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Epic Theatre vs Dramatic Theatre - Coggle Diagram
Epic Theatre vs Dramatic Theatre
Dramatic Theatre
Conventions
Characterisation – this is the way that the characters are portrayed – how has the playwright created a believable character? Has the writer included monologues or soliloquies to allow you to hear the character’s thoughts and feelings? It is also important to look at the relationships between characters – how are these depicted? What do they reveal about the
characters? You also need to think about the way that an actor or actress has represented the character. Different actors may play the same part in very different ways.
Plot and structure – how have the events been organised? What techniques have been used to shape the action? How have the themes and ideas developed during the action?
Stagecraft – these are the dramatic devices used to grab the audience’s attention and convey the playwright’s ideas – factors such as lighting, sets and props can all be part of the
playwright’s stagecraft.
Soliloquy
Breaking into Music/Song
Narration
Split Role
Multi-Role
Chorus
Slow Motion
Epic Theatre
Conventions
Gestus: a theatrical technique that is the combination of a gesture and a social meaning in a singular movement, stance or vocal display. It is used to convey the thematic ideas significant to the play or the particular scene, as well as denoted a character’s social attitude and relationships with others.
Narration: actors served as narrators, demonstrating actions and events that assisted in the audience’s understanding of the situation.
Multiple roles: actors played multiple roles throughout a production. This was to remind the audience that the characters were only personas portrayed by actors, thus encouraging the audience to not get emotionally involved in the production.
Demonstration of role: actors weren’t fully engaged in their characters, instead they ‘demonstrated’ their characters with a sense of detachment.
Song and music: not used to heighten the emotion of the scene, but instead highlight the didactic message being communicated throughout the drama. The music was used to provoke thought, dispel illusion and drive out emotion.The musicians were often clearly visible by the audience to further emphasise that the performance was purely drama.
Masks and puppetry: used throughout performances as symbols for people and ideas.
The Verfremdungseffekt (V-effect): the effect that makes things seem strange or different. The term refers to the use of various devices to make things appear in a new light, so we consider them with intellectual objectivity, robbed of their conventional outward appearance.
Voice: actors had to be vocally flexible as productions often involved singing, chanting, the creation of mechanical and non-verbal soundscapes, as well as a range of dialects and class accents.