Academic drama (also called school drama), a dramatic tradition which arose from the RENAISSANCE, in which the works of Plautus, Terence, and other ancient dramatists were performed in schools and colleges, at first in Latin but later also in VERNACULAR adaptations composed by schoolmasters under the influence of HUMANISM. This tradition produced the earliest English comedies, notably Ralph Roister Doister (c.1552) by the schoolmaster NicholasUdall