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. Records of this type of theatre are fragmentary - but we do know that it grew out of regional religious rituals related to Confucianism - Taoism - and Buddhism - and ritual dances performed during the Shang dynasty






2. 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






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






4. 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






5. Three parts of a Noh play






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






7. Staged inexpensive - noncommercial productions of artistically significant plays in small - out-of-the-way theatres






8. 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






9. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


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






13. A sudden - striking pose (often with their eyes crossed - chin sharply turned - and big toe pointed towards the sky) in Kabuki accompanied by several powerful beats of wooden clappers






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






15. Play that takes place in a mental institution - the audience sits on the stage with the actor-patients






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






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






18. Only cost a nickel






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






20. 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






21. 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






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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


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






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






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






26. 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)






27. Unstructured theatrical events on street corners - bus stops and anywhere else people gathered






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






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






31. Term used to describe performances that mix theatre - visual arts - music - dance - gesture and rituals; often use multimedia effects - sounds and lighting effects to make a point and allow the audience to understand its deeper implications; often re






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






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






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






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






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






37. First part of a Noh Play - usually a chance meeting between two characters - introductions are made and the characters engage in a question-and-answer sequence that reveals the protagonist's concern






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






39. Filled with characters who cannot resist an argument about social issues; no character is exempt from talking politics and theorizing about moral - artistic or religious reform






40. 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






41. 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)

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


42. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






44. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






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






46. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






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






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






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






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