What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?
I wouldn't call myself a drama expert, but I think this statement is terrible. I think, rather, that drama is the manipulation of regular life events, so taking the "dull" parts and making them into exciting or emotional things. For instance, let's say I walk my dog down the street alot. One day I'm walking down the street, I talk to a few people, then BLAM, my dog gets hit by a car. I feel like because theatre generally includes this "talking" or interphase scene, the above statement is falsified.
SPECIFIC EXAMPLE TIME
Oedipus. Now, your probably thinking, "WHAT? Nothing about this play is dull?!?!?!". While that may be true, that also proves my point. This play is simply making manipulations on normal human actions to create the drama. The fact that Oedipus has to find the truth is played out in a very systematic manner, and throughout the story, generally no gaps are left out (with the exception of sleeping).
The Wild Duck. Ahhhh muuuuuch better for my stance. It doesn't take an English professor to see that ALL this book does is uses day by day scenarios to increase tensions and foreshadow future events. This play's very life blood is the fact that it is centered around these day by day, no out of the ordinary events. The "action" is simple conversation, and, once again, barely any time is skipped with exception to sleep.
So yeah, I think the opposite of this statement, that play's a re centered around manipulations on the "dull" parts.
I agree that often an author can manipulate the mundane to great effect but I also believe that every event included plays a highly significant role. You mentioned conversation as an example of the mundane but when in a tragedy has a conversation between two characters revealed absolutely nothing? You never see anybody just shooting the breeze and awkwardly talking about the weather, instead each conversation serves to foreshadow, characterize or advance the plot. Even though talking might not be action-packed, the exchanges we see in tragedies are a far cry from a conversation you might have with a friend.
ReplyDelete