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. Nigerian playwright that was executed for trying to protect the Ogoni people against encroachments of Shell oil company






2. Nigerian playwright that was executed for trying to protect the Ogoni people against encroachments of Shell oil company






3. 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)






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






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






6. 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






7. 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






8. The men who play female roles are called:






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






10. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






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






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






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






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






16. The first all-black show to pay at a top Broadway theatre






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






18. In Sigmund Romberg's play the king young heir to the throne sacrifices his personal happiness for the good of the kingdom when he sorrowfully pulls himself away from his true love in order to marry a princess whom he does not love






19. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






20. 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






21. 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






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






23. Term used to describe performances that mix theatre - visual arts - music - dance - gesture and rituals; often use multimedia effects - sounds and lighting effects to make a point and allow the audience to understand its deeper implications; often re






24. 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






25. 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






26. Sell over $1billion worth of tickets annually - majority of those are for musicals






27. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






28. A big production number that usually receives a torrent of applause that literally stops the show






29. Sell over $1billion worth of tickets annually - majority of those are for musicals






30. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






31. 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






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






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






34. 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






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






36. '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






37. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






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






39. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






40. Plays without music






41. Earliest form for photography






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






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






44. 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






45. 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






46. 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






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






48. 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






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






50. Greatest of the Sturm und Drang playwrights; was also a critic - journalist - painter - biologist - statesman - poet - novelist - philosopher - scientist - and the manager of the Duke of Weimar's playhouse