Varieties of Drama

1. Varieties of Drama Other Types of Drama

2. Fantasy • Deals with unreal characters, dreams, and imaginary times and places. • Usually occur in make-believe lands and include spirits, gods, witches, and flawless heroes.

3. Fantasy • Many of the most beloved tales are a part of the fantasy genre, including The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, and the legend of King Arthur.

4. Romantic Comedy • Features plots focusing on love affairs between flawless heroes and virtuous heroines. • The lovers are ideally suited for each other and often appear too good to be true. Their love has its ups and downs but always ends happily. • Examples include The Merchant of Venice and Brigadoon.

5. Melodrama • Marked by its stock characters and implausible plots. • Presents a trite story where a damsel in distress is threatened by an evil villain and rescued by a flawless hero. • Melodrama ends with the climax, leaving the audience hanging on for the resolution.

6. Melodrama • Melodrama is similar to tragedy, but is different in several ways. • It focuses more on the actions of the characters rather than their motivations. • It lacks the tragic sense of inevitability. • And it presents a cut-and-dry view of morality, leaving no room to question the motives of the villain or the hero.

7. Play of Ideas • Often called a problem play or a social drama and deals with a social problem, such as racism, classism, or sexism. • The playwright presents a solution to the problem, or at least guidesthe characters in the right direction.

8. Play of Ideas • Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun follows an African American family struggling to escape poverty. • Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People shows one man’s efforts to do the right thing and speak the truth in the face of extreme social intolerance.

9. Psychological Drama • These are generally serious plays. They penetrate the soul and are often very painful. • Playwrights battle the complexities of the human psyche and personal relationships.

10. Psychological Drama • Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie illustrates family and personal struggles. • Masha Norman’s ‘Night Mother deals with a troubled woman and her relationship with her mother.

11. The “Whodunit” • Audience is hooked by the suspense of solving a crime or a courtroom drama. • Examples include Ten Little Indians and The Mousetrap.

12. Allegory • An allegory is a play that teaches moral concepts through characters who personify abstract qualities and concepts, such as truth, justice, love, death, and humanity.

13. Allegory • The classic example is the medieval play, Everyman. • Everyman is summoned to meet Death and must appear before God for judgment on his life. • All of his friends—Five Wits, Fellowship, Kindred, Discretion, Beauty, Strength, and Knowledge—fail him. • Only his Good Deeds go with him in death.

14. Children’s Theatre • Defined as drama written, designed, and performed for children. • Regional, high school, and professional theatre groups often include children’s theatre as part of their seasons.

15. Monodrama • A monodrama is a play written to be performed by a single actor. • In Eugene O’Neill’s Before Breakfast, a nagging wife drives her husband to committing suicide offstage. • Jane Wagner’s Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universecreates a variety of characters in a series of monologues that are part comedy and part social criticism. • Another popular form of monodrama is impersonating historical figures.