Act (theater)

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An act is a major division of a theatrical play or opera. The term may also be used for equivalent major sections of other entertainments such as film or television.

The word is also used for the individual sections of shows such as variety shows, music hall or cabaret, which may include a wide variety of different kinds of performance.

[edit] Acts and Scenes

Traditionally in European theatre, a play is divided into a number of acts, which are themselves divided into scenes. Successive scenes are normally separated from each other in either time or place; but the division between acts is more to do with the overall dramatic structure of the piece.

Modern plays often have only one level of structure, which may be referred to as either scenes or acts at the whim of the writer; and some writers dispense with firm divisions entirely.

Many operettas and most musicals are divided into just two acts, so in practice the intermission (or interval) is seen as dividing them, and the word 'act' comes to be used for the two halves of a show whether or not the script divides it into acts.

[edit] Number of acts

Until the 18th century, most plays were divided into five acts. This format is known as the five act play, and was famously analysed by Gustav Freytag in "Die Technik des Dramas". The five acts played specific functions in the overall structure of the play; but in performance there was not necessarily any clear separation between them.

In modern times one and two acts are more common, with a three-act format for some weightier plays.

A one act play is generally shorter than the norm: the phrase would not usually be used of a full-length play that happened not to be divided into acts.

In a three act play, each act usually has a different tone to it. The most commonly used, but not always, is the first act having a lot of introductory elements, the second act can usually be the darkest with the antagonists having a greater enompass, while the third act is the resolution and the protagonists prevailing. There is an age-old saying that "the second act is the best", owing to the fact of it being in between a starting and ending act and thus being able to delve deeper into more of the meat of the story since it doesn't need to have as prominent introductory or resolutive portions. Of course this isn't always so since a third act or even a first act can have the common second act characteristics, but the most used is that type of structure.

[edit] Other media

When part of a television program, each individual act can be separated by commercials.

In film, each individual act is usually separated with a break in the action or plot development. Traditionally, this is accomplished with a change in music from whatever is standard for the film to something more light.

In video games it is a synonym for the more popular term "level". Each level is usually clearly separated in some way. In games such as role playing games, where there is no clear level distinction, the act development follows closely to that of film.

Book chapters are often the equivalent of acts.