Understanding Drama Essay Example For Students

Understanding Drama Essay The question asked is what is drama? Can we truly define it? Is there a textbook definition of something that can be so personal? What is drama in relation to theatre? Why is drama so important? What are its uses, its aims? Some have said that drama develops self-esteem and encourages creativity and imagination. This is true, and will be demonstrated through examples from personal experiences. Usually the first thing that occurs in a drama class is that someone will ask for a definition of the word drama. Most of the class will look away, as if in deep thought praying that they are not called on, because they do not know the answer. At first glance, it seems a simple question, but as one begins to delve into the true nature of drama, the answer is not so cut and dry. For some, drama is a type of television show, such as a hospital or lawyer show. For others, it is that section of the movie rental place where all chick flicks are. For still others, drama means Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus. For teachers, drama means all and none of these things. A clear definition is needed in order to lead the students in various activities, and towards various goals. What good is it to have the students explore within themselves if the teacher does not know what the aim or direction of the exploration is? Many teachers claim that their purpose of drama is to develop the childs sense of self. This however is slightly vague. Most people in education strive for this in one way or another. Bettering the child in body mind and spirit is a general goal for teachers, so this idea is not particular to drama. So then, what exactly is drama? There is one school of thought that defines it as an expressive process which is best understood through the idea of symbolization and its role in the discovery and communication of meaningMcGregor 24. This is an accurate definition, as it also goes on to explain that drama is multi-faceted and that he child gains experience through voice, language, the body as prime means of expression; and the associated media of light, sound and spaceMcGregor 24. I have had many opportunities to participate in dramatic activities, and to express myself in different ways. One such activity I engaged in was a dance drama while attending my final year of high school in Toledo. The song was entitled Forever Young and it was about growing up and growing old without knowing ones place in life, without ever being happy. The melody was almost regretful in tone, and the lyrics were pleading in nature. At this point in time, I was two months away from graduation, about to leave the place I had called home for five years. I was not yet ready to leave my youth and enter into the unknown world of university. I was afraid, reluctant, and introspective, much like the protagonist of the song. Through dance, two other girls and I expressed our feelings on graduation. We used gentle movements; always aware of the softness of the angles our bodies were making. The arms were always curved, the head rolling into positions, as opposed to jerking. The lights were dimmed, with only a pale, white light focused on the center of the stage, giving it a bit of a glow. Since we had three characters, we decided to act out three stages in life: the child, the teenager, 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 teenager was standing just beyond the light of childhood, attempting to interact with the child, but never actually crossing the light. She would circle around it, look inward with longing, then turn with her back to the light, facing adulthood with fear and trepidation. She would take a few steps in one direction, then turn the other way, and take a few more steps, as if she were lost and confused, like in a maze. She could always see the child behind her, but not the adult in front of her. The teenagers movements were mostly turns, implying confusion, and constant 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, but as the dance continued, she would stand up, walk around a little, then sit back down again, making good use of levels, but never distracting from the main action. The adult was reminiscent; she watched and reacted to the other two as if reliving her time as a teenager and her apprehensions on growing up. We were expressing our fears and worries through body movements and non-verbal expressions. Each of us had the chance to play all three roles, so we could experience three different emotions. Switching around like that allowed us to see the issue from different points of view. After this experience, we all felt a little more at ease with the transition we were about to make and ourselves. By expressing our fears, we had overcome them. When developing ones self through drama, there are a number of things one can concentrate on. The first is the 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 than ever before. One becomes more aware of the physical world, i. e. the sound of the wind through the grass, the taste of a hand, and this leads to being more socially aware in the future. The senses are heightened, allowing the individual to be more perceptive around others and therefore have better relations in the adult world. Another aspect one can concentrate on is body movement and non-verbal communication. We say so much about ourselves through body language. If we can learn to control each part of our bodies and the movements it may make, we can be more in control of our lives. How we use our bodies is what we are most judged on by others. If we are aware of what messages our bodies are sending we can manipulate these messages. By performing such activities as mime, tableaux, and mirror imaging we can learn to restrain any unnecessary movement and to make the most minuscule action mean so much. Lyme Disease Essay SummaryWe were using drama to learn more about each other and to correct any