Definition and Theatrical Examples of Memory Plays

A play that focuses on the past as narrated by the main character. Usually, the play is a dramatic representation of the playwright's life—or at least loosely based upon the playwright's experiences.

Some memory plays involve narration throughout (such as the play adaptation of A Christmas Story. Other memory plays begin with a recollection made by the narrator and then shifts into a play without an interrupting narrator. (Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie is an example of this type of memory play.)