What is DRAMA?

(This was my English assignment before. I would like to post this so that it can help to others. I forgot the sources for this. I just search and copy-paste.)

What is DRAMA?

Drama comes from Greek words meaning "to do" or "to act." A play is a story acted out. It shows people going through some eventful period in their lives, seriously or humorously. The speech and action of a play recreate the flow of human life. A play comes fully to life only on the stage. On the stage it combines many arts those of the author, director, actor, designer, and others. Dramatic performance involves an intricate process of rehearsal based upon imagery inherent in the dramatic text. A playwright first invents a drama out of mental imagery. The dramatic text presents the drama as a range of verbal imagery. The language of drama can range between great extremes: on the one hand, an intensely theatrical and ritualistic manner; and on the other, an almost exact reproduction of real life. A dramatic monologue is a type of lyrical poem or narrative piece that has a person speaking to a select listener and revealing his character in a dramatic situation.

COMEDY

A comedy makes us laugh when the play is well composed with the humorous elements. The story is usually based on real life characters, funny experiences in life or any type of fun provoking situation. A comical drama can also be sarcastic and raunchy. Composing a comical drama requires high level of intellect and perceptive faculties because provoking laughter is not something easy.

FARCE

According to the definition given by Britannica, it is a comic dramatic piece that uses highly improbable situations, stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration, and violent horseplay. Farce, although a sub category of comedy, is intellectually inferior to comedy because the plots and the characters are substantially crude, ambiguous and unimaginative.

TRAGEDY

The drama exposes the plight and suffering of humans to its audience. The perfect example of a tragic drama is Shakespeare's Hamlet. The theme of a tragedy usually rotates around ruination of dynasty, downfall of man, emotional betrayals, moral setback, personal loss, death and denials. A tragedy when composed and enacted well can touch your sentiments deeply.

MELODRAMA

Melodrama is exaggeration of emotions. It's marked by surge of emotions, which is a technique to make the character and the plot more appealing to the audience. A melodrama often fails to derive applause because excessive display of emotions becomes sheer monotonous. On the contrary a superbly executed melodramatic plot can absorb you completely within it.

FANTASY

It's a complete fictional work where characters virtually display supernatural skills. It's more appealing to children as fairies, angels; superheroes, etc are embedded in the plot. Use of magic, pseudo science, horror and spooky themes through various kinds of technical devices create a perfect world of fantasy. The modern version of drama incorporates a great deal of special effects.

MUSICAL

Music, melody and dance play a significant role in a musical drama. The music should be in sync with the actions and the performer often uses dance as a means of self expression. The stage is equipped with a band of orchestra, well rehearsed with the plot and use of music. Musical drama became popular as opera, which is still considered to be intensely sensuous.