Drama Review Terms

Playwright

• The paper that the play is written on. It contains the dialogue and instructions for the play. It is what an actor reads when he or she is memorizing his/her lines.
• The person who wrote the script, or play

Drama

• The paper that the play is written on. It contains the dialogue and instructions for the play. It is what an actor reads when he or she is memorizing his/her lines.
• A play

Script

• There are several scenes within an act. Scenes usually take place in one location.
• The paper that the play is written on. It contains the dialogue and instructions for the play. It is what an actor reads when he or she is memorizing his/her lines.

Act

• Are the major divisions of a play (like a chapter in a novel). There are scenes in each of these.
• There are several scenes within an act. Scenes usually take place in one location.

Scene

• There are several scenes within an act. Scenes usually take place in one location.
• The items that the characters use on the stage (short for properties)

Props

• The items that the characters use on the stage
• The characters that are in the play

Stage Directions

• The characters that are in the play
• They are instructions written into the script of a play describing what is going on (usually in italics or brackets, the narrator reads this part) Stage directions help the reader understand what is going on and describes the setting.

Dialogue

• is the information, experiences, ideas and beliefs that you already have and that you bring with you to the reading experience; things you already know
• The words that a character says aloud or in conversation with other characters. The dialogue in a play helps develop the plot and reveals how the characters are.

Tragedy

• The words that a character says aloud or in conversation with other characters. The dialogue in a play helps develop the plot and reveals how the characters are.
• A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow (usually results in death)

Comedy

• A dramatic work that is light and often humorous in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution (funny)
• A long speech that a character makes to another character