Transcript Dramatic Genres

What every good techie needs to know
Introduction
 Those who create theatre adopt different points of
view toward events and toward life in general; all of us
do. Depending on our perspective, we can see the
same subjects as funny or sad, take it seriously or
laugh at it, make it an object of pity or ridicule.
Intro Continued
 In theatre, this question of viewpoint---looking at
people or events from a particular perspective--becomes crucial. Viewpoint is not taken for
granted, as it is in everyday life; rather, it is a
conscious act on the part of whoever creates the
text. To take for example, in most cases death is
considered a somber matter; but in his play
Arsenic and Old Lace, the dramatist Joseph
Kesserling makes it clear that we are to regard
death as comic.
What Is Genre?
 In theatre, viewpoint is incorporated in what is known
as genre- a French word meaning category or type.
We should note that often a play does not fit nearly
into a single category. Those who create a text to do
not write categories or types of plays; write individual,
unique works.
What is Genre? Con’t
 The oldest and best known genres in
theatre are tragedy and comedy. The
Greeks, who first made it clear
distinction between the two
approaches, created a mask for a
tragedy and a mask for comedy, and
these masks have become a symbol for
theatre.
 Tragedy is serious drama involving important
personages caught in calamitous circumstances; it
evokes in the audience fear and apprehension for the
characters who bare suffering, and admiration for the
courage they display
 Tragedy probes very basic questions about
human existence. Why are people sometimes
extremely cruel? Why is the world so unjust? Why
are men and women called on to endure suffering?
What are the limits of human suffering and
endurance? In the midst of cruelty and despair,
what are the possibilities of human achievement?
To what heights of courage, strength, generosity,
and integrity can human beings rise?
 When we study theater history, we recognize that
theatre, like any art form, does not occur in a vacuum.
It is created by artists who live in a given culture at a
given time. They are shaped by their culture, even
though they may question it or rebel against it.
 Periods of western civilization were characterized by a point of
view receptive to tragedy. The outlook of these societies
created what might be called the conditions or climate for
tragedy.
 In general, there seem to be two conditions—which at first appear
mutually contradictory but are actually two sides of the same
coin.
 One side of this tragic coin is the idea that human beings are
capable of extraordinary accomplishments, the other is the idea
that the world is potentially cruel and unjust.
 Tragedy can be divided into two basic kinds: traditional and
modern.
 Tragic heroes and heroines. Generally, the hero or heroines of a
traditional tragedy is an extraordinary person: a king, a queen, a
general, a member of the nobility—in other words, a person of
stature.
 Because these heroes and heroines are important, they stand
not only as individuals but as a symbols of an entire culture or
society.
 Also, the central figure of a traditional tragedy is caught in a set
of tragic circumstances.
 In traditional tragedy, the universe seems to trap the hero or
heroine in a fateful web.
Tragic Irretrievability
 The tragic situation becomes irretrievable: there is no
turning back, no way out.
 Tragic heroes and heroines suffer a cumulative series
of reversals.
 The figures of traditional tragedy find themselves in
situations from which there is no honorable avenue of
escape; they must go forward to meet their tragic
fate .
 The language of traditional tragedy is verse.
 Because it deals with lofty and profound ideas,
tragedy soars to the heights and descends to the
depths of the human experience; and many people
feel that such thoughts and emotions can be best
expressed in poetry.
 When the elements of traditional tragedy are combined, they
appear to produce two contradictory reactions simultaneously.
 One reaction is pessimistic; the heroes or heroines are; damned
if they do and dammed if they don’t and the world is cruel,
uncompromising place.
 Traditional tragic playwrights, although telling us that the world
is chaos , at the same time strike a note of affirmation by the
very act of creating such carefully shaped and brilliant works of
art .
 Tragedies of the modern period- that is, beginning in
the last 19th century-do not have queens or kings as
central figures, and they are written in prose rather
than poetry.
 For these reasons, as well as more philosophical
reasons, there are those who argue that modern
tragedies are not true tragedies.
 On the other side, those who argue in favor of
modern tragedy point out those modern dramatists
probe the same depths and ask the same questions as
their predecessors:
 Why do men and women suffer?
 Why is there violence and injustice in the world?
 And perhaps most fundamentals of all: What is the
meaning of life?
