DRAMATIC STRUCTURE

“Everything’s been said.” “Every story’s been told.” “Human experience is finite.”

Viktor Shklovsky “It’s all been done. What’s the point?” not a direct quote “Art as Technique” Make the familiar seem strange Break the reader from automatic response See the world again as if for the first time “defamiliarization” (Russia)

Bertolt Brecht Alienate the audience Expose the apparatus  Direct audience address  Placards instead of sets  Expose lights and sound sources  Sing songs  Drink and argue (Germany)

Aristotle Poetics Thought Music Plot Character Language Spectacle (Greece)

Dramatic Structure Plot Character Language Spectacle

1. Plot a sequence of events used to tell a story. Linear (moves forward in real time, continuous, cause and effect) Associative (moves forward in time with jumps in time and place) Cyclical (plot begins and ends at the same point) Repetitive (scenes or sequences are repeated with slight variations) Conventional (genre plot, like a mystery, sci-fi, western, romance) Fragmented (time and space are compressed and incongruent) Plot | Character | Language | Spectacle

2. Character generic individual (function over psychology) (psychology over function) Plot | Character | Language | Spectacle

3. Language original speech wounded speech Incredibly articulate Express feelings Complex thoughts Creative or poetic Master of speech Alienated from language Can’t express themselves Clichés, Jargon, Profanity Repetitive speech patterns Programmed speech Plot | Character | Language | Spectacle

4. Spectacle all non-verbal performance elements. Set Design Sound Design Lighting Design Cite-Specific Performance Space Non-Traditional Casting Stylized Movement Plot | Character | Language | Spectacle

Noh Drama (Japan)

Wooster Group (US)

Richard Foreman (US)

Dramatic Structure Plot Character Language Spectacle