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An act is the principal division of a dramatic work. It may consist of any number of scenes.
In theater, the standard for serious plays in the 17th and 18th century was five acts. In theory, each act served a specific dramatic function, but in practice the divisions were often quite arbitrary and would not be apparent to the audience. (The fifth act of Love's Labour's Lost, for example, comprises about half the play.)
Later, the three-act structure became the norm. The first act set up the characters and the situation, the second act built the conflict, and the third act included the resolution. In performances of three-act plays, act divisions are commonly marked by a break in action and bringing down the stage lights (and closing the stage curtain, if there is one).
Unlike scripts for stage plays, screenplays do not have act divisions spelled out. Nevertheless, they are often written with the three-act structure in mind. Typically, the first and third act each account for about one-quarter of the total running length, with the second act accounting for the bulk of the film.
Modern plays are typically written and performed in two acts, the first act ending in a plot crisis (in a dramatic play) or a show-stopping number (in a musical), followed by an intermission of 10 to 20 minutes.
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