All PARTS of the THEATRICAL text

Theater It is one of the branches of the performing arts that is based on showing a story in front of an audience through word and gesture. Other elements such as music, dance, scenery, etc. can also be used. but the importance lies above all in the text.

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we want to explain to you the parts of the theatrical text so you can recognize them when you are reading a play or seeing it performed on stage.

A theatrical text It is made up of different parts that will be very easy for you to recognize once you open the script or script.

These are the parts of the theatrical text.

Dramatis personnae

This is a page where you can see a list of all characters and the relationship they have with each other.

For example:

• Claudius, King of Denmark
• Hamlet, son of the late and nephew of the current king
• Polonius, Lord Chamberlain
• Horace, Hamlet's friend
• Laertes, son of Polonius
• Voltimand, Cornelius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Osric, a knight, courtiers
• A priest
• Marcelo, Bernardo, officers

acts

Acts are another part of the theatrical text. And it is that the works are divided into acts and each act contains a series of scenes. These acts serve to separate well the structure of the work and normally theatrical texts usually contain 3 acts, which differ from each other by the appearance of a new conflict or a change of scenography. This is another one of those dramatic text elements most characteristic of the genus.

scenes

The scenes are text snippets that make up the acts. Initially, scenes began to be used to indicate when an actor entered or left the scene, that is, a new character entered or left each scene.

Over time, the concept of scenes has evolved and playwrights often use them to determine the topic they are talking about or what is happening. When the subject changes, we also change the scene.

dimensions

The dimensions are annotations left by the author to better express how that character is feeling or what movement the scene requires. You can find stage directions throughout the play and there are authors who use them continuously, while others only put one or two in each scene.

For example:

"Princess: We'll have to go that way (pointing to stage left) To get faster."

Picture

Paintings show scene decoration at all times. Every time there is a change of scenery or props on the stage, the author explains it in detail in a box. There are authors who prefer that the set be imagined by each director and, therefore, do not leave the picture of his work written.

dialogues

Is he verbal exchange between the characters.

For example:

"CLAUDIO.––And now, my dear Hamlet, nephew and son of mine….

HAMLET.– (Annoyed, aside) (More like a cousin than a nephew…)

CLAUDIO.– Why this sadness? What clouds shadow your face?

HAMLET It is not that, sir; I am spending too much time in the sun.

GERTRUDIS.– Dear Hamlet, cast off that melancholy humour."

monologues

The monologue is reflection that makes a character out loud so the audience can hear it.

For example:

"To be or not to be, that is the question. What is higher for the spirit, to suffer the blows and darts of insulting fortune or to take up arms against the sea of ​​calamities and, facing them, put an end to them? To die... to sleep; no more. And to think that with a dream we put an end to the sorrow of the heart and to the thousand natural conflicts that constitute the inheritance of the flesh! Here is a devoutly palatable term! Die... sleep, maybe dream! Yes, there is the obstacle! For it is bound to stop us to consider what dreams can survive in that sleep of death, when we have freed ourselves from the whirlwind of life."

asides

Another part of the theatrical text are the asides. It is a sporadic intervention of a character that should be heard by the audience, but not by the other characters.

For example:

"POLONIUS: Do you want to come, sir, where the air does not give you?

HAMLET Where? To the grave?

POLONIUM: (Aside) It is true that there is no air."

Remember that a theatrical text has a structure Quite similar to that of any other literary text and is composed of these three parts:

• Presentation: Initial part of the work in which the main characters are presented and the work is placed in a certain place and time.
• Knot: It is the development of the conflict, where the plot begins to twist.
• Outcome: It is the way in which the conflict of the work is solved.

We hope that this lesson has been able to help you and that now you know all parts of the theatrical text and you can recognize them when you read a play or go to the theater to see a dramatic show. If you are interested in continuing to learn about this topic or something similar, take a look at our section on writing.