Reading: Literature - Drama - High School

Set the stage for vocabulary success by learning this list of words related to drama. You'll review the parts of a play, different dramatic genres, and much more. Break a leg!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adaptation
    a written work that has been recast in a new form
  2. ad-lib
    perform without preparation
  3. agitprop
    political propaganda communicated via art and literature
  4. antagonist
    someone who offers opposition
  5. antistrophe
    the second of three sections of a classical Greek ode
  6. aside
    a line spoken by an actor not intended for others on stage
  7. black comedy
    comedy that uses black humor
  8. catharsis
    purging of emotional tensions
  9. chorus
    a body of dancers or singers who perform together
  10. comedy
    light and humorous drama with a happy ending
  11. commedia dell'arte
    Italian comedy of the 16th to 18th centuries improvised from standardized situations and stock characters
  12. conflict
    opposition in a work of fiction between characters or forces
  13. denouement
    the resolution of the main complication of a literary work
  14. deus ex machina
    an agent who appears unexpectedly to solve a difficulty
  15. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
  16. dramatic irony
    when the audience understands something the characters don't
  17. dramatis personae
    the actors in a play
  18. dramaturgy
    the art of writing and producing plays
  19. duologue
    a part of the script in which the speaking roles are limited to two actors
  20. ensemble
    a cast other than the principals
  21. entr'acte
    the interlude between two sections of a play
  22. farce
    a comedy characterized by broad satire
  23. foil
    a person or thing that serves to contrast with another
  24. genre
    a class of art having a characteristic form or technique
  25. hamartia
    the character flaw or error of a tragic hero
  26. high comedy
    a sophisticated comedy; often satirizing genteel society
  27. hubris
    overbearing pride or presumption
  28. low comedy
    a comedy characterized by slapstick and burlesque
  29. melodrama
    a story with characters behaving in an extreme emotional way
  30. miracle play
    a medieval play representing episodes from the life of a saint or martyr
  31. mise en scene
    an arrangement that shows where a play or film takes place
  32. monologue
    a dramatic speech by a single actor
  33. morality play
    an allegorical play popular in the 15th and 16th centuries
  34. mystery play
    a medieval play representing episodes from the life of Christ
  35. naturalistic
    representing what is real; not abstract or artificial
  36. pantomime
    a performance using gestures and movements without words
  37. Passion play
    a play representing the Passion of Christ
  38. peripeteia
    a sudden and unexpected reversal of fortune
  39. plot
    the story that is told, as in a novel, play, movie, etc.
  40. prologue
    an introductory section of a novel or other literary work
  41. proscenium
    the part of a stage between the curtain and the orchestra
  42. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
  43. satyr play
    an ancient Greek burlesque with a chorus of satyrs
  44. scene
    a subdivision of an act of a play
  45. setting
    the context and environment in which something is situated
  46. shadow play
    a drama executed by throwing shadows on a wall
  47. soliloquy
    a dramatic speech giving the illusion of unspoken reflection
  48. stage direction
    instruction or description written in the script of a play
  49. strophe
    one section of a lyric poem or choral ode
  50. tableau
    any dramatic scene
  51. theater in the round
    a theater arranged with seats around at least three sides of the stage
  52. theater of the absurd
    plays stressing the irrational or illogical aspects of life, usually to show that modern life is pointless
  53. thespian
    a theatrical performer
  54. tragedy
    drama exciting terror or pity
  55. tragic flaw
    the error of a hero in a drama that leads to his downfall
  56. tragicomedy
    a dramatic composition involving elements of both tragedy and comedy usually with the tragic predominating
Created on Wed Jan 18 16:03:04 EST 2017 (updated Wed Mar 29 15:31:49 EDT 2017)

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