INTRODUCTION
There may be so many thoughts going round your head when you hear the word drama. We sometimes hear the word drama in school, where drama groups exist, they play their role by entertaining people, making them forget their worries or sorrows.
Drama contributes a lot to life in general. It is a form of art, it deals with movement, dynamics and Rhythm. For us to know what a drama is, we need to look back into what Literature is.
WHAT IS LITERATURE
Literature simply refers to written documents that deals with human expressions to capture attention or pass out a vital information to the viewers or listeners.
There are different types of literature including; poetry, prose and DRAMA which also deals with written works that potrays messages.
WHAT IS DRAMA
Drama is a type of literature, it simply refers to the process whereby characters perform on stage in front of the audience to pass out a message or tell a story.
The characters know their roles and their dialogues because drama is being scripted (written in form of a script). The script serves as a guide for them to deliver the message in a story.
- It can be fiction or nonfiction
- The characters performing may use dialogue and sometimes no dialogue but will be supported with a cool background music to support the story.
- The story or message in the drama must be clear to the audience one way or the other.
The movies we watch today are good examples of drama although they are not performed on stage but recorded in a camera, even the stage play we watch live when we are being invited to an event or a theatre show.
BASIC TYPES OF DRAMA
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Tragic comedy
- Melodrama
- Docudrama
COMEDY
This is a type of drama that the characters portray stories or messages that will make the audience laugh out loud. It deals with funny conversations, funny acts and funny messages.
Comedy gives people joy making them forget about their life problems. It is subdivided into different groups such as;
- Tragic comedy
- Romantic comedy,
- Adventure comedy
- Action comedy and many others
TRAGEDY
This is a type of drama that begins or ends in tears. It deals with terrible and soulful events that usually affects the character and sometimes caused by the character in a story.
Any drama you watch that makes you feel sorry for the character or make you hate the character because of his actions, is referred to as Tragedy.
TRAGIC COMEDY
This is the type of drama that deals with sorrowful or terrible moments and at the same time funny moments filled with jokes in order to spice up the story.
It is the combination of both tragedy and comedy in a story and mostly ends with a happy moment full of laughter after all the tragic parts of the events in a story.
MELODRAMA
Melodrama is a combination of two words MELO and DRAMA Which means music and drama.
This is a type of drama where different things happens in the events of the story and to the characters in order raise the emotions of the viewers or audience. This drama is usually accompanied with a cool background music to support it and is done in theatre inform of a stage play and in films or movies.
Melodrama simply deals with sad and happy moments and deals with playing around it the audience feelings having concern for the characters play in the role.
It is in this type of drama that a situation gets worse and terrible making you think everything is over but will later be resolved, this situations often affects the players in the story making the audience feel the scenario.
DOCU – DRAMA
Docudrama is based on documentary.
This is a type of drama that deals with a factual historical record of an event that happened or or a true life story of someone. Docu – Drama basically deals with true life stories.
This usually includes interviews interviewing people that are involved or know something about the event or someone that is been spoken of in the story.
There are Short reviews and interviews of people as the story goes on, it is done to back up the story for the viewers to properly understand what happened, which includes;
- When it happened
- Where it happened
- Who it happened to, who is involved or who are involved
- Why it happened
- How it happened
The informations are usually clear easy comprehension.
ELEMENTS OF A DRAMA
There are many things that make up a drama but below is the list of the basic things a drama must have;
- Theme
- Plot
- Character
- Dialogue
- Setting
- Conflict
THEME
This simply refers to the idea that defines the story from the beginning to the end. It is what the drama revolves around, the message or meaning of the drama. Every drama has a theme.
PLOT
A plot is the sequential arrangement of the activities happening in a story from the beginning to the end. It serves as a foundation on which the story is built on.
There can never be a story without a plot because the plot is what makes everything about the story.
It describes the activities of the character, suche as;
- Where they are
- Where they go to
- Who they meet
- What they they do
The plot is simply the story
CHARACTER
This refers to the person involved in a story or people involved in the story. Is the people that played different roles in the story, they have different names and personalities or characteristics depending on their role.
Every drama has a character or characters.
DIALOGUE
This simply refers to the conversation of the characters, that is; what the characters say to each other.
It is the dialogue that makes the viewers or audience have a clear understanding on what is going on in the drama. The dialogue plays a vital role in bringing out the meaning of the drama.
SETTING
This refers to the place or location where story takes place and also the time it takes place.
They are different settings or arrangements of a drama depending on the nature of the drama. It can be a drama that depicts the story of what happened years ago or what is happening in the modern world.
This has to do with the locations of the drama, the costumes and the texture drama. It can be a 1988 setting, 2007 Setting or a 2022 setting.
CONFLICT
Conflict simply refers to the issues problems or challenge is the character or characters faces and the story. Such issues needs solutions which will be a trigger and motivation for the character to take action one way or the other.
Every story of a drama has a conflict, It has something that revolves around the character, something that affects the character either positively or negatively.
These are the basic things You need to know about a drama.