Drama Glossary
Key theatre terms and definitions including related shows.
A prominent 17th-century English theatre company patronized by the Duke of York, featuring actors like Thomas Betterton.
Queen of England whose reign supported the flourishing of English Renaissance theatre and the works of Shakespeare.
Relating to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, marked by flourishing English drama and playwrights like Shakespeare and Marlowe.
To run away secretly to get married; often a plot device in Romantic and English Renaissance plays.
A casting convention where a performer plays a role of the opposite gender, especially common in opera and classical theatre.
An archaic word meaning 'before,' commonly found in English Renaissance and Shakespearean texts.
A stage direction indicating that two or more characters leave the stage.
An archaic word meaning 'gladly' or 'willingly,' often found in English Renaissance plays.
Used in classical texts to describe beauty or fairness; also used in dialogue to suggest sincerity or justice.
An old-fashioned term for a burden or bundle, famously used in Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' soliloquy.
In verse drama, a line that ends with an unstressed syllable, often used in iambic pentameter for variation or rhythm.
An exclamation of disapproval or disgust found in English Renaissance and Shakespearean plays.