Performance Phrases

Phrases

• A Doll's House (play by Henrik Ibsen)
• A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play (Mars Chocolate advertising slogan)
• A Night At The Opera (Marx Brothers movie)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (Marlon Brando movie)
• A class act
• A nod is as good as a wink to a blind bat (A line from Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• Act of God
• Act out
• Act the fool
• Act the giddy goat
• Act the part
• Act up
• Act white
• Act your age
• Address the ball (golfing term denoting readiness to play)
• All over the show
• All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
• Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (Monty Python's Flying Circus song)
• Am I bovvered? (A catchphrase from The Catherine Tate Show)
• America's Oldest Living Teenager (Nickname of game show host Dick Clark)
• An Ideal Husband (play by Oscar Wilde)
• And now for something completely different (A catchphrase from Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• Angels in America (play by Tony Kushner)
• Art Of War (Sun Tzu book)
• Art deco
• Art for art's sake
• Art house
• Art imitating life
• Art is going one step too far
• Art is long and life is short
• Art nouveau
• Art of the possible
• Art of war
• Art, with a capital F
• Balancing act
• Best in show
• Billy Liar (Novel and play by Keith Waterhouse and Tom Courtenay / Julie Christie movie)
• Black art
• Boutros Boutros Ghali (A catchphrase from The Fast Show)
• Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel song)
• Brum brum (child's play idiom expressing the sound of a vehicle)
• Buy Opera today And make this banner go away (Opera advertising slogan)
• Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (play by Tennesee Williams and Elizabeth Taylor movie)
• Cattle show
• Caught in the act
• Child's play
• Chips With Everything (Arnold Wesker play)
• Class act
• Clean up your act
• Close of play
• Come out and play
• Couldn't act his way out of a paper bag
• Death of a Salesman (play by Arthur Miller)
• Do a disappearing act
• Does my bum look big in this? (A catchphrase from The Fast Show)
• Dog and pony show
• Don't play the innocent
• Double act
• Enjoy the Show (E! Entertainment Television advertising slogan)
• Everything to play for
• Exemplary behaviour
• Fair play
• Fair play to you
• Father Knows Best (American TV Show)
• Fibre art (Artwork consisting of natural or synthetic fibres)
• Foot in the bucket (A baseball expression meaning to act timidly or cowardly)
• For the benefit of Mr.Kite there will be a show tonight on trampoline (Beatles song lyric)
• Fred Carno's circus
• Games people play
• Get in on the act
• Get the show on the road
• Get your act together
• Give the show away
• Go and play in the traffic
• Got it down to a fine art
• Hard act to follow
• He will never play the piano again
• He's fallen in the water (A catchphrase from The Goon Show)
• Hedda Gabler (play by Henrik Ibsen)
• Heeere's Johnny (A catchphrase from Johnny Carson Show)
• Hey there, Boo Boo! (A catchphrase from The Yogi Bear Show)
• High wire act
• Holy mackerel! (A catchphrase from Kingfish In Amos 'N' Andy Show)
• Horse play
• How does that play in Peoria?
• How very dare you (A catchphrase from The Catherine Tate Show)
• Human Rights Act
• I don't have to show you any stinking badges (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
• I don't know much about art but I know what I like
• I may not know much about art, but I know what I like
• I took my harp to the party but no one asked me to play
• I was very very drunk (A catchphrase from The Fast Show)
• I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here (Reality TV show)
• I'm a little bit wooooor, a little bit waaaaaaaaaayy, I'm a geezer! (A catchphrase from Chris The Crafty Cockney In The Fast Show)
• I'm smarter than the average bear! (A catchphrase from The Yogi Bear Show)
• If music be the food of love, play on (from Twelth Night by Shakespeare)
• If you can't ride two horses at once, you shouldn't be in the circus
• In on the act
• In play
• It was twenty years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play (Beatles song lyric)
• It's good to play together (Microsoft Xbox advertising slogan)
• It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game
• Juno and the Paycock (play by Sean O'Casey)
• Keep the show on the road
• Kid n' Play (Nickname of Kevin Martin)
• Kinetic art
• Lady Windermere's Fan (play by Oscar Wilde)
• Let's do the show right here
• Live in your world, play in ours (Sony advertising slogan)
• Long Day's Journey into Night (play by Eugene O'Neil)
• Love play
• Make a play for
• Make great play of
• Man and Superman (play by George Bernard Shaw)
• Media circus
• Mendoza line (A baseball expression denoting a line marking a very poor performance)
• Model behaviour
• Mother Courage (play by Bertolt Brecht)
• Mourning Becomes Electra (play by Eugene O'Neill)
• Music is art. Muzak is science (Muzak Corporation advertising slogan)