 Comedy is humorous drama whose characters,
actions, and events are intended to provoke
amusement and laughter.
 People who create comedy are not necessarily
frivolous or unconcerned with important matters;
they may be extremely serious in their own way. –
 They saw the world differently from someone whose
outlook is somber; they made their points with a
smile, and arched eyebrow, a deep laugh.
 As they observed human follies and excesses , they
developed a keen sense of the ridiculous , showing us
things that make us laugh .
 Laughter is one of the most elusive of human
reactions ;no one – has provided a fully satisfactory
explanation of why we laugh .
 Other creatures express pain and sorrow –emotions
we associate with tragedies – but apparently only
human beings laugh.
 It should also be noted that there are many kinds of
laughter, ranging all the way from mild amusement at
a witty saying or a humorous situation to a belly laugh
at wild physical comedy, to cruel derisive laughter at
someone who is different.
 One feature of most comedy is temporary suspension
of the natural laws of probability and logic.
 Actions in a comic play do not have the same
consequences as actions in real life.
 In comedy , when a haughty man walking down a
street steps on a child’s skateboard and goes
sprawling on the sidewalk , we do not fear for his
safety or wonder if he has been hurt .
 In comedy, the focus is on the man’s being tripped up
and getting his comeuppance.
 We have in some sense suspended our belief in
injury.
Contrast
between
Individuals
&
The
Social Order
 Comedy develops when two elements – a play – cut
against each other like the blades of a pair of scissors.
 In most instances, comic writers accept the notion of
a clear social and moral order in their society; it is not
the social order that is at fault when something goes
wrong but the defiance of that order by individuals.
 Suspension of natural law makes possible the
development of a comic premise.
 A comic premise is an idea or concept that turns the
accepted notion of things upside down. This idea
becomes the basis of a play.
 The comic premise –along with the suspension of
natural laws –leads to exaggeration and incongruity
in several areas of comedy: verbal humor,
characterization, and comic situation.
Forms
of
Comedy
 Depending on the dramatist’s intent and comic
techniques , comedy takes various forms , including
farce , burlesque , satire , domestic comedy, comedy
of manners , and comedy of ideas
Farce
 Farce thrives on all forms of exaggeration –broad
physical humor, plot complications, stereotyped
characters.
 It has no intellectual pretensions but aims simply at
entertainment and laughter.
 Complications and its humor usually results from
ridiculous situations as well as pratfalls and horseplay.
Burlesque
 . Burlesque also relies on the knockabout physical
humor, gross exaggerations and occasional vulgarity.
(The Austin Powers and Scary Movie films are
contemporary examples.)
Satire
 Satire uses wit – especially sophisticated language –
irony, and exaggeration to expose or attack evil and
foolishness.
 Satire can attack one specific figure, or it can be more
inclusive.
Domestic comedy
 Domestic Comedy usually deals with family situations
and is found most frequently today in television
situation comedies –sitcoms- that feature member of
a family or neighborhood friends caught up in a series
of complicated but amusing situations.
Comedy of Manners
 Concerned with pointing up the foibles and
peculiarities of the upper class, comedy of manners
uses verbal wit to depict the charm of its character
and expose their social pretensions.
 Rather than relying on horseplay, it stresses witty
phrases and clever barbs.
Heroic Drama
 The term Heroic Drama refers to a serious drama that
has heroic or noble characters and certain other traits
of classic tragedy –such as dialogue in verse, elevated
language, or extreme situations – but differs from
tragedy in important respects.
Heroic Drama
con’t
 One way is having a happy ending; another is in
assuming a basically optimistic worldview, even when
the ending is sad.
 If heroic drama has a happy ending, the chief
characters go through many trials and tribulations but
finally emerge victorious.
Melodrama
 The term melodrama means “song drama” or “music
drama.” It usually refers to a theatrical form made of
popular by the French at the end of the 18th century
and the beginning of the 19th century.
 Melodrama had easily recognizable stock characters:
the threatened young woman, the sidekick (a comic
foil to the hero), and the calculating villain.
Melodrama
Con’t
 The highly moral tone of a traditional melodrama
meant that the conflict between good and evil was
clearly and firmly established, and virtue was always
victorious.
 Melodrama on television, such as adventure stories,
detective, and cop shows, have a climax –a car crash,
a sudden confrontation, a discovery or important
evidence – just before each commercial break.