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. 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






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






3. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






4. 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






5. Unstructured theatrical events on street corners - bus stops and anywhere else people gathered






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






7. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






9. 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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10. 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






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






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






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






14. 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






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






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






17. Composed and produced by Bob Cole - lyrics by Billy Johnson; story of a con man and used minstrel stereotypes and spoofed Chinatown; in one scene a young black man sings about he and his date were denied entry to a nightclub cuz He was black and this






18. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






20. 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






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






22. 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






23. 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






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






25. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






26. Characterized by a light-hearted - fast-moving comic story - whose dialogue is interspersed with popular music; Guys and Dolls (1950)






27. Earliest form for photography






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






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






30. Plays without music






31. 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






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






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






35. 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






36. 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






37. Unstructured theatrical events on street corners - bus stops and anywhere else people gathered






38. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2005); The Dumb Waiter (1957)






39. One of the most well-known Muslim Playwrights - who uses her plays not only to express herself but also to prompt discussions about such topics as violence against women - religious fanaticism - and female sexual desire






40. Earliest form for photography






41. 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






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






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






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






45. 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






46. 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






47. 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






48. The sung words






49. 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






50. Wrote 'high comedies' which were cerebral socially relevant plays that had an intellectual scope so vast they forced audiences to reassess their values; Man and Superman (1903) & The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891)