Key Features and Classifications of Theater Arts

Key Characteristics of the Theatrical Genre

• Union of Text and Representation: Although the work is readable, it does not acquire its true dimension until it is represented. The written text and the performance are inseparable.
• Double Communicative Situation: Communication is established, first, between the actors themselves and, second, between the actors and the public.
• Multiple Issuers and Receivers: A work requires several issuers (actors, director, set designers, etc.) and multiple receivers (the public) who experience the work simultaneously.
• Asides: This is a special communicative use where a character establishes a relationship of complicity with the audience, sharing a secret or important fact while the other characters on stage pretend not to hear. These excerpts are provided in the stage directions.
• Verisimilitude: The play must produce a sense of verisimilitude, as the actor seems to express what they want naturally, rather than just reciting what the author has prepared.
• Dialogue and Monologue: The dialogue and monologue (or soliloquy) are the primary verbal forms of communication. Since the twentieth century, it has been possible to find other forms of communication, such as voice-overs, narrators, and recordings.
• Verbal and Nonverbal Codes: Theater utilizes the spoken word, the expressive use of voice and body, characterization, lighting, music, sound effects, and scenery.

Major Theatrical Subgenres

• Tragedy: These plays always end badly.
• Comedy: A traditional dramatic subgenre opposed to tragedy. These plays are distinguished by characters from all social classes, though predominantly from the middle and lower classes.
• Tragicomedy or Drama: A subgenre positioned between tragedy and comedy. While situations are often tense, the outcome can be either happy or unhappy.
• Auto Sacramental: Compositions dealing with biblical mysteries, religious episodes, or moral and theological conflicts. These were originally staged in religious settings.
• Melodrama: A theatrical subgenre where sentimental and pathetic aspects are exaggerated. In recent years, the Neoclassical style became fashionable through authors such as Jovellanos.
• Farce: A piece intended to be funny and comic, featuring improbable characters and situations that tend toward exaggeration.
• Entremés (Interlude): A comic theatrical piece in one act with a humorous plot. Born in the sixteenth century thanks to the Andalusian Lope de Rueda, these were often performed between the acts of a serious work. The interludes of Cervantes and Lope de Vega gained deserved fame in their time.