The 6 Basic Elements of Theatre
There are six basic elements of Theatre. They are:
1. Plot
4. Dialogue
2. Theme
5. Sight
3. Character
6. Sound


Plot is the story, or plan of action, in a literary
work. The plot must be believable, workable,
and well structured. The major conflict must
have minor crises building toward the final
climax, where either the protagonist or the
antagonist wins and resolves the conflict.
If we break the conflict down further, it has
additional parts. Like the major dramatic
elements, these additional parts of a conflict are
much more evident in some plays than in
others.
Plot
Beginning
Balance
Inciting Incident
Rising Course of
Action
Climax
There is a certain form of stability for the
protagonist (hero) at the beginning of a play. This
is referred to as beginning balance. Life may be
imperfect and strained at this time with some
foreshadowing of future conflict, like the calm
before the storm, but the characters are able to
live within the framework of this balance.
An important part of the
beginning balance is the exposition,
which tells us who the characters
are and how they got that way. The
best exposition is sprinkled in small
doses between the action segments
of the earlier parts of the play. It is
often given as important news to
other characters. Another popular
way to give exposition is through
flashback, where a scene is
portrayed from a characters
memory.
At some point in the play, usually early on, an action occurs in the plot
that upsets the beginning balance. This is the inciting incident. The
rest of the play is spent trying to restore the balance as well as possible.
Short plays often start with the inciting incident and gradually let us
know, through exposition, what the balance was in the “scenes” before
the play started.
Once the Inciting Incident happens, two more extremely important
elements loom into view:

Objective:
The goal, perhaps the beginning
balance, which the protagonist
tries to achieve

Obstacle:
The main stumbling block that
prevents the protagonist from
reaching his goal.
After the objective and obstacle are established,
the protagonist decides on a course of action to
follow in order to overcome the obstacle and
reach the objective. This is the part of the plot
between the Inciting Incident and the climax. The
course of action, as you can guess, becomes an
obstacle course, cluttered with the various
challenges and setbacks. It is called the “Rising”
Course of Action because the closer the course is
to the climax, the more intense it usually becomes.
COMPLICATIONS
Anything (trouble, new
information, etc.) that
happens with in the plot
which causes a change in
the course of action is
considered a complication.
Complications give the
protagonist new problems
to solve, or make the main
goal harder to reach. The
most effective
complications are
believable, but unexpected.
CRISIS
SUBPLOT(S)
Any time two forces
are engaged in active
conflict a crisis occurs.
The crisis may build to
a climax, but it doesn’t
resolve the major
conflict. It only
heightens the
suspense toward it.
Each crisis is intense,
either the actual
protagonist,
antagonist, or both are
involved.
Most good literary
works have subplots,
or less important
stories that are
related to the main
plot. Each subplot’s
climax occurs either
before or during the
major climax, and its
results should be
connected to the
main plot.
The climax comes when the Beginning Balance is
either restored to a great extent by the protagonist
or else permanently destroyed by the antagonist.
Either way, the conflict is resolved, and the
protagonist or antagonist wins. The climax is the
highest point of interest or excitement.
RESOLUTION

The degree to which the
play’s beginning
balance is resolved by
the climax.
DENOUEMENT

Quickly taking care of
any untold secrets or
unfinished business the
audience needs to know
so the play or story can
end. It is the
“unraveling” of the
problem. Often the
climax itself is the end,
and there is no
additional denouement.
Theme is the main, dominating idea of a play. It is
usually an abstract concept which becomes concrete
through the characters’ speeches and actions, through
symbols and images within the play, and through
theatrical conventions. Just as the theme in a musical
work keeps recurring, so a play’s theme often keeps
coming back in various ways on drama.
Sometimes the theme is obvious, especially when the
play is tightly woven around it. Henrik Ibsen, the
great Norwegian playwright, would decide on a
certain theme then build a play around it. The theme
of corrupt city government developed into his play
The Pillars of Society; the women’s rights theme
brought forth A Doll’s House.
Discovering the Theme
through the
CHARACTER
Discovering the Theme
through
SYMBOLS
Discovering the Theme
through
DRAMATIC CONVENTIONS
Often characters refer directly to the theme
through what they say and do. Consider
Hamlet’s famous line, “To be, or not to be, that is
the question.” He is deciding whether to avenge
his father’s death, commit suicide, or take the
easier road of pretended ignorance of the murder.
When the widow Dolly Levi decides to get
married again in Hello Dolly!, she exclaims “I’ve
decided to rejoin the human race” then sings,
“Before the parade passes by, I’m gonna get in
step while there’s still time left.”
A literary symbol is an object, character, or
incident used to represent something abstract. A
well used symbol can take the place of several
pages of dialogue. It can quickly add complexity
and texture to the play. There are several types of
symbols commonly used in theatre:
Symbolic Object or Action; Metaphor; Allegory;
and Motif
A concrete object can be used to represent something
abstract. For example, the silk stockings in Death of a
Salesman symbolize Willy’s lack of loyalty to Linda.
Another symbol that has gained significance since the
time of the original production is Willy’s Studebaker. The
car was becoming extinct, just like him. Other symbolic
objects include Laura’s glass menagerie, in The Glass
Menagerie, and the adversarial windmill in Man of La
Mancha.
A song or action can also become symbolic. “The
Telephone Hour” in Bye Bye Birdie and countless symbolic
dances, such as “Chava’s Soliloquy” in Fiddler on the Roof
reinforce themes through symbolism.
A metaphor is a figure of speech or image in
which one thing represents another that is
actually quite different. An example is
Shakespeare’s famous line, “All the world’s a
stage.” The world is not literally a stage,
figuratively, though, the metaphor works
perfectly.
Allegory is an extended metaphor, a symbolic
story which represents a truth outside the
framework of that story. Allegories are especially
effective in musical theatre where the story can be
told through song or dance as well as through
speech. Examples of allegory in musical theatre
are “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in The King and I, and
Tony and Maria meeting at the dance in West Side
Story.
The prevailing theme or subject of a piece of art is
called a motif. They are similar to symbols, but
not quite the same. While a symbol stands for
something else, a motif stands for itself. A motif
is totally suggestive (and therefore rather vague)
and must be repeated in order to have impact.
Motifs are usually more important to plays than
are symbols. A motif in Death of a Salesman is that
man needs to feel important, almost as
desperately as he needs air, water, and food.


There are many dramatic conventions which the
playwright can use to help present and emphasize
the theme. These conventions were used
extensively in the theatre until the Age of Realism
came into vogue in the late nineteenth century.
Theatre of Realism however sought to establish an
imaginary “fourth wall” between the actors and
the audience. Rather than speak directly to the
audience as they had before, actors attempted to
create a “slice of life,” as if the audience were not
there.
Two of the most common conventions used
through the centuries to present and emphasize
theme are: Asides and Soliloquies.
Asides, speeches by a character which are supposedly
heard only by the audience, were always an integral
part of theatre until Realism. Now, when they are
used, it is either with considerable subtlety, or when a
“narrator” speaks to the audience, as Tom in The Glass
Menagerie, or the Stage Manager in Our Town.
Musical theatre is allowed more leeway than nonmusicals in using asides. Some of the most famous
musical characters speak directly to the audience,
such as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Dolly in Hello
Dolly, and the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat. Many of the songs are also
sung directly to the audience, as a form of asides.
Soliloquies are speeches by a character spoken as if to himself.
These too, are not used as much, and certainly not as obviously
as in previous ages, although they are still very present. An
example of a subtle soliloquy from Death of a Salesman is when
Willy speaks of forgetting where he was while driving to his
sales route. In actuality, he is speaking to Linda, but his
attention drifts away from her to his memories. There are
several other examples, too.
Like the aside, soliloquies are more present in musical theatre,
for example when Tony sings “Tonight” in West Side Story.
Since the soliloquies and asides are not usually realistic, but
rather seek to break the “fourth wall” and establish direct
contact with the audience, they are not ordinarily used in
Theatre of Realism. They have flourished, however, in more
non-realistic theatre forms, such as musical theatre and abstract
theatre.
Drama is the art form most concerned with
human beings, their behavior, and their
relationships. Characters are the central elements
in almost ALL drama.
Characterization
Character
Protagonist
Antagonist
General rules the playwrights try to follow
for their characterizations are:
1. Each character
should function to
further the action of
the play toward the
climax. By the time
the climax is reached,
every character
should line up on
either the
protagonist’s or
antagonist’s side.
2. The major
characters should be
especially
believable, well
developed, and
interesting. Each
major character
should exhibit one
or more dominant
traits, or qualities,
whether good or
bad.
3. In most cases,
the most important
character trait of
both the
protagonist and
the antagonist is
volition, the ability
to make decisions
and the daring to
carry them out,
right or wrong.
The protagonist is usually the one who is affected the most by the Inciting
Incident, so he tries the hardest to restore the balance. He is usually the
“good guy,” but not always. The best protagonists are volatile; they make
things happen once the disturbance has come. Some general principles
playwrights follow in developing their protagonists are:
1. Throughout the play,
the protagonist should
grow and develop in
wisdom, strength, insight,
love, spirituality, etc., but
the obstacle should also be
enlarging in strength and
power. The stakes of
winning and losing this
conflict should be high.
Finally, either the
protagonist should be able
to overcome the obstacle,
or else the obstacle
destroys him.
2. The protagonist and
his friends must be
interesting and
empathetic. They must
be appealing enough that
the audience will care
about what happens to
them, thereby caring
what happens in the
play.
3. If the protagonist is
romantically involved, it
usually helps to have
him/her and the one
he/she is romantically
involved with as
opposites to an extent.
They can be contrasting in
key items such as
attitudes, interests,
culture, or education.
Resolving these
differences makes an
excellent subplot, and is
sometimes the main plot.
The antagonist is the person or
force that causes the inciting
incident to upset the balance,
then continues to set major
obstacles in the way of
restoring the balance. The
most believable antagonist is
one who isn’t necessarily mean
for the sake of being mean, but
is trying so hard to reach his
own objective that he doesn’t
care what happens to anyone
or anything else.


