one-act play
- noun
- /ˈwʌn-ækt pleɪ/
- Given its brevity, the one-act play offers little possibility for varied descriptions of characters and environment.
- a short one-act play
- eleven one-act plays
- write one-act plays
Examples
-
As our first program of one-act plays we will do "The Valiant" "The Angel Intrudes," and "The Game Of Chess."
-
Thicket is a one-act play written for one performer.
Fiction book (1994) -
The day before she gave him the card, she was to stage a little one-act play for his benefit.
Fiction book (1996) -
I have selected your first program of one-act plays and I welcome your comment.
-
School plays, one-act plays, and musicals are provided for students with an interest and ability in these areas.
Academic text (1990) -
May 27-June 20: Providence, Women's Playwriting Festival; performances of three one-act plays.
Fiction book (1999) -
Some Life-Saving Advice from Your Digestive Organs, a one-act play for grade-school students, is now available from the Vita-Mix Corporation.
Academic text (2001) -
The theater will showcase three exciting one-act plays this weekend.
-
My friends and I wrote a short one-act play for the school drama competition.
-
Students are preparing their one-act plays for the annual arts festival.
Synonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
one-act + play
The meaning 'a short play presented in a single act' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'one'/'one-act' specifies a single act and 'play' denotes a dramatic work. This is a regular compound pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the words can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
One-act play is a literal name: it describes a play that has just one act, a single part with no breaks. That's why it means 'a short play presented in a single act'.