Drama Glossary
Key theatre terms and definitions including related shows.
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.
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.