• No one expects the Spanish Inquisition (A catchphrase from Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• Noble art of self defence
• Nudge nudge, wink wink (A line from Monty Python's Flying Circus)
• O Brother Where Art Thou (A catchphrase from Ed Murrow and George Clooney movie title)
• O Romeo, Romeo; wherefore art thou Romeo (from the play by Shakespeare)
• On show
• On your best behaviour
• One night stand
• One-man show
• Opening night (the first night of a theatrical performance)
• Our father who art in heaven
• Peak performance
• Peep show
• Phone it in (perform an act in an uncommitted disinterested manner)
• Play Cupid
• Play God
• Play Misty For Me (Clint Eastwood movie)
• Play a blinder
• Play a waiting game
• Play around
• Play ball
• Play both ends against the middle
• Play by ear
• Play by play
• Play by the rules
• Play catch up
• Play catchup
• Play chicken
• Play dead
• Play devil's advocate
• Play dirty
• Play ducks and drakes
• Play fast and loose
• Play favorites
• Play favourites
• Play for keeps
• Play for time
• Play from the tips
• Play gooseberry
• Play hard to get
• Play hardball (A baseball expression meaning to be or act tough or aggressive)
• Play havoc with
• Play hell
• Play hide the sausage
• Play hookey
• Play it again Sam
• Play it again, Sam (New York State Lottery advertising slogan)
• Play it by the book
• Play it cool
• Play it for laughs
• Play it safe
• Play kissy face
• Play off
• Play possum
• Play safe
• Play second fiddle
• Play silly buggers
• Play softball (A baseball expression meaning to ask easy questions)
• Play the field (- indulge in a series of sexual relationships)
• Play the fool
• Play the game
• Play the old soldier
• Play the percentage game
• Play the race card
• Play the white man
• Play to win
• Play with fire
• Play within a play
• Play your cards right
• Play your part
• Play yourself in
• Playboy of the Western World (play by John Millington Synge)
• Plug and play
• Pop art
• Put on an act
• Race proven performance (Kumho Tires advertising slogan)
• Random act of kindness
• Read the riot act
• Roll over and play dead
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (play by Tom Stoppard)
• Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel (A catchphrase from Batman TV show)
• Say kids, what time is it? (A catchphrase from Howdy Doody Show)
• She Stoops to Conquer (play by Oliver Goldsmith)
• Show a clean pair of heels
• Show a leg
• Show a little leg
• Show and tell
• Show down
• Show me the money (A catchphrase from Jerry Maguire)
• Show me the spot (Abraham Lincoln quotation)
• Show no quarter
• Show of hands
• Show off
• Show pony
• Show some appreciation
• Show the door
• Show the flag
• Show the ropes
• Show the white feather
• Show up
• Show your hand
• Show your true colours
• Show's over folks
• Sister Act (Whoopie Goldberg movie)
• State of the art
• Steal the show
• Stop the show
• Suit you, sir (A catchphrase from The Fast Show)
• Sword play
• Sydney Opera House (tourist attraction in Australia)
• The Admirable Crichton (Play by J M Barrie and nickname of James Crichton)
• The Amazing Race (US TV show)
• The Art Of The Deal (Donald Trump slogan and book title)
• The Beggar's Opera
• The Best Second Banana in the Business (Nickname of Art Carney)
• The Boys in the Band (play by Mart Crowley)
• The Cherry Orchard (play by Anton Chekhov)
• The Devil's Disciple (Bernard Shaw play and Burt Lancaster movie)
• The Ginger Man (play by JP Donleavy)
• The Glass Menagerie (play by Tennessee Williams)
• The Greatest Show on Earth (Barnum & Bailey Circus advertising slogan)
• The Iceman Cometh (play by Eugene O'Neill)
• The Importance of Being Ernest (play by Oscar Wilde)
• The Last Picture Show (Jeff Bridges movie)
• The Plough and the Stars (play by Sean O'Casey)
• The Quare Fellow (play by Brendan Behan)
• The Scottish play
• The Show (Nickname of Harold Arceneaux)
• The Show Business Capital Of The World (Nickname of Hollywood California)
• The Smartest Dumbbell in the History of Show Business (Nickname of comedienne Gracie Allen)
• The Truman Show (Jim Carey movie)
• The act you've known for all these years (Beatles song lyric)
• The art that conceals art
• The black art
• The cat who doesn't act finicky soon loses control of his owner (9 Lives Cat Food advertising slogan)
• The only show in town
• The play's the thing
• The show must go on
• There's No Business Like Show Business (Judy Garland song)
• Think global, act local
• Think globally, act locally (Friends of the Earth advertising slogan)
• Threepenny Opera (play by Bertolt Brecht)
• Tonight's top ten list (A catchphrase from David Letterman In The Late Show)
• Triple play (A baseball expression denoting the act of making three outs during the same play)
• Two can play at that game
• View from a Bridge (play by Arthur Miller)
• Waiting for Godot (play by Samuel Beckett)
• When the cat's away the mice will play
• Which was nice (A catchphrase from The Fast Show)
• Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? (play by Edward Albee)
• Why don't we do the show right here?
• Work of art
• You hum it and I'll play it