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






2. Wrote plays about the rugged lives of Irish peasants using their dialect; Riders to the Sea (1904) & The Playboy of the Western World (1907)






3. Included comic scenes - dance interludes and sentimental ballads all based on white stereotypes of black life in the South






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






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






6. 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






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






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






9. '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






10. 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






11. 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






12. 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






13. One of the most valuable historical records of Indian theatre; an encyclopedic book of dramatic theory and practice; has 37 chapters and covers every aspect of classical Indian drama - also a treatise on dramatic theory and philosophy - states that t






14. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






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






16. 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






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






18. 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






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






20. 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






21. Proclaimed 'God is dead...and we have killed him.'; felt taht absence of God was a tragedy - but believed human beings needed to accept the tragedy and move forward in a world that was unjust and meaningless






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






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






24. 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






25. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






26. 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






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






28. Book - music - and lyrics






29. The men who play female roles are called:






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






31. 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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32. Based off the idea that before a problem can be solved - society must first understand that the problem exists; 'attack the message - not the messenger'






33. 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






34. Light opera - differs from 'grand opera' because it has a frivolous - comic theme - some spoken dialogue - a melodramatic story - and usually a little dancing; The Mikado (1885)






35. 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






36. Writes the music






37. 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






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






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






40. 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






41. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






43. The men who play female roles are called:






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






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






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






48. 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






49. Form of drama that dominated theatre in India for a thousand years; named for the ancient Indian language in which its plays are performed; combine the natural and the supernatural - the believable and unbelievable






50. The first theatre in the world to be lit with electric lights