Entr'acte

Entr'acte (or entracte, French pronunciation: [ɑ̃tʁakt];[1] German: Zwischenspiel and Zwischenakt, Italian: intermezzo, Spanish: intermedio and intervalo) means 'between the acts'.

Originally entr'actes resulted from stage curtains being closed for set or costume changes: to fill time as not to halt the dramatic action, to make a transition from the mood of one act to the next, or to prevent the public from becoming restless.

The literal meaning of the German word Verwandlungsmusik refers to its original function – "change music".

Eventually the idea of being an insert into a greater whole became looser: interlude sometimes has no other connotation than a "short play".

Some more or less elaborate or independent entr'actes or intermezzi became famous in their own right, in some cases eclipsing the theatre productions for which they were originally written:

Pendant l'entracte (During the entr'acte): lithography by Alexandre Lunois published in L'Artiste (1894).