drama - the literary genre of works intended for the theater

stage direction - an instruction written as part of the script of a play

dramatic composition, dramatic work - a play for performance on the stage or television or in a movie etc.

Grand Guignol - a play of a macabre or horrific nature

theater of the absurd - plays stressing the irrational or illogical aspects of life, usually to show that modern life is pointless; "Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco have written plays for the theater of the absurd"

playlet - a short play

act - a subdivision of a play or opera or ballet

miracle play - a medieval play representing episodes from the life of a saint or martyr

morality play - an allegorical play popular in the 15th and 16th centuries; characters personified virtues and vices

mystery play - a medieval play representing episodes from the life of Christ

Passion play - a play representing the Passion of Christ

satyr play - an ancient Greek burlesque with a chorus of satyrs

episode - a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events

night terror - an emotional episode (usually in young children) in which the person awakens in terror with feelings of anxiety and fear but is unable to remember any incident that might have provoked those feelings

warhorse - a work of art (composition or drama) that is part of the standard repertory but has become hackneyed from much repetition

drama, dramatic play, play - a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage; "he wrote several plays but only one was produced on Broadway"

closet drama - drama more suitable for reading that for performing

comedy - light and humorous drama with a happy ending

tragedy - drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity

black humor, black humour - the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements (in writing or drama) to give a disturbing effect

literary genre, writing style, genre - a style of expressing yourself in writing

likable, likeable, appealing, sympathetic - (of characters in literature or drama) evoking empathic or sympathetic feelings; "the sympathetic characters in the play"

unappealing, unlikable, unlikeable, unsympathetic - (of characters in literature or drama) tending to evoke antipathetic feelings; "all the characters were peculiarly unsympathetic"

tragic - of or relating to or characteristic of tragedy; "tragic hero"

comic - of or relating to or characteristic of comedy; "comic hero"

tragicomic - of or relating to or characteristic of tragicomedy; "a playwright specializing in tragicomic drama"

emotionalism, emotionality - emotional nature or quality