Theatre Vocabulary

noun a play or movie in which singing and dancing play an essential part

adjective relating to or characteristic of music, musical instruments, or the performance of music

• The musical performance at the theater was truly captivating.
• I love going to see musicals with my friends.
• That musical was so lit, I couldn't stop dancing in my seat.
• The way the wind rustled through the trees was like nature's own musical.

noun the activity of engaging in games or sports

verb the action of engaging in a game or sport

adjective describing someone who is participating in a game or sport

• The children were playing in the park under the watchful eye of their parents.
• We're just playing around with some new ideas for the project.
• I love playing video games with my friends on the weekends.
• She's been playing with fire by ignoring the warnings about her risky behavior.

noun a claim, especially a false or ambitious one

• She maintained the pretence of being interested in his conversation.
• Stop with the pretence, we all know you're not really sick.
• He's just putting on a pretence to get out of doing his chores.
• The smile on her face was just a pretence to hide her true feelings.

noun a written version of a play, movie, or broadcast

verb None

adjective None

adverb None

pronoun None

preposition None

conjunction None

interjection None

article None

• The playwright spent months perfecting the script for the upcoming theater production.
• I need to memorize my lines from the script for the school play.
• I can't believe he freestyled his entire script for the presentation.
• Life doesn't always follow the script we have in mind.

adjective relating to or characteristic of the exaggerated or artificial behavior of a stage performer

• The actor's stagy performance was met with mixed reviews from the critics.
• I thought the play was a bit too stagy for my taste.
• The movie was so stagy, it felt like a high school production.
• Her exaggerated gestures made her seem stagy and insincere.

adjective relating to or characterized by camp; deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect

• The director intentionally added campy elements to the play to create a sense of nostalgia.
• The movie was so campy, but we couldn't help but laugh at the cheesy dialogue.
• That horror movie was super campy, like in a good way.
• Her over-the-top outfit was so campy, it was like she stepped out of a retro fashion magazine.