Theatre Glossary
Whether you're stepping on stage for the first time or picking up a script to read, here's a guide to the terms you'll encounter in the world of theatre.
35 terms in Dramatic Structure
Act
A major division within a play, similar to chapters in a book. Most modern plays are structured in either one or two acts, though classical works often have three or five. Each act typically contains a distinct phase of the dramatic arc, with act breaks providing natural pauses for intermission and shifts in time, location, or mood.
Dramatic StructureAnagnorisis
The moment of recognition or discovery in a drama when a character passes from ignorance to knowledge—realising a crucial truth about themselves, another character, or their situation. Aristotle considered anagnorisis essential to the best tragedies. The most famous example is Oedipus discovering that he has killed his father and married his mother. The power of anagnorisis lies in its irreversibility: once known, the truth cannot be unknown.
Dramatic StructureAntagonist
A character, force, or circumstance that opposes the protagonist, creating the central conflict of the drama. The antagonist may be a villain, a rival, a social institution, or even an internal struggle within the protagonist themselves. Strong antagonists are essential to compelling drama—without meaningful opposition, there is no dramatic tension.
Dramatic StructureAside from the Script
When a playwright specifies that a character speaks in a register or style distinct from the rest of the dialogue—this might mean direct audience address, an internal monologue heard aloud, or a moment of heightened language within an otherwise naturalistic play. These shifts signal that the dramatic rules have temporarily changed, creating a different relationship between character and audience.
Dramatic StructureCatharsis
An emotional release or purging experienced by the audience during or after a dramatic performance. The concept originates from Aristotle's Poetics, where he described tragedy as achieving catharsis through the emotions of pity and fear. A play that produces catharsis leaves the audience feeling emotionally cleansed or transformed by the experience.
Dramatic StructureClimax
The point of highest dramatic tension in a play, where the central conflict reaches its most intense moment and the outcome of the story becomes inevitable. The climax typically occurs late in the play and is followed by the denouement (resolution). In a well-structured drama, all preceding action builds toward this pivotal moment.
Dramatic StructureComic Relief
A humorous scene, character, or line of dialogue inserted into an otherwise serious or tense play to provide the audience with a moment of emotional release before the tension resumes. Shakespeare was a master of comic relief—the porter in Macbeth and the gravedigger in Hamlet both provide laughter amid tragedy. Used well, comic relief makes the serious moments feel even more powerful by contrast.
Dramatic StructureDenouement
The final part of a play following the climax, where the consequences of the main action play out and loose ends are resolved. From the French word meaning "unknotting," the denouement brings the story to its conclusion and restores a sense of order (or reveals a new reality) after the dramatic tension has peaked.
Dramatic StructureDeus Ex Machina
A plot device where a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly resolved by an unexpected intervention—a new character, event, or revelation that hasn't been set up earlier in the story. The term literally means "god from the machine," referring to the crane (mechane) used in ancient Greek theatre to lower actors playing gods onto the stage to resolve the plot.
Dramatic StructureDialogue
The spoken words exchanged between two or more characters in a play. Dialogue is the primary vehicle for storytelling in most dramatic works, revealing character, advancing plot, and creating conflict. Great dramatic dialogue sounds natural while being carefully crafted—every line serves a purpose. The study of how to write effective dialogue is central to the craft of playwriting.
Dramatic StructureDramatic Irony
A literary and theatrical device where the audience possesses knowledge that one or more characters on stage do not. This gap between audience awareness and character awareness creates tension, suspense, humour, or pathos. Shakespeare was a master of dramatic irony—in Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet is alive while Romeo believes she is dead.
Dramatic StructureDramatic Tension
The sense of anticipation, uncertainty, or unease that keeps an audience engaged in the unfolding action of a play. Dramatic tension arises from conflict, unanswered questions, secrets, ticking clocks, and the gap between what the audience knows and what the characters know. Building and releasing tension is the fundamental rhythm of dramatic storytelling—without it, there is no reason to keep watching.
