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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. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God






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






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






4. 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






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






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






7. A sudden - striking pose (often with their eyes crossed - chin sharply turned - and big toe pointed towards the sky) in Kabuki accompanied by several powerful beats of wooden clappers






8. 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






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






10. 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






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






12. Grew up in poverty and put himself through medical school and set up free clinics in Russia to help the poor; The Seagull (1896) - Uncle Vanya (1899) Three Sisters (1901) & The Cherry Orchard (1904); placed on stage the lazy chaos of lives crushed by






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






14. Six characters take on life of their own when the playwright fails to complete the play in which they were supposed to appear






15. 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






16. 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






17. 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






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






19. 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)






20. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






21. Writes the music






22. Most famous American expressionist playwright who won Nobel Prize for Literature (1936); A touch of the Poet (1935) - The Iceman Cometh (1939) - A Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) & A Moon for the Misbegotten (1952); The Hairy Ape (1952)

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23. The men who play female roles are called:






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






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






26. 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






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






28. A German poet - director and playwright who challenged traditional ideas about theatre; became a communist after watching policement shoot 4 unarmed civilians; The Life of Galileo (1938) - Mother Courage and her Children (1939) & The Caucasian Chalk






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






30. What western theatre is often called:






31. 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






32. 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






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






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






35. 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






36. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






37. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






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






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






41. 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'






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






43. 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






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






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






46. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






47. 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






48. Elaborate geometrical designs were used for these roles which included supernatural beings - warriors - and bandits; the color of the make-up indicated the character's personality






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






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







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