Acts and Scenes
The Roman theatre was the first to divide plays into a number of acts separated by intervals. Acts may be further divided into scenes; in classical theater each regrouping between entrances and exits of actors is a scene, while later use describes a change of setting.
Modern plays often have only one level of structure, which can be referred to as either scenes or acts at the whim of the writer; and some writers dispense with firm divisions entirely. 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. The end of an act often coincides with one or more characters making an important decision. A decision which has a profound impact on the story being told.
Many operettas and most musicals are divided into just two acts, so in practice the intermission 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.
Read more about this topic: Act (drama)
Famous quotes containing the words acts and/or scenes:
“To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)