THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLAY/SKIT/DRAMA/SCRIPT

PLAY, SKIT, DRAMA

PLAY:

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading.

For a short play, the term “play let” is sometime used.

GENRES:

1. Comedy play—humorous plays.

Ex. William Shakespeare’s “A mid-summer Night’s Dream”.

• Farce – nonsensical genre of play

Ex. William Shakespeare’s—“the comedy of errors”

• Satirical — comic look at current events people while at the same time attempting to make a make a political or social statement.

Ex. Aristophanes“Lysistrata”

• Restoration comedy—A genre that explored relationships between men and women.
• Tragedy—darker themes such as death and disaster often the protagonist of the play has a tragic flaw, a trait which leads to their downfall.
• Historical—actual historical events.
• Musical theatre—the right to create every song in the play, and these plays were held to more specific conventions. Etc… Etc. etc..,..

Many more…………

HOW TO WRITE A PLAY.

• Characters introduction.
  • Mostly 2 characters are sufficient.
  • Can complete in 1 or 2 scenes.
  • Starting and ending is must.
  • No need any special characters, special emotions.
  • Introduce the scene before it begins (better to be scene- 1).

EXAMPLE:

HOSPITAL

CHARACTERS:

1. Patient

2. Receptionist

3. Nurse

4. Doctor

The patient Sudhakar is suffering from Stomach pain. He needs visit hospital.

Scene -1(patient at the receptionist)

Patient                      : Good morning

Receptionist             : How can I help you?

Patient                       : I need a doctor.

Receptionist             : Yes. Wait a minute. What is your telephone number?

Patient                       : 97xxxxxxxx

Receptionist             : Where do you live?

Patient                       : In Alwal.

(Curtains close)

Scene-2 (patient and nurse)

Patient           : Good morning

Nurse             : Good morning

Patient           : I am suffering from Stomach pain. Please.

                                       (Doctor enters)

Doctor           : Good morning. How can I help you?

Patient           : Good morning. I am suffering from Stomach ache.

Doctor           : Let me see… (Doctor checks the patient)

Patient          : Thank you.

Doctor           : You’re welcome.

                       (Patient paid the fee and left the hospital)

SKIT:

A skit is a piece of paper of writing that is meant to be performed.

STRUCTURE:

                          A skit starts with a title. Then it usually has some information such as who are the characters. What is the setting, what props are needed and any costumes needed?

Generally skits are connected in real life (no imaginary thoughts)

SETTING THE STAGE:

• Introduction of the scene.
• Use only present tense and mostly.
• Third person.

HOW TO WRITE SKIT:

•  Characters introduction (may be more than 2 and less than 4 characters)
• Scenes can be around 3.
• Can write location, settings and costumes.
• It should be related to the reality.(not imaginative)

EXAMPLE:

Write skit on Husband and wife evening outing.

One fine evening

Characters:

Husband       :Sudhakar
Wife               :Madhuravani
Brother         :Kishore

One fine morning both went to outing. Husband being a Diabetic patient, he felt hungry…. then

SCENE 1:

Wife               : Are you feeling hungry? It has been two hours since you ate anything.
Husband       : My goodness. I am feeling damn hungry, come on we eat something sugar free.

(They couldn’t find anything to eat. So they went into the reliance market to buy vegetables)

Shopkeeper : Madam, you purchased good fruits and health things.

Wife               : Thank you. What is the bill?

Shopkeeper : 875/-

Wife               : Ok.

(Paid bill and came out)

SCENE 2:

(At restaurant)

Husband       : How about having a lemon tea where there is no sugar.

Wife               : Good option. Carry on dear.

Husband       : Good.

(Orders lemon tea. But wife with doubt tastes the lemon tea, which is full of Honey)

Wife               : My dear, it’s full of sweet. Please don’t drink it.

Husband       : I am craving for it. Please, let me drink it. I will take some extra insulin.

Wife               : No….No….No… Listen to me.

(Both seriously shouted at each other… came home)

SCENE-3

Brother         : Anna, what happened?

Husband       : Nothing

                       (and slept)

Wife               : (Seriously) Eat idly and sleep, Please.

Husband       : I don’t want, you eat.

Wife               : U have chicken to eat. (Ha…Ha…Ha)

Husband       : (Felt relaxed after wife smiles) Ok dear. I am sorry. I will never do it again.

(They both convinced)

DRAMA:

Drama is the specific mode of fiction, represented in performance.

It represents two masks.

• It’s the traditional generic between Tragedy (weeping face) and comedy (laughing face).
• Drama is combined with music and dance.

DIFFERENT FRAME OF DRAMA:

1. OPERA:

            A rouse during the renaissance in an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama in which dialogue, dance and song were combined.

• PANTOMIME:

            Musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment,generally folk tales.

• MIME:

            It’s a theatrical medium where the action of a story is told through the movement of the body, without use of the speech.

• CREATIVE DRAMA:

            Dramatic activities and games used primarily in educational settings with children.

• WINIFRED WARD:

             It is considered to be the founder of creative drama in education.

HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE DRAMA:

1. It’s an elaborate form of play and skit
2. It can have many scenes (like 4 or 5 scenes)
3. It can have many characters.
4. Describe about feelings, expressions, costumes, settings and miniscule things also explained.
5. Sometimes it may not have proper ending.
6. Locations can be changed.

[Play and skit can be scripted, where drama cannot be scripted. It has to be played in a theatrical mode.]

• Drama comes under narrative type of writing.

Ex. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

EXAMPLES TO SOLVE:

1. In the lesson “What is My Name?” you learned about a lady doing all the household work and forgetting her own name. It is a satire and gives the message to the society that women are also human beings. The main characters are: the housewife, her husband, their two children and the house maid. Convert this story into a play with these characters .your play should have atleast 15 to 18 sentences and should have different main characters. It should include;
2. The scene
3. The persons
4. Where it starts
5. How she realizes she forget her name
6. Going to her mother’s house
7. Returning home
8. Her changed personality.

• In the lesson ‘’Unity of Diversity in India’’, you studied about the greatness of our country. How our unity is fostered and cultivated. How different cultures contribute towards unity. Write a play on this theme. The play should have different characters from different backgrounds in India and unity is maintained in spite of all the differences. Your play should bring the message of importance for unity for development.
• Different characters
• Theme ;unity
• Different religions
• Different cultures
• Different eating habits
• Different costumes.

• Write a play based on the lesson ‘’A Tale of Three Cities’’, on the nuclear leakage at Chernobyl in Vorobyov village in Ukraine. The play should have various characters and should be 12 to 15 sentences long. It should have details like.
• The place
• The date and time
• What actually happened
• How were people affected
• The consequences
• The future
• The precautions needed.

• In the lesson, ‘’ The Storeyed House’’, you were introduced to the different characters. The main person being Bayaji around whom the story woven. Convert this into a play. The play should have at least 15 to 20 sentences and should include,
• The main characters
• The scene
• The return of Bayaji
• His conversations
• His interactions with children
• Life in the village
• The construction of the house.

• In the lesson,’’ The Never-Never Nest’’. You were introduced to the ill-effects of living beyond one’s means and young couples who end up making a mess of their lives. Write a play on the same theme with the same message. The place and the people can be family with a young couple and their parents. They have many differences of opinion on the life-style adopted by the two generations. The play should have at least 15 to 20 sentences and include details….
• The place
• The different characters
• Their professions
• Their income
• Life styles of both the couples
• Arguments
• Moral of the story.

• In the lesson, ‘’ The Brave Potter’’, you came across a potter who became very famous due to two lucky incidents. In the first incident, he captured a tiger which was dangerous to all. Write this particular incident in the form of a drama with the different characters. Mention also where exactly the drama takes place your drama should have details on….the drama should have minimum 20 lines and at least 4 characters and the crowd.
• The place
• The time
• The season
• How did he capture the tiger
• How the villagers treated him
• How did he become famous
• Real feelings

• In the lesson ‘’Every Success Story ‘’ you studied about how a young man was taught a practical lesson on the secret to success. Write a play on the story with real conversations and describing the place, time, and the people involved in the play. The play should have atleast, 12 to 15 sentences. The play should deal with the following.
• The characters
• The scene and the time
• The conversation
• Description of secretes
• What you experienced
• What you learned from it.