<h1><strong>DRAMA AND THEATRE</strong></h1> CONTENT <ol> <li>Origin of Drama and Theatre</li> <li>Introduction to Drama and Theatre</li> <li>Definitions of Drama</li> <li>Definitions/Meaning of Theatre</li> <li>People Involved in Drama</li> <li>Elements of Drama</li> </ol>   <h2><strong>Origin of Drama and Theatre (Mimesis, Ritual and Storytelling)</strong></h2> The origins of theatre have been traced to <strong>myth and rituals</strong> found in dances and mimed performances by masked dancers during fertility rites and other ceremonies that marked important passages in life. Early societies acted out patterns of life, death, and rebirth associated with the welfare of village tribes. Imitation, costumes, masks, makeup, gesture, dance, music, and pantomime were some of the theatrical elements found in early rituals. At some unrecorded time, these ceremonies and rituals became formalized in dramatic festivals and spread from Greece to the western world and from India to the eastern world. Some scholars claim that it may have originated from African primitive folklore, traditional customs, tales or saying, preserved orally among a people.

<h1><strong>FUNCTIONS OF DRAMA</strong></h1> CONTENT <ol> <li>Instructive Functions</li> <li>Educative Functions</li> <li>Informative Functions</li> <li>Entertainment Functions</li> <li>Therapeutic Functions</li> </ol>   The roles of drama ranges from instructive, educative, informative, entertaining, therapeutic, social and cultural to religious and political experiences. <h2><strong>Instructive Functions</strong></h2> <ol> <li>It enables us to learn about ourselves, our society and about life in general.</li> <li>It teaches us to reflect on life’s actions and experiences</li> <li>It exposes life’s actions and experiences through performances on stage.</li> <li>It encourages us to choose the good and discard the bad aspects of life.</li> </ol> <h2><strong>Educative Functions</strong></h2> <ol>

<h1><strong>TYPES OF DRAMA; FORMS OF DRAMA</strong></h1> CONTENT <ol> <li>Types of Drama</li> <li>Forms of Drama</li> <li>The Director</li> <li>Duties of the Play Directors</li> </ol>   <h2><strong>Types of Drama</strong></h2> There are two basic types of drama namely: <ol> <li>Scripted</li> <li>Non-scripted.</li> </ol> Scripted drama means a written play while non-scripted means an unwritten play. <br> <h2><strong>Forms of Drama</strong></h2> <ol> <li>Comedy</li> <li>Tragedy</li> <li>Mask Drama</li> <li>Dance Drama</li> <li>Musical Drama (Opera)</li> <li>Dramatized Drama</li> <li>Mime</li> </ol> <h3><strong>Comedy</strong></h3> This is a drama that is funny and humorous. Examples are “the new Masquerade”, Papa Ajasco” and “osofia in london” . <h3><strong>Tragedy</strong></h3> This is the opposite of comedy. This is a serious drama (play) with a sad theme. It involves a heroic struggle that ends sadly. Good examples are: dramatized versions of ‘<u>Things fall apart’</u> by Chinua Achebe and "T<u>he gods are not to blame"</u> by Ola Rotimi. <h3><strong>Mask Drama</strong></h3>