1. Varieties of Drama Part #2 Types of comedy, Styles of Drama
The Stage and the School Chapter 6
Dr. Neighbours
Varieties of Drama Part #2 Types of comedy, Styles of Drama

2. Ancient Greece classified Comedy in 3 ways
Old
Characterized by scathing, satirical attach on political events and figures
Middle
Focused more on social occurrences; very speech heavy
New
Sentimental view of life and tried to appeal to audiences’ intellect rather than base sense of humor

3. 2 TYPES OF COMEDY: Low High Focus on physical antics
Relies on physical humor to generate laughter
Characters and situations are usually outlandish
Play is usually exaggerated in style and performance
Example – “The Three Stooges”
High
Intellectual humor
Relies almost exclusively on witty dialogue, not physical action
Always a particular subject being ridiculed, just as with low comedy; difference is in how it is presented

4. TYPES OF LOW COMEDY

5. #1 - Farce
Based on improbable characters and implausible coincidence and events
Include practical jokes and clowning
Has physical indignities, such as ear pulling, shin kicking, pie throwing, etc.
Usually include chase scenes
Many plays have elements of farce
May have screen scenes
In a screen scene some of the actors hide from the other actors onstage, overhearing the onstage dialogue
May pop out to say something or talk to one another or make asides to the audience
Examples:
The three stooges
TV: Third Rock from the Sun, Arrested Development
Neil Simon’s Rumors
Some SNL skits:

6. #2 – Burlesque (European Burlesque)
Not to be confused with the Americanization of Burlesque
Like farce, relies on physical comedy and exaggeration
Usually less coherent than farces and are much more exaggerated
Mockery of a broad topic, such as style, societal view, or literary form
Audiences should have previous knowledge of the play’s subject or they will not understand all of the humor
Was a very European style of low comedy in the early 1900’s
When it came to the U.S., evolved into the bawdy variety show that is a partial root of modern musical theatre

7. #3 - Parody Mockery of a certain person or work
Incorporates a caricature:
Exaggerated feature(s) of the subject
Like burlesque, requires prior knowledge of the subject being ridiculed
Examples:
Scary Movie, Spaceballs, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

8. TYPES OF HIGH COMEDY

9. #1 – Comedy of Manners
Also called “drawing room comedy” because the main action of these plays take place in the drawing rooms (dens) of upper-class citizens
Mocks the pretenses of the upper class
Built on clever use of language
Includes puns, paradoxes, epigrams, and irony
Dialogue is clever, often attacking socially accepted standards of the day
Extremely popular during the Restoration Period (late 1600’s)
Examples:
Playwrights: Wycherly, Congreve, and Sheridan

10. #2 - Satire
Like parody or burlesque - Ridicules human folly, society views, or individuals
Unlike parody or burlesque – the satirist has a goal of changing something for the better by ridiculing it
It is intellectual in its attack
Uses mockery in the language rather than in physical antics
Examples:
Ben Jonson, Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, Tom Stoppard

11. Other Types of Drama
Many plays cannot be categorized as tragedy or comedy because they have elements of pathos and humor
This type is more abundant than a pure comedy or tragedy
Eight examples
The types have developed and changed throughout history, sometimes evolving into a style of writing in theatre and fiction and sometimes evolving from literature

12. #1 - Fantasy
Deals with unreal characters, dreams, and imaginary times and places
Usually occurs in a land of make-believe that is often inhabited by spirits who have supernatural powers, god from another world, witches, and flawless heroes
Not a new trend – used by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest
Examples:
The Wizard of Oz
Never-ending Story
King Arthur

13. #2 – Romantic Comedy Written with the style of romanticism
Features plots focusing on love affairs between flawless heroes and virtuous heroines
Are ideally suited for each other and are presented as too good to be true
Love affair has ups and downs, but always ends “happily every after”
Not a lot written today in the truest sense of definition
Examples:
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
Musical Brigadoon

14. #3 – Sentimental Comedy Although comedy, it lacks humor
Reaction to Restoration drama and immorality present in it
Marked by schmaltz:
Emotional and ideal presentation of material to an extreme
The hero and heroin are so virtuous they seem to be caricatures
Villain shows no redeeming characteristics
Characters are flat
Plot is contrived
Virtue always prevails
Not a long-lived type of drama

15. #4 - Melodrama Originated in 19th century England
Marked by use of stock characters and implausible plots
Present a trite storyline where a virtuous maiden is threatened by an evil villain but is rescued by a flawless hero
Every act concludes with a climax, leaving the audience hanging for a resolutions
“Cliffhangers”
Based on the structure of a tragedy, but focuses more on the actions of the characters rather than on their motivations
Lacks the sense of inevitability that is in tragedy
Presents a clear-cut view of morality,
No room to question the motivations of the villainous character, who must be motivated by evil intent,
or the virtuous character, who in turn must be motivated by the search for right
Good characters triumph
Examples: soap operas
The Soup pokes fun at The Bold and the Beautiful:

