Dramatic Arts: Genres, Structure, and Evolution
Understanding Dramatic Texts
What is a Dramatic Text?
Dramatic works belong to a genre intended for performance on a stage. The text is presented as dramatic dialogue. There is no narrator; the viewer follows the plot through the characters’ actions and dialogues.
Structure of a Dramatic Text
The Main Text
The main text conveys the play’s plot and can be written in prose or verse. It usually appears divided into acts and scenes.
- Acts: These are the major divisions of the play, similar to chapters in a novel.
- Scenes: These are smaller units of time within an act.
The Secondary Text
The secondary text includes important information for the dramatic work, such as the title, the cast of characters, and stage directions. Its purpose is to clarify the author’s intent and their ideas on how to focus the representation.
- The Title: This is very important, as it influences whether a reader or viewer develops a special interest in the work.
- The Cast: This consists of a preliminary description of the characters, indicating their name, age, kinship, relationships, social status, etc.
- Stage Directions: These are generally short texts, usually written in italics and enclosed in parentheses, which serve to indicate to the director certain aspects of the action’s development.
Key Theatrical Genres
Tragedy and Comedy
Tragedy is a drama starring exceptional heroes who serve as examples to all human beings. These are important figures, such as kings, princes, or nobles. Comedy, however, stars ordinary people who face the problems of everyday life, generally with comic intent.
Drama, Farce, and Sainete
Drama is a theatrical genre that usually presents a conflict, more or less serious, similar to tragedy. However, it often features heroic characters, much like comedy.
A Sainete (or interlude) was a short theatrical piece that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was always performed between the acts of a play.
A Farce is a play of a single event, often with a theme of social criticism, and can be performed as a short, independent work.
Elements of Theatrical Performance
Bringing the Play to Life
- The Stage: With its scenery and props, or the set of equipment used in the representation.
- Actors: Representing the text using all kinds of expressive elements: diction and intonation, gestures, movements, etc.
- Characterization: Of the actors, which, in addition to clothing or apparel, includes makeup.
- Special Effects: Such as lighting and sound resources.
- The Audience: Essential, as the representation is intended for them.
Evolution of Theater Through the Ages
17th Century: Lope de Vega’s Renewal
In the seventeenth century, Lope de Vega significantly renewed drama in Spain.
18th Century: Neoclassical Comedy
In the eighteenth century, Leandro Fernández de MoratÃn created neoclassical comedy, staging stories that sought to educate and disseminate good customs.
19th Century: Romantic Drama
The nineteenth century saw the triumph of romantic drama. In this genre, authors mixed tragic and comic elements, as well as verse and prose, within the same work.
20th Century: Modern Theatrical Movements
In the twentieth century, various renewal movements emerged. Drama began to be conceived as a total spectacle in which the text lost some of its traditional importance, and other elements such as light, sound, dance, mime, and circus resources were highly valued.