Drama

Drama is one of the ways of how we express ourselves. A playwright writes a play to express feelings about a topic or about life in general. But the play is only the beginning: drama can only happen with the help of other people. Actors express themselves by performing the play and bringing it to life in their own way. Set designers decide how the stage will look during the performance. The audience watching the play also contributes by reacting to the actors and to the lines that are being spoken.

William Shakespeare was one of the most remarkable playwrights. His plays have been performed all over the world and in many languages. One of his plays is called The Tempest. A tempest is a violent storm. At the beginning of the play, a ship is sailing from Tunis, in North Africa, to Italy. The ship is carrying some highly important people. Alonso is the King of Naples and Gonzalo is his advisor. When a massive storm starts at sea, everybody on board is scared that the waves and the wind will break up the ship and throw passengers and crew into the water. The captain and all the sailors are doing their very best to save the ship and its passengers from the storm. The following text is a part of the play.

Loud noises of thunder and lightning can be heard because of the storm. As ship’s captain and a sailor walk on the stage.

Captain: Sailor!

Sailor: I’m here, captain. How can I help you?

Captain: Oh, good! Please go and talk to the other sailors tell them to get ready. We’re in trouble. Hurry, before the ships run into the rocks! Hurry!

The captain leaves the stage fast, more sailors enter the stage.

Sailor: Come on, sailors! Good job! Quickly! You need to take in the big sail. And listen carefully to the captain’s orders. Blow until you burst, wind, but leave enough room for us!

Alonso, Gonzalo and some others enter the stage.

Alonso: Watch out good sailor! Where’s the captain? Make sure the other sailors do their work.

Sailor: The captain is busy giving people orders. Can’t you hear him? You’re preventing us from doing our work. Go back to your cabins.

Gonzalo: Calm down, good sailor!

Sailor: It’s difficult to calm down in a storm! Now go! The big waves don’t care about kings and their advisors. Go to your cabin and keep quiet!

Gonzalo: I’ll do what you say, but just remember you have important people on board.

Sailor: The most important person on board is me! If you’re so important, then order the storm to stop. If you can calm this weather, and make the sea peaceful, we can put down our ropes and rest. If you cannot, then be grateful for your long life, go to your cabin, and get ready for the worst.

Gonzalo: That sailor makes me feel better. He’ll never die on a ship at the sea. We’re lucky to be here with a terrible villain like him. If he survives this storm, we all will.