Types of Comedy
Black Comedy
A dramatic comedy which is about unpleasant subjects that the audience can find upsetting and shocking. This comedy treats upsetting matters of life with scrutiny, bitterness and cynicism. Example: Amadeus-Peter Shaffer
Burlesque
Dramatic comedy that treats a serious subject in an undignified way or applies a grand style to a frivolous subject.
City Comedy
Dramatic comedy about the sexual and financial affairs of middle-class characters. Includes satirical depiction and was common in the seventeenth century in London theatres.
Comedy of Humours
Comedy focused around an individual character or characters overriding traits (humour) that dominates their personality.
Comedy of Manners
Dramatic comedy that explores the lives and behaviour of the middle and upper class in society, normally involving moral values.
Commedia Dell'Arte
Italian comedy (involving a group of travelling actors), made up of stock characters that perform an improvised performance based around a standard plot. Popular between the sixteenth and eighteenth century.
Farce
A comedy involving a series of comically unimaginable events happening in a fats amount of time. Commonly contains slapstick and sexual inuendo.
Parody
A literary work or style that is mocked through exaggeration or imitation.
Restoration Comedy
An English dramatic comedy (usually in the form of manners) which dominated the Restoration Period (1660-1700).
Romantic Comedy
Light-hearted comedies involving young lovers foolish mix ups.
Satire
A way of writing that ridicules institutions, individuals or societies to criticise their errors.
Sentimental Comedy
A more restrained type of comedy where middle-class characters are led astray although they are inherently good, they overcome moral difficulties.
Theatre of the Absurd
Playwrights aimed to portray the futility of decisive actions and the absurdity of human conditions. 1950 dramatists discrad formal structures and realistic presentation.
Tragicomedy
Plays that combine both elements from Comedy and Tragedy, also associated with the theatre of the absurd.
A dramatic comedy which is about unpleasant subjects that the audience can find upsetting and shocking. This comedy treats upsetting matters of life with scrutiny, bitterness and cynicism. Example: Amadeus-Peter Shaffer
Burlesque
Dramatic comedy that treats a serious subject in an undignified way or applies a grand style to a frivolous subject.
City Comedy
Dramatic comedy about the sexual and financial affairs of middle-class characters. Includes satirical depiction and was common in the seventeenth century in London theatres.
Comedy of Humours
Comedy focused around an individual character or characters overriding traits (humour) that dominates their personality.
Comedy of Manners
Dramatic comedy that explores the lives and behaviour of the middle and upper class in society, normally involving moral values.
Commedia Dell'Arte
Italian comedy (involving a group of travelling actors), made up of stock characters that perform an improvised performance based around a standard plot. Popular between the sixteenth and eighteenth century.
Farce
A comedy involving a series of comically unimaginable events happening in a fats amount of time. Commonly contains slapstick and sexual inuendo.
Parody
A literary work or style that is mocked through exaggeration or imitation.
Restoration Comedy
An English dramatic comedy (usually in the form of manners) which dominated the Restoration Period (1660-1700).
Romantic Comedy
Light-hearted comedies involving young lovers foolish mix ups.
Satire
A way of writing that ridicules institutions, individuals or societies to criticise their errors.
Sentimental Comedy
A more restrained type of comedy where middle-class characters are led astray although they are inherently good, they overcome moral difficulties.
Theatre of the Absurd
Playwrights aimed to portray the futility of decisive actions and the absurdity of human conditions. 1950 dramatists discrad formal structures and realistic presentation.
Tragicomedy
Plays that combine both elements from Comedy and Tragedy, also associated with the theatre of the absurd.
