Group No.

3

 Muhammad Iqrash Awan BT-08-06
 Mehreen Fatima BT-08-24
 Kashif Ahsan BT-08-43
 Sohaib Ehsan BT-08-63
 Contents

 What is Drama?
 Origin of Drama
 Greek Drama
 Roman Drama
 Fall of Rome
 The Death of Drama
 The Rebirth of Drama
 Contents

 Medieval Drama
 Late Medieval Drama
 Renaissance Drama
 Modern Drama
 Present Time
 Conclusion
 What is a Drama?

 Drama is a literary composition, which is
performed by professional actors on
stage (or theatre), before an audience.
 It involves conflicts, actions and a
particular theme.
 Eye-catching make up, facial expressions
and body language of the artists are
prominent features.
 Origin of Drama

 Western drama originated in Greece
around 500 B.C.
 Ancient Greek drama consists of three
kinds of plays:
 Tragedy
 Comedy
 Satyr plays
 Ancient Greek Drama

 The first tragedies are said to have
been performed in 534 B.C. at the
festival of Dionysus in Athens
 Satyr-dramas were added in 501 B.C.
 Comedies were first officially
produced in Athens in 486 B.C.
 Ancient Greek Drama

 Greek drama flourished in Athens
through 500 B.C. to 300 B.C.
 Athens appears to have been the
primary locus of dramatic activity in
classical Greece.
 Comedies were also performed from
the beginning of the fifth century B.C.
onward in Sicily.
 Ancient Greek Drama

 The earliest dramas were designed to
worship gods and goddesses.
 Masks were used to represent
characters, high-soled boots were
worn to add height.
 Antigone, Oedipus Rex and Medea are
among the famous plays written
during this time.
 Roman Drama

 Roman drama refers to any dramatic
form—tragedy, comedy, farce, mime,
and pantomime—composed in the Latin
language.
 Latin was used by the inhabitants of the
city of Rome and eventually became the
administrative language of the Roman
Republic (509–30 B.C.) and the Roman
Empire (30 B.C.–476 A.D.).
 Roman Drama

 The Romans witnessed the first form
of dramatic performance in Rome in
364 B.C.
 The people of Tuscany staged the
performance in order to help the
Romans avert a plague.
 They performed some form of dance
accompanied by flute music.
 Roman Drama

 The first official dramatic performance
was performed in Rome in 240 B.C.
 Livius Andronicus stage a tragedy and a
comedy at the ludi Romani (Roman
games).
 Livius Andronicus was a Greek slave.
 It is unclear whether his performances
were translations or adaptations of Greek
dramas.
 Roman Drama

 Roman comedies and tragedies were
performed at:
 Festivals known as Ludi
 Temple dedications
 Triumphal parades
 Funerals of Roman aristocrats.
 Roman Drama

 Roman theaters were temporary
wooden structures taken down after
the performance.
 The first stone stage was seen after 55
B.C.
 Roman nobility funded Roman
dramas, the actors themselves were
noble.
 Fall of Rome

 With the fall of the Roman empire,
Roman drama comes to its own end.
 Roman drama and Roman comedy in
particular have enduring effect on the
Western dramatic tradition.
 The Death Of Drama

 From the fall of Rome in the late fifth
century until the tenth century, the
drama was essentially dead.
 This was due in part to the Romans’
lack of interest in drama and the
Christians of late antiquity.
 The Death Of Drama

 Acting was considered unchristian in
the early Medieval period as Roman
Catholic Church banned theatrical
performances.
 Drama remained dead for several
years.
 The Rebirth of Drama

 Drama was reintroduced into western
Europe in the tenth century.
 Just as drama was born among Greek
as a part of religious observances,
among Christians it too was reborn as
a part of religion.
 Drama was reborn during The Middle
Ages (Medieval Period).
 Medieval Drama

 The Christian festival celebration had
always included elements that were
potentially dramatic.
 In the 10th century bits of chanted
dialogue, called tropes, were added to
the Easter celebration.
 This was the beginning of drama in
post-classical western Europe.
 Medieval Drama

 These little plays (troops) grew more
elaborate.
 Some of the later Latin plays were
elaborate and, taking well over an
hour to perform.
 The purpose of these plays was to
teach religion.
 Late Medieval Drama

 A great deal of dramatic material is
found in the late 12th and early 13th
centuries and the 14th century. Most
of it is religious.
 These plays can be divided into:
 The mystery plays - life of Christ
 Miracle plays – lives of saints.
 Morality plays – being good/ moral
 Renaissance Drama

 The English Renaissance, a cultural and
artistic movement in England from 16th
to early 17th century.
 It paved the way for the dominance of
drama in the country.
 Queen Elizabeth I ruled during the
period
 Great poetry and drama were produced.
 Renaissance Drama

 The renowned playwrights of this time
include William Shakespeare,
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John
Webster.
 The dramatists wrote plays based on
themes like history, comedy and tragedy.
 Shakespeare emerged as an artist who
produced plays based on all the three
themes.
 Renaissance Drama

 Drama had previously been performed
in temporary spaces.
 In 1567 the first public theater, the Red
Lion Theatre in Whitechapel, was built.
 With the establishment of public theaters
and acting companies the demand for
plays was met by a group of highly
educated men who were deeply
educated in classical literature.
 Modern Drama

 Modern Drama, begins in the late
nineteenth century and continues to the
present day.
 By the late nineteenth century the
Industrial Revolution and other
economic changes insured that
prosperous, educated middle-class
people comprise the majority of theater-
goers.
 Modern Drama

 Romanticism gave way to Realism
during the 19th century, paving the way
for the era of contemporary drama in the
20th century.
 Contemporary drama shows the
influence of all that has come before.
 Modern drama involved much
experimentation with new forms and
ideas.
 Modern Drama

 In the early part of the 20th century,
musical drama came to dominate stages
in New York and England, although
each theater season saw the release of
straight dramatic plays as well.
 The renowned playwrights of this time
include W. S. Gilbert, Oscar Wilde,
George Bernard Shaw.
 Present Time

 The majority of musical dramas of the
20th century were written by Andrew
Lloyd Webber.
 His works gained immense popularity.
 The dramas traveled to Broadway in
New York and around the world.
 Some of them were turned into feature
films as well.
 Present Time

 Postmodernism had a serious effect on the
existence of English drama, in the end of 20th
century.
 However, a large number of theatres still exist
around Shaftesbury Avenue, in the western
part of London.
 The Royal Shakespeare Company, operating
from Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's
hometown), currently produces most of the
plays written by the legendary dramatist.
 Conclusion

 Drama in Western Europe was started
by Greeks which influenced most of
the dramas in Rome.
 As the world saw the fall of Roman
empire, the drama died as well.
 Drama was reborn in the early
Medieval time as part of religion.
 Conclusion

 People like William Shakespeare,
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson,
John Webster changed the way
dramas were perceived during
Renaissance.
 The modern drama is still much alive
but most people are starting to take
more interest in other sources of
entertainment.