MEPX
Chapter 6 of 10All chapters

Chapter 6 of 10

Drama

Written to be performed.

Classical roots

Greek tragedy and comedy established conventions of chorus, unity and catharsis that later drama argued with for two thousand years.

  • Shakespeare mixed comedy and tragedy against classical rules.
  • A script is incomplete until staged; interpretation is part of the work.

Modern theatre

Ibsen and Chekhov brought domestic realism, Brecht deliberately broke the illusion, and Beckett stripped the stage to almost nothing.