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






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






3. Thought that inner truths could be hinted at only through symbols; sought to replace the specific and concrete with the suggestive and metaphorical; usually had little plot or action and tended to baffle the audience






4. 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






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






6. 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






7. 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






8. '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






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






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






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






12. Bandits discuss rival systems of goverment while waiting for an attack






13. 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






14. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






15. 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






16. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






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






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






21. Staged inexpensive - noncommercial productions of artistically significant plays in small - out-of-the-way theatres






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






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






24. Romanian-born French playwright best categorized as a hilarious absurdist; The Bald Soprano (1949) & Rhinoceros (1959)






25. 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






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






27. 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)






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






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






30. Contemporary form of Sanskrit Theatre - dramatized version of the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata






31. Instead of learning how to conjure real emotions - actors of Sanskrit drama studied for many years to learn representations of emotions through:






32. 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)






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






34. The men who play female roles are called:






35. The sung words






36. 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






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






38. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






39. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






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






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






42. Type of Islamic theatre - religious drama of Iran which allowed for actors - both professional and amateur - and has been performed in open-air playing spaces and on some occasions in specially constructed indoor stages for hundreds of years

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43. 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






44. Built in Venice in 1637






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






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






47. A robust and spectacular version of Noh; named after the characters for 'song' - 'dance' - and 'skill'; created by a woman named Okuni - owner of a brothel






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

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






50. 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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