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






2. 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






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






4. 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






5. First part had musical numbers with little comic dialogue; second part was full of songs - dance and standup routines; third part featured a one-act play






6. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






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






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






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






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






11. 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






12. Brought Western-style theatre to Africa to dramatize Bible stories in order to win converts






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






14. Three parts of a Noh play






15. 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






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






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






18. Brought Western-style theatre to Africa to dramatize Bible stories in order to win converts






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






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






21. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






28. Kabuki borrowed many of these movements to make Kabuki acting highly stylized and almost puppet-like






29. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






30. 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)






31. 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)






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






33. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






34. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






35. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






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






38. Named new 'photographic' realism NATURALISM and his phrase 'slice of life' is quoted description of it






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






40. 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






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






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






43. 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






44. 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






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






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






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






48. Developed from the dance-prayers of Buddhist priests; has five possible subjects: the deities - the deeds of heroic samurai - women - insanity - and famous legends






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






50. A repetition of the song - sometimes with new lyrics - sometimes with the same lyrics but with new meaning or subtext in order to make a dramatic point