Drama is one the major genre of literature.

We can define drama as “a literary compOSition

involving conflict, action crisis and atmosphere designed to be acted by players on a stage
before an audience." This is a common definition of drama, famous poet and literary critic of
seventeenth centuryJohn Dryden, defined draws in following words. ”Just and lively image of
human nature,

representing its passions and humors, and the changes offortune to which it is subject, for the
delight and instruction of mankind."

According to the definition, drama is an ’image' of ‘human nature’, and the image is ‘i'ust’ and
‘lively’. By using the word ’just‘ Dryden seems to imply that literature imitates (and not merely
reproduces) humanactions. For Dryden, 'poetic imitation' is different from an exact, servile
copy of reality, for, the imitation is not only 'just’, it is also 'lively'.

TerS ofdrama: Followmg are the major types of drama.

iv Tragedy: lngeneral, tragedy involves the ruin of the leading characters. To the Greeks, it
meant the destruction of some noble person through fate, To the Elizabethans, it meant in the
firstplace death and in the secondplace the destruction of some noble person through a flaw in
his character. Today it may not involve death so much as a dismal life, Modern tragedy often
shows

the tragedy not of the strong and noble but of the weak and mean.

‘r Comedy: is lighter drama in which the leading characters overcome the difficulties which
temporarily beset them.

> Problem Play: Drama of social criticism discusses social, economic, or political problems by
means of a play.
'r Farce: When comedy involves ridiculous or hilarious complications without regard for human
values, it becomes farce.

2v Comedy of Manners: Comedy which wittily portrays fashionable life.

> Fantasy: A play sometimes, but not always, in comic spirit in which the author gives free reign
to his fantasy, allowing things to happen without regard to reality.

‘r Melodrama: Like farce, melodrama pays almost no attention to human values, but its object
is to give a thrill instead of a laugh. Often good entertainment, never any literary value.

A brief hiStO Of Drama: The history of drama stretches back to some of

mankind's earliest civrlizations. About Twenty five hundred years ago, two thousand years
before Shakespeare. Western theatre was born in Athens, Greece between 600 and 200 BC the
anuent Athenians created a theatre culture whose from technique and terminology have lasted
two millennia, and they created plays that are still conSIdered as great works of drama history.

Drama in AncientGreece: Drama as we know it got its start back in ancient Greece. Many of the
plays written during the Clas5ical period, from 525 BC to 385 BC, are still performed today.
Antigone, Oedipus Rex and Medea are among the plays written during this time. Not only are
these plays still popular as theatrical productions, they also greatly influenced playwrights
throughout history.

The RlseofComed . During the period between 350 BC and 250 BC, comedy came to be much
more prominent in the theater. Outlandish buffoonery, political farces and sexual innuendo
were prominent features of the comedy plays of this era. Eventually, comedy became a bit
more refined; it was this New Comedy that then influenced modern comedic playwrights.
Sadly, the Dark Ages was a time when drama became nearly extinct. The Christians opposed
theatrics, thus there was no theater in the Roman empires during this time. Ironically, the
church that nearly obliterated theater was also responSIble for its resurgence; the Christian
church began to present the passion play, a popular dramatic interpretation of the Resurrection
during Easter services.

Theater Returns: The Renaissance saw a huge resurgence in all types of art, including theater. It
was during this time that Commedia Dell'arte flourished and the first Elizabethan playhouse
opened. William Shakespeare, one of the world's most renowned playwrights, wrote and
produced many plays that are still performed regularly even today. Shakespeare was one of the
first to weave comedic elements into tragedies. He also developed a structure and several types
of characters that are still common In modern drama.

Let the Women Sgak; Priorto the 17th Century, the world of drama belonged to men. Even
Shakespeare‘s plays were performed by entirely male casts. In the mid160053 few pioneering
women began to pave the way for women in the theater. ltwould be qmte some time before
acting was considered an acceptable profession for women.

From Romametg Realism: The 18th century was a time when more plays were being written for
and about the middle class. Toward the end of the century, the

Romantic period began in Western Europe, which heaVIly influenced the theater of that era.
Romanticusm focused on emotion rather than intellect. This movement

continued through the beginning of the 19th century.

RomantICIsm gave way to Realism during the 19th century, pavingthe way for the era of
contemporary drama in the 20th century. Contemporary drama shows the influence of all that
has come before. Modern drama involved much experimentation wrth new forms and ideas. In
the early part of the 20th century, musical drama came to dominate stages in New York and
England, although each theater season saw the release of straight dramatic plays as well.

Drama schools and drama classes once taught an exaggerated acting style. During the 20th
century, this gave way to a more natural dramatic style. Realism was prominent for much of the
20th century, even as experimentation and absurdity were becoming more popular, During the
1960s and 19705, playwrights such as Tom Stoppard, Sam Shepard and David Mamet began
writing plays in which the main focus was the language and dialogue of the play, With very little
action.

In the new millennium, the classic works of the Greeks and Shakespeare remain popular as high
art drama. Many of the wilder experiments of the late 20th century

have fallen out of fashion, although the absurdist comedies still draw crowds. Modern musicals
have scaled back from the lamb productions that graced Broadway and the West End, largely
due to high production costs. The public fancy changes through the decades, but our love of
drama is as strong as ever.

Evolution of Drama: The first English plays told religious stories and were performed in the
Churches. Atthis time, the Church aimed to use drama to convey its teachings to the common
people who were unable to read or to take pleasure In sermons. In these early plays, which
were called Miracle Plays, we find genuinely dramatic dialogue inserted into sermons. Many
events of religious history were suitable for drama, and they were mainly taken from Bible and
The Lives ofSaints. As a result, they dealt With the miracles of Christ and his followers. At first,
they were acted by small acting groups of priestsand clergymen. Later on, they moved out of
the church budding into the church yard,and then into the town itself. The clergymen still
performed for a time, and then Citizens of town took a hand and sometimes also wandering
actors. As soon as these plays went left the serwce of the Church, Church itself forbade the
clerical partiopation in them.

A much more important kind of relig ous plays was Mystery Plays in which the Church plays no
part. As a result, the process of secularization began in them. This secularization meant control
and partiopation of non-relig ous people In the streets as opposed to the priests in the
Church.This kind of plays started in 1364 when Pope Urban instituted the feast of Corpus Christi.
This day, the longest day in the summer, was chosen by the trade guilds of the towns of
England for the presentation ofa cycle of plays based on incidents fromthe Bible. These plays
were called Mystery Playsfromthe French word "mystery" meaninga craft or skill. These trade
guilds or craft guilds were organizations of skilled men banded together for the protection of
their crafts, the promotion of their general welfare and social purposes.

The presentation of the plays on the feast of Corpus Christi became one of their most
important socral actrvrties. Each gUIld chose one episode from the Bible, and these plays'
subjects were various; the disobedience of Adam and Eve, Noah and

the Great Flood, Abraham and Isaac, events in the life of Christ, and so on. The episode had to
be appropriate to the craft or trade practiced such as the Last Supper by Bakers and the
Descent to Hell by the Cooks. Each gurld had its own decorated cart, called a "pageant", a kind
of stage on wheels with two levels; the upper part was a kind of stage, and the lower was for
appareling themselves. This was moved to different parts of the town so that a play shown in
one place could then be shown in another. Often several Miracle plays were being performed
at the same time In different places and in chronological order. At the end of the long day's
acting, all pageants were dragged back to their shed for another year. Although Mystery Plays
wereserious and religious in intention, English comedy was born in them. There was a natural
tendency for the characters in the play to become recognizable human In their behavior. For
example, they changed the situation in which Noah's wrfe needs a great deal of persuasion to
make her go on board the ark.

Other plays were the Morality Plays which were not religious or merely semireligious. That is,
they were not taken from the Bible, butthey still presented moral truth in a new and effective
way as the dramatic actions came stronger and stronger. Also, the characters in these plays
were not people like Adam and Eve or Noah, but they were virtues like truth or bad qualities
like Greed and Revenge, which walked and talked. One of the best-known fifteenth-century
Moralities is Everyman, which was translated from Dutch and was anonymous. It is a story of
the end of Everyman's life when Death calls him away from the world. Among the characters
are Beauty, Knowledge, Strength and Good Deeds whom he asks to be a companion for
hisjourney. when Every man has to go to face Death, all his friends leave him except Good
Deeds. It is an allegorical play as it uses characters to personify such abstractions as Beauty,
Good Deed and so on. Generally, they were acted in taverns, streets and yards.

Another kinds of plays, the Interludes were common in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The or gm of this name is uncertain; perhaps the Interludes were played between the courses
of meals. Usually they were performed away from churches in colleges, castles or mansrons to
hierarchical classes. As a result, they were acted

by acting troupes of professionalswhomsomelords weretheir patrons such as The Lord

Chamberlain's Men in which Shakespeare worked. Moreover, their composition and language
were far sophisticated with refinement as opposed to the Morality Play's crude and vulgar
language. That is because the writers of Interludes were witty and well-educated in universities.
One of these lnterluds

was the Four P's by John Heywood who wrote other Interludes and was alive in Shakespeare's
time.

References. httdrb Infestreamcenterhe Lessons Drama.htm

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