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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 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






2. 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






3. 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






4. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






11. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






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






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






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






15. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






16. Showed middle-class characters finding happiness and true love (Enlightenment)






17. Staged inexpensive - noncommercial productions of artistically significant plays in small - out-of-the-way theatres






18. 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






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






20. 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






21. Elmer Rice; about a man named Mr. Zero Who is fired from his job and replaced by an adding machine






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






23. First part had musical numbers with little comic dialogue; second part was full of songs - dance and standup routines; third part featured a one-act play






24. 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






25. 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






26. What western theatre is often called:






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






28. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






29. 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






30. Three parts of a Noh play






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






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






33. Form of theatre that mixed traditional African ritual theatre and Western-style drama; encouraged African nationalism - glorified Africa's past - and advanced African customs - rituals - and culture; also dealt with serious political themes and appla






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






35. '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






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






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






38. 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






39. 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






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






41. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






42. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






43. Uses rock music - the rock and roll of the 1950s (Grease) - the psychedelic rock of the 1960s (Hair) or contemporary pop and rock (Rent)






44. Greatest of the Sturm und Drang playwrights; was also a critic - journalist - painter - biologist - statesman - poet - novelist - philosopher - scientist - and the manager of the Duke of Weimar's playhouse






45. Earliest form for photography






46. Form of theatre that mixed traditional African ritual theatre and Western-style drama; encouraged African nationalism - glorified Africa's past - and advanced African customs - rituals - and culture; also dealt with serious political themes and appla






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






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






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






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







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