AiR Commission at Murdoch University 2013-2017
Arts Winter School 2018
Partnerships between Artists in Residence and Primary Teacher Education students
Arts Summer and Winter Schools, School of Education, Murdoch, University
The Elements of Drama
work dynamically together to create and focus dramatic action and dramatic meaning. Drama uses movement and voice along with language and ideas to explore roles, characters, relationships and situations. Drama action is shaped by dramatic tension, space and time, mood and atmosphere to symbolically present and share human experiences for audiences.
Principles of Story
Drama tells stories. Stories involve people (characters) who experience relationships and situations.
Story is structured.
Many stories use cause and effect – a person does something that causes the next event in the story to happen. These sorts of stories unfold event after event, leading to a major incident – called the climax – and then the story is finished usually with some sense of explanation or satisfying conclusion.
But not all stories are told in a straight line – linear – way. Some stories manipulate time. They start the story sometime in the future then flash-back to an earlier time; or they flash-forward to a future time.
The elements of drama (character, situation, tension, etc) are combined to shape narrative (story) through using contrast, juxtaposition, dramatic symbol and other devices of story.