In drama, we are focusing on Melodrama! The question we have to answer is "What is victorian melodrama?" Melodramas are victorian dramas where music is added to an action to exaggerate the emotion during the scene. Melodramas feature stock characters which are usually, the villain, hero, heroine, sidekick, and overbearing parent. The Melodramatic acting style includes Slow, clear delivery of lines with a huge projection as victorian theatres were huge and there were no microphones. The acting style also consists of the actors always playing to the audience even if they are supposed to be talking to one another. With melodrama comes huge dramatic gestures one of the most commonly known ones being the "gasp" and the "Swoon" The gasp should be very loud, expressing a range of emotions and often accompanied by a pose. Whereas the swoon is often preceded by the lines such as "Alas! I can hardly bear it." The swoon should be graceful and there should probably be someone ready to catch you!
Soem good information- perhaps next time you could demonstrate playing to the audience [what does that mean in a proscenium-arch theatre. The story lines reflected the strict social values of the time, eg: everybody kept in their place, the villain always suffered,
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