Chapter 1

History (c.1800AD - Present day)

Melodrama was founded in France during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Technically, it was drama with music (melos), a novel background accompaniment that led emotion and mood as a score does in modern movies. This new style of theatre gained popularity at such a rate that it was considered to be the most popular form of theatre throughout the 19th century. It usually involves just a handful of stock characters, including a hero, heroine, villain and one or two sidekicks, and the overall concept is that good always triumphs over evil. Good characters were rewarded whilst bad ones were punished. Audiences were rough and loud; spectators often interrupted plays by cheering on the heroes and booing or hissing at the villains. Electricity had also been invented and so incredible special effects were made possible, e.g., train crashes, horse races and earthquakes. Lighting was now easily controlled and could be dimmed and brightened for special effects. Melodrama was the precursor of modern T.V. and film, utilising both music and special effects to manipulate the audience.

Themes

The theatrical style of Melodrama covered a wide range of themes: Good versus evil, love, suffering, betrayal, sacrifice, redemption, etc. Melodramas were often simplistic and written to follow a strict formula:

• Good was always threatened by evil
• Usually but not always, good triumphed over evil in the end
• No matter how desperate the situation, there was usually a happy ending
• Horror and mystery were central elements in every story
• Heroes and heroines were always placed in situations of extreme danger
• Heroines were always pure and virtuous
• Heroes were always brave
• Villains were always evil, wicked, vicious and immoral
• Success was always snatched at the last moment from the jaws of defeat
• The audience was expected to experience extreme emotion.

Categories

Although ‘melodrama’ is now used as a common term for the genre, Victorian playwrights and theatre managers used a simpler form of description. Plays were described and advertised as ‘dramas’, ‘nautical dramas’, ‘dramatic romances’, ‘domestic dramas’, ‘temperance dramas’ or simply just ‘plays’.

Whatever the description, these works tended to fall into several different categories, each with its own particular style, content and theme:

• Gothic and supernatural stories: featured ghosts, vampires and grotesque themes
• Military and nautical stories: featured not only patriotic heroism and bravery, but also the horror of conflict and war
• Domestic dramas: were popular with audiences of the time and often dealt with serious moral issues such as adultery, illegitimacy, the evils of gambling / drink and the battle between the sexes
• Sensational plays: were often based on notorious criminals and their crimes.

There were also many works which did not fall into any recognisable category or combined one or more of the above styles.

Chapter 2

Stagecraft

Staging

The popularity of attending the theatre, plus the increasing population of London and other major cities in Victorian times, led to a change in the law with regard to permission to open theatres. The Regulation of Theatres Act was passed in 1843 and led to the opening of many new theatres. By the end of the century theatres and other performance venues had been built in every major city in the country. During this time the Proscenium Arch was the most common type of stage:

This type of staging helped performances to flow more naturally with fewer breaks in the action. Actors could continue to perform on the apron whilst the scene changed behind closed curtains. Audiences were impressed by the growing realism of the stage which lead to the employment of artists and set designers. These workmen would create impressive furnishings, sets and backdrops to add the reality of the stage.

The above is an example of a forest backdrop from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Lighting & Special Effects

There were huge advances in stage lighting, from oil to gas in 1817, followed by limelight in 1837 and finally electric light, in the form of arc lamps from 1848 then filament lamps from 1881. This meant that actors could perform within the scenery, upstage of the proscenium arch, while the auditorium was completely blacked out. Lighting was developed so that images could be projected from magic lanterns and translucent gauzes could be back-lit. Smoke effects, coloured light and flares added to the scenic spectacle.

As the century progressed, realistic and convincing scenic design, together with the development of elaborate stage machinery, meant that not only melodrama, but all types of theatrical productions could include theatrical spectacle. Trapdoors and lifts, flying scenery, pyrotechnics (fireworks) and water effects meant that productions could feature spectacular events such as shipwrecks, battles, fires, earthquakes and horse races. All the stage machinery around, above and below the stage was hidden behind the proscenium arch, which conveniently also hid all the stage-hands. The stage itself was hollow and housed removable panels, slots, lifts, 'scruto' (slatted rolling surfaces) and hand-operated and hydraulic trapdoor machinery.

Costumes

Costuming was quite realistic in the sense that actors would dress according to their characters occupation and/or living standards. If a character was a farmer, cowboy, rail-road worker etc. he/she would dress as such. Colour was used symbolically to help the audience better understand a character's persona. Certain costuming elements were also used regularly to help the audience identify characters quickly.

Chapter 3

Acting

Characters

Rather than having realistic characters Melodramas uses generalised character models known as stock characters, but it is not limited to these. These stock characters were quite stereotypical even compared to those found in Commedia dell'Arte. The cast list of the average Melodrama was as follows:

• Aladdin (Hero): Though he does not follow the lesser rules of society he is just, brave and manly.
• Jasmine (Heroine): She is courageous and innocent but needs saving from her fathers demands that she marry.
• Jafar (Villain): Is dishonest and greedy. He hides his true and evil desires from the people of Agrabah.
• Iago (Villain's Accomplice): Shares Jafars distaste for the royal family though he is more angry and sarcastic rather than hate filled. He also helps to provide comic relief.
• Abu (Faithful Servant): Though a few characters could claim this title, Abu is Aladdin's best and most faithful friend who supports him at every turn. He also provides comic relief throughout the film.
• Rajah (Maidservant): Whilst the tiger Rajah is not a typical maid servant he is fiercely loyal to Jasmine and would do anything to protect her.

Acting

This style of theatre is highly expressive, it would be fair to say that everything about Melodrama is over the top. Acting styles for melodrama were taken from classical and contemporary drama. Codified gestures were used to convey certain emotions and the acting style was very presentational, with the actors facing out to the audience. Facial expressions and voice were exaggerated and a well-received speech might be replayed several times before the action of the play moved on.

Another convention of the genre was to have the actors ‘freeze’ on stage to create a dramatic tableau (freeze-frame) at certain moments of heightened emotion. The actors would group in a series of striking poses which were held for a time to intensify the emotional impact on the audience and emphasise relationships between the characters on stage.