Monotonous Drama
Can drama be read monotonously and still convey the same meaning? That is the historical argument that I chose to illustrate in my sound clip. The excerpt is of an emotional scene between the main character and her father as she breaks through the grasps of customs and traditions to find her own way in America. I used my laptop and Audacity software to create the sound clip, and Soundcloud to upload it to the blog.
Drama has been played out in theaters since ancient times. The ancient Greeks broke drama into two main genres: comedy and tragedy. Thalia was the muse of comedy and represented by the laughing mask, and Melpomene was the muse of tragedy and represented by the weeping mask. The mask helped the audience know the emotions of the characters at various points in the drama. As technology advanced and before the invention of the television, people were able to enjoy drama from the comfort of their home, listening to movies, shows, news, etc. on radios. To get the same effect as in live theater, it was important for the characters to use various tone and inflections to portray their emotions and allow the audience to imagine the scene playing out, along with the help of strategic sound effects.
]The assignment I chose called for Over-Dramatic Reading with a twist: to choose any written material to read in a way that alters the message of the original text. I went the opposite way of over dramatic reading and read it monotonously with the objective of seeing if there would be a same effect. Instead of reading a sad scene in a happy or mad way, or reading a romantic scene in a sarcastic tone, I attempted to take all inflection and pitch from the voice to test if toneless drama is possible and still allows the audience to get the same meaning as if the audio aid was still there. The irony is that even silence speaks volumes.
It’s an interesting assignment you chose and the way you accomplished it. Glance at the theater of ancient Greece serves as a history lesson and is very relevant. It shows that human beings are emotional creatures. Always were and always will be. So, your version of assignment emphasizes just that – take away the emotions from our day-to-day activities and communications, and we most likely will not be able to understand each other anymore, at least not on the same level as before.