16. #5 – Play of Ideas Also called a problem play or a social drama
Deals with a social problem such as racism, classism, or sexism
May also deal with questions of wrong and right or philosophical arguments
Examples:
My Children! My Africa! – dealt with apartheid
Elements may be also incorporated into other plays:
Enemy of People - standing for something you believe in
The Caucasian Chalk Circle – attacks selfishness
Raisin in the Sun – racism, poverty

17. #6 – Psychological Drama
Serious
Penetrating and sometimes painful
Playwright battles the complexities of the human psyche and personal relationships
Examples:
O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night
Williams’ The Glass Menagerie
Norman’s ‘Night Mother
Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

18. #7 – The “Whodunit”
Suspense is within solving a crime or a courtroom drama
Heightens dramatic effects and hooks audiences
Examples:
Ten Little Indians
The Mousetrap
(Agatha Christie)

19. #8 - Allegory
Play that teaches moral concepts through characters who personify abstract qualities and concepts, such as truth, justice, love, death, and humanity
Example: medieval play Everyman

20. Special Forms of Drama
These defy most traditional conventions and definitions

21. #1 – Children’s Theatre
Drama written, designed, and performed for children

22. #2 – Puppet Theatre Long been a part of theatre throughout the world
Skilled puppeteers can generate a drama as intense and powerful as any found on the traditional stage or as whimsical and imaginative as “The Muppets” or “Sesame Street”

23. #3 - Monodrama Play written to be performed by a sing actor Examples:
Historical dramas/recreations
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
Before Breakfast

24. #4 – Performance Art Very modern – late 20th century and present
Form of monodrama that involves juxtaposing many different elements of theatre in a new way
Could included video, film, music, dance, etc. – very multi-media

25. STYLES OF DRAMA

26. STYLES “A Thought about HOW to do a play”
Style refers to the way in which a play is written, produced, and acted. Dramatists choose the style of language and action they feel best expresses their ideas
Directors and artists present plays in a style they feel suites the script
Classifying plays by style is sometimes difficult because of combinations of styles
Relies on theatrical conventions
Elements of theatrics that help to convey particular interpretations – i.e. visual elements

27. 3 major stylizations Representational Avant-garde Presentational
“fourth wall” theater
Play is performed as if audience were watching the action through an imaginary fourth wall
Common theatrical convention
Avant-garde
Applies to new and experimental styles of any art form
Once a style is accepted, it is no longer avant-garde
Presentational
Acknowledges that an audience is present
Characters may address the audience and some action may take place in the seating area
Example: Our Town

28. TWENTIETH CENTURY STYLES AND TRENDS
Although part of 20th century and modern era, some began hundreds of years before

29. Romanticism Realism Naturalism Focuses on emotions and imagination
Reaction to the strict neo-classicism that predominated French theatre in 17th century
Elaborate stage and featured ideal characters
Love is the main theme
Primary type is Romantic Comedy
Realism
20th century; presents life as it actually is—often unpleasant and unhappy
Example: Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House
Naturalism
Grew out of realism
Believes human beings have little self-determination but act in response to forces of nature and society that are beyond their control
Is sordid and shocking as it depicts life with no holds barred

30. Symbolism Expressionism
In theatre symbolism uses one element—a character, a prop, or a piece of scenery—to represent something else
19th century though - reaction against realism
Examples: Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard
Expressionism
Characters and sets are distorted, oversimplified, and symbolic rather than realistic
Message is often the useless of human hopes and dreams in the face of mechanistic forces
Primarily German

31. Epic Theatre Constructivism Developed by Bertolt Brecht
A journalistic, non emotional style
Uses signs, projections, films, and loudspeakers to present events in an episodic form
Reaction against emotionalism and naturalism
Examples: Brecht’s Mother Courage and The Threepenny Opera
Constructivism
Early 20th century; also known as Socialist Realism
Originated by playwright Meyerhold
In direct contrast to realism
Productions were not based on real life nor were staged on traditional picture-frame stages
Featured backgrounds of mechanical skeletons on various levels connected by arches, ramps, ladders, and platforms
Actors moved with precise symbolic movements designed to take place of spoken language

32. Theatre of the Absurd Mid-20th century (1950-1960’s)
Influenced by Albert Camus’ essay “The Myth of Sisyphus”
Language is proven unreliable; does not establish meaning
Dialogue is usually meaningless or illogical or absent all together
Example: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Comes from school of philosophy called Existentialism:
Thought is that we being our lives in a random world that only offers us possibilities.
We define ourselves through our decisions, our actions, and our relations with other beings

33. Theatre of Involvement
Participation of members of the audience in the action of the performance
Examples: Cats and Tony and Tina’s Wedding
Theatricalism
“This is theatre. Accept it for what it is”
Makes no pretense of reality because dramatic situations are not real situations
Example: The Fantasticks (uses items that clearly are only for theatrics)
Total Theatre
Involves a fusion of all the performing arts into one presentation.
Dance, mime, atmospheric music, and creative costuming and staging are all combined with high-tech audiovisual special effects