Drama across cultures & First Nations storytelling performance
The Arts · Year 7
Name: ______________________Date: ____________
Every culture, throughout history, has used drama — performed storytelling — to entertain, teach, and pass on important ideas. Dramatic performance shares core elements across cultures: role and character (who is being portrayed), situation (the circumstances the character is in), voice and movement (how it's performed), space (where the action happens) and tension (what keeps an audience engaged, like conflict or suspense). Different cultures and time periods use these elements very differently — an ancient Greek tragedy, a Japanese Noh performance, and a modern TV drama all use role, tension and space, just in very different ways.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, dramatic storytelling — often combined with song, dance and ceremony — has been used for tens of thousands of years to pass on knowledge, law and connection to Country. This remains a living practice today. As with other First Nations art forms, some performances and stories carry deep cultural significance and are protected under Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) principles, meaning they are approached with particular care and respect rather than freely copied.
Example
A modern courtroom drama and an ancient Greek tragedy both build tension by putting a character in a difficult situation with high stakes — but one uses formal masks and a chorus on an open-air stage, while the other uses realistic sets, close camera work and a jury.
Key terms
Elements of drama:
The building blocks of dramatic performance — role, situation, voice, movement, space and tension.
Tension:
What keeps an audience engaged, often created through conflict, suspense or high stakes.
ICIP:
Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property — the principle of respecting and protecting First Nations cultural material.
Questions
1. Elements of drama include role, situation, voice, movement, space and:
Tension
Only lighting
Only ticket price
Only costume colour
2. Tension in drama is often created through:
Conflict or suspense
Silence with no purpose
A blank stage only
Random unrelated events
3. Role and character in drama refers to:
Who is being portrayed by the performer
The lighting design only
The ticket price
The theatre building
4. First Nations dramatic storytelling has been practised for:
Tens of thousands of years
Only the last decade
Only since European settlement
It has never been practised
5. Is First Nations storytelling performance still practised today?
Yes, it is a living practice
No, it has completely stopped
Only in museums
Only overseas
6. ICIP relates to:
Respecting and protecting First Nations cultural material
Ticket sales for a theatre
A type of stage lighting
Nothing relevant to drama
7. Every culture throughout history has used drama to:
Entertain, teach and pass on ideas
Nothing meaningful
Only make money
Avoid communicating anything
8. Why might an ancient Greek tragedy and a modern TV drama both be considered examples of "drama" despite looking very different?
Both use shared elements like role, tension and situation, applied differently
They share nothing at all
Only modern works count as drama
Ancient drama had no elements at all
9. First Nations dramatic storytelling is often combined with:
Song, dance and ceremony
Nothing else
Only silent reading
Only written scripts
10. Why is First Nations storytelling performance sometimes described as carrying "knowledge and law", not just entertainment?
It has traditionally passed on important cultural knowledge across generations
It has no connection to knowledge at all
It is purely decorative with no purpose
It replaces the need for spoken language
11. A director choosing a small, enclosed stage space rather than a large open one is making a choice about the element of:
Space
Tension only
Voice only
Role only
12. Why might some First Nations performances be protected under ICIP rather than freely performed by anyone?
They can carry deep cultural or ceremonial significance specific to certain communities
ICIP has no real meaning
All performances are free for anyone to copy
Protection never applies to performance
13. A character facing an impossible choice with high stakes is an example of building:
Tension
Only lighting
Only costume design
Nothing important
14. Why do dramatic traditions from very different cultures and eras still share common elements?
These elements are fundamental building blocks that every tradition shapes differently
It is pure coincidence with no explanation
All drama traditions copy each other directly
Elements only exist in Western theatre
15. Why is it important to approach First Nations dramatic storytelling with cultural awareness rather than treating it like any other performance style?
Some stories and performances carry protected cultural significance and are not meant to be freely copied by outsiders
All performance styles are identical in cultural weight
Cultural awareness is unnecessary for drama
First Nations storytelling has no special considerations
16. Comparing a masked, formal ancient tragedy to a realistic modern film performance, what do both rely on to engage an audience?
Building tension through character, situation and stakes
Neither actually engages an audience
Only special effects engage an audience
Masks are required for all drama
17. Why might a playwright deliberately withhold information from the audience early in a drama?
To build tension and curiosity that pays off later in the story
Withholding information always ruins a story
Audiences prefer knowing everything immediately
It has no effect on audience engagement
18. A student wants to perform a piece inspired by First Nations storytelling for a school project. What is the most respectful approach?
Researching appropriate sources and, where relevant, seeking guidance rather than assuming any story is free to use
Performing any story they find without research
Changing sacred stories freely to suit the performance
Assuming cultural background never matters
19. Why do different cultures' dramatic traditions (masks, chorus, ceremony, naturalistic acting) reflect more than just performance style?
They often reflect deeper cultural values, beliefs and ways of communicating
Style choices are always random and meaningless
Only one dramatic style has ever existed
Culture has no influence on performance style
20. Why does describing First Nations dramatic storytelling as a "living tradition" matter?
It emphasises that it continues to be practised and evolve today, not just something from the past
It implies the tradition ended long ago
Living traditions cannot include performance
It has no real significance
21. Understanding shared elements of drama across cultures mainly helps a student to:
Analyse and appreciate how different traditions use those elements to communicate meaning
Assume all drama is identical
Ignore cultural or historical context entirely
Avoid ever analysing a performance
Answer key (parent copy)
1. Tension
2. Conflict or suspense
3. Who is being portrayed by the performer
4. Tens of thousands of years
5. Yes, it is a living practice
6. Respecting and protecting First Nations cultural material
7. Entertain, teach and pass on ideas
8. Both use shared elements like role, tension and situation, applied differently
9. Song, dance and ceremony
10. It has traditionally passed on important cultural knowledge across generations
11. Space
12. They can carry deep cultural or ceremonial significance specific to certain communities
13. Tension
14. These elements are fundamental building blocks that every tradition shapes differently
15. Some stories and performances carry protected cultural significance and are not meant to be freely copied by outsiders
16. Building tension through character, situation and stakes
17. To build tension and curiosity that pays off later in the story
18. Researching appropriate sources and, where relevant, seeking guidance rather than assuming any story is free to use
19. They often reflect deeper cultural values, beliefs and ways of communicating
20. It emphasises that it continues to be practised and evolve today, not just something from the past
21. Analyse and appreciate how different traditions use those elements to communicate meaning