| A | B |
|---|
| closet drama | a play intended to be read rather than performed |
| Passion Play | a play that presents the last week of the life of Christ |
| satirist | the term for an author who mocks human vices and follies by using wit and humor |
| amphitheater | a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats |
| mansions | a series of acting stations (platforms) that represented biblical settings; used in Saint and Mystery plays |
| pathos | an element in drama that evokes sorrow and compassion |
| cycle | a series of short plays that depict religious history from creation through doomsday |
| Mystery play | a play based on biblical history |
| Moral Interlude | a type of play that evolved from Morality plays; these plays were shorter and included humorous incidents |
| deus ex machina | an artificial plot device that an author introduces late in the play to resolve difficulties |
| folk drama | secular drama that took place during planting time, harvest time, and Christmas; developed simultaneously with liturgical drama |
| Aeschylus | the Greek tragedian responsible for increasing the number of actors; he wrote the Oresteia, the only surviving Greek trilogy |
| chorus | a group of actors that explain the situation and comment on the action in a play |
| Aristophanes | the Greek satirist whose first nine plays represent Old Comedy |
| Dionysus | the Greek god who was honored by the dramatic contests that began in the sixth century B.C. |
| Saint play | a play based on the legends of the saints |
| trilogy | a series of three plays related by theme, myth, or character |
| Andronicus | he received a commission to write the first work of Roman drama |
| Seneca | an ancient Roman writer of bombastic tragedies; his plays were closet dramas |
| Euripides | the Greek tragedian who was a master of pathos; he wrote Medea |
| pageant wagon | a stage on wheels that was used by the medieval guilds of the fourteenth century |
| Morality play | a play primarily concerned with teaching right and wrong |
| Sophocles | the Greek tragedian who wrote Oedipus Rex and Antigone |
| thespian | a term often used to refer to an actor |
| Menander | the author responsible for New Comedy |
