drama

drama
dra‧ma W3 AC /ˈdrɑːmə $ ˈdrɑːmə, ˈdræmə/ noun1. [uncountable and countable] a play for the theatre, television, radio etc, usually a serious one, or plays in general ⇨ comedy:
    the great traditions of ancient Greek drama
    a TV/television/radio drama
    the award-winning TV drama ‘Prime Suspect’
    a new drama series for Saturday nights
    a drama critic
    a courtroom drama (=one that takes place in a court of law)
    a lavish costume drama (=one about events in a past century)
    He plays a Russian spy in the comedy drama ‘Sleepers’.
2. [uncountable] acting – used when talking about it as a subject to study or teach:
    young actors coming out of drama school
    our drama teacher
3. [uncountable and countable] an exciting event or set of events, or the quality of being exciting:
    Maggie’s life is always full of drama.
    accidents, burst pipes, and other domestic dramas
    a night of high drama (=very exciting events)
    the drama of the moment
4. make a drama out of something to become upset about a small problem and make it seem worse than it really is:
    Brian always makes such a drama out of everything.
5. drama queen a woman or homosexual man who tends to behave as if situations are worse than they really are – used to show disapproval
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + drama
   ▪ a TV/television/radio drama The book has been made into a television drama.
   ▪ a costume drama (=about events in history, in which people wear costumes from that time) a costume drama set in 17th century France
   ▪ a historical drama (=about events in the past) She starred in a historical drama about Marie Antoinette.
   ▪ a medical/hospital drama (=about events in a hospital) He played a doctor in the US medical drama 'ER'.
   ▪ a crime drama (=about a crime or crimes) 'American Gangster' is a crime drama set in 1970s New York.
   ▪ a courtroom drama (=about events in a court) The lawyer and sleuth Perry Mason was the hero of 82 courtroom dramas.
   ▪ a romantic drama (=about a romance) It is a wartime romantic drama.
   ▪ a comedy/tragic drama (=about funny/very sad events) Martin Clunes is to star in a new comedy drama.
   ▪ a police/cop drama (=about the police) 'The Bill' is a popular police drama.
   ▪ a three-part/six-part etc drama (=having three/six etc programmes) It’s a new four-part crime drama starting on Monday night.
   ▪ a Greek drama (=a play from Ancient Greece) the tragic Greek drama, 'Oedipus'
■ drama + NOUN
   ▪ a drama series/serial (=a number of programmes with the same characters) It is one of the longest-running drama series on Japanese television.