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. Writes the book






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






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






4. Have become living traditions that are handed down from father to son

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5. Sarcastic label of Scribe's plays; the sympathetic protagonist suffers at the hands of an evil antagonist in the course of intense action - suspense - and contrived play devices; ending is always happy and the loose ends are neatly tied up






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






7. 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






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






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






10. Type of Islamic theatre - religious drama of Iran which allowed for actors - both professional and amateur - and has been performed in open-air playing spaces and on some occasions in specially constructed indoor stages for hundreds of years

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






12. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






13. 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






14. 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






15. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






16. 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






17. Argued that the prime function of playwrights is to expose the social and moral evils of their time






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






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






20. 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






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






22. 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






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






24. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






26. Plays without music






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

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28. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






29. 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






30. 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






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. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






33. 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






34. 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






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






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






37. Three parts of a Noh play






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






39. Type of theatre greatly influenced by Buddhism and Shinto; originates in ritual






40. The men who play female roles are called:






41. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






42. '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






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






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






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






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






47. A form of musical entertainment featuring bawdy songs - dancing women - and sometimes striptease






48. 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






49. 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






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

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