Drama Term Tuesday #12

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Censorship

Censorship of Drama

Censorship sets out to define, control and restrict individual or group freedom and access to ideas or expression.

In the long history of drama there has been strong recognition of its power to influence thought and to change action amongst audiences. As such a powerful force in society, drama has attracted the attention of many who wanted to control it, curb its influence or to use it for their own purposes. Censorship has been undertaken on the basis of religious belief, political ideology and propaganda, sexual or personal morality. Censorship can be undertaken by individuals, groups, governments or religious groups.

Self censorship is another common example of how individual playwrights and actors limit ideas or dramatic action.

Optimistically, wherever there has existed censorship, there has been ingenuity and resilience in drama which questioned or countered the deadening influence of censorship and ensured the power of drama continued to have an impact on society.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts

Drama Term Tuesday #11

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Text-based approaches

Drama that works from a text written by a playwright through exploring and interpreting ideas and themes, solving practical problems of directing and staging including placing the text in contexts through dramaturgy.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts

Drama Term Tuesday #9

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Tension

Dramatic Tension

Conflict

Sense of strain, excitement, anticipation or suspense used to animate and sustain interest and forward movement in drama.

Obstacle for a character to overcome.

A sense of ‘what’s at stake’ in a particular dramatic situation. Tension and dramatic tension are sometimes used interchangeably with conflict but the concept is more than simple arguments or differences of opinion.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts

Drama Term Tuesday #7

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Historification

A convention favoured by Brecht, which uses historical events to comment on events of the present.

The technique is used to alienate the audience from emotional identification and as such have a greater didactic impact.

See also A-Effect/Alientation, Brechtian Drama, Epic Drama

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts

Drama Term Tuesday #6

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Victorian Drama

Notable for technical innovation but is tended to be dismissed for its approach and content. 

During the reign of Queen Victoria which covered most of the 19th century, English drama showed the ascendancy of actors and managers and the lowering of the status and importance of playwrights. There was a move to entertainments and popular theatre forms such as music hall and a preference for melodrama, domestic tragedy and sentimental comedy. 

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts