one-act plays
Brief theatrical pieces
One-act plays are short theatrical works performed without intermission, typically lasting fifteen minutes to an hour.
The format strips drama to essentials—limited cast, single setting, compressed action.
One-acts serve as training grounds for playwrights and actors, and frequently appear in festivals or as companion pieces: The evening featured three one-act plays by emerging writers.
- characterizationDescribing distinctive qualities
- playletsVery short dramatic works
- climaxPoint of greatest intensity
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- brevityShortness of expression
Samuel Beckett · dialogue · comedy · Anton Chekhov · vignette · monologue · solo performance · dramatic tension · minimalism · conflict · vaudeville · curtain raiser · modernism · foreshadowing · pacing · avant-garde theater · black box theater · drama
- comedycomedy, jokes, humor, puns, sarcasm
- theatreBroadway, acting, theatre, stage, actor
- amateur theatercommunity theater, amateur dramatics, drama clubs, high school drama, school plays
- community stageschool plays, talent shows, recitals, open mic, variety shows
- dramatic societiesdrama club, theater group, acting troupe, amateur theater, community theater
- performancestalent show, dance routine, ballet, comedy act, variety show
one-act playsBroadway productions
Professional Manhattan theater performances
one-act playsgrand opera
Fully sung dramatic spectacle
epic theater · Broadway musicals · Les Misérables · Shakespearean tragedies