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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. Plays without music






2. 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






3. The sung words






4. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






5. 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






6. Earliest form for photography






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






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






9. Thought that inner truths could be hinted at only through symbols; sought to replace the specific and concrete with the suggestive and metaphorical; usually had little plot or action and tended to baffle the audience






10. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






11. The first 'talkie' movie; featured white actor Al Jolson in blackface performing in a minstrel show






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






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






14. '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






15. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






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






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






18. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






19. 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






20. 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






21. 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






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






23. One of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment - French poet - essayist - and playwright whose writing often got him in trouble with the church; built a theatre on his own estate so he could freely present his plays






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






25. Brought Western-style theatre to Africa to dramatize Bible stories in order to win converts






26. The men who play female roles are called:






27. Built in Venice in 1637






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






29. 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






30. Writers who felt science was not adequate to describe the full range of human experience - and their writings stressed instinct - intuition - and feeling






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






32. 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)






33. Built in Venice in 1637






34. 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






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






36. 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






37. Founded in 1946 by Julian Beck and Judith Malina; dedicated itself to contemporary social issues and highly political - easthetically radical plays






38. 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






39. 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






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






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






42. A repetition of the song - sometimes with new lyrics - sometimes with the same lyrics but with new meaning or subtext in order to make a dramatic point






43. 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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44. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






45. 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






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






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






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






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






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

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