Most of us are familiar with the word "re-enact."
re-enact |ˌrēəˈnakt|
verb [ with obj. ]
act out (a past event): bombers were gathered together to re-enact the historic first air attack.
A historical movie might include a re-enactment of the American Civil War, while a fictional movie about the future might include a "pre-enactment" of World War III.
A pre-enactment would be an enactment (the process of acting something out) of something that has not yet happened but one hopes, suspects, or knows will happen. Just as re-enactments are flawed and don't perfectly represent what they intend to, pre-enactments may have missing details or variations from what actually will happen.
This word would be different from "practice" or "rehearsal" because it's not the precursor to a performance. Rather it is the precursor to an actual event that would occur normally but which may be represented by a pre-enactment.
One example involves rituals performed by religious groups—they may pre-enact a reception into heaven or a ceremony that is to take place after death. They do this while still living, even though they believe such an event will occur regardless of their pre-enactment.
Another example is of a couple (probably in a cheesy romantic comedy) that has recently fallen madly in love. They're so caught up that they pre-enact their marriage ceremony, albeit without a few key people and the necessary wardrobe.
However, "pre-enact" doesn't appear to be a widely used word. Is there a similar word that means to act out a future event? If not, is it acceptable to use "pre-enact" despite it not being found in most dictionaries, not even Wiktionary?
Best Answer
I'd love to help, but I'm just not sure what a pre-enactment would be. Are you saying a pretend period before something actually happens? Then, in my opinion, it would be better to call it a rehearsal or a dry run.
But I would need to know more. You say that, for instance, a fictional movie about the future might include a "pre-enactment" of World War III. It's not really a "pre-enactment," since we don't know for sure that World War III will happen (and let's hope it doesn't). What you describe is speculative, so I'm troubled by the use of "enactment."
EDIT: This post was made before the author updated his original query to include a discussion of my ideas about 'rehearsal' and 'dry run.'
But you do raise an interesting word challenge: is there a word that describes a staging of things that we know for certain are going to happen?
For example, in the Seinfeld episode "The Non-Fat Yogurt," an integral part of the plot was the mayoral election between incumbent David Dinkins and challenger Rudy Giuliani. Since the episode was shot prior to the election, but would be aired after the election, two endings were shot: one with Dinkins being re-elected, the other (which was aired) with Dinkins losing to Giuliani.
So what would be the word that describes the two scenarios which were filmed prior to the election, an event which WAS guaranteed to happen? Is there even a word to describe that?
SECOND EDIT: I'm still troubled by your latest example. What happens after death is still entirely speculative. It could very well be that nothing happens after death. So to use the word 'enact' to describe a portrayal of what happens after death, in any sense, is to me inaccurate, because the event itself is not guaranteed to happen. But in that specific example, I'd call it a "speculative portrayal" rather than a pre-enactment.
I'd love you to come up with an example I can get behind...and then I'll get back to work on your behalf!
THIRD EDIT: Your new romantic comedy example certainly describes a rehearsal or a dry run (at least to me).