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 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






2. 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






3. A period of licentious gaudiness inspired by the elaborate styles that Charles II brought with him from the French Court






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






5. 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






6. 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






7. Built in Venice in 1637






8. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






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






11. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






12. Form of theatre that mixed traditional African ritual theatre and Western-style drama; encouraged African nationalism - glorified Africa's past - and advanced African customs - rituals - and culture; also dealt with serious political themes and appla






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






14. 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






15. 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






16. A form of musical entertainment featuring bawdy songs - dancing women - and sometimes striptease






17. 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






18. 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






19. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






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






21. Smaller - less expensive alternative experimental theatres; flourished in lofts - basements - coffeehouses and any found space usable






22. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






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






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






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






26. French Enlightenment playwright; was an inventor and thinker who spent countless hours at the leading intellectual salons of France; most famous plays are The Barber of Seville - and The Marriage of Figaro - his plays reflect the attitudes of the Enl






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






28. 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






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






30. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






31. Book - music - and lyrics






32. Play that takes place in a mental institution - the audience sits on the stage with the actor-patients






33. The first modern musical; a melodrama about black magic staged in NYC in 1866






34. 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






35. Sarcastic label of Scribe's plays; the sympathetic protagonist suffers at the hands of an evil antagonist in the course of intense action - suspense - and contrived play devices; ending is always happy and the loose ends are neatly tied up






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






37. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






38. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






39. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






40. '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






41. Writers who felt science was not adequate to describe the full range of human experience - and their writings stressed instinct - intuition - and feeling






42. Any artist or work of art that is experimental - innovative or unconventional; some styles would be symbolism - expressionism - futurism - Dadaism - surrealism - and absurdism






43. Uses rock music - the rock and roll of the 1950s (Grease) - the psychedelic rock of the 1960s (Hair) or contemporary pop and rock (Rent)






44. 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






45. Writes the music






46. Only cost a nickel






47. Writers who felt science was not adequate to describe the full range of human experience - and their writings stressed instinct - intuition - and feeling






48. The sung words






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






50. 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






Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?



Let me suggest you:

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests



Major Subjects

Tests & Exams


AP
CLEP
DSST
GRE
SAT
GMAT

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests