Drama Tuesday - Principles of story in drama

Drama uses the Elements of Drama to tell stories. Story drives how we dynamically combine the Elements of Drama

Story in Drama is a way of making sense and meaning of experiences so that they can be shared and understood by others.

The Principles of Story include: Plot and sequencing of events; characters and people; setting; conflict and Language. 

Within each these major categories there are specific aspects that can be linked to both story and drama.

• Plot and sequence link to action and reaction; cause and effect; time and how it is manipulated; and, to the narrative arc of exposition, complication, rising tension, climax and resolution or denouement.

• In stories, characters and people link to protagonist and antagonist; rounded and flat characters; dialogue revealing roles, relationships and motivations.

• Setting links to a sense of place and time and to to mood and atmosphere.

• Conflict relates to the use of tensions and suspense; the various ways of thinking about the conflicts person to person; character to Nature, Society and Circumstances; and also the inner conflict within a character.

• Language is indispensable for story and drama; in story there is a focus on description, inner dialogue, symbol and the use of the author’s voice.

There are clear links between the Elements of Drama and the Principles of Story.

• Role characters and relationships are linked to aspects of Characters and people found in stories.

• Situation links to Plot and sequencing of stories as well as the setting.

• There is the use of tension in both drama and story.

• Drama uses aspects of language, ideas, meaning making and symbol.

The other Elements of Drama – Voice and Movement, Space and Time, Focus and Audience – are indirectly found in narrative stories.

In Drama we embody stories that narrative fiction tells through print or words alone.

Zoom Performance

To ZOOM or Not to ZOOM? That is the question.

As the pandemic burst on us, as drama teachers we went on-line. We made compromises, adaptations, learnt how to use ZOOM or TEAMS or similar. We sorted on-line content. We created on-line content. We were often in survival mode. There were so many unanswered questions. Now we are at the point of considering or drama students performing in the new world. ZOOM is a necessity but provides a changed aesthetic for performing. Just as each form or style of drama and theatre has a set of conventions to learn and understand, so too does on-line performance. It is timely to consider some of those conventions and the possibilities of this form of performing drama. 

A ZOOM performance has a unique sense of occasion. When we go to a traditional proscenium arch theatre we have the experience of the space, the seats, the lighting and atmosphere of an audience. When we are sitting on our home sofa with the laptop perched on our knees and the dog snuggled against our thighs, the experience is different. We are an audience of one without the familiar wrap of others nearby. The actors are in a different space - and separated from each other. Their use of space and time is limited to the frame offered by their camera. In short, what we see and hear and even feel are different. Going to the ZOOM theatre is a different experience.

Looking at some examples of school and university based ZOOM performances, prompted some thoughts and interesting questions.

Frame: The frame offered by ZOOM shapes the way actors perform. In examples I have seen, the actors are shown in Two Shot – we see their head and shoulders facing the camera. They can move in that frame closer or further from the camera but generally stay in neutral  space. In some examples, though, there is a more dynamic sense of placement of the actors within the frame – the actors moving closer or further away. This can, however, affect the sound captured.

Framing within the frame: Basically in a ZOOM performance there is a choice of Speaker view where we see the speaker’s image large on screen; or,  Galley view  where speakers are shown side by side. The choices presented are limited. 

Physicalising Facial Expression: This sort of framing focuses on facial expression. It relies on the animation of eyes, cheeks, brows, lips. While there is the old adage about screen acting – less is more – subtle facial expression in this sort of ZOOM performance presented challenges to an audience. The unforgiving eye of the camera is up close and personal. 

Sitting energy: it is interesting that in the examples I have seen, the actors are seated to perform to their camera. This gave a different sense of spine and body. While on stage we might be sometimes seated, actors are more often moving and on their feet. Sitting provides a different body orientation. I am not saying that the actors’ bodies were slumped but there was a seated energy rather than a balls-of-the-feet energy. I wondered what would have happened if the actors had been standing (adjusting their cameras to be at eye line)? Would the energy have been different? I suspect it would be more and differently energised.

More visual interest happened when one of the actor got up for a seated position and moved away from the camera. 

Lighting: it’s obvious when you see it on screen, but better lighting shows more detail. Flatter lighting drains the performance.

Accent: as with all mediated performances, the quality of voice and the use of accent are impacted by the technology. Overlapping voices which we expect and need in drama can sometimes be lost by the latency effect (time delays in the technology) or simply the broadband capacity of the connection. 

Relationships: Drama lives on relationships. How does a ZOOM performance change the implied relationships and accompanying tensions?

Space: Actors in different houses are by definition not in a shared space. What is the implied shared space of the ZOOM performance?

Length of performance: performed plays have been getting shorter and shorter (remember when Five Act plays were de rigeur, the current fashion). How long can a ZOOM Performance sustain our interest, particularly when the format of static shots are used?

Making drama is a succession of choices. How will I vary voice, body, use of space in response to the shifts in intention or roles, relationships and tension? How will production choices of costume, lighting, design, sound interact with audience?

