The main genres and styles of drama, including naturalism, epic theatre and physical theatre, and how each shapes the way a play is written, staged and performed.

What this dot point is asking

You need to recognise the main genres and styles of drama, describe their key features, and explain how a chosen style shapes the way a play is written, staged and acted. A style is a way of making theatre; it affects everything from the set to the way performers address the audience. This knowledge is tested directly in Component 1 and is essential vocabulary for the set play, the devised piece and live theatre evaluation.

Naturalism and realism

Naturalistic acting is detailed and truthful, the set is often a realistic box set, and the lighting and sound mimic real conditions. The Russian practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed a system to help actors create truthful, believable characters, using ideas such as the given circumstances (everything the script tells us about the character's situation), objectives (what the character wants in each unit of the scene) and emotion memory; his system is closely linked to this style.

Epic theatre

Brecht wanted the audience to judge events rather than simply feel them, so actors might step out of character, narrate their own actions, or "show" a character rather than "become" one. Where naturalism hides its theatricality, epic theatre exposes it on purpose, reminding the audience that what they watch is a constructed argument about society that they are free to question.

Physical theatre and other styles

Physical theatre tells the story mainly through the body: movement, mime, gesture, lifts and ensemble work, sometimes with little or no dialogue. The company Frantic Assembly is strongly associated with it and with techniques for building movement collaboratively. Other styles you may meet include comedy, tragedy, melodrama (heightened emotion, clear heroes and villains, often with music) and documentary or verbatim theatre, which builds a play from real words spoken by real people. Recognising the conventions of each lets you name a style accurately and explain its effect.

Try this

Q1. State one feature of naturalistic theatre. [1 mark]

• Cue. Believable, lifelike acting and setting, with a fourth wall between actor and audience.

Q2. Explain how Brecht's epic theatre affects the audience. [2 marks]

• Cue. It breaks the illusion so the audience stays aware it is a play and thinks critically about the message rather than only feeling emotion.