Farce:  “A dramatic composition, written without regularity, and differing from comedy chiefly in the grotesqueness, extravagance and improbability of its characters and incidents; low comedy.”

Arthur Denvir’s “The Villain Still Pursued Her” is one of the best examples of the travesty vaudeville has produced. [1] James Madison’s “My Old Kentucky Home” is a particularly fine example of burlesque in tabloid form. [1] These two acts have been chosen to show the difference between two of the schools of farce.

[1] See Appendix.

Comedy:  “A dramatic composition or representation, designed for public amusement and usually based upon laughable incidents, or the follies or foibles of individuals or classes; a form of the drama in which humor and mirth predominate, and the plot of which usually ends happily; the opposite of tragedy.”

Edgar Allan Woolf’s “The Lollard” is an exceptionally good example of satirical comedy. [1]

Tragedy:  “A dramatic composition, representing an important event or a series of events in the life of some person or persons in which the diction is elevated, the movement solemn and stately, and the catastrophe sad; a kind of drama of a lofty or mournful cast, dealing with the dark side of life and character.”  Richard Harding Davis’s “Blackmail” is a notable example of tragedy. [1]

[1] See Appendix.

Melodrama:  “A romantic [connoting love] play, generally of a serious character, in which effect is sought by startling incidents, striking situations, exaggerated sentiment and thrilling denouement, aided by elaborate stage effects.  The more thrilling passages are sometimes accentuated by musical accompaniments, the only surviving relic of the original musical character of the melodrama.”

Taylor Granville’s “The System” is one of the finest examples of pure melodrama seen in vaudeville. [2]

[2] Written by Taylor Granville, Junie MacCree and Edward Clark; see Appendix.

There are, of course, certain other divisions into which these four basic kinds of playlet—­as well as the full-length play—­may be separated, but they are more or less false forms.  However, four are worthy of particular mention: 

The Society Drama:  The form of drama in which a present-day story is told, and the language, dress and manners of the actors are those of polite modern society. [1] You will see how superficial the distinction is, when you realize that the plot may be farcical, comic, tragic or melodramatic.

[1] As the dramas of the legitimate stage are more often remembered by name than are vaudeville acts, I will mention as example of the society drama Clyde Fitch’s The Climbers.  This fine satire skirted the edge of tragedy.

The same is true of

The Problem Drama:  The form of drama dealing with life’s “problems”—­of sex, business, or what not. [2]