Drama Terms

Drama

A story acted out

Playwright

The author of a play.

Actors

The people who perform.

Acts

Units of action in a drama.

Scenes

Smaller parts of acts.

Script

The written form of a play.

Stage directions

The playwright’s instructions about how the drama should be performed.

Set

The construction on the stage that shows time/place; sometimes called scenery.

Props

Small moveable items

Dialogue

The words that characters say.

Monologue

A long, uninterrupted speech spoken by one character to other characters who remain silent.

Soliloquy

A speech in which a character, alone on stage, reveals private thoughts.

Aside

A character’s remark to the audience or to another character that others on stage are not supposed to hear.

Tragedy

A form of drama in which events lead to the downfall of the main character.

Tragic flaw

A mistake or character defect that leads to a character’s downfall.

Comedy

A form of drama that has a happy ending

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces.

External conflict

A struggle between a character and an outside force

Internal conflict

A struggle that takes place in a character’s mind.