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. Studied the history of class conflict






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






3. Have become living traditions that are handed down from father to son

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






5. 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






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






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






8. Plays without music






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






10. 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






11. 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






12. 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






13. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






14. Smaller - less expensive alternative experimental theatres; flourished in lofts - basements - coffeehouses and any found space usable






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






16. Most famous American expressionist playwright who won Nobel Prize for Literature (1936); A touch of the Poet (1935) - The Iceman Cometh (1939) - A Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) & A Moon for the Misbegotten (1952); The Hairy Ape (1952)

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17. Built in Venice in 1637






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






19. 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






20. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






21. French philosopher and playwright; The Flies (1943) & No Exit (1944)






22. 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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23. 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)






24. 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






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






26. 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






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






28. Writes the music






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






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






31. Unstructured theatrical events on street corners - bus stops and anywhere else people gathered






32. 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






33. 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






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






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






37. 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






38. 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






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






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






41. The orchestrated melodies






42. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






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






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






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






47. What western theatre is often called:






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






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






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