Define Clearly the Differences between Drama and Theatre

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Recommended: Chapter 1- The Nature of Theatre

Define clearly the differences between drama and theatre and outline in some depth and detail there social function with and with some reference to your interest and experience to drama and theatre:

What is drama? A simple question it may seem at first, but the majority of people would not be able to give a precise definition of the word. That is because the word is used synonymously depending on the context in which it is used. For example, there can be; a drama section in the video store, or the drama of September 11th. This, I think happens due to the fact that many people do not know the definition of drama. On researching the definition of drama on the internet, many different meanings were given.

A definition of drama is; an episode of life, or fiction that involves emotion or conflict.

A word that is very closley linked to drama is the word theatre. Unlike drama, theatre must have three basic properties; a space to perform, actors, and an audience. In the 'space' a drama is brought to life by the ideas of a dramatist, or playwirght, the ideas of a director, and the actors' skill which combine to make an audience believe that what is happening on stage -the drama- is real.

The type of theatre can be changed, by changing the three properties, for example, the space in which the actors perform.There is street theatre, in which the actors generally mark out an area of the street and perform a piece of drama whilst the audience gather round or watch a short part as they walk past. On the other hand there is rehearsed theatre; this is usually performed by highly skilled actors that perform for a living. The space that is used for this would have a large stage, seated audience, and special lighting to help the performance come to life.

Theatre first came about from all different cultures acting out part of their bible, or performing rituals to the Gods. It was not until the middle ages when dramatists wrote about all aspects of life. Theatre has therefore changed continuously to suit the demands of each new age for fantasy, spectacle, or serious drama.

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