Melodrama

Melodrama has a bad name in theatre circles today even though it is tremendously popular in film and TV the world over. During this study the students discover what makes this style alive on stage and relevant to the lives of today’s public. They also develop the movement skills unique to melodrama and vital to making this style alive. The study of melodrama explores that dramatic territory that lies between farce and tragedy touching both at opposite extremes, at one end comic, and at the other end tragic. Working as an ensemble, the students discover how they can move the public’s emotions between these extremes by studying those demands particular to the melodramatic space.  Melodrama emerged in the mid 19^th century as an art form addressing the social and economic circumstances of the time. The similar circumstances we face today make melodrama a very relevant theatre form.