Dramatic StructureDramatis Personae
A Latin term meaning "persons of the drama"—the list of characters in a play, traditionally printed at the beginning of the published text. The dramatis personae typically includes character names, brief descriptions, and sometimes the relationships between characters. It serves as the audience's or reader's first introduction to the world of the play.
Dramatic StructureDramaturgy
The art and craft of dramatic composition and theatrical storytelling—both the playwright's work of structuring a play and the analytical practice of understanding how plays function. In a broader sense, dramaturgy encompasses everything that contributes to how a story is told on stage: structure, rhythm, visual composition, and the relationship between text and performance.
Dramatic StructureDuologue
A scene or short play performed by exactly two actors. Duologues are the fundamental building block of dramatic interaction—two characters in direct conversation or conflict. They're commonly used in actor training, audition scenarios, and drama examinations because they test an actor's ability to listen, respond, and build a relationship with a scene partner.
Dramatic StructureEpilogue
A scene or speech that occurs after the main action of a play has concluded. Epilogues may address the audience directly, reveal the fates of the characters, or offer a moral or thematic summary. In Elizabethan theatre, epilogues were often spoken by a single character asking the audience for applause. Contemporary plays sometimes use epilogues to flash forward in time.
Dramatic StructureExposition
Information provided to the audience about events that occurred before the play begins, the relationships between characters, or the circumstances of the story. Skillful playwrights weave exposition naturally into dialogue and action rather than relying on clunky information dumps. The challenge of delivering exposition engagingly is one of the fundamental problems of dramatic writing.
Dramatic StructureFlashback
A dramatic device that interrupts the chronological flow of a play to show events from an earlier time. Flashbacks can reveal backstory, explain character motivations, or create dramatic irony by showing the audience something the present-day characters don't fully understand. Lighting and sound transitions often signal the shift between timeframes. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman uses flashbacks as a central structural device.
Dramatic StructureFourth Wall
The imaginary barrier between the performers on stage and the audience in a traditional proscenium theatre. When actors "break the fourth wall," they acknowledge the audience directly—through eye contact, direct address, or asides. The concept was formalised in the 18th century as realistic drama became more prevalent.
Dramatic StructureHamartia
A character's fatal flaw or critical error of judgement that leads to their downfall in a tragedy. Aristotle introduced the concept in his Poetics, and it has been debated ever since—does hamartia mean a moral failing (like Macbeth's ambition) or simply a mistake made in ignorance (like Oedipus not knowing his true parents)? Either way, hamartia makes tragic heroes sympathetic: they are undone not by pure villainy but by being imperfectly human.
Dramatic StructureHubris
Excessive pride or arrogance that leads a character to defy moral boundaries, the natural order, or the gods—ultimately bringing about their downfall. Hubris is a central concept in Greek tragedy: heroes like Oedipus, Creon, and Ajax are destroyed not by external enemies but by their own refusal to accept human limitations. The concept remains fundamental to tragic storytelling across all dramatic traditions.
Dramatic StructureIambic Pentameter
The most common metrical pattern in English dramatic verse: five pairs of syllables per line, each pair consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM). Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in iambic pentameter, using it for noble characters while giving prose to commoners. The rhythm mirrors natural English speech patterns, making it feel both elevated and organic.
Dramatic StructurePeripeteia
A sudden reversal of fortune in a dramatic plot—the moment when circumstances swing from good to bad (in tragedy) or bad to good (in comedy). Aristotle identified peripeteia as a key element of compelling drama, especially when it occurs simultaneously with anagnorisis (recognition). The discovery that transforms everything—the letter that arrives too late, the identity revealed—is peripeteia in action.
Dramatic StructurePrologue
An introductory section at the beginning of a play, preceding the main action. Prologues may establish setting and context, introduce themes, or directly address the audience. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet famously opens with a prologue that reveals the entire plot ("star-cross'd lovers"). The device dates back to ancient Greek drama.
Dramatic Structure