Act a Major Division Or Section of a Play

Shakespeare drama/theatre terms drama – a staged art. Actors often exaggerate emotions of the characters that they portray in order to clearly express feelings

Play – a work that is written with the intent of being performed by an actor in front of an audience.

Act – a major division or section of a play

Scene – a division or section of an act

Roman numerals: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1,000

Number grouping: Big number before small number = addition vii = 7 Small number before big number = subtraction iv = 4

**no more than three I’s used to express a number**

The act is denoted with an uppercase Roman numeral: I, V The scene is denoted with a lowercase Roman numeral: i, v Act and scene are separated using a “.” Act 1, scene 1 = I.i Act 2, scene 4 = II.iv Act 5, scene 6 = V.vi stage directions – Inform the actor/actress what should be done with movement or dialogue. Stage directions usually appear in [brackets] and are italicized. They take the place of narration.

Protagonist – the main character; often referred to as the “good guy”

Antagonist – the character who is in conflict with and acting against the protagonist; often called the “bad guy”

Monologue – occurs when only one character is speaking

Dialogue – an exchange of words between two characters

Soliloquy –A long speech given by a character, who is alone onstage, to no intended audience. It reveals the character’s thoughts and feelings.

Aside – spoken by a character to the audience; other characters don’t hear it

Comedy – an often humorous play with a “happy” ending Tragedy – a narrative about serious and important issues that ends in calamity

Tragic hero – a grand, noble character of high estate, great reputation, and prosperity that experiences a reversal of fortune. The reversal is brought on by the hero’s tragic flaw, fate (coincidence), or an error in judgement.

Tragic flaw – a flaw in a protagonist’s character that leads to his/her downfall

Possible tragic flaws: pride, arrogance, fame/notoriety, passion, jealousy, greed

Allusion – a reference to another work of art (literature, painting, song, etc.)

Oxymoron – two opposite words set beside each other to create a mood

Comic relief – a humorous scene or dialogue used to lighten the mood

Innuendo – an indirect remark or hint about somebody or something, usually suggesting something bad, mean or rude through a seemingly innocent statement.

Pun – A play on words, usually derived from similar-sounding words, or words that have two meanings.