Drama Glossary
Key theatre terms and definitions including related shows.
A movement and technique using symbolic imagery and metaphors to express abstract ideas and inner experiences.
An incurable disease used in theatre to explore mortality, dignity, and emotional complexity in realist or symbolic narratives.
A borough of NYC often depicted in urban theatre to explore culture, struggle, and resilience.
Darwin’s theory profoundly influenced Naturalist theatre by encouraging focus on heredity and environment in drama.
A French avant-garde theatre in Paris that staged Symbolist and experimental plays during the late 19th century.
A two-hander is a play performed by only two actors, with the entire story built around their relationship, dialogue, and interaction. This format often heightens dramatic tension, as the focus is entirely on the dynamics between the two characters. Two-handers are common in intimate theatre settings, where subtle shifts in power and emotion drive the performance.
A unit set is a single stage setting that is used throughout a play, rather than changing locations with each scene. It provides a continuous environment that can be adapted with lighting, props, or minimal adjustments to suggest different times or moods. Unit sets are often chosen for their practicality and ability to focus attention on the actors and dialogue.
The appearance of being true or real in a dramatic context, central to Realist and Naturalist traditions.
A weather condition of reduced visibility, symbolically used in drama to convey disorientation or psychological fog.
A man who has lost his spouse, used in plays to portray grief, recovery, and the complexity of love and memory.
A global conflict (1914–1918) often dramatized in plays to explore trauma, nationalism, loss, and societal transformation.