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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. 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)






2. 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






3. Writes the book






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






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






6. 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






7. Plays about the issues of the day that were in Manhattan neighborhoods






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






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






10. Africa's greatest living playwright; born in Nigeria; plays combine symbolism - mysticism - beautiful dialogue - and they make strong political points; plays are deeply rooted in African myths - dance - and rituals but also influenced by Western dram






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






12. 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






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

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






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






16. 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






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






18. 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






19. During the Enlightenment there were revolutions in: ... which had a profound effect on theatre






20. 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






21. One of the most valuable historical records of Indian theatre; an encyclopedic book of dramatic theory and practice; has 37 chapters and covers every aspect of classical Indian drama - also a treatise on dramatic theory and philosophy - states that t






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






23. Only cost a nickel






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






25. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






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






27. The time period that glorified humans' power to reason and analyze - a period of great philosophical - scientific - technological - political - and religious revolutions






28. 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'






29. Instead of learning how to conjure real emotions - actors of Sanskrit drama studied for many years to learn representations of emotions through:






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






31. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






32. 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






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






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






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






36. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






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






38. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






40. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






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






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






43. Type of theatre that grew out of ritual - incorporated acting - music - storytelling - poetry - dance - costumes - and lots of masks to create a theatre that combined ritual and ceremony with drama






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






45. One of the most important French philosophers of the Age of Reason - wrote and edited the first encyclopedia; was also a dramatist who penned books on the techniques of acting; authored The Paradox of Acting - a book that attached the pompous declama






46. French Enlightenment playwright; was an inventor and thinker who spent countless hours at the leading intellectual salons of France; most famous plays are The Barber of Seville - and The Marriage of Figaro - his plays reflect the attitudes of the Enl






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






48. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






49. 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






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