Performance Styles and Genres

Many ways to tell a story

The same story can be staged in very different ways, and part of studying drama is knowing those ways. A style is a way of performing, such as naturalism, where actors behave as if in real life, or physical theatre, where the body tells the story. A genre is a type of story, such as comedy, which aims to amuse, or tragedy, which follows a serious downfall. Each style and genre has conventions, the features an audience expects, and a performer changes how they act to suit them. This module covers the main styles and genres, their conventions, and how a performer works within them.

Style and genre words

Learn these terms before the styles are described. They name the ways of performing and the types of story.

Match each style to its feature

Naturalism against epic theatre

Two styles pull in opposite directions on one big question: should the audience forget they are watching a play, or be reminded of it?

Which style is it?

Actors perform as if in real life, ignoring the audience as though it were not there. Which style is this?

• Naturalism
• Epic theatre
• Physical theatre
• Comedy

Matching acting to the style

A skilled performer does not act the same way in every piece; they change to suit the style and genre. In naturalism they move and speak as a real person would. In physical theatre they let the body carry meaning that words might miss. In epic theatre they might step out and address the audience directly. In a comedy they play the timing for laughs, and in a tragedy they build the weight of the downfall. When you write about a performance, name the style or genre, name a convention it uses, and say how the performer meets it. Style, convention, and the performer choice: that is how to write about it well.

Pick the true drama facts

Select every true statement about performance styles and genres.

• A style is a way of performing
• A genre is a type of story
• A performer adapts their acting to the style
• Every style is performed in exactly the same way
• Styles and genres have no conventions at all

Order how to work in a style

Put the steps a performer takes to work in a given style or genre in a sensible order.

• Identify the style or genre of the piece
• Learn the conventions it uses
• Adapt the acting to fit them
• Rehearse in that style
• Perform it consistently for the audience

Complete the drama facts

A way of performing is a _____. A type of story is a _____. Acting as if in real life is called _____. A style that reminds the audience it is watching a play is _____ theatre.

One scene, two styles

Imagine a simple scene: a person hears bad news at a front door. Performed in naturalism, the actor plays it just as it might really happen, with small, believable reactions, as if the audience were watching through a fourth wall. Performed as physical theatre, the same moment might be told through the whole body, the actor crumpling and the group around them moving to show the weight of the news, with few or no words. And in an epic style, the actor might pause and tell the audience directly what this news will come to mean, breaking the fourth wall to make them think. The story is the same; the style changes everything about how it lands. Choosing and committing to a style is the performer craft.

Tap the performance styles

Tap the TWO items that are performance styles.

• naturalism
• physical theatre
• a theatre ticket
• a seat in the stalls

The styles and genres run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Name each style or genre

Read each situation and choose the style or genre it describes.

• A performer steps forward and speaks directly to the audience to make them think about the play. Which style is this?
• A play is full of jokes and misunderstandings and ends happily. Which genre is it?
• A story is told almost entirely through movement and the body, with very few words. Which style is this?

Build a point about style

Choose the word for each gap to complete one clear point about performing.

Explain performance styles and genres

A friend thinks all acting is basically the same. Using what you have learned, explain how performance styles and genres differ and how a performer works within them.

• Explain the difference between a style and a genre
• Explain two or more styles and their conventions
• Explain two or more genres
• Explain how a performer adapts their acting to the style