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. Built in Venice in 1637






2. A big production number that usually receives a torrent of applause that literally stops the show






3. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






4. Plays without music






5. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






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






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






9. 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






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






11. Writes the lyrics






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






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






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






15. 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






16. Wrote 'high comedies' which were cerebral socially relevant plays that had an intellectual scope so vast they forced audiences to reassess their values; Man and Superman (1903) & The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891)






17. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






18. A synthesis of music - dance - acting - and acrobatics; it was first performed by strolling players in markets - temples - courtyards - and the streets






19. A medley of the show's songs played as a preview; usually the beginning of a traditional musical; lets the audience know that it's time to stop talking because the performance is about to begin






20. 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






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






22. 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






23. Writes the music






24. 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






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






26. Exposed the squalid living conditions of the urban poor and explores scandalous topics like poverty - venereal disease and prostitution; 'Sordid Realism'






27. Characters were not individuals but types; standard roles included scholar - lover - hero - maiden - old woman - coquette - virtuous wife - and acrobatic warrior-maiden






28. 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)






29. The artist imposes his own internal state onto the outside world itself; expressionism is a subjective account of an objective perception; expressionist plays use deliberate set distortion






30. Russian playwright whose play The Lower Depths (1902) took look at people living in cellar of Moscow flophouse






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






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






33. Sell over $1billion worth of tickets annually - majority of those are for musicals






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






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






36. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






38. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






39. Recorded conversations of slum dwellers in Dublin and used their words verbatim in his plays


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






41. '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






42. Theatre was not seen as being of value to society - so plays were not an important part of:






43. 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)






44. Writes the book






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






46. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






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






49. A robust and spectacular version of Noh; named after the characters for 'song' - 'dance' - and 'skill'; created by a woman named Okuni - owner of a brothel






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