History Main / OurActsAreDifferent

* ''Theatre/TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee''

This, however, is pretty much solely a modern convention; older plays generally had three or five acts (with some sort of climax before each intermission, in order to make audiences excited to return). Even after the two-act structure became more popular (around the Victorian period), three- and five-act plays were not uncommon, and continue to be written to this day.

Likewise, there is also a tradition of shorter, one-act plays, in part dating from a time where a night at the theatre was meant to be an entire night at the theatre, so what would now be considered a full-length (or even rather long) play was often bookended with a couple shorter one-act plays, which the audience could skip if they wanted to arrive late or go home early.

Modern performances may change things about a bit, ignoring some of the gaps between acts, or finding a new point for an intermission nearer the half-way point, though how well these redivisions work depends on the director and the play in question. Also, sometimes, the word "Act" is used to replace the word "Scene" when a play has very few scenes, or each scene is extensive. Sometimes more than one of the above apply. It differs wildly.

[[AC:One Acts]]

* ''{{Theatre/Assassins}}'' by StephenSondheim has no intermission, as it has no real plot.

* CirqueDuSoleil tours are usually two act affairs (two-and-a-half hours with intermission), but their "resident" productions (the various Las Vegas shows, ''LaNouba'', etc.) usually have runtimes of 90 to 105 minutes with no intermission. This allows for two performances a night/ten performances a week and doesn't try the patience of audiences who would also like to gamble, etc. When the tours ''NouvelleExperience'' and ''{{Alegria}}'' were adapted for casinos, they lost their intermissions and at least one acrobatic setpiece to reach a 90-minute runtime. In fact, editing "legit" shows has long been common practice in Las Vegas; ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', ''AvenueQ'', ''{{Spamalot}}'', and ''TheProducers'' were all cut to 90-or-so minutes either when they opened or later in the run, dropping their intermissions among other things.

* ''TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'', Oscar Wilde's most famous play, is in three acts (though [[ExecutiveMeddling it was originally in four]]), with breaks usually taken between each.
** The three-act ''OurTown'' usually follows the same format as Earnest, as does Thorton Wilder's other famous work ''TheSkinOfOurTeeth''. However, ''TheMatchmaker'' is in four acts, and its ([[AdaptationDisplacement much better-known adaptation]], ''[[HelloDolly Hello, Dolly]]'', is in two.

* Most of GilbertAndSullivan's operas use the basic two-act structure. ''Princess Ida'' does not, and since the second act is the longest one by a good bit, there's no good way to use a single intermission.

Now might be a good time to discuss scenes: The modern convention, and also that used by a lot of older writers, is that a scene change is only marked when there's a change in location, or the time frame moves forwards a significant amount. However, particularly around 1700, during the period known as the Restoration, you get plays such as William Congreve's five-act ''The Way of the World'', where each act takes place in a single location, but every time a character joins or leaves a conversation, a new scene is declared and numbered. This can be very, very confusing if you're used to the more standard model.

* When you read a play by WilliamShakespeare, you will almost certainly see it divided into five acts. However, the evidence is that Shakespeare himself did not think of his plays as divided into five acts, but this division was done by later editors. Shakespeare seems to have written his plays to be performed straight through without ANY intermissions. Modern productions often choose a point (rarely more than one point) in the script to take an intermission break.

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* GeorgeBernardShaw's ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is in five acts, each one a twenty-minute-or-so scene, although some productions include little vignettes in between. Intermission is usually taken after the third act.

* GeorgeBernardShaw's ''ArmsAndTheMan'' is in three acts, but as the third is reasonably longer than either of the first two, the break usually comes after the second act.

* George Bernard Shaw's play ''Man and Superman'' (which has nothing to do with the DC Comics character) is an odd case. It consists of four acts, but the third act, "Don Juan in Hell", is essentially an entirely separate one-act play stuck in the middle of a standard three-act play. Performances of ''Man and Superman'' frequently skip it, and "Don Juan in Hell" is often performed as a play in its own right.

* ''AnyoneCanWhistle'' is a three-act musical, which doesn't make its action much more coherent.

* CirqueDuSoleil tours are usually two act affairs, but their "resident" productions in custom theaters (the various Las Vegas shows, ''LaNouba'', etc.) have runtimes of 90 to 105 minutes with no intermission. This allows for two performances a night (ten performances in a week) and doesn't try the patience of audiences who would also like to gamble, etc. When the tours ''NouvelleExperience'' and ''{{Alegria}}'' were adapted for runs at casinos in Nevada and Mississippi, respectively, they lost their intermissions and at least one acrobatic setpiece to reach a 90-minute runtime. In fact, editing "legit" shows has long been common practice in Las Vegas; ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', ''AvenueQ'', ''{{Spamalot}}'', and ''TheProducers'' were all cut to 90-or-so minutes either when they opened or later in the run, dropping their intermissions among other things.

* Not counting the 10 to 15-minute preshows, CirqueDuSoleil's various Las Vegas shows and ''LaNouba'' have runtimes of 90 to 105 minutes with no intermission, while the touring shows are usually split into two acts with a half-hour intermission (resulting in a total runtime of two-and-a-half hours). When the tours ''NouvelleExperience'' and ''{{Alegria}}'' were adapted for runs at casinos in Nevada and Mississippi, respectively, they lost their intermissions and at least one acrobatic setpiece to reach a 90-minute runtime.

* ''{{Pippin}}'' was originally written in one act, but most regional productions insert an intermission. YourMilageMayVary as to whether it's awkward.

* ''{{SeventeenSeventySix}}''

* ''The25thAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee''

* ''{{Assassins}}'' by StephenSondheim has no intermission, as it has no real plot.

* The25thAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee

* The25thAnnualPutmanCountySpellingBee

* ''MasterHaroldAndTheBoys''

* ''Master Harold and the Boys''

* Master Harold and the Boys

See also: ActBreak

* {{Assassins}} by StephenSondheim has no intermission, as it has no real plot.

* TheMusical of ''Adding Machine'' (and the original play by Elmer Rice)

* TheMusical of ''Adding Machine''

* ''TheDrowsyChaperone''

* {{Pippin}} was originally written in one act, but most regional productions insert and intermission. YourMilageMayVary as to weather it's awkward or not.

<<|{{Theatre}}|>>)

** Gilbert and Sullivan tend to plot things so that each act begins relatively sedately (in order to bring the audience back in gently), then builds to a climax at the end (to excite the audience before the break). Since the first act is very short, it's hard to avoid a LevelBreaker through going directly from the high energy of the end of Act I to the calm academic scenes at the start of Act II.

Most modern theatrical pieces are written in two acts. There is one set point (sometimes at a {{Cliffhanger}}) at which the audience takes an intermission, and when they come back, the action finishes.

* When you read a play by William Shakespeare, you will almost certainly see it divided into five acts. However, the evidence is that Shakespeare himself did not think of his plays as divided into five acts, but this division was done by later editors. Shakespeare seems to have written his plays to be performed straight through without ANY intermissions. Modern productions often choose a point (rarely more than one point) in the script to take an intermission break.
** The five act division was one of the many changes made to make Shakespeare's works more suitable to the Neoclassical rules that followed after his death. This applied to many other notable play writes as well.
* GeorgeBernardShaw's ''{{Pygmalion}}'' is in five acts, each one a twenty-minute-or-so scene, although some productions include little vignettes in-between. Intermission is usually taken after the third act.