Test your basic knowledge |

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.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

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






2. During the Enlightenment there were revolutions in: ... which had a profound effect on theatre






3. French director who stage play The Butchers (1888) with real sides of beef infested with maggots






4. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






5. The men who play female roles are called:






6. Romanian-born French playwright best categorized as a hilarious absurdist; The Bald Soprano (1949) & Rhinoceros (1959)






7. 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






8. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






9. The time period that glorified humans' power to reason and analyze - a period of great philosophical - scientific - technological - political - and religious revolutions






10. People who dismissed Traditional African Theatre because it was so unlike anything they knew






11. 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






12. Life has no purpose and they confused and antagonized audiences by refusing to adhere to a coherent set of principles - mirroring the madness of the world






13. The German equivalent to Diderot; was a playwright - critic - and Enlightenment philosopher Who wrote tragedies and comedies about the middle-class; his greatest play was Nathan the Wise






14. Argued that the prime function of playwrights is to expose the social and moral evils of their time






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






16. In Sigmund Romberg's play the king young heir to the throne sacrifices his personal happiness for the good of the kingdom when he sorrowfully pulls himself away from his true love in order to marry a princess whom he does not love






17. More serious plot and theme; West Side Story (1957)






18. Type of Islamic theatre which is created by lighting two-dimensional figures and casting their shadows on a screen; the audience watches the silhouettes while a narrator tells a story






19. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






20. One of the most popular Kabuki and Bunraku playwrights - who - like Shakespeare - wrote crowd-pleasing plays that combined poetry and prose in dramatic tales of comedy - tragedy - love - and war






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






22. Most famous Restoration-era woman to make her living by writing plays






23. Uses rock music - the rock and roll of the 1950s (Grease) - the psychedelic rock of the 1960s (Hair) or contemporary pop and rock (Rent)






24. Used giant puppets and actors to enact parables denouncing the Vietnam War and materialism






25. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






26. Grew up in poverty and put himself through medical school and set up free clinics in Russia to help the poor; The Seagull (1896) - Uncle Vanya (1899) Three Sisters (1901) & The Cherry Orchard (1904); placed on stage the lazy chaos of lives crushed by






27. First female theatre manager in London; was also an actor and singer; managed first theatre to have a box set; Olympic Theatre in London






28. During the Enlightenment there were revolutions in: ... which had a profound effect on theatre






29. 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






30. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






31. Smaller - less expensive alternative experimental theatres; flourished in lofts - basements - coffeehouses and any found space usable






32. By Swedish Playwright August Strindberg; fourteen-act play that follows the disconnected logic of a dream






33. The men who play female roles are called:






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






35. Named new 'photographic' realism NATURALISM and his phrase 'slice of life' is quoted description of it






36. A popular form of stage entertainment from the 1880s to the 1940s; included a dozen or so slapstick comedy routines - song-and-dance numbers - magic acts and juggling or acrobatic performances






37. A program of unrelated singing - dancing and comedy numbers






38. Sarcastic label of Scribe's plays; the sympathetic protagonist suffers at the hands of an evil antagonist in the course of intense action - suspense - and contrived play devices; ending is always happy and the loose ends are neatly tied up






39. One of the most well-known Muslim Playwrights - who uses her plays not only to express herself but also to prompt discussions about such topics as violence against women - religious fanaticism - and female sexual desire






40. The audience remains alienated from the performance so they could critically consider the play's themes






41. The first theatre in the world to be lit with electric lights






42. A period of licentious gaudiness inspired by the elaborate styles that Charles II brought with him from the French Court






43. Type of theatre that grew out of ritual - incorporated acting - music - storytelling - poetry - dance - costumes - and lots of masks to create a theatre that combined ritual and ceremony with drama






44. French Enlightenment playwright; was an inventor and thinker who spent countless hours at the leading intellectual salons of France; most famous plays are The Barber of Seville - and The Marriage of Figaro - his plays reflect the attitudes of the Enl






45. Book - music - and lyrics






46. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






47. Characterized by a light-hearted - fast-moving comic story - whose dialogue is interspersed with popular music; Guys and Dolls (1950)






48. '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






49. Showed middle-class characters finding happiness and true love (Enlightenment)






50. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when: