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Dramatic Interpretation (often shortened to "Dramatic Interp," "Drama" or just "DI") is an event in National Speech and Debate Association (and NSDA-related) high school forensics competitions. In the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association and the National Catholic Forensic League, the event is combined with Humorous Interpretation to create the Dramatic Performance event. It consists of a piece from any published work, edited to fit within a 10-minute span with a 30-second grace period (it does not have a minimum and cannot be above 10:30).^[1]

In a typical round of DI, five to seven performers will each perform a "cutting" (excerpt) from a readily available, published (copyrighted or non-copyrighted) play, novel, or short story. As the name suggests, the cuttings are invariably from non-comedic (e.g., dramatic) works. Some performers select monologues, others may adopt the roles of many different characters, changing their tone, manner, and the position of their body to indicate a change in character.

After all of the competitors have performed, the judge (or judges) in the round will rank them from best to worst, and assign each of them a score. Contestants who score well will "break" out of preliminary rounds and continue to advance through octo/quarter/semi/final rounds if they continue to score well.

NSDA Nationals

National Speech and Debate Association Nationals was hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2016. National Champions are awarded a scholarship of US$1,000.^[2] To receive the title a competitor must have the lowest cumulative score throughout the duration of the tournament. The Dramatic Interpretation competitor to receive the lowest cumulative score in the final round is awarded the BAMA Bowl and a US$500 scholarship.^[3] The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament is the largest academic competition in the world.^[4][5][6]

Rules

Dramatic Interpretation falls under the jurisdiction of events under the category defined as “Interpretation” by the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA). These events are Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Program Oral Interpretation. Events that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the following rules include, but are not limited to Poetry, Prose, and Storytelling. The National Speech and Debate Associations rules are organized into categories of length, material, material availability, performance, re-use, and website approval submission process.^[7]

Collegiate Dramatic Interpretation

In intercollegiate forensics, a competitor may use one or more theatrical scripts to craft a dramatic narrative involving one or multiple characters.^[11] The dramatic material can originate from a variety of sources, ranging from stage, screen, to radio.^[12] Unlike dramatic interpretation performances at the high school level, collegiate competitors are required to use a manuscript throughout their performance.^[13]

See also

• Duo Interpretation
• Humorous Interpretation
• National Christian Forensics and Communications Association
• National Forensic League
• National Speech and Debate Association

References

External links

• Dramatic & Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Performance