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Theatre Basics

Subject : performing-arts
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
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This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Book - music - and lyrics






2. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






3. Built in Venice in 1637






4. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God; not a negative - for without God humans can create their own existences - purpose and meaning






5. Built in Venice in 1637






6. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2005); The Dumb Waiter (1957)






7. Greatest of the Sturm und Drang playwrights; was also a critic - journalist - painter - biologist - statesman - poet - novelist - philosopher - scientist - and the manager of the Duke of Weimar's playhouse






8. Composed and produced by Bob Cole - lyrics by Billy Johnson; story of a con man and used minstrel stereotypes and spoofed Chinatown; in one scene a young black man sings about he and his date were denied entry to a nightclub cuz He was black and this






9. One of the most important French philosophers of the Age of Reason - wrote and edited the first encyclopedia; was also a dramatist who penned books on the techniques of acting; authored The Paradox of Acting - a book that attached the pompous declama






10. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






11. First black woman playwright to be producted on Broadway; Raisin in the Sun based of her actual childhood






12. An extreme form of realism; an acurate 'documentary' of everyday life - including its seamy side






13. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






14. 'The Father of Realism'; was initially a Romantic writer and his early plays were verse dramas largely based on Norwegian history and folk literature; plays presented complex - sometimes distrubing - views of human society; A Doll's House (1879) - Gh






15. Kabuki borrowed many of these movements to make Kabuki acting highly stylized and almost puppet-like






16. French physicist - mathematician - and philosopher - expressed the essence of Romanticism






17. History plays about major political events of the past - domestic plays about the loves and lives of merchants and townspeople - and dance-dramas about the world of spirits and animals






18. Most famous American expressionist playwright who won Nobel Prize for Literature (1936); A touch of the Poet (1935) - The Iceman Cometh (1939) - A Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) & A Moon for the Misbegotten (1952); The Hairy Ape (1952)

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19. Known for life-like sets that used hand-painted screens and gas-powered lighting effects to stage realistic sunrises and storm clouds; invented the DAGUERREO-TYPE - which was an early form of photography






20. Plays without music






21. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






22. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






23. Comedies forced Victorian society to reexamine its hypocrisies; Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) - A WOman of No Importance (1893) - An Ideal Husband (1894); advocated 'art for art's sake'; The Importance of Being Ernest






24. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






25. Plays about the issues of the day that were in Manhattan neighborhoods






26. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






27. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






28. A German poet - director and playwright who challenged traditional ideas about theatre; became a communist after watching policement shoot 4 unarmed civilians; The Life of Galileo (1938) - Mother Courage and her Children (1939) & The Caucasian Chalk






29. Included comic scenes - dance interludes and sentimental ballads all based on white stereotypes of black life in the South






30. Most famous surrealist and was a French writer and director; studied Asian religions - mysticism - and ancient cultures; declared theatre should should wake the nerves and heart; argued that proscenium arch theatres create a barrier between the audie






31. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






32. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






33. The orchestrated melodies






34. First part had musical numbers with little comic dialogue; second part was full of songs - dance and standup routines; third part featured a one-act play






35. A German poet - director and playwright who challenged traditional ideas about theatre; became a communist after watching policement shoot 4 unarmed civilians; The Life of Galileo (1938) - Mother Courage and her Children (1939) & The Caucasian Chalk






36. Developed from the dance-prayers of Buddhist priests; has five possible subjects: the deities - the deeds of heroic samurai - women - insanity - and famous legends






37. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






38. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






39. Elmer Rice; about a man named Mr. Zero Who is fired from his job and replaced by an adding machine






40. Musicals with a particularly well-developed story and characters






41. One of the most famous Sanskrit dramas - a love story in seven acts written by the playwright Kalidasa






42. Bandits discuss rival systems of goverment while waiting for an attack






43. Would agitate the masses - attack the spectators' sensibilities and purge people of their destructive tendencies; wanted stylized - ritualized performances - not realism - which they felt restricted the theatre to the study of psychological problems






44. Proclaimed 'God is dead...and we have killed him.'; felt taht absence of God was a tragedy - but believed human beings needed to accept the tragedy and move forward in a world that was unjust and meaningless






45. A true-to-life interior containing a room or rooms with the fourth wall removed so that the audience has the feeling of looking in on the characters' private lives






46. Light opera - differs from 'grand opera' because it has a frivolous - comic theme - some spoken dialogue - a melodramatic story - and usually a little dancing; The Mikado (1885)






47. Play by Wole Soyinka; celebrates Nigerian independence but also warns against returning to Nigeria's violent past






48. Said that the free enterprise system is seriously flawed and is a cause of great human misery because it exploits the poor






49. French philosopher and playwright; The Flies (1943) & No Exit (1944)






50. The first 'talkie' movie; featured white actor Al Jolson in blackface performing in a minstrel show