Dialogue is simply the conversation in a play.
However, well-written dialogue is much different
from everyday conversation; it is compressed.
Virtually every line in a well-structured play has
the purpose of developing the plot or a character.
Dialogue and action are the two things that move
a play along and help it progress. Action performs
this, obviously, through what the characters do;
dialogue performs it by what the characters say.
Dialogue can also reveal plot, theme, and character
development.
Plot
• Dialogue carries
the action of the
plot, or story.
Theme
• Recurring
dialogue can
reveal and
reinforce the
play’s theme the
same way
recurring strains
of music reveal
and reinforce the
theme in that art.
Different
characters can
restate the theme,
and they can say it
in different ways
more than once.
Character
Development
• Characters are
revealed to the
audience by what
they say and do,
and by what
others say about
them and do to
them. The
dialogue reveals
the development
of these characters
as they grow
through insight,
confidence, and
success.
Drama is a performing art, meant to be played before an
audience, not read alone from a book. A play’s
impression is as visual as it is vocal, and in some respects,
even more so. We see things and perceive them
immediately; we hear things and we need to sort them out
in our minds. In life, many of our strongest memories
come visually: a look, an expression, a handshake, or
some other larger action.
In theatre, as in life, sight communicates setting, action,
thoughts, relationships and feelings to the audience.
Therefore, theatre artists rely extensively upon visual
images. Most of the technical production is for the visual
effect: scenery, lighting, costumes, make-up, and props.
The director’s staging and the actors’ characters and
actions are communicated to the audience visually.
While we visually perceive things faster and
remember them longer, many things cannot be
communicated visually. We need to hear key
words, thoughts, and other sounds. There are
ways of communicating feelings and emotion
through music and other sounds that are
impossible to reveal any other way. There are
three main parts of theatre sound: Voice, Music,
and Sound Effects.
The voice can convey a great deal: Words,
thoughts and emotions. A trained voice can
convey its wishes exactly. British actors often win
the America’s Academy Awards because their
voices are better trained. The voice is such an
expressive instrument that we need to work with
it much more than we presently do.
Music is rightly called “the International
language.” Music can convey moods and feelings
even if the listener can’t understand the lyrics.
That is why opera has lasted for centuries and
why musicals are so popular today.
Sounds that are neither
voice nor music can also
communicate strongly in
key places. Whether the
sound is a crash, a roll of
thunder, a creak, or a
growl, the well-placed
sound effect can
sometimes communicate
better than anything else.