Tension in Drama.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Tension is the force that drives the drama. However it is the most difficult element to comprehend because you cannot see or touch it. It is the most important element because drama can't exist without it. It is essential that it is created, but it is easily lost.

The use of violence often makes the creation of tension easier, but violence or conflict is not necessary to create tension. There are 4 ways of creating dramatic tension.

Tension of the:

1. Task

2. Relationship

3. Surprise

4. Mystery

Before a problem in a drama can be resolved, the characters must say and do many things. These tasks make up the action. To make the dramatic action tense, we must:

* Make the task hard - if it is not, the play will be over straight away

* Make the task important - resolving the problem must matter to those in the drama. There must be reasons.

* Make the task fun.

Human Relationships are a central component to the dramatic tension. Thus one of the common sources of tension can be found in the relationships found in the characters.