Drama: (Greek for “To act”)
“An imitation of an action” – Aristotle
Drama—written and performed—is the reproduction of people performing actions. People doing!
In good narrative one action causes another action which causes another action, etc.
The plot, then, is simply an order of actions which hopefully affect a viewing audience.
Drama should not show people in rest or inaction – this is boring.
Drama should focus on the actions of people rather than the actions or problems that happen to people.
Drama then = people doing things which cause other people to act
A conflict of people, ideas and wills that must rise to a resolution
A contest of opposing forces (conflict)
Imitated actions which tell a story
Journal Activity:
1. Find a story in the news that is still ongoing (an election campaign, a war, a murder trial, a custody battle, the Rochester City School District budget problems, etc.)
2. Identify the conflicts involved (both large and small)
3. What dramatic questions surround the story?
4. What is at stake for the “actors” in the drama (politicians, parents, children, defendants, etc.)
5. Make a list of all the possible outcomes for this ongoing conflict
6. What will the struggles and their outcomes tell you about the people involved and our world in general once the conflict is concluded?
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