afterpiece

[af-ter-pees, ahf-]

noun

1. a short dramatic piece performed after a featured play.

afterpiece

/ ˈɑːftəˌpiːs /

noun

1. a brief usually comic dramatic piece presented after a play

Word History and Origins

Origin of afterpiece¹

First recorded in 1770–80; after + piece

Example Sentences

Their antics earned the notice of Billboard magazine, whose reviewer wrote, “Martin and Lewis do an afterpiece that has all the makings of a sock act,” using showbiz slang for a successful show.

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King's College Chapel was the scene originally intended for this outrage; but the graver academic programme there lasted so long that the Queen could not stay for the afterpiece.

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“The hideous comedy of the marriage market has been a stock topic with novelists from Thackeray downwards; but Mr. Moore goes deep into the yet more hideous tragedy which forms its afterpiece.”

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The fall of man is the sombre afterpiece of this intensely interesting drama.

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Both works are short afterpieces intended to complement or contrast with the full-length play on the day's bill and both moralize conspicuously; the two plays could, however, hardly be more different in tone and technique.

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Related Words

• climax 
• conclusion 
• denouement