2. • PLAY: a plan or “blueprint” for the total
theatrical production.
Typically Contains:
• DIALOGUE: words spoken by the
characters.
• STAGE DIRECTIONS: written descriptions
of physical or emotional action or
physical appearance.

4. An early examination of dramatic
literature in which Aristotle identifies
the six elements of a play:
• PLOT
• CHARACTER
• THOUGHT
• LANGUAGE
• MUSIC
• SPECTACLE

5. • These six elements work together to
create a special world on the stage.
• Their relative significance varies
considerably from play to play.

6. 1. PLOT
• The organization of the action of a
play.
• The arrangement of the incidents
we see onstage.
• An organizing principle that gives a
play its unity (a beginning, middle,
and an end).
• Also known as “STRUCTURE.”

7. • LINEAR PLOT structure: the events of
the drama progress forward and
sequentially in TIME (chronologically).
• CAUSAL (“cause-to-effect”) PLOT
structure: one event leads to (results in)
the next; a sequence of events (domino
effect).
• Plays can follow BOTH a linear and a
causal structure at the same time.

8. PLOT (continued)
CONFLICT:
• Stands at the heart of causal structure.
• Generally, two or more characters want the
same thing or want different things to
happen.
• They work against each other until an
outcome is decided.
• The conflict between characters can also
represent or embody a larger issue (good
and evil, right and wrong, etc.)

9. • Man vs. Man
• Man vs. Nature
• Man vs. Himself
• Man vs. Society

10. EXPOSITION
• Crucial background information that is
needed for the audience to understand
the play.
• A means whereby the playwright sets up
the dramatic situation for the audience.
• A great deal of information is typically
conveyed to the audience in the first few
scenes of a play (character, setting, past
events), so that the audience can follow
the play’s progression.
• Additional exposition may be introduced
throughout the play.

11. POINT OF ATTACK
• The point in the story at which the
playwright chooses to start dramatizing
the action.
• Where does the action of the story
begin?
• The one moment in the story when the
playwright chooses to begin actually
showing (not just telling about) the
progress of events.

12. POINT OF ATTACK
• A play with an EARLY point of attack is
usually EPISODIC. Selected dramatized
moments in the play are separated by
breaks in the action.
• A play with a LATE point of attack
portrays action that takes place after
most of the events in the story have
already happened; we see only the
conclusion of these events (the last few
hours, for example).

13. THE INCITING INCIDENT
• At the beginning of the play, we learn
about the uneasy balance of forces that
exists (the potential for conflict).
• The inciting incident is an event that
destroys the uneasy balance and sets
off the major conflict of forces.

14. RISING ACTION
• Units of action that are dramatized in a
play that build in emotional intensity.
• The major forces in conflict gather
information, lay plans, pursue their own
objectives and encounter obstacles.
• The stakes become higher for the
characters.
• Audience empathy becomes stronger
and we become increasingly involved in
the action.

15. CLIMAX
• The emotional high point of the action.
• The critical stage when the outcome of
the conflict is finally decided.
• Everything in the play leads up to this
moment on stage.
• The most important scene in a play.
• Often followed by FALLING ACTION
(a.k.a. “resolution” or “dénouement”) :
the events from the climax to the end of
the play. Loose ends are tied up,
balance is restored.

16. Other features of PLOT:
• SUBPLOTS: secondary lines of action in
which different conflicts are developed;
may be intertwined with the major line
of action or may develop independently.
• DISCOVERY: when something important
is found, revealed, or realized during
the action of a play (concrete or
abstract).
• REVERSAL: When what seems like a
logical line of action veers around
suddenly to its opposite.

18. The “WELL-MADE” PLAY:
• The use of causal structure in a play, which
was perfected by European playwrights of
the 19th century.
• A meticulous and involved plot takes
precedent over all other elements.
• Features:
-an intricate pattern of cause and effect.
-carefully controlled suspense.
-misunderstandings and reversals.
-an emotionally satisfying climax.
-rapidly falling action.

19. Variations on Linear and Causal Plot
Structure
A way of challenging audience
expectations and the familiar comfort
zone.
• CLIFF HANGER: stops at the climax; the
outcome of the conflict is not shown.
• FLASHBACK: a variation on linear
structure; occasional scenes may
dramatize events that occur before the
point of attack.

20. “DEUS EX MACHINA”

21. • “Mechane”: a popular device used in both
comedies and tragedies.
• Used in many Greek tragedies to effect a
dynamic conclusion to the conflict.
• A god or goddess flies in near the end to
create a cosmic discovery or a reversal of
fortune and resolves the conflict.
• Became a cliché in ancient Greek tragedy.

22. “DEUS EX MACHINA”
• Today: stands for any contrived
conclusion to a play or any other form
of literature that tells stories.
• Hallmarks are: manipulated climaxes,
including reversals and discoveries.
• Often an act of desperation by the
playwright to solve an impossible
dilemma.

23. Structure in the 20th and 21st
Centuries
• Many plays have attempted to defy, disrupt,
or free dramatic structure from its traditional
qualities.
• Traditional rules have been broken;
boundaries of structure have been pushed to
the limit; much experimentation.
• Audience expectations are often
undermined or shattered.
• Events may be presented in a seemingly
illogical progression.
• Time may be disregarded, blended, “jumbled”
or ANACHRONISTIC.

