Dr. Eric W. Trumbull, Professor, Theatre/Speech
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Style in Drama
Resource: Wilson, Appendix B
Objectives for this lesson:Students will examine:
the influence of style of drama and theatre
elements of dramatic / theatrical style
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Style: The distinguishing characteristics
of a play that reflect conventional practice.
- what are the conventions (agreements) and how are they treated? (Marsh
Cassady, in Theatre: An Introduction [Lincolnwood, Il.: NTC Publishing,
1997], p. 28, calls "conventions" "devices the actors, the playwright,
the designers, or the director use to expedite the production. An audience willingly
accepts and expects such devices as a type of shorthand.")
Styles are usually associated with a period or with an "-ism."
Some Examples:
Not only is Genre studies concerned with the type / form of the
play, but also with the Style OF THE PLAY
(W/G 98-101, discuss STYLE of production, not of the drama).
Will the play be realistic:
heightened realism,
selective realism,
"super-realism,"
naturalistic -- a slice of life,
expressionistic,
constructivist,
absurdist,
classical,
neoclassical?
Will the play include a lot of symbolism, allegory?
Will the play be representational (or "realistic") or presentational
(stylized)?
Important terms:
representational
presentational
allegory
conventions
This is the End of Unit One.
Here is a study guide
for exam one (in MS Word format)
and here is a study guide for exam one (in text format)...
You should now make arrangements to take Exam One at a campus location, according to the directions in the syllabus; please be sure to bring an Exam Pass with you, and bring a Scantron sheet...
Begin Unit Two or Return to the First Page.
Begin Unit Two: Theatre Personnel
This page and all linked pages in this directory copyright © Eric W. Trumbull, 1998-2004.
Last update: April 29, 2004