Drama Terminology

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Drama

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A mode of fictional representation through dialogue and performance.

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Tragedy

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A form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences.

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Act

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A division or unit of a theatrical work, including a play, film, opera, and musical theatre.

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Monologue

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A long speech by one actor in a play or movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program.

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Soliloquy

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An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

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Props

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Objects used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production.

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Aside

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A dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience. By convention, the audience is to realize that the character's speech is unheard by the other characters on stage.

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Stage Directions

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Instructions in the script of a play, indicating the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting.

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Dramatic Irony

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A form of irony that is expressed through a work's structure: an audience's awareness of the situation in which a work's characters exist differs substantially from that of the characters, and the words and actions of the characters therefore take on a different—often contradictory—meaning for the audience.