A costume drama or period drama is a period piece in which elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambience of a particular era.
The term is usually used in the context of film and television. It is an informal, crossover term that can apply to several genres but is most often heard in the context of historical dramas and romances, adventure films and swashbucklers. The implication is that the audience is attracted as much by the lavish costumes as by the content.
The most common type of costume drama is the historical costume drama, both on stage and in movies. This category includes Barry Lyndon, Braveheart, From Hell, and Robin Hood. Films that are set in the 1930s and 1940s, such as Last Man Standing, may also be placed in this category. Other examples include Marie Antoinette, Middlemarch, and Pride and Prejudice.
There have been highly successful television series that have been known as costume dramas/period pieces. Notable examples include Upstairs Downstairs, The Tudors, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey, Deadwood, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Little House on the Prairie, and Freaks and Geeks. There also exists shows that use the effects of a costume drama/period piece because they are set in a particular era of time, although their true focus is based around a different genre. Examples of these are Xena: Warrior Princess, Legend of the Seeker, and That '70s Show.
Famous quotes containing the words costume and/or drama:
“His hair has the long jesuschrist look. He is wearing the costume clothes. But most of all, he now has a very tolerant and therefore withering attitude toward all those who are still struggling in the old activist political ways ... while he, with the help of psychedelic chemicals, is exploring the infinite regions of human consciousness.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)
“Narrative prose is a legal wife, while drama is a posturing, boisterous, cheeky and wearisome mistress.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)