Play

Types of plays in literature

There are many types of plays that exist in literature. However, most plays either fall into one of these types or are a blend of elements taken from more than one type.

Tragedy

Tragedies are a type of play that has an unhappy ending, usually with the protagonist's death. The tragic hero is a likeable character who, due to a certain misfortune or fatal flaw, experiences a downfall that ultimately results in their death. The downfall of a virtuous and heroic character causes the audience to feel sympathy and empathy and serves as a means of catharsis.

Catharsis: The purging of repressed negative emotions that results in relief or renewal.

Othello (1604) by Shakespeare (1564 –1616) is a tragic play where Othello, a noble, honest and valiant general, is exploited by his traitorous ensign Iago into murdering his wife, Desdemona. Iago uses Othello's jealousy and insecurities against him to make him believe that Desdemona is cheating on him.

Fig. 2 - A 1971 stage production of Othello, with Othello and Desdemona pictured onstage.

Comedy

Comedies are plays that are lighthearted, absurd and humourous and are meant to b entertaining for audiences. Comedies involve unusual characters who usually get tangled up in unfortunate yet ridiculous situations. However, comedies are usually resolved with a happy ending.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1600) by Shakespeare is one of the most famous comedy plays to exist. The play consists of several subplots that are all interconnected by one event: the marriage of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves the chaotic and confusing romantic endeavours of four Athenians after they flee the Duke's court. Another subplot features a group of men struggling to put together a play to perform on the wedding day.

Farce

Farces are a subtype of comedies with foolish or absurd characters, exaggerated circumstances and a nonsensical plotline.

Satire

Satires are works of comedy that use sarcasm, irony, imitation and exaggeration to ridicule or shame an individual, company, government or even society itself. It is a form of social commentary that makes use of humour to draw attention towards a certain subject.

Tragicomedy

Remember reading about tragedies and comedies? Well, here is a type of play that is the best of both worlds! Tragicomedies blend the elements of both tragedies and comedies.

A tragicomedy takes various forms. It could be a twist on the traditional tragedy by adding comic relief to lighten the mood of a work containing dark and serious subject matter. Or, it could be a tragedy that just does not have enough death and ends on a happier note than a classic tragedy.

Melodrama

A melodrama is a type of play that is sensational, overly dramatic and appeals to the audience's emotions. The characters in melodramas undergo unrealistic circumstances and experience strong emotions that are exaggerated.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's (1712-1778) Pygmalion (1770) is considered to be the first-ever melodrama to exist. It features the protagonist named Pygmalion, a sculptor who falls in love with his own sculpture, which later comes to life.

Domestic play

Unlike tragedies, comedies and tragicomedies, domestic plays do not deal with the unrealistic problems of noble and heroic characters from exotic settings. Instead, they feature the everyday relationships and issues of lower-class and middle-class characters in a language that mirrors everyday English.

Historical

Otherwise also known as documentary theatre, historical plays focus on dramatising real-life historical events. Hence, these types of plays are fact-based.

Shakespeare's King John (1623) is a historical play that dramatises the life of King John (1199–1216) and traces his war against the French, his dispute with the Church and then his death by poisoning.

Functions of a play

The foremost function of a play is to entertain its audience.

Then, depending on the type of play, each play has a different aim. For instance, the function of a comedy is to make its audience laugh. Tragedies aim to evoke catharsis, sympathy and empathy.

Plays are character-driven narratives. Through the use of dialogue and characters, humanity's thoughts and feelings are put out in the open for the audience to interpret. By doing so, plays shed light on human nature. By giving a voice to human emotions, plays inspire the audience to think in about human nature in new ways.

Since plays are way more immersive and engaging than text, they allow the audience to connect much more deeply with the meaning behind the play and its moral.

Examples of a play

Here are a few notable examples of plays, each of a different type.

The Comedy of Errors (1594) by William Shakespeare

As the name suggests, The Comedy of Errors is a comedy that narrates the story of two sets of twins who had been separated at birth. The characters Antipholus and his servant, Dromio, travel to the Greek city of Ephesus. However, they are unaware that Ephesus is where their respective twin brothers live, who, perplexingly, have also been named Antipholus and Dromio. What spurs is a twisted and chaotic plotline, where both sets of twins find themselves caught in unfortunate, albeit ridiculous circumstances due to a series of mistaken identities and confusions.

Fig. 3 - A poster advertising an 1879 production of The Comedy of Errors on Broadway.

Death of a Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman is a play where the protagonist is a salesman called Willy Loman who is unable to grapple with his failure as a salesman, father and husband. Willy's degrading mental state causes delusions and insecurities and makes him reliant on those around him. The play features many flashbacks where the audience is given a look at Willy's failures: his frayed relationship with his sons, his inability to financially support his family and his extramarital affair. By the end of the play, Willy's delusions consume him, and he commits suicide.

Miller's play is an example of a tragedy as well as a domestic play.

Waiting for Godot (1953) by Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Godot is a play where two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, are awaiting a man named Godot, who never arrives. Throughout the play, Vladimir and Estragon have many humorous conversations, mindless activities and interesting encounters during their wait. In the end, a boy comes and tells them that Godot will not arrive, after which Vladimir and Estragon consider suicide. However, since they are unable to find a rope with which to hang themselves, they end up going home.

This play is considered to be a tragicomedy, as it blends elements of humour and absurdity with seemingly dark and grim occurrences.