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






2. 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






3. 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






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






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






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






7. Book - music - and lyrics






8. 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






9. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






10. 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






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






12. Kabuki borrowed many of these movements to make Kabuki acting highly stylized and almost puppet-like






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






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






15. 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






16. 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






17. Records of this type of theatre are fragmentary - but we do know that it grew out of regional religious rituals related to Confucianism - Taoism - and Buddhism - and ritual dances performed during the Shang dynasty






18. 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






19. Musicals that are mostly singing and have less spoken dialogue; similar to operattas - but thier tone is often much darker and more dramatic






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






21. 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






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






23. 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






24. 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






25. 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






26. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






28. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






29. 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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30. 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






31. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






32. '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






33. Musicals that are mostly singing and have less spoken dialogue; similar to operattas - but thier tone is often much darker and more dramatic






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






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






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






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






38. Comic operas that mixed popular songs of the day with spoken dialogue






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






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






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






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






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






44. 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






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






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






47. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






48. French philosopher often called the Father of the Romantic movement; argued that people could find happiness in a 'state of nature' and that they should learn from nature rather than the artificial and corrupted teachings of society






49. Plays without music






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