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






2. 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






3. The audience remains alienated from the performance so they could critically consider the play's themes






4. Most famous surrealist and was a French writer and director; studied Asian religions - mysticism - and ancient cultures; declared theatre should should wake the nerves and heart; argued that proscenium arch theatres create a barrier between the audie






5. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






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






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






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






10. 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






11. 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






12. 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)






13. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






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






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






16. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






17. French physicist - mathematician - and philosopher - expressed the essence of Romanticism






18. Light opera - differs from 'grand opera' because it has a frivolous - comic theme - some spoken dialogue - a melodramatic story - and usually a little dancing; The Mikado (1885)






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






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






21. 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






22. 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






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






24. Told stories about common people who felt grand emotions and suffered devastating consequences (Enlightenment)






25. Improved the daguerreotype and created modern photography; was also an English physicist






26. The audience remains alienated from the performance so they could critically consider the play's themes






27. By Swedish Playwright August Strindberg; fourteen-act play that follows the disconnected logic of a dream






28. 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






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. Sell over $1billion worth of tickets annually - majority of those are for musicals






31. 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






32. 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






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






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






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






36. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






37. 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






38. The orchestrated melodies






39. 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






40. 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






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






42. Bandits discuss rival systems of goverment while waiting for an attack






43. Studied the history of class conflict






44. Book - music - and lyrics






45. 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






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






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






48. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






49. 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






50. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre