actabilityn.
/ˌaktəˈbɪlᵻti/, U.S. /ˌæktəˈbɪlᵻdi/ Of a play: capacity to be acted successfully; performability.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > qualities of play
actability1836
stage-worthiness1973
1836 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 451 Opinions..as to the actibility of certain unacted plays.
1925 Glasgow Herald 9 Apr. 4 When Hugh M'Diarmid's Braid Scots play, ‘The Purple Patch’, appeared,..doubts were expressed as to its actability.
1961 K. A. Burnim David Garrick i. 14 Occasionally Garrick was intimidated by pressures..to accept inferior works... But in general he seems to have judged on the basis of actability of the play at his theatre.
2003 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Nexis) 3 Jan. 17 About 20 young writers..will be given the chance to attend workshops.., analyzing scripts with an eye to such things as structure, actability and audience appeal.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1836