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Drama

The elements of drama

This Revision Bite covers the various elements of drama used in drama exploration.

You'll need to show your use of some of these elements in your Documentary Response for Drama Exploration Unit 1 and Exploring Play Texts Unit 2.

Plot, action and content

a still from tv soap eastenders showing a young man and an unhappy young woman

Teen pregnancy theme in popular soap 'Eastenders'

  • The plot of the drama is shown in the 'through-line' of the drama - its beginning, middle and end - although it doesn't have to be presented in a linear [linear: To follow a series of events in real-time without the use of flash-backs or flash-forwards ] structure. The characters in a play are also part of the plot.
  • The action of the drama consists in the events that the characters take part in as they act the play.
  • The content of the drama lies in the themes it deals with, eg bullying, the responsibilities of power, the bravery of ordinary people etc.

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