Understanding Theatrical Performance: Elements and Genres

Core Features of Theatrical Performance

Theater is a unique art form that must tell a story within a limited time, thus it cannot afford unnecessary delays. The storyline should capture the audience's attention. Theater is a rich mix of spectacular language and resources. Characters involved are conceived by the author to be embodied by actors on a stage. The action is determined by establishing dialogue and developing the central conflict. The author's presence is felt through the plot and characterization.

Essential Dramatic Elements

• Action

  Action develops in acts or parts. If a spatial change is produced within an act, then there is a change of frame. When a character leaves the scene, a new scene begins.

• Actors and Characters

  Actors portray characters who often embody archetypes inherited from the Golden Age of theater, such as the gallant, the lady, the father, and the gracioso.

• Dramatic Tension

  This involves the inclusion of culminating moments, often leading to a climax. An anticlimax occurs when the conflict reaches an unexpected or unanticipated outcome, often serving as a deliberate letdown after a build-up.

• Time

  Often adheres to the classical rule of three unities: a single unit of time, place, and action.

• Dialogue

  The most important medium in theatrical productions, notably including:

  • Asides: Lines spoken by a character directly to the audience, or to another character, but not overheard by others on stage.
  • Monologues: Extended speeches by one character, often revealing their thoughts or feelings, addressed to themselves, the audience, or another character.

• Authorial Intent for Staging

  Clarification from the author regarding how the play should be staged, including character movement and set design.

Major Theatrical Genres

• Tragedy

  Stars characters of high social category who are drawn by fate into serious conflicts among themselves, expressed through painstaking and careful language.

• Tragicomedy

  Often treats legendary subjects with a mix of serious and comic elements, sometimes involving a chorus.

• Comedy

  Based on light-hearted ridicule and the denunciation of customs and everyday problems.

Dramatic Subgenres

• Auto Sacramental

  Religious-themed works, typically single-act plays written in verse.

• Sainete

  A short piece of comic character and manners, which can be written in verse or prose.

• Paso (Interlude)

  A short play with comedic purposes, intended to be performed during the intermissions of major works, featuring popular comic characters and settings.

• Farce

  A comic play, short and with no other purpose than to make people laugh.

• Melodrama

  Usually presents grave and serious situations in which good characters suffer mercilessly at the hands of evil.