Another point to note is about the emotional impact of a ZOOM performance. We are distanced by technology in ways that we aren’t in the warm dark space of a theatre. Does the technology distance us even further? Do we share the emotional experience in the same ways as seeing it live? I know that I can cry and laugh in watching a movie, can I do that in watching a ZOOM performance?

There are other questions too. Is it different when we watch a “live” ZOOM performance from when we watch one that has been recorded and we watch in our own time. In other words does synchronous and asynchronous performance matter?

A final observation. When we teach students about Brechtian verfremdungseffekt (see, for example, "Brecht for beginners," ; Unwin, 2014) – one of the techniques we use is to place actors in a dialogue side by side facing directly to the audience, rather than creating a naturalistic relationship. In a funny way, the side by side Gallery view of ZOOM gives us that sense of distancing. The two characters speaking to each other are addressing us as audience directly implying that they are talking to each other. ZOOM might be a great way of teaching Brecht techniques. 

Where will the use of ZOOM technology take us in drama and theatre?

Of course, we all can’t wait to get back into our theatre spaces – whenever that is permitted. But there will be continuing interest in using ZOOM technologies for Drama. 

Interesting to see how the industry is adapting to changed circumstances. MTI have just announced a “new online, licensing, ticketing and content creation platform designed to help schools and community theatres celebrate  live theatre”. https://www.mtishows.com/streaming-an-mti-show. Not yet available in Australia, 

How will this play out in drama education?

Bibliography

. Brecht for beginners. In M. Thoss (Ed.), Brecht for beginners. (pp. 74-84).

Unwin, S. (2014). The Complete Brecht Toolkit. London: Nick Hern Books.

Drama Term Tuesday #42

Applause

The clapping of hands as an expression of approval. Conventionally there is a round of applause at the end of a play so as to acknowledge and thank the actors and production team for their work.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday #41

Memorising

The act of committing a text to memory so that an actor can deliver the story fully and accurately every performance. Almost always actors need to memorise their lines and moves in a play. They do so in a range of ways.

• learning the ideas and their interconnectedness, the story of the lines;

• saying the lines aloud rather than in the head associating the line with the specific movements of the action;

• associating and remembering the feelings that the words and images create, not just the words; actioning the words

• seeing all of the lines in a scene as one whole with its beginning section, middle section, and concluding section and its dramatic progression;

• figuring out what the character is actually saying when he/she says what he/she says;

• using mnemonic devices to help remember lists, such as anagrams, rhymes, silly sentences etc;

• making a tape of the lines that can be listened to repeatedly.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday 34

Meisner (Sanford Meisner)

Meisner approach to acting

Sanford Meisner (1905 - 1997) developed a form of actor training - Meisner Technique - derived from Method acting and the Stanislavski tradition. Meisner believed that the seeds of the craft of acting is the reality of doing. His approach focused on acting that is rooted in the body of the actor responding authentically to the specific moment of the play. The Meisner technique is often described as ‘living truthfully under imaginary circumstances”. Influenced other acting teachers such as David Mamet.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday #32

Booth Theatres

A temporary portable theatre used throughout Europe from about 15th Century; derived from rows of raised booths or pageants in with Biblical episodes were played. Punch and Judy puppet shows at the British seaside continue the booth tradition.

Excerpt from Drama and Theatre Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday #31

Alexander Technique

A movement technique developed by Australian actor, F.M. Alexander in the late 19th century. Alexander Technique is a method designed to educator, or re-educate, people on physical ‘habits’ which limit movement, and help correct these in order to help the body move with ease, freedom and balance.

An important element of the Alexander Technique is the way thoughts influence movement and how ideas can be expressed in movement, e.g. by thinking about loosening a muscle it will loosen.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday #28

Expressionist Theatre

Expressionism

A 20th Century theatre movement that seeks to show inner psychological reality through the distortion of scenery, lighting, costuming and acting styles; key playwrights include Strindberg and Wederkind; major influence on design and conceptualisation of silent films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday #24

Post Modernism

Movement in the arts and drama - frequently avant-garde and experimental - that gives equal (or more) weighting of nonverbal codes, conventions and language with traditional verbal language approaches; post modernism is also built on a different dramatic action/audience relationship giving precedence to the interpretations and participation of audiences (as in reader response theories of literature) rather than the interpretation of playwrights, directors and actors.

Postmodernism challenges single interpretations - the concept of a Grand Narrative that provides one point of view or explanation. Meanings are individual and relative to the context of the person making the interpretation; there is no external set of values that determines meaning. As a consequence, Postmodernism is skeptical of institutions and established or hegemonic ways of thinking and acting; agency and personal identity is valued over conformity and power structures are challenged.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts

Drama Term Tuesday #23

Juxtaposition

When dramatic action holds up side by side different, generally contrasting, ideas or characters; the power of juxtaposition lies in its capacity to allow an audience to draw conclusions, to explore dramatic irony; juxtaposition is frequently more than the sum of the individual parts; juxtaposition uses contrast and dislocation to provoke fresh understanding and dramatic impact.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts