Dramatic genres Flashcards
Absurdist theatre/Theatre of the Absurd
A genre of plays in which apparently impossible or ridiculous events make a statement about the strangeness and irrationality of existence. The term is used to classify the plays of writers like Albee, Becket and Ionesco
Agit-prop (Agitation Propaganda)
A piece of drama that exists to make a political point. Often performed in the street
Brechtean Drama
A drama designed to confront its audience directly through devices like the alienation effect, to put forward a political point of view. In Brecht’s case this was used to advance left-wing politics. Sometime this type of play is called “Epic theatre”, especially when created by other playwrights like Ernst Toller
Classical drama
Drama observing the rules of Classical Greek and Roman drama, following the critic Aristotle’s codification of three unities’: Unity of time (actions takes place within 24 hours), unity of place (only one scene throughout), unity of plot (no sub-plots) (322 BC)
Farce
A comedy featuring exaggerated situations and physical humour, usually based around the attempt to preserve respectability. The adjective ‘farcical’ is less specific, usually referring to some event that becomes absurd
Happening
A spontaneous or semi-spontaneous event in a public space that combined theatre and art. The so-called Pop Artist of the 1960s, like Robert Rauschenberg, pioneered such experiences
Masque
16th/17th form of court entertainment with music, dancing, and dialogue but emphasising spectacle, costume and theatrical effects rather than plot
Realistic drama
An attempt to represent life on stage with the minimum interference from convention. The defining metaphor is that viewing a realistic play should be like looking into a room with one wall missing
Shakespearean drama
The name conveniently given to British drama of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period that ignored the rules of classical drama to use large time-spans, sub-plots and many scenes
