Dramatic Activities : Dramatic Behavior

In ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ a non-naturalistic performance style is used to allow the audience to make sense and develop their understanding of the present characteristics of the characters. Flashbacks of the main character are portrayed in non-naturalistic form as we see Anna’s friend Catherine playing out the role of ‘young Ana’. This is evident in Act 1 Scene 10 and Act 1 Scene 16. All three scenes require the Catherine to transform into a new character called ‘Young Ana’ as we flashback into the past scenes of Ana’s imagination; this is evident in the texts stage directions ‘ARTUR speaks to CATHERINE now, as though she is the young ANA. The real ANA steps slightly away’ to show the transformation of ANA into CATHERINE. However the scenes are set within the setting of the present time, for instance, the text stating ‘Ana’s home transforms into Hungary’ shows the non-naturalistic setting of the scenes. Both performance techniques are elements of the Non-naturalistic performance style and highly reflect the non-naturalistic nature of the performance.

In his book, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman (1959) focuses on the self as a staged production in which people actively present themselves to different audiences one encounters. To bolster his conceptualization, Goffman used an interesting metaphor of “all the world’s a stage” (1959, 254). This, he terms as a “dramaturgical approach” (Goffman 1959, 240) in which an actor puts on a show for others; drawing analogies between human behaviors and the theater. Goffman (1959) likens the individual to an actor on stage performing for and with other individuals involved in the situation. Three types of space exist for the actor to perform on, to enact the self, and to interact with others: the front stage, the backstage, the outer region. Goffman (1959) utilizes specific dramaturgical terms such as performance, teams, front and back regions, sign-vehicles, and highlights the process of dramatic realization. These terms will be discussed in the following sections.

It is through the confronting and provocative challenges that trigger individuals to reassess their past and present beliefs and attitudes leading to meaningful and transformative discoveries. Jane Harrison’s play ‘Rainbow’s end’, explores Gladys and Nan Dear’s transformative discoveries after they face racial segregations in the western community. This ultimately evokes them to reassess their negative and positive present attitudes towards the white Australians. Similarly, Sean penn’s film ‘into the wild’, exhibits Christopher’s discovery of humanity and basic human interaction to be truly free and happy after experiencing hardships whilst surviving in the wilderness.

In “Presentations of Self in Everyday Life,” Goffman is constantly explaining how everyday life is a dramaturgy. A dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and essentially the production of a theatrical play. A social situation is much like a play. Every play has a stage, actors, a script, a set, rehearsals, and practices. In a social situation, the stage is where the encounter takes place, the actors are the people involved in the encounter, the script is the social norms of the social encounter, and the set is the environment where the encounter takes place. It takes practices and

The center I chose to observe was the dramatic play center which is a kitchen. I chose this center because because it's a great way to observe children. The purpose of the dramatic play center is to help develop social, emotional and oral language skills. It gives children a chance to assign roles, self regulate when having to take turns and during all of this children are developing language skills.

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” William Shakespeare may have written these words in As You Like It in 1600, but Erving Goffman truly defined the phrase with his dramaturgical theory. Dramaturgical analysis is the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. Unlike actors though, who use a script telling them how to behave in every scene, real life human interactions change depending upon the social situation they are in. We may have an idea of how we want to be perceived, and may have the foundation to make that happen. But we cannot be sure of every interaction we will have throughout the day, having to ebb and flow with the conversations and situations as they happen.

Contemporary Australian theatre mainly focuses on the reflection of the ‘real’ Australia and communicating to the audience real and modern issues/ideas that respond to the social climate and community. Australian theatre practitioners use various performance styles, techniques and dramatic conventions to help portray their ideas to their audiences and make them feel a particular way to the ideas presented in a play. Without the use of these styles, techniques and conventions it wouldn’t be possible for the practitioners to emphasise their ideas.

Pretend you are playing the role of a character named Jordan, while discussing Erving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy. Jordan finally made it. Jordan finally graduated university and has been lucky enough to receive an offer for an interview at the institution that he had been working towards his entire university career, an interview at the top law firm in all of Toronto. Now it is time to prepare. It is time for Jordan to show the firm that he is meant to be there. To show the firm that this position was meant for him, he must be the best version of himself. Jordan is competing against hundreds of other university graduates, but he must show them that he is the one. Jordan’s first impression matters, he must show them the qualities that they want to see to ensure that he receives the position at the law firm.

Accomplished writer Andrew Solomon reflects on his own adversities and experiences to explore his own defining moments, leading to the discovery of personal growth; ultimately providing meaning to life. Through his speech the audience is immediately introduced to the concept of “Forge meaning, build identity”. The strategic repetition allows the audience to relate his examples to “Forge meaning, build identity” as they begin to build an understanding of the concept. Solomon states that during his childhood he was perceived as “a boy who should sit with the girls”. Drawing from his own life events allows a personal connection to form between audience and speaker. Such a connection intrigues and captivates the audience’s attention as they become

Each person in the group has the chance to write their own script about their own life. Each story is collaborated together to create one big performance. This gives former inmates the opportunity to not only show off their creative side, but to learn everything there is to know about theater. After working hard for a couple months, the curtain is finally ready to go up. Working together, these actors will show the world that even those with a bad past can still have a bright future.

Erving Goffman was a sociologist known for developing the symbolic interaction and dramaturgical theory perspective. The dramaturgical theory is a social psychological perspective that studies human behavior and social interaction in terms of the analogy of the theater. This perspective is also related to symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is a theory based on interaction and communication, facilitated by many different words, gestures, and other symbols that have acquired various meanings. Dramaturgical theorist focus on how people manipulate various aspects of themselves and their settings to influence how others define and respond to them. In this perspective, “the self” is constructed of the various roles that one acquires, in order to present their various selves in ways that sustain particular impressions to their audiences. “The self” is a private possession established in and reflective of an individual’s personality, which includes ones values, beliefs, motives, traits, and dispositions. In addition, a person’s “self” is acquired through social relationships and is a structurally fundamental process that may change due to various situations. As humans interact with one another they are placed in social categories based on their attributes and actions. These assessments are primarily based on ones knowledge of roles.

Using those key elements, Slingsby creates a comprehensive theatrical space where the audience is discovering the story with them, rather than the actors simply telling them the story, asking big philosophical questions about compassion and leadership throught the themes of self-transformation,

Characters – agents of the play, they provide motivation for the plot. “Vivid Characters” are the ones who are faced with “obstacles that we the audience can recognise”.

This view gives us a deeper understanding of behaviours as performances. A personal example of looking at a performativity culture and analyzing it, is the roles people play in everyday life. The role of a

Question Three. The way a play is staged can have a significant effect on the meanings made by the audience. To what extent have choices n the staging of No Sugar contributed to the meanings you have made concerning ethnicity and identity.