classic play
Canonical theatrical work
A classic play is a dramatic work that has endured beyond its era, recognized for lasting artistic or cultural significance.
Shakespeare's tragedies, Greek dramas, and works by Chekhov or Miller qualify.
The term implies both age and quality—a play must survive long enough to prove its staying power: We're staging a classic play this season.
- Arthur MillerAmerican dramatist, mid-century
- SophoclesClassical Athenian playwright
- EuripidesGreek tragic dramatist
- MolièreTartuffe's comic creator
- canonicalAccepted as standard
Anton Chekhov · Henrik Ibsen · George Bernard Shaw · stage direction · Renaissance · three act structure · William Shakespeare · Tennessee Williams · Oscar Wilde · dramatic irony · dramaturgy · Allegory · Oedipus · Hamlet · Ancient Greece · Ibsen · act · curtain
- drama termstragedy, comedy, catharsis, theater, stage
- theaterplays, stage, onstage, acting, auditorium
- theater revivalsBroadway revival, restaging, reimagining, reinterpretation, revival tour
classic playexperimental theater
Unconventional staged performance art
experimental drama · absurdist play · immersive theater · performance art · happenings