On one level, drama is the acknowledgement of the fact that as human beings we have these terrible anxieties concerning ourselves and our place in the world. These persistent doubts and fears concerning not so much "who", as "what", we are, manifest most profoundly in the characters (including the writer's) relationships with others, and are channeled through the actions of the characters for the good or ill of the story. They are always there, even if unconsciously, surrounding and impacting upon the writer and the characters. In a dramatic story, a problem that cannot be ignored tips the balance, with the result that the characters (including the writer) are no longer able to function as they once did. They are thrown into a virtual storm of conflicting needs and objectives. The higher the stakes the more intense the emotion. In the midst of this - as in life - the characters walk around, talk to other characters, eat and drink. But they are never paralyzed. They act, and their actions are given meaning by our empathetic involvement with what they want and why they want it.
Billy Marshall Stoneking
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