Play

History

The play originated in Ancient Greece and was popular through Roman times. They began to fade from popularity until the late 16th Century, when Shakespeare popularised theatres and plays. His influence on this literary form, and the English language, is still apparent today.

Shakespeare may, in fact, have helped introduce the play to England, as before the late 1500s

Genres

Comedy

Comedies are plays which are designed to be humourous. Comedies were one of the two original play types of Ancient Greece, along with tragedies.

Farce

A generally nonsensical genre of play, farces are often overacted and often involve slapstick humour.

Satirical

A satire is a play that tends to poke fun at current events or famous people.

Tragedy

These plays often involve death and are designed to cause the reader or viewer to feel sadness. Tragedy was one of the two original play types of Ancient Greece.

Historical

These plays focus on actual historical events. They can be tragedies or comedies, but are often neither of these. History as a separate genre was popularised by William Shakespeare.

Terminology

The term "play" can be either a general term, or more specifically refer to a non-musical play.

Sometimes the term "straight play" is used in contrast to "musical", which refers to a play based on music, dance, and songs sung by the play's characters.