prejudices we may have had against the other. The other exercise we participated in also occurred near the beginning of the semester. One of each pair of students was blindfolded and the other had to lead them around the vicinity, exploring familiar territory in a different light. I led my partner to the reservoir to walk through the grass and to explore the stone walls along Elm. I had always considered the res to be a dangerous place; somewhere I should never walk through at night. This time however, while leading my partner under archways and along the bike path, I discovered things I had never seen before. In the alcoves, there were large stone columns and intricate spider webs as large as picture windows. We found a tiny ditch filled with beautifully coloured leaves running alongside the field. What was even more wonderful was that she was discovering all that I was, but without seeing them. When I took off her blindfold, she could not believe where she had just been. My turn was next to be blindfolded. My partner led me down Main Street to Elm through the long grass at the side of the road. We then walked along Elm, taking a detour through the slight embankment leading up to the apartment buildings. I felt a number of seemingly foreign objects, including a bubble-like structure which I later found out was a window, and some sweet smelling flowers. On a regular day, I would walk by this area at least four times and never before had I seen the things I had just explored with six of my senses. Drama had helped me to see my surroundings in a different light, in fact without seeing at all. What I had established previously as an ugly building with an overgrown lawn became a refuge for Mother Nature in the middle of an urban apartment complex. Drama had truly broken my preconceived notions to show something beautiful. Drama is a very strong force in my life; it has determined the course of my development as a child. It is unfortunate however, that drama has not always existed in the way we know it as today. Agreed, throughout history there has always been some form of dramatic expression, but drama as an educational tool is a fairly recent development. In the early 1950s, a man named Peter Slade wrote a book entitled Child Drama. The world was changing; peoples perceptions were changing. Children were finally seen as people who needed to be nurtured, directed, guided. Unfortunately, there were still some groups who felt that the traditional outlook drama with an audience was the way to go. Slade was advocating drama for personal development. He stated that he sees formal theatre as a final stage in a childs developmentBolton 22. Many traditionalists extrapolated from this statement that he was anti-theatre. He was not anti-theatre, he merely felt that not all activities had to be performed; some were for self-exploration only. He wanted to turn away from the formalised styles designed to make all children sound like little adults and turn back to the natural direction that children wanted to take. Slade stood for personal circles and child-centred activity and individualisation. It was not until Dorothy Heathcote came along that the focus went back to the importance of the collective experience and in doing so brought again to the fore the possibility of group members becoming united in their shared response to dramatic symbolsBolton 31. Dorothy Heathcote concentrated on the material objects that the drama was based on. She took a scientific approach; to her the material objects of the world provide the common source of the scientists view of knowledge Bolton 59. Content is very important to her; the action must be focused on some topic or object. The child will be aware of the object and by examining and exploring it, he/she will celebrate it. Brian Way, another celebrated dramatist, has a different view of drama and development from Dorothy Heathcote. He is very close associate of Peter Slade, and hence their styles are similar. Way tried to educate teachers to understand that children were capable of more than just clowning around on a stage. They could reach into themselves and explore feelings such as sorrow and pain. 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 lesson and 4 intuition. Some teachers who felt as if they had to train each child by itself and who subsequently ignored the group unfortunately misconstrued his work on the importance of the individual. Way included in his books a number of exercises that teachers could use as a starting point for their classes. These exercises consisted of instructions that the teacher would continually give to the students which put the teacher almost entirely in control, it also invites a particular kind of mental disposition from the participantsBolton 48. He also strove to include a number of topics into creative drama, in order to teach the children about as many aspects of life as possible. He incorporates all these ideas into one phrase, his definition of the function of drama: the enquirer to moments of direct experience, transcending mere knowledge, enriching the imagination, possibly touching the heart and soul as well as the mindWay 1. I believe that Ways definition of drama is the one I most agree with. For me, drama has always allowed me to become characters that I would never play in real life. Play-acting has made me more creative; I can use my imagination to its full potential, as I no longer feel threatened by an audience. I have always found play-acting and other creative drama exercises to be therapeutic whenever I was distressed. By interacting with others in the group I have developed an appreciation for the mind and for the spirit. My view of society has changed; each one of us has a place in it, and it is up to the individual to define that place, however it is the duty of the group to adapt to each individual. This is the only way to lead a successful and happy life outside of the classroom, in the real world.