JSS1 Cultural and Creative Art (CCA) Lesson Note on Drama and Theatre

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TOPIC: DRAMA AND THEATRE

Sub-Topic 1: Origin, Introduction, and Definition of Drama/Theatre

Sub-Topic 2: Functions of drama

Origin of drama and theatre (mimesis, ritual, and storytelling)

The origins of theatre have been traced to myth and rituals found in dances and mimed performances by masked dancers during fertility rites and other ceremonies that marked important passages in life.

Early societies acted out patterns of life, death, and rebirth associated with the welfare of village tribes. Imitation, costumes, masks, makeup, gesture, dance, music, and pantomime were some of the theatrical elements found in early rituals.

At some unrecorded time, these ceremonies and rituals became formalized in dramatic festivals and spread from Greece to the western world and from India to the eastern world.

Some scholars claim that it may have originated from African primitive folklore, traditional customs, tales or saying, preserved orally among a people.

There are scholars who are of the view that it originated from the worship of Dionysus, the greek god of wine, fertility and creation in ancient Greek. The theory of the scholars who posit that dramatic art began in Africa states that it might have originated from moonlight stories told around bonfire. Another origin from Africa is that it started as a result of the rites and sacrifices carried out by priests in propitiation of different gods in Africa

Introduction to Drama and Theatre:

The word drama is derived from “dram”, a Greek word which means “to do”. It is one of the ways through which man expresses his view about the society either positively or negatively.

The word “theatre” is derived from the Greek word “theatron” which means the viewing place or seeing place.

Definitions of Drama:

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