A drawing room play is a type of
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
, developed during the
Victorian period
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, in which the actions take place in a
drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cen ...
or which is designed to be reenacted in the drawing room of a home. The common practice of entertaining a guest in the home led to the creation of this category of plays and while the drawing room itself has fallen out of favour, the play format has continued to provide a source of entertainment.
While there is no date or authority directly ascribed to the term drawing room play, there is evidence that the term was derived from the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
habit of putting on these short works for guests while entertaining in the drawing room of the home. In
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
usage the room and the social gathering it contained are equally the
salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon ( ...
.
Types
Beginning with the early forms of
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
, the drawing room play has evolved to encompass
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
as well as to include the forms of the
dramatic monologue
Dramatic monologue is a type of poetry written in the form of a speech of an individual character. M.H. Abrams notes the following three features of the ''dramatic monologue'' as it applies to poetry:
Types of dramatic monologue
One of the mo ...
. The play format itself has also grown out of the traditional drawing room performance and back into main street theatre and film. Drawing room comedy is also sometimes called the "comedy of manners." Many of the drawing room plays adapted some form of social criticism in the transition from the Victorian period into the Modern era.
Examples
* ''The Elder Statesman'' (1959) was the last of T. S. Eliot's drawing room works.
* Oscar Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' is one of the most widely known examples of the drawing room play.
* Several of the collected works of Noël Coward are also considered typical of the form.
* Paul Rudnick's ''Regrets Only'' is a contemporary drawing room comedy released in 2006.
* Additional authors include Clement Scott, Walter Besant, Grace Luce Irwin and Arnold Bennett.
See also
* Chamber play
Sources
Nicholas Cooper, Houses of the Gentry 1480-1680 (English Heritage) 1999: "Parlours and withdrawing rooms 289-93.
Stage terminology
Victorian culture