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

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2. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






3. One of the most well-known Muslim Playwrights - who uses her plays not only to express herself but also to prompt discussions about such topics as violence against women - religious fanaticism - and female sexual desire






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






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






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






7. Any artist or work of art that is experimental - innovative or unconventional; some styles would be symbolism - expressionism - futurism - Dadaism - surrealism - and absurdism






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






9. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






10. Improved the daguerreotype and created modern photography; was also an English physicist






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

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12. 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






13. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2005); The Dumb Waiter (1957)






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






15. A sudden - striking pose (often with their eyes crossed - chin sharply turned - and big toe pointed towards the sky) in Kabuki accompanied by several powerful beats of wooden clappers






16. Three parts of a Noh play






17. Includes all other forms of drama - from the ancient ritual theatre of Africa to the traditional theatre of Asia to the shadow and puppet theatre of Muslim lands






18. 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






19. Earliest form for photography






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






21. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2005); The Dumb Waiter (1957)






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






23. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






25. 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






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






27. 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






28. 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)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






38. Type of Islamic theatre which is created by lighting two-dimensional figures and casting their shadows on a screen; the audience watches the silhouettes while a narrator tells a story






39. Thought that inner truths could be hinted at only through symbols; sought to replace the specific and concrete with the suggestive and metaphorical; usually had little plot or action and tended to baffle the audience






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






41. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






42. 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






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






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






45. French physicist - mathematician - and philosopher - expressed the essence of Romanticism






46. 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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47. 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






48. Three parts of a Noh play






49. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






50. Said that the free enterprise system is seriously flawed and is a cause of great human misery because it exploits the poor