Types of Drama

PREPARED BY: GRACEZHELLE V. JAVIER, LPT

 What is Drama?

 Is a specific type of fiction, meant to be

performed.
 Is often combined with music and dance, such
as in opera or Broadway plays.
Symbol of Drama: Laughing and Weeping Masks

Tragedy
Comedy
Types of Drama

 Comedy
 Farce
 Modern Comedy
 Melodrama
 Tragedy
 Musical
 Greek Tragedy
 Elizabethan Tragedy
 Opera
 Modern Tragedy  Performance Arts
 History Plays
 Screenplays
Comedy

 Isa lighter kind of drama where the leading

characters overcome their problems.
 Usually ends happily, often in a marriage.
• Example: Who’s On First?
Modern Comedy

Usually
means something meant to
make the viewer laugh.
Tragedy

 In
ancient times, it was often a historical
dramas featuring the downfall of a great
man.
• Example: Hamlet, Macbeth, The Crucible
 In
modern theater, it usually involves serious
subject matter and the death of one or
more characters.
Greek Tragedy

 Involves
the destruction of some noble
character due to fate.
Elizabethan Tragedy

 Involves
the death of some noble character
due to a tragic flaw.
• Example: Romeo and Juliet
Modern Tragedy

 Involvesordinary people, everyday people.

 Not noble characters, they don’t always die.
History Plays

 Were plays written by Shakespeare about

the life of an English king.
• Example: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Screenplays

 Is a written work made specifically to be

filmed.
• Example: Hocus Pocus
Farce

 Isa sub-category of comedy.

 Although it may appear only funny, however
they also contain deeper implications on
account of the use of satirical elements.
• Example: Waiting for Godot
Melodrama

 Isanother type of exaggerated drama.

 “song drama” or “music drama”.
 Typically involves a villain, a heroine, and a
hero.
• Example: The Broken Badge
Musical

 The
story is told not only through dialogue
and acting but through music and dance.
• Example: Les Miserables, Annie
Opera

A classical art; originated in Italy early in the

16th century.
 Takes great stories, often culled from the
world’s dramatic literature, and sets them to
music.
• Example: Phantom of the Opera
Performance Arts

 Appeared in 1960’s and was initiated by

visual artists.
 Invite the audience to watch a real action
unfold that may combine several arts:
theater, dance, and video.
• Example: The Boxer