DRAMA & THEATRE IN LITERATURE In literature, the word drama defines a genre , or style of writing. Drama is a play that can be performed for theatre, radio or even television. These plays are usually written out as a script , or a written version of a play that is read by the actors but not the audience. Drama, as in a play, is meant to be performed on a stage in front of an audience at the theatre. So, drama refers to the script Drama  Theatre The word theatre is the performance of the script. While it might seem completely disconnected from what we mean when we say drama today, consider it this way: someone who is dramatic is sort of a performer on a stage, hoping for everyone's attention. T oday we have drama popping up all over the place. There is drama for what we call the theatre , both the stage and at the movies. Staged