Final answer:
Drama is a genre meant for stage performance, characterized by enactment, plot, setting, dialogue, action, and organized by acts, scenes, and line numbers. It can be in various forms, such as comedy, tragedy, history, and romance, often employing stage directions and dialogue to convey the story within the constraints of a theatrical performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
Characteristics of Drama
Drama, as a literary genre, is a work meant to be performed by actors on a stage to an audience. According to African drama scholar Ruth Finnegan, the most important aspect is the idea of enactment, or representation through actors. In addition to enactment, other key characteristics include the plot, setting, dialogue, and action. Just like fiction, drama features characters caught up in a series of events within a storyline. However, unlike the detailed descriptions often found in novels, a play must convey its story within the limitations of the stage and typically during a shorter timespan. This requires effective use of dialogue, character interactions, and stage directions to communicate the narrative and themes.
Drama is usually divided into acts, scenes, and may specify line numbers. The character list often precedes the script, indicating who will be speaking throughout the performance. Common genres within drama include comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. For example, comedy often features lower-class characters and ends in marriage, while tragedy depicts a protagonist's downfall due to a tragic flaw and includes elevated language and scenes of suffering or death.
Specific types of drama like melodramas, popular in the 19th century, emphasize moral simplicity, using music and special effects to enhance the emotional experience.