WELL-MADE PLAY


Meaning of WELL-MADE PLAY in English

French pièce bien faite

Play constructed according to strict technical principles that produce neatness of plot and theatrical effectiveness.

The form was developed 0441; 1825 by Eugène Scribe and became dominant on 19th-century European and U.S. stages. It called for complex, artificial plotting, a buildup of suspense, a climactic scene in which all problems are resolved, and a happy ending. Scribe's hundreds of successful plays were imitated all over Europe; other practitioners of the form included playwrights Victorien Sardou , Georges Feydeau , and Arthur Wing Pinero , who brought the form to the level of art with The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1893).

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.