The elements of drama were first defined by Aristotle in his Poetics. Aristotle named six elements of drama, not five, but the fifth and sixth are amenable to combination. The first element of drama, according to Aristotle, is thematic idea. This is the thought behind the drama, the thing that drives its structure and delivery. Theme may be revealed through dialogue, through circumstances of the drama, or through the action of the drama. And ... action is the second element of drama.

The second element of drama is also called plot. Plot is the action that drives the drama forward to the conflict and, eventually, to the resolution. It is the crisis and conflict and both rising and falling action that the characters face and experience in the drama. And ... characters are the third element of drama.

The third element of drama is the characters, or people, who experience the plot. Characters represent distinct and identifiable individuals, like Puck, with personal characteristics, like age and appearance (costume department!); with social characteristics, like beliefs and socio-economic background; and with national or ethnic characteristics, like culture and language. And ... language is the fourth element of drama.

The fourth element of drama, language, is critical to dialogue, which is what renders the drama understandable to the audience as well as gives exposition, like in Our Town, or defines the characters, like in The Glass Menagerie, or defines and drives the action, like in A Streetcar Named Desire. Additionally, drama now recognizes the various sign languages, like American Sign Language, as language tools for dialogue.

The fifth element of drama incorporates music with the Aristotelian idea of "spectacle" of drama. Not every play includes music, but many do, even if it is only thematic music that introduces the play and concludes it. Shakespeare was a proponent of music in drama as in Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It. Music contributes to the spectacle of drama, which also comprises costumes and settings and effects--anything that makes drama a visual and auditory spectacle. [See Terrin Adair-Lynch's discussion for further detail.]

The traditional parts of a play are usuallly identified as follows:

Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and and Resolution.

In terms of classical drama, the Introduction is essential in order to identify the characters and their relationship to each other.  In rising action, we learn of the two opposing issues and the play's conflict. The conflict grows to the climax or turning point.  Then, comes the falling action which is the aftermath of the consequence of the climax.  If the play is a comedy, the final section will be happy denouement and if the play is a tragedy, the final part of the dramatic structure will be the conclusion.  Of course, modern drama makes radical changes to the old structure and may begin in the middle of the story (in media res).