Drama as a Form of Prose Compositions - Essay Example

Drama Analysis Introduction Drama is a composition of a prose telling a short story and intended for presentation by actors on stage to a specific audience. Unlike other forms of prose compositions, drama requires an effective writing skill, which incorporates the theatrical practicality necessary in the performance of such stories. To obtain this, writers do not simply conceptualize the ideas as is the case in other forms of fictional or non-fiction writing but also conceptualizes the stage versions of their ideas. Drama therefore requires interactive write ups punctuated with the appropriate stage directions. Live stage performances of dramas require a number of direction features, which playwrights must always consider and incorporate in their scripts. Such demands make wrights conceptualize the demands of their audience and therefore address such in every aspect of the script. Just as in film production, light is a stage feature that aids the writers in communicating their ideas in dramas. Through effective manipulation of light, a director communicates such essential aspects of the play as time of day. Additionally, light essentially illuminates and is therefore useful in creating transitions from a scene or an act to another. In the drama script, a writer should indicate the end of an act and a scene not only by addressing different issues but also by indicating such pertinent production features as lighting. However, an effective stage development is a collective role of the entire crew that may not necessarily come in the script. The writer therefore merely indicates the transition among other aspects of the play that light can help communicate. Additionally, the performance aspect of the play implies that characters employ other nonverbal means of communication. This makes script writing more complex since the writer considers the attitudes of his or her intended character and includes these in the script by marking the behavior and response in every scene in the play. The most common nonverbal communication is body movements and facial expressions. The use of such means of communication make plays more realistic and identifiable among an audience since the characters possess similar behavior traits. The writer and the director must therefore incorporate such features and ensure the stage is lit well enough to enable the audience to monitor such features of communication. Another important stage feature that other prose writers may ignore but which still adds to the validity of the story is costume. Costumes refer to the attire that actors adorn during the play; they therefore constitute an important part of the play in aiding the process of communicating the writer’s ideas. Costumes are arguably more important than any other aspect of the play and a skilled playwright must always incorporate his costumes in the script. Following this understanding, playwrights explain the costumes in every act, scene and stage composition before introducing his characters. Effective costumes help communicate such important issues in the play as themes and time. Different weathers, seasons and time of the day dictate specific mode of dressing. Additionally, such themes as poverty and wealth become automatically conspicuous from the costumes of the actors. The play “I never saw another butterfly” written by Celeste Raspanti, an experienced playwright, is an appropriate example, useful in the analysis of the different features of drama. The story is a real life account of children living during the German holocaust, a period in the history of the country characterized by intense poverty and backward religious beliefs, which resulted in the death of hundreds of citizens, offered as sacrifices. The story therefore is an account of the life of destitute children living in slums. The story centers on the life of one such child, Raja, a thirteen year old female who lives with her family in the Terezin, a German name for a slum. The child recounts her life experience throughout the play - a style that gives the play a simplistic structure. The style that the writer chose is creative and portrays her experience in writing since she incorporates stylistic features used in conventional literature with the effective theatrical practicality of a stage thereby earning the play a success. She introduces the play at the present time with the lead character enjoying a happy time with her family - through flashbacks. The writer later concentrates the entire play on the child’s past from where she gives a progressive account through the different acts and chapters. The play structure is simple, simple plays are more effective to dramatize since unlike in films, drama use stages are relatively smaller settings than those in films (Raspanti 11). A simpler story therefore becomes easier to perform since they make stage management easier. Additionally, simpler plays are easier to direct. However, in the simplistic structure, the author conceals a complex theme, which dictates an effective stage management. The subsequent directors of the play have incorporated their own directing skills always adding theatrical features to the play making it more interesting. The different aspects of the play such as stage lighting and character costumes are appropriate to their occasions earning the play authenticity among the different audiences. The play has no age limit; this implies that the different stage composition must address the diverse audience features in order to earn their approval. However, the writer plans her characters and their settings differently, a feature that makes the play more realistic to the different audience groups. Using light, the director introduces the different acts impressively thereby making the stage more appropriate to the different concepts that she communicates in the acts and chapters. The stage stays effectively lit making it possible for the audience to have adequate view of the stage and every movement in the characters’ acting. However, the play is too wide for a stage performance. The story follows the life of the girl during her stay in the concentration camp. The character introduces the main story through a flashback taking the audience from the present scene to several years ago. The camp is populated with people from different places. Each person possesses specific behavior pattern making coexistence difficult. The young girl therefore faces a number of challenges that the writer tries to capture in her one-hour play (Raspanti 7). Additionally, the author bases the story on the real life experiences, which requires maintaining the chronological flow of events. Because of the reality requirement of the story, the author fails to dramatize and portray these since the context is wide. The stage cannot possibly accommodate more people as a concentration camp. The play therefore uses few characters, a feature that denies it the reality of a real life account. This compels the audience to supplement the story with their own imaginations. Work Cited Raspanti, Celeste R. I Never Saw Another Butterfly: A One-Act Cutting. Chicago: Dramatic Pub. Co, 1971. Print. Read More