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. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






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






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






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






5. 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






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






7. 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'






8. 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






9. 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






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






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






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






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






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. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






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






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






20. 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






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






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






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






24. 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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


25. Earliest form for photography






26. 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






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






28. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God; not a negative - for without God humans can create their own existences - purpose and meaning






29. 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






30. 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






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






32. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






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






34. Studied the history of class conflict






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






36. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






37. A German poet - director and playwright who challenged traditional ideas about theatre; became a communist after watching policement shoot 4 unarmed civilians; The Life of Galileo (1938) - Mother Courage and her Children (1939) & The Caucasian Chalk






38. Would be removed in the box set to give audience a real life look into the scene






39. 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






40. 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






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






42. 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)






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






44. An early form of theatre; it used theatrical techniques such as song - dance - and characterization - but it was still firmly rooted in religion






45. 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






46. 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)






47. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






48. Built in Venice in 1637






49. 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






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