Dramatic conventions are the specific actions and techniques the actor, writer or director has employed to create a desired dramatic effect or style.
A dramatic convention is a set of rules which both the audience and actors are familiar with and which act as a useful way of quickly signifying the nature of the action or of a character.
All forms of theatre have dramatic conventions, some of which may be unique to that particular form, such as the poses used by actors in Japanese kabuki theatre to establish a character, or the stock character of the black-cloaked, mustache-twirling villain in early cinema melodrama serials.
It can also include an implausible facet of a performance required by the technical limitations or artistic nature of a production and which is accepted by the audience as part of suspension of disbelief. For example, a dramatic convention in Shakespeare is that a character can move downstage to deliver a soliloquy which be heard by the other characters on stage nor are characters in a musical surprised by another character bursting into song. One more example would be how the audience accepts the passage of time during a play or how music will play during a romantic scene.
Dramatic conventions may be categorized into groups, such as rehearsal, technical, or theatrical.
Rehearsal conventions can include hot seating, roles on the wall, and still images. Technical conventions can include lighting, dialogue, monologue, set, costuming, and entrances/exits. Theatrical conventions may include split focus, flashback/flashforward, narration, soliloquy, and spoken thought.
All categories of dramatic conventions may be used in creative drama[1] to support educators teaching dramatic arts. "Jonothan Neelands and Tony Goode note that the experience of drama requires teachers to use forms and structures that engage both the intellect and emotions in making and representing collaborative meaning. [...] As you work in drama, you will discover other modes of representing meaning and your repertoire of ideas for containing and shaping the work will expand and become refined."[2] Educators use dramatic conventions in integrated and cross-curricular instruction – particularly literacy and the humanities – to make meaningful educational experiences for students.
^Neelands, Jonothan; Goode, Tony (2008). Structuring drama work: a handbook of available forms in theatre and drama (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK; New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78729-1.
^Booth, David (2005). Story Drama: Creating Stories Through Role Playing, Improvising, and Reading Aloud (2nd ed.). Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers Limited. pp. 42–43. ISBN 9781551381923.
and 23 Related for: Dramatic convention information
Dramaticconventions are the specific actions and techniques the actor, writer or director has employed to create a desired dramatic effect or style. A...
dramaticconvention of the time required the courtly characters to use verse, and the country characters prose, but in As You Like It this convention...
a subgenre of jidaigeki. Jidaigeki rely on an established set of dramaticconventions including the use of makeup, language, catchphrases, and plotlines...
violated international law. Although warfare has changed dramatically since the Geneva Conventions of 1949, they are still considered the cornerstone of...
F. Van Laan wrote that even further than the general Elizabethan dramaticconvention, in Hamlet it is "… central and substantive. It lies at the heart...
The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science...
role is (in Robert Watson's words) "overdetermined in renaissance dramaticconvention": he is partly the scheming Machiavel of Renaissance tragedy, partly...
and fighting styles with choreography, stunts, improvisation, and dramaticconventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement...
Ancient Greek: ἀριστεία [aristěːaː], "excellence") is a scene in the dramaticconventions of epic poetry as in the Iliad, where a hero in battle has his finest...
of the book's key concepts is that of "masking", a visual style, dramaticconvention, and literary technique described in the chapter on realism. It is...
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886...
to use the correct language or languages for the story's setting. Dramaticconvention Practice of dubbing foreign films Language localization Narration...
its center, years before Breaking Bad and Mad Men popularized that dramaticconvention for adult audiences. As a character, Zim was mostly unlikable; the...
number of convention establishments increased slightly in the 1960s and then increased dramatically in the 1970s, with many of the largest conventions in the...
The 81st World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held on 18–22 October 2023 in Chengdu, China. The choice of location was the subject of some controversy...
to accomplish his desired "alienation". Defamiliarization effect Dramaticconvention Figurative art Meta-reference and metatheatre Mimesis and diegisis...
1927, argued that these early problem plays were hampered by the dramaticconventions of the day: "No play written in the problem form was significant...
difficult work of all. Competition at the Dionysian festivals needed dramaticconventions for plays to be judged, but it also fuelled innovations. Developments...
The National Convention (French: Convention nationale) was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic...
on culture. In a play or work of theatre especially, this can be called dramatic structure, which is presented in audiovisual form. Story structure can...
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center, is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th...
list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may occasionally be used for concerts. The list...
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international...
Global Information