| A | B |
|---|
| fantasy | a type of drama that deals with unreal character, dreams and imaginary times and places |
| romantic comedy | 18th century genre that features plots focusing on love affairs between flawless heroes and virtuous heroines |
| romanticism | 18th century literary style that focuses on emotions and ideals |
| sentimental comedy | a type of drama with pure protagonists that was a reaction to the immorality in Restoration drama |
| melodrama | 19th century style of drama marked by its use of stock characters and implausible plots |
| play of ideas | problem play or social drama |
| psychological drama | a serious type of drama that focuses on the inner struggles of characters |
| the "whodunit" | a mystery type of drama |
| allegory | a play that teaches moral concepts with character that personify abstract qualities or concepts |
| children's theater | drama written, designed, and performed for children |
| puppet theater | a play featuring puppets as the characters |
| monodrama | a play written to be performed by a single actor |
| avant-garde | new and experimental theater |
| realism | plays attempting to hold a mirror up to life |
| naturalism | an extreme form of realism that often focuses on the harsh realities of life |
| symbolism | the use of one thing(e.g. a character) to represent something else(e.g. a certain type of person in society) |
| expressionism | plays with a message of the uselessness of human hopes and dreams in the face of industry and mechanistic forces |
| epic theater | a journalistic, non-emotional style of drama developed by Bertholdt Brecht |
| constructivism | socialist realism, a reaction against realism |
| theater of the absurd | plays written in the 1950's and 1960's by playwrights who believed in the absurdity of human life; closely linked with existenialism |
| theater of involvement | plays that involve the audience in the action of the play |
| theatricalism | plays that make no pretense about not being plays; this style says, "This is theater. Accept it for what it is." |
| total theater | a play that includes a fusion of all the performing arts(dance, mime, atmospheric music, etc.) into one presentation |
