The History of Drama

If you have ever watched a drama, whether on stage or on a silver screen, suddenly what you are seeing hits you hard. Do you stop and ask, why does it make me feel that way?

Drama is not simply just people doing actions either on stage or for the camera telling stories, it is a window into ideas that reflect on society as a whole. Through examinations of social life, politics and the human condition, drama is able to capture the hearts and minds of audiences by way of depicting representations of people's lives and how their actions can lead to either rewards or misfortune.

As Prof Mohammad Jasin Betti(2020) puts in his introduction to Drama:

Drama[...]deals with the life of man in moments  of crisis and anguish, with the most intimate relationships  with his innermost thoughts  and his deepest  loves  and  hates with his courage, honor, hope,  pride, compassion, pity, and sacrifice.

It is imperative then that we must explore the origins and subsequent development of drama from the classical age until the present time. 

This article will focus on Drama as it developed from the West and how it managed to have influence over the rest of the World

Drama’s origins in the Classical Era

Drama's origins can be traced back to the Classical Era and more specifically Ancient Greece. In Ancient Greece,drama was considered as an essential part of their society as it was used as a platform to worship their gods notably Dionysus, the Greek God of wine and fertility and theatre. Hence, why the City Dionysia in Athens took place during this time.

Many of the plays performed in Ancient Greece were based on stories from Greek mythology which would have been well known to the people at the time. 

There were three types of plays performed: tragedy, comedy and satyr plays. 

However, the Greeks emphasized tragedy as more important than comedy.

One of the most influential books in dramatic theory comes from Ancient Greece in the form of Poetics by Aristotle. This two-part treatise is considered the earliest extant resource for dramatic theory. The first surviving part deals with drama while the other which has now lost focused on comedy.

In it,  Aristotle explored the characteristics and secrets of what made Greek drama effective and is highly influential to the development of drama today.

He viewed two important characteristics when discussing drama: Mimesis and Catharsis.

Mimesis or ‘imitation’ was central to drama as according to him, humans are naturally imitative of all creatures and therefore man may take pleasure in the imitation of actions on stage as often their stories dealt with real situations involving real people are emotions. On that note of emotions, probably the most famous of his views was the concept of catharsis. Simply put, is the purging of one’s emotions(particularly pity and fear) thereby cleansing the soul. The most characteristic play that exemplifies his theories would be Oedipus Rex by the tragedian Sophocles.

Later on,when the Romans conquered Greece in 146 BC, they also took many influences from the Greeks which included Drama. The Romans, however, decided to focus more on spectacle and dramatic performances. During this time, the acts were very elaborate and involved countless performers including gladiators, jugglers and other circus acts. While many drama festivals were still held in honor of their Gods, many of the plays performed were comedies, which include the famous plays of Plautus and Terence.

The Medieval Age: Faith and Redemption 

In the Medieval Era or what is known as the ‘Dark Ages’, dramatic performances, due to their origins in pagan rituals and festivals, were banned by the Church during this time. The Church was very strict on ensuring that the people of Medieval society were observing their faith in accordance with the rites of the Church and did not want any external influences. However, the Church had a problem to solve: Church services at the time were entirely in Latin and most people did not understand it. There must be a way to tell people about the stories and lessons from the Bible. Right on cue: theatrical performances.

These performances came in three types:

Mystery plays which depicted stories from the Bible, miracle plays which touched on saints and their lives and miracles as the name suggests and probably the most emblematic of the three, morality plays which were meant to teach morals upon the population of Medieval Europe of which probably the most well known is Everyman.

The Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment: The Human Condition Exhibited

The Renaissance which began from the end of the Medieval Era around the 15th century and lasted until around the 17th century in Europe was marked by a reexamination and fascination with the Classical Era. It included the rise of the ideology of Humanism which emphasized the potential of human reason.

Many great playwrights came from this period and their plays have influenced many other plans even until the present time. These include the great English playwrights Christopher Marlowe who produced Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare and his infamous works such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,etc. There are countless others across Europe like the Spanish playwright Lope de Vaga. The plays during this time then focused on themes that showcased actual human behaviour which include the complexities of life and society, love and the desire of free thinking breaking away from blind following of faith particularly the Church. The last point being the foundation of secularism, an ideology which would then come to be very common across drama

After the Renaissance,The Age of Enlightenment which lasted from the 17th century until around the 19th century, focus on human reason became the main ideology around the intelligentsia of the time.

Many thinkers such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot were of the view that only things that could be scientifically proven could be accepted and not those concepts which cannot be proven as such like religion.

These thinking proved a significant influence in the concepts that arose from this period such as democracy and human rights emphasising liberty and the pursuit of happiness 

As such, drama during this time emphasized the virtues of human reasoning and were now very critical of many things such as religion. In fact, Voltaire wrote a play on the Prophet (pbuh) (Mahomet) that was perceived at the time to be critical of religious corruption.

Modern Drama: The Real Deal

The development of drama after the Age of Enlightenment onwards into the Modern Age can be summed up in one word: Realism.

Realism emphasized on the belief that factual truths must be delivered in art which include real situations involving characters who exhibit real human behaviours. Drama became its modern understanding with this and many movements sprung out during this period highlighting its creativity. The focus on realism also allowed for social commentary to be depicted. The early modern period from around the turn of the 19th century up until the early 20th century saw drama that commented on social matters rise particularly with the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen who was widely considered as the father of modern drama. In the 20th century, a particular type of theatre became known as the theatre of the Absurd, arising from an essay written by the French writer Albert Camus entitled “The Myth of Sisyphus” in which he stated that human existence is essentially absurd; devoid of purpose. Many playwrights such as Samuel Beckett "Waiting for Godot”, Harold Pinter “Dumbwaiter” and Jean Genet wrote plays that showcased very existential themes and the supposed ‘non-purpose’ of human existence. 

Modern Drama continued to develop through the works of countless writers such Tennessee Williams “Streetcar Named Desire”, “The Glass Menagerie” and Arthur Miller “Death of a Salesman”.

Conclusion

It is found that, upon looking at the history of drama, it is understood that drama is a reflective mirror of society in the context it was written. Its portrayal of situations that the audience may find relevant with their own experiences serve as a testament to the success and popularity of drama today

As Prof Mohammad (2020) would view it, the canon of drama is “...the record of the attempts of playwrights to express and communicate their    ideas about man's hopes, dreams, ideals, feelings, thoughts and experience, and his relationship to society”.

References and Further Reading

Age of Enlightenment | Religion and Philosophy | Research Starters | EBSCO Research. (n.d.). EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/age-enlightenment

Betti, M. J. (2020, October 11). An Introduction to Drama. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344599996_An_Introduction_to_Drama?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InByb2ZpbGUiLCJwYWdlIjoicHJvZmlsZSJ9fQ

Renaissance Drama | EBSCO. (n.d.). EBSCO Information Services, Inc. | Www.ebsco.com. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/drama-and-theater-arts/renaissance-drama

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019). Theatre of the Absurd. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Theatre-of-the-Absurd