      Drama is becoming more and more popular these days for it is a visual teaching tool that is very effective in sharing a message. Getting scripts that fit your congregation, actors available, ages of actors, message topic, etc. can be difficult at times. Sometimes writing your own drama is necessary. This is a fun and creative way to... more »

    • How to Start a Drama Club at School

      Whether your school has its own drama department and puts on plays throughout the year, there's no reason you can't start your own club for like-minded friends who enjoy theater as much as you do. It's a great way to improve your communication skills, study the works of great playwrights from different time periods and maybe even try... more »

    Drama Quick Guides

    Drama Articles

    • How to Teach Drama

      Drama class allows students to release inhibitions and become someone else for a brief period, which can help them gain insight into human... more »

    • How to Get Into Drama Club

      Extracurricular activities can be intimidating, but when you see one you like, you should go for it. The debate club may not be your speed and the... more »

    • How to Write a Drama Novel

      Any writer attempting his first dramatic novel is facing a large challenge. It's best to go into your novel unarmed --- writing as directly from... more »

    • How to Produce Your Own Radio Drama

      In the beginning radio stations broadcast hundreds of scripted shows across the airwaves. Although it is rare to hear radio dramas broadcast over... more »

    • How to Teach Drama in Schools

      Teaching drama in schools is a tricky thing to do. Although it is important for the students to get a feel for all types of drama and have their... more »

    Wikipedia

    Drama

    Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance."elam98">Elam (1980, 98). The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: , dráma), which is derived from "to do" (Classical Greek: , dráō). The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.Pfister (1977, 11). The early modern tragedy Hamlet (1601) by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus the King (c. 429 BCE) by Sophocles are among the supreme masterpieces of the art of drama.Fergusson (1949, 2-3).

    The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses, Thalia and Melpomene. Thalia was the Muse of comedy (the laughing face), while Melpomene was the Muse of tragedy (the weeping face). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotles Poetics (c. 335 BCE)—the earliest work of dramatic theory.Francis Fergusson writes that "a drama, as distinguished from a lyric, is not primarily a composition in the verbal medium; the words result, as one might put it, from the underlying structure of incident and character. As Aristotle remarks, the poet, or "maker" should be the maker of plots rather than of verses; since he is a poet because he imiates, and what he imitates are actions" (1949, 8).

    The use of "drama" in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the 19th century. Drama in this sense refers to a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy--for example, Zolas Thérèse Raquin (1873) or Chekhovs Ivanov (1887). It is this narrow sense that the film and television industry and film studies ado read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama

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