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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. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






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. 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






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






5. Form of drama that dominated theatre in India for a thousand years; named for the ancient Indian language in which its plays are performed; combine the natural and the supernatural - the believable and unbelievable






6. The men who play female roles are called:






7. Writes the music






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






9. Plays without music






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






11. 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






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






13. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






14. Attacked the evils and restrictions of society; tried to reveal the higher reality of the unconscious mind with fantastic imagery and contradictory images; performances were often violent and cruel as they tried to shock the audience into the realiza






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






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






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






18. 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






19. 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






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






22. Known for life-like sets that used hand-painted screens and gas-powered lighting effects to stage realistic sunrises and storm clouds; invented the DAGUERREO-TYPE - which was an early form of photography






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






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






25. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






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






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






28. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






29. Play by Wole Soyinka; celebrates Nigerian independence but also warns against returning to Nigeria's violent past






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






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






32. 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






33. 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






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






35. 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






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






37. 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






38. Three parts of a Noh play






39. 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






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






41. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






42. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






43. 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






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






45. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






46. 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






47. Studied the history of class conflict






48. 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






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






50. 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







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