Unlike a novel or poem, a drama or play is not intended for a reading audience; rather, it's meant to be interpreted for the stage. Actors, directors and designers, working together, interpret and act out a drama's text or written words as part of a theatrical event that will be seen, heard and experienced by an audience. A drama contains only the dialogue (words spoken by the characters) and some stage directions (actions performed by the characters). As written by the playwright, a drama is meant to serve as a guideline for the actors, directors and designers.
The word theater derives from the Greek word "theatron," which means a seeing place. A theater production involves the interpretation of a written drama or play, performed live on a stage before an audience. Experienced both visually and aurally, theater provides the audience with a multitude of impressions to observe, including the actors' movements, expressions, gestures, costumes, voices and silences. Additional elements such as scenery and the space within which the actors interact also serve to recreate the many facets of a drama.
A live artistic art form, theater is considered to be the most complete of all art forms because it integrates many disciplines, including dance, visual spectacle, music, language, sculpture and acting in the presentation of a story. Unlike a drama, which relies on the static written word to convey its content, theater reenacts a drama's events and brings its characters to life in a staged space.
Drama studies and theater studies are considered separate and distinct academic disciplines because they focus on the study of different objects. Although both are related through various activities, such as the production of a play, each field employs a different method of analysis. Traditionally, drama studies involve the analysis of texts and an exploration of literary theories. Theater studies combine the study of literary theory and theatrical performances. In addition, theater studies sometimes include analysis methods used in other disciplines such as the humanities, social sciences, history, philosophy and sociology.