Drama And Theatre Essay Example For Students

Drama And Theatre Essay The question asked is what is drama? Can we truly define it? Is there atextbook definition of something that can be so personal? What is drama inrelation to theatre? Why is drama so important? What are its uses, its aims?Some have said that drama develops self-esteem and encourages creativity andimagination. This is true, and will be demonstrated through examples frompersonal experiences. Usually the first thing that occurs in a drama class isthat someone will ask for a definition of the word drama. Most of the class willlook away, as if in deep thought praying that they are not called on, becausethey do not know the answer. At first glance, it seems a simple question, but asone begins to delve into the true nature of drama, the answer is not so cut anddry. For some, drama is a type of television show, such as a hospital or lawyershow. For others, it is that section of the movie rental place where all chickflicks are. For still others, drama means Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus. For teachers, drama means all and none of these things. A clear definition isneeded in order to lead the students in various activities, and towards variousgoals. What good is it to have the students explore within themselves if theteacher does not know what the aim or direction of the exploration is? Manyteachers claim that their purpose of drama is to develop the childs sense ofself. This however is slightly vague. Most people in education strive for thisin one way or another. Bettering the child in body mind and spirit is a generalgoal for teachers, so this idea is not particular to drama. So then, whatexactly is drama? There is one school of thought that defines it as anexpressive process which is best understood through the idea of symbolizationand its role in the discovery and communication of meaning(McGregor 24). This is an accurate definition, as it also goes on to explain that drama ismulti-faceted and that he child gains experience through voice,language, the body as prime means of expression; and the associated media oflight, sound and space(McGregor 24). I have had many opportunities toparticipate in dramatic activities, and to express myself in different ways. Onesuch activity I engaged in was a dance drama while attending my final year ofhigh school in Toledo. The song was entitled Forever Young and it was aboutgrowing up and growing old without knowing ones place in life, without everbeing happy. The melody was almost regretful in tone, and the lyrics werepleading in nature. At this point in time, I was two months away fromgraduation, about to leave the place I had called home for five years. I was notyet ready to leave my youth and enter into the unknown world of university. Iwas afraid, reluctant, and introspective, much like the protagonist of the song. Through dance, two other girls and I expressed our feelings on graduation. Weused gentle movements; always aware of the softness of the angles our bodieswere making. The arms were always curved, the head rolling into positions, asopposed to jerking. The lights were dimmed, with only a pale, white lightfocused on the center of the stage, giving it a bit of a glow. Since we hadthree characters, we decided to act out three stages in life: the child, theteenager, and the adult. The child was dancing in the center of the stage,playing with the light, dancing with imaginary friends, happy, carefree,oblivious to its surroundings, and interested only in the moment. The teenagerwas standing just beyond the light of childhood, attempting to interact with thechild, but never actually crossing the light. She would circle around it, lookinward with longing, then turn with her back to the light, facing adulthood withfear and trepidation. She would take a few steps in one direction, then turn theot her way, and take a few more steps, as if she were lost and confused, like ina maze. She could always see the child behind her, but not the adult in front ofher. The teenagers movements were mostly turns, implying confusion, andconstant changes of direction. The adult was seated on the edge of the stage,watching the action. She began as an observer, as if remembering her past, butas the dance continued, she would stand up, walk around a little, then sit backdown again, making good use of levels, but never distracting from the mainaction. The adult was reminiscent; she watched and reacted to the other two asif reliving her time as a teenager and her apprehensions on growing up. We wereexpressing our fears and worries through body movements and non-verbalexpressions. Each of us had the chance to play all three roles, so we couldexperience three different emotions. Switching around like that allowed us tosee the issue from different points of view. After this experience, we all felta l ittle more at ease with the transition we were about to make and ourselves. By expressing our fears, we had overcome them. When developing ones selfthrough drama, there are a number of things one can concentrate on. The first isthe senses. By using all of ones senses, whether each by itself or all at once,one begins to explore themselves and ones surroundings in greater detail thanever before. One becomes more aware of the physical world, i.e. the sound of thewind through the grass, the taste of a hand, and this leads to being moresocially aware in the future. The senses are heightened, allowing the individualto be more perceptive around others and therefore have better relations in theadult world. Another aspect one can concentrate on is body movement andnon-verbal communication. We say so much about ourselves through body language. Free Persuasives: Media Bias in the Stem Cel EssayMany traditionalists extrapolated from this statement that he was anti-theatre. He was not anti-theatre, he merely felt that not all activities had to beperformed; some were for self-exploration only. He wanted to turn away from theformalised styles designed to make all children sound like little adults andturn back to the natural direction that children wanted to take. Slade stood forpersonal circles and child-centred activity and individualisation. It wasnot until Dorothy Heathcote came along that the focus went back to theimportance of the collective experience and in doing so brought again tothe fore the possibility of group members becoming united in their sharedresponse to dramatic symbols(Bolton 31). Dorothy Heathcote concentrated onthe material objects that the drama was based on. She took a scientificapproach; to her the material objects of the world provide the commonsource of the scientists view of knowledge (Bolton 59). Content is veryimportant to her; the action must be focused on some topic or object. The childwill be aware of the object and by exa mining and exploring it, he/she willcelebrate it. Brian Way, another celebrated dramatist, has a different view ofdrama and development from Dorothy Heathcote. He is very close associate ofPeter Slade, and hence their styles are similar. Way tried to educate teachersto understand that children were capable of more than just clowning around on astage. They could reach into themselves and explore feelings such as sorrow andpain. There are four things that Brian Way concentrated on: (1) the individual,(2) exercises, (3) expanding horizons of what may be included in a drama lessonand (4) intuition. Some teachers who felt as if they had to train each child byitself and who subsequently ignored the group unfortunately misconstrued hiswork on the importance of the individual. Way included in his books a number ofexercises that teachers could use as a starting point for their classes. Theseexercises consisted of instructions that the teacher would continually give tothe students which put t he teacher almost entirely in control, it alsoinvites a particular kind of mental disposition from theparticipants(Bolton 48). He also strove to include a number of topics intocreative drama, in order to teach the children about as many aspects of life aspossible. He incorporates all these ideas into one phrase, his definition of thefunction of drama: the enquirer to moments of direct experience,transcending mere knowledge, enriching the imagination, possibly touching theheart and soul as well as the mind(Way 1). I believe that Ways definitionof drama is the one I most agree with. For me, drama has always allowed me tobecome characters that I would never play in real life. Play-acting has made memore creative; I can use my imagination to its full potential, as I no longerfeel threatened by an audience. I have always found play-acting and othercreative drama exercises to be therapeutic whenever I was distressed. Byinteracting with others in the group I have developed an appreciation for themind and for the spirit. My view of society has changed; each one of us has aplace in it, and it is up to the individual to define that place, however it isthe duty of the group to adapt to each individual. This is the only way to leada successful and happy life outside of the classroom, in the real world. WorksCited Bolton, Gavin. Drama as Education: An argument for placing Drama at thecentre of the curriculum. BibliographyLongman Group Limited, 1984. McGregor, Lynn, Maggie Tate, and Ken Robinson. Learning Through Drama. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., 1977. Slade,Peter. Child Drama. London: University of London Press Ltd., 1954 Way, Brian. Development Through Drama. London: Longman Group Limited, 1967.