24. POSTSTRUCTURALISM
• Dramatic works created after World War
II (1939-1945) that break down
traditional causal structure.
• The events portrayed may be
ambivalent or contradictory.
• May have no logical “story.”
• May take of form of METATHEATRE or be
self-conscious in its presentation of
theatre-as-theatre.

25. • Should support the plot.
• Refers to the persons who are created to
perform the action of the play.
• The element of drama that most people
find the easiest to understand, since we
constantly observe and interpret human
behavior in everyday life.
• The PROTAGONIST is the central character
of the play.

26. • What characters say about themselves.
• What others say about them.
• What the characters do.
Action, or what a character actually DOES
is the most important way of defining
character.

27. • Biological traits.
• Physical traits.
• Psychological and emotional traits.
• Social traits.
• Ethical traits.

28. • The species of the character (human,
animal, gods, fairies, etc.)
• Sex (male or female): can have a
profound effect on their behavior.
• Race: can determine social position or
behavior.

29. • Stature.
• Weight.
• Hair and Eye Color.
• Facial hair.
• Disabilities or other distinguishing
physical characteristics.

30. • The character’s basic internal makeup.
• Has a great impact on the action that
takes place on stage.
• Angry, vengeful, clever, ruthless,
sensitive, withdrawn, happy, foolish,
intelligent, thoughtful, sad, insecure,
fearful, helpful, angry, violent, selfish,
competitive, etc.
• Provides the motivation for the action
in the play and in how characters relate
to others around them.

31. • May include a character’s job or
profession.
• Social or economic status.
• Religious beliefs and affiliation.
• Political dogma and affiliation.
• Educational background.

32. • The moral standards and beliefs held by
a character.
• The ethical or moral choices a character
makes and how s/he faces moral
dilemmas are often a defining moment
for a protagonist.
• Also often gives clues to the audience
concerning a character’s integrity.

33. • The ideas or “themes” contained in and
communicated by a play.
• What messages about the nature of life or
the “universal human condition” are
contained in it?
• What makes the ideas in the play “timeless”
or “universal”?
• How does the play pertain to us in the “here
and now,” and what can we take away from
it?
• How does the play spur our own thought
processes and understanding?

34. • Refers to a playwright’s choice of words
in a play.
• Aristotle: “the expression of the meaning
in words” (a.k.a. “diction”).
• Language written for the stage must be
capable of being spoken aloud.
• Typically consists of a heightened version
of human speech.
• May be written in poetry (VERSE) or prose
(similar to everyday speech).

35. • Was for many centuries the standard
language of the theatre.
• Dialogue written in verse may have a
rhythm, meter, or rhyme scheme.
• Prose was considered inartistic and
unworthy of performance onstage.
• By the late 18th-early 19th centuries,
prose had become the theatrical
standard for drama.

37. • Popular in drama from the 17th-18th
centuries:
May you be true to all you now profess,
And so deserve unending happiness.
Meanwhile, betrayed and wronged in
everything,
I’ll flee this bitter world where vice is king,
And seek some spot unpeopled and apart
Where I’ll be free to have an honest heart.
(Moliere, The Misanthrope)

38. • Often enriches dramatic dialogue.
• METAPHOR: a comparison between two
unlike objects.
But, soft! what light through yonder window
breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

39. • SIMILE: A comparison between two unlike
things using “like” or “as.”
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

40. • HYPERBOLE: exaggeration, overstatement.
Juliet: What a’ clock to-morrow
Shall I send to thee?
Romeo: By the hour of nine.
Juliet: I will not fail, ‘tis twenty year till
then.

41. • In most plays, dialogue moves back and
forth between characters.
• MONOLOGUE: When one character speaks
for an extended period of time without
interruption.
• SOLILOQUY: If the character is also alone
onstage or if the other characters are not
supposed to hear the words s/he is
speaking.
• ASIDE: A brief remark by a character
meant to be heard by the audience but not
the other characters onstage.

42. • Can communicate a great deal about
character, including his or her intelligence
and emotional state.
• For example: halting dialogue, disconnected
phrases or repeated words with lots of
pauses can suggest the character is having
a difficult time making a decision.
• Pauses on stage can be just as important as
words, since they can reflect an inner
struggle.

43. • Important to the theatre of most cultures.
• For Aristotle: Greek theatre was
chanted/sung, and accompanied by
instrumental or choral music.
• Today: theatre is highly oriented toward
spoken language instead (except for
musicals).
• Music: a powerful tool for increasing
audience identification (suspense,
excitement, sadness, happiness) or to
express heightened emotion.

44. • Can be atmospheric as well (a
phonograph record playing onstage, a
radio, offstage music coming from a
nearby source, etc.)
• Also can include sound other than
traditional instrumental music, a.k.a.
offstage sound effects: gunshots, a
raging fire, sirens, a train, doors
slamming, etc.

45. • The visual (sensory) elements in a play
that impact the eye:
-scenery
-costumes
-props
-lighting
-actor physicality/movement
(swordfights, costumes, dancing).