250 Useful Words Describing Theatre Performances
Below is a really useful list of over 250 words drama and theatre students can use in school essays to help describe theatre performances they have seen with the class.
Going to see a professional theatre performance is such a rich and rewarding experience for drama students. Junior students often come back to the classroom and discuss with their teacher aspects of the show they saw. Usually in the lower grades, this show has come to your school.
But in the senior years, where students normally go to an external venue to see a theatre show, coming back to class and analysing the performance can sometimes be a bit tricky. A written analysis or evaluation of a theatre performance can often be daunting task for many students. Even very capable students often have trouble using the most appropriate word or words to describe what they saw.
This is a list of adjectives that will help students describe a theatre show in general. It can also be used to describe in-house class performances fellow classmates. Using some of these words in the table below will help make that student essay even more powerful. there’s no reason why this list cannot be used by university drama or theatre students, also.
If you’re stuck on the meaning of a word on the list, use the dictionary link at the bottom of the table. Below that is also a list of other posts on The Drama Teacher for tables of words describing more specific aspects of theatre performances.
Words Used to Described Theatre Performances
| abhorrent | handsome | proficient |
| absorbing | hard-hitting | profound |
| abysmal | heartwarming | purposeful |
| accessible | heavy | purposeless |
| accomplished | helpful | qualified |
| adequate | hilarious | questionable |
| admirable | historical | radiant |
| adverse | hollow | rank |
| airy | humble | ravishing |
| alarming | humourous | reasonable |
| amazing | immaculate | refined |
| ambitious | immersive | refreshing |
| amusing | important | regretful |
| appealing | impressive | relevant |
| appropriate | inadequate | remarkable |
| arresting | inappropriate | repugnant |
| astonishing | incompetent | repulsive |
| attractive | incredible | revolting |
| awful | ineffective | rotten |
| bad | ineffectual | satisfactory |
| barren | inept | satisfying |
| beautiful | inferior | scenic |
| boring | ingenious | seamless |
| breathtaking | insufficient | second-class |
| brilliant | intelligent | second-rate |
| broken | intense | self-indulgent |
| capable | intolerable | serious |
| captivating | irrelevant | serviceable |
| clever | irresistible | shabby |
| cogent | jolly | shaky |
| coherent | kindhearted | sharp |
| colourful | lacklustre | sheepish |
| commendable | lame | shocking |
| common | larger-than-life | skilful |
| compelling | lavish | skilled |
| competent | lazy | slow |
| conclusive | light | sluggish |
| convincing | lighthearted | snappy |
| dazzling | likeable | solid |
| decent | listless | sombre |
| deep | lively | sophisticated |
| demanding | loveable | sound |
| depressing | lovely | spectacular |
| direct | magentic | spirited |
| disgraceful | magical | standout |
| distasteful | magical | sterile |
| distinguished | majestic | sterling |
| divine | manic | striking |
| dramatic | marvellous | strong |
| dynamic | masterful | stunning |
| dysfunctional | masterly | sublime |
| effective | mediocre | subpar |
| elaborate | memorable | substandard |
| electric | mesmerising | successful |
| empty | mild-mannered | sufficient |
| encouraging | miserable | suitable |
| energising | modest | superb |
| engaging | moving | superior |
| enjoyable | multiskilled | suspenseful |
| entertaining | musical | sweet |
| enthralling | nauseating | talented |
| enticing | negative | tasteful |
| eventful | noteworthy | tasteless |
| excellent | obscure | telling |
| exceptional | off-putting | terrific |
| excessive | offensive | tremendous |
| exciting | optimistic | trite |
| exemplary | outstanding | triumphant |
| exhilarating | overpowering | trivial |
| extraordinary | painful | unbefitting |
| eye-popping | pathetic | unproductive |
| fantastic | pedestrian | unsuccessful |
| far-fetched | perfect | unsuitable |
| fast | personable | unusable |
| feasible | persuasive | useful |
| feeble | petty | useless |
| fine | picturesque | valid |
| first-class | pitiful | valuable |
| flawless | plausible | viable |
| focused | pleasant | weak |
| forceful | pleasing | weighty |
| frivolous | pointless | well-constructed |
| fruitless | polished | well-defined |
| functional | poor | well-made |
| futile | potent | well-rounded |
| gentle | powerful | wholesome |
| gifted | practical | wicked |
| good | presentable | woeful |
| grand | pretentious | wonderful |
| great | pretty | worthless |
| grim | professional | worthwhile |
Not sure of a word definition? Click here
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