Iambic Dialogue

Speech in a poetic drama that, with its unstressed/stressed rhythm (or short/long accent), most closely approximates the rhythm of everyday speech. Iambics were first used in Greek poetry in abusive poems that attacked particular individuals.

Illegitimate Theatre

A historical term, now often used in quotation marks, to describe the many types of musical, variety, spectacular, and non-literary entertainment that exist alongside, or are seen as imperiling the survival of, more elevated and challenging forms. It derives from the monopolistic laws that regulated English and French theatre until the mid-nineteenth century, and which gave "licenses" to one or two companies only, along with protection from competition from other upstart enterprises. Known for their literary drama, serious opera and ballet, such theatres were called the legitimate houses; all others, technically illegal and therefore "illegitimate," avoided prosecution by steering clear of regular or classical plays, sometimes inventing new genres in the process (see, for example, melodrama).

Improvisation

The seemingly spontaneous invention of dramatic dialogue and/or a dramatic plot by actors without the assistance of a written text. All performers must generally be able do this in short bursts—to cover a mistake on stage, or to plumb the depths of a character during rehearsals. But improvisation is also a highly specialized art form with its own rules and conventions. The actors of the commedia dell'arte tradition, who could extemporize on stage for hours on the basis of only a bare-bones scenario posted backstage, were said to be expert in it.

Interlude

A short and often comical play or other entertainment performed between the acts of a longer or more serious work, particularly during the later Middle Ages and early Renaissance.

Irony

A contrast between what is said and what is known. Some speakers use it intentionally, as when Socrates feigned ignorance of things he knew quite well, to draw out other "philosophers." By contrast, dramatic irony occurs when characters utter statements whose full meaning is not understood by them (although it is clear to those who hear it, such as the audience or the other characters on stage). Many of Oedipus's remarks, which are true in ways he does not yet grasp, exemplify dramatic irony. Tragic irony, on the other hand, is said to occur when events turn out in an opposite way to what was expected and desired, yet so strangely fittingly that, in retrospect, it seems as if this outcome should have been predicted or known all along (see tragedy, with its "reversal and recognition"). Some forms of satire may also rely on irony.

Jeu

French for "play," as in a game; used in the titles of some French dramas (although not in the sense of "a theatrical play" in general, which is une pièce).

Lazzi

Italian for "turn" or "trick." Used of the comical gags, jokes, acrobatics, and stock gestures for which the servant characters of the commedia dell'arte were famous. Whenever the actors ran dry in their improvisation, Arlecchino or one of the other zanni (comic servants) would jump-start the action, drawing on a pre-perfected repertoire of tumbles, flips, beatings or other (usually physical) stage business.

Legitimate Theatre

Historically, a state-licensed and legally protected monopoly theatre; metaphorically, by extension, the "high art" theatre world. See illegitimate theatre.

Liturgical Drama

A play or playlet based on the text of the Catholic religious service that is performed as part of the service itself, originally staged in Latin by clerics, and eventually in various vernaculars. They were first documented in the tenth century, when Benedictine monks used gestures to act out the lines of the Easter Mass known as the "Quem Quaeritis" trope—a section of sung text depicting an exchange between an angel and the Marys who are looking for Jesus' body at the sepulchre. Over the next three centuries, such illustrations of key moments of the church service blossomed into semi-autonomous plays. Liturgical drama declined after the Reformation, but it can still be found today in some places, especially in Spain and South America.


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