Today in theatre studies our group studied melodrama. Melodrama is large, big, flouncy acting where everything is largely exaggerated.
Our tasks included, freezing our bodies in 5 poses, which were different feelings but all sad ones. These were performed in a very melodramatic way and were in sequence to each other. Our next task was to put on a piece of acting where we acted out a fairy tale incorporating the traits of melodramatic acting.
We chose "Cinderella" and picked the scene where Cinderella is cleaning and the two "ugly sisters" come into the room and start insulting her and being very unnecessarily rude. Using melodramatic acting, the ugly sisters were very loud and walked on in a very large and important manor where they boomed orders and insults at Cinderella. .
Cinderella was although quieter and more gentler than her sisters, was very elegant and made her self-large in a more lady like and peaceful way. She replied in a "sing song" manor with her arms spread wide with a "why me?" essence about her.
Elements of melodrama include, large movements of the arms, large amounts of patroness, and some sarcasm. Melodrama can be used as a very descriptive acting type, but it's large appeal can cloud the real feeling of a proper story, such as a realistic representation of a sad person. A melodramatic sad actor just doesn't seem as serious as a dramatic one. Melodrama can also have an effect on people where they cannot watch a piece of acting without laughing at it's over patronising dialogue.
