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. Earliest form for photography






2. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






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






4. Only cost a nickel






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






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






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






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






9. 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






10. Founded in 1946 by Julian Beck and Judith Malina; dedicated itself to contemporary social issues and highly political - easthetically radical plays






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






13. The orchestrated melodies






14. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






16. Said that the free enterprise system is seriously flawed and is a cause of great human misery because it exploits the poor






17. 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






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






19. Characters were not individuals but types; standard roles included scholar - lover - hero - maiden - old woman - coquette - virtuous wife - and acrobatic warrior-maiden






20. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






22. A production of British actor Charles Kean; had realistic costumes - set and props that he had researched to make sure they were historically correct

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






24. 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






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






26. 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






27. 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






28. Writes the music






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






30. 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






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






32. The want for more 'genuine' sets - more 'honest' acting - and dialogue to be modeled after everyday speech - influenced by ideas of CHarles Darwin - Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx






33. 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






34. 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






35. Most famous of the absurdist playwrights; best considered a fatalist - although work is sometimes hilarious and can ask existential questions; Endgame (1957) Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961); Waiting for Godot (1953)






36. One of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment - French poet - essayist - and playwright whose writing often got him in trouble with the church; built a theatre on his own estate so he could freely present his plays






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






38. '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






39. Recorded conversations of slum dwellers in Dublin and used their words verbatim in his plays

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






41. 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)






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






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






44. 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






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






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






47. Built in Venice in 1637






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






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






50. Most popular type of theatre during the Restoration; often featured great wit and wordplay and told stories about sexual gratification - bedroom escapades - and humankind's unrefined nature when it comes to sex