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






2. Most famous of the absurdist playwrights; best considered a fatalist - although work is sometimes hilarious and can ask existential questions; Endgame (1957) Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961); Waiting for Godot (1953)






3. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






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






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






8. Attacked the evils and restrictions of society; tried to reveal the higher reality of the unconscious mind with fantastic imagery and contradictory images; performances were often violent and cruel as they tried to shock the audience into the realiza






9. Book - music - and lyrics






10. 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






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. The first all-black show to pay at a top Broadway theatre






13. 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






14. Plays without music






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






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






17. 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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18. 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






19. 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






20. What western theatre is often called:






21. Writes the lyrics






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






23. Comic operas that mixed popular songs of the day with spoken dialogue






24. Six characters take on life of their own when the playwright fails to complete the play in which they were supposed to appear






25. 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






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






27. Any artist or work of art that is experimental - innovative or unconventional; some styles would be symbolism - expressionism - futurism - Dadaism - surrealism - and absurdism






28. Told stories about common people who felt grand emotions and suffered devastating consequences (Enlightenment)






29. 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






30. 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






31. 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'






32. A blend of melody and drama and refers to the background music often played during these performances






33. A production of British actor Charles Kean; had realistic costumes - set and props that he had researched to make sure they were historically correct

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34. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






36. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






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






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






39. 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






40. Elaborate geometrical designs were used for these roles which included supernatural beings - warriors - and bandits; the color of the make-up indicated the character's personality






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






42. Includes all other forms of drama - from the ancient ritual theatre of Africa to the traditional theatre of Asia to the shadow and puppet theatre of Muslim lands






43. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






44. Elaborate geometrical designs were used for these roles which included supernatural beings - warriors - and bandits; the color of the make-up indicated the character's personality






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






46. 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






47. Most popular type of theatre during the Restoration; often featured great wit and wordplay and told stories about sexual gratification - bedroom escapades - and humankind's unrefined nature when it comes to sex






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






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






50. 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