Drama

Elements of Drama

Rhythm, pace and tempo

The rhythm, pace and tempo of a piece of drama involve the speed at which the action moves along and how this changes. Changes in rhythm, pace and tempo are also reflected in speech.

Here is an example of varying pace in a short drama.

|Scene |Action of the play |Rhythm, pace and tempo |

|1 |Short busy activities. Lots of characters coming and going. |Uneven rhythm and a swift pace and tempo. |

| |Short, sharp lines reflecting burst of physical action. | |

|2 |A lazy, sunny afternoon on the river bank. |Even rhythm and slow tempo. |

|3 |Two characters burst in, arguing, then calm down. There are |The tempo starts off fast, with high energy, but the|

| |loud, sharp bursts of speech, matching the energetic physical|scene slows into an even rhythm, pace and tempo as |

| |entrance, but reducing to slower, calmer speech later on. |it progresses. |

Reflect on how you might use varying pace and tempo in your work. Think about the patterns and variations in rhythm.

• within a scene – a scene can change from being busy and active to slower and more focused.

• within a speech – an angry character can start a speech full of passion and emotion but end it being thoughtful and quiet.

• between characters – one could be agitated in speech and movement, pacing around the stage, while the other is quieter and stands still

• between scenes – the pace and style of an opening scene may be echoed in a closing scene.

Contrasts

Contrasts are created when opposites are put together to produce a specific effect or impression. Contrasts can occur between things that are directly seen or heard (i.e. look back at the list...