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. 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






2. 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'






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

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


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






5. 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






6. People who dismissed Traditional African Theatre because it was so unlike anything they knew






7. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






8. 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






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






10. 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






11. 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






12. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






13. Writes the book






14. The sung words






15. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






16. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






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






18. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






20. Any artist or work of art that is experimental - innovative or unconventional; some styles would be symbolism - expressionism - futurism - Dadaism - surrealism - and absurdism






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






22. The men who play female roles are called:






23. The orchestrated melodies






24. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






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






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






27. Writes the music






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






29. An extreme form of realism; an acurate 'documentary' of everyday life - including its seamy side






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






31. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






32. 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






33. Book - music - and lyrics






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






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






36. A dialogue that captures the incoherence - broken language - and pauses of modern speech; usually marked by surreal distortion and impending danger; from writing of Franz Kafka






37. Writes the book






38. A dialogue that captures the incoherence - broken language - and pauses of modern speech; usually marked by surreal distortion and impending danger; from writing of Franz Kafka






39. 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)






40. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






41. 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






42. Closely tied to ritual - and it uses color - dance - song - and movements to exaggerate - stylize - and symbolically represent life






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






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






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






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






47. 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






48. 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






49. 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






50. 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