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. 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






2. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






3. Wrote plays about the rugged lives of Irish peasants using their dialect; Riders to the Sea (1904) & The Playboy of the Western World (1907)






4. 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






5. 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






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






7. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God






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






9. Earliest form for photography






10. Based off the idea that before a problem can be solved - society must first understand that the problem exists; 'attack the message - not the messenger'






11. 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






12. 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






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






14. 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






15. The first modern musical; a melodrama about black magic staged in NYC in 1866






16. Book - music - and lyrics






17. 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






18. Built in Venice in 1637






19. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






20. Nigerian playwright that was executed for trying to protect the Ogoni people against encroachments of Shell oil company






21. Wrote plays about the rugged lives of Irish peasants using their dialect; Riders to the Sea (1904) & The Playboy of the Western World (1907)






22. The men who play female roles are called:






23. '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






24. A program of sketches - singing - dancing and songs pulled from previous sources






25. French philosopher often called the Father of the Romantic movement; argued that people could find happiness in a 'state of nature' and that they should learn from nature rather than the artificial and corrupted teachings of society






26. An early form of theatre; it used theatrical techniques such as song - dance - and characterization - but it was still firmly rooted in religion






27. Sigmund Freud's book which analyzes the character of Oedipus and Hamlet






28. 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






29. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






30. Contemporary form of Sanskrit Theatre - dramatized version of the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata






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






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






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






34. 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






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






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






37. 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






38. Where more experts agree that human beings came into existence






39. Nigerian playwright that was executed for trying to protect the Ogoni people against encroachments of Shell oil company






40. Most famous English actress - born into poverty - started out singing in taverns and selling oranges in theatres - became the King's mistress






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






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






43. Would be removed in the box set to give audience a real life look into the scene






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






45. Studied the history of class conflict






46. Suggests we are trapped in an irrational universe where even basic communication is impossible






47. The want for more 'genuine' sets - more 'honest' acting - and dialogue to be modeled after everyday speech - influenced by ideas of CHarles Darwin - Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx






48. 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






49. The men who play female roles are called:






50. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera