interlude
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tərˌludBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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| used to begin |
interlude (ˈɪntəˌluːd) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a period of time or different activity between longer periods, processes, or events; episode or interval |
| 2. | theatre a short dramatic piece played separately or as part of a longer entertainment, common in 16th-century England |
| 3. | a brief piece of music, dance, etc, given between the sections of another performance |
| [C14: from Medieval Latin interlūdium, from Latin | |
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interlude
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interlude
in theatre, early form of English dramatic entertainment, sometimes considered to be the transition between medieval morality plays and Tudor dramas. Interludes were performed at court or at "great houses" by professional minstrels or amateurs at intervals between some other entertainment, such as a banquet, or preceding or following a play, or between acts. Although most interludes were sketches of a nonreligious nature, some plays were called interludes that are today classed as morality plays. John Heywood, one of the most famous interlude writers, brought the genre to perfection in his The Play of the Wether (1533) and The Playe Called the Foure P.P. (c. 1544). The earl of Essex is known to have had a company of interlude players in 1468; the first royal company was apparently established in 1493.
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