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. First part of a Noh Play - usually a chance meeting between two characters - introductions are made and the characters engage in a question-and-answer sequence that reveals the protagonist's concern






2. 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






3. Attacked the evils and restrictions of society; tried to reveal the higher reality of the unconscious mind with fantastic imagery and contradictory images; performances were often violent and cruel as they tried to shock the audience into the realiza






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






5. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






6. 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






7. Comic operas that mixed popular songs of the day with spoken dialogue






8. The orchestrated melodies






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






10. 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






11. Filled with characters who cannot resist an argument about social issues; no character is exempt from talking politics and theorizing about moral - artistic or religious reform






12. 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






13. 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






14. Plays without music






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






16. 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






17. Book - music - and lyrics






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






19. The men who play female roles are called:






20. 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






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






22. A production of British actor Charles Kean; had realistic costumes - set and props that he had researched to make sure they were historically correct






23. 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






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






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






26. 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






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






28. '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






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






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






31. 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






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






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






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






35. 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






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






37. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






38. Recorded conversations of slum dwellers in Dublin and used their words verbatim in his plays






39. Used giant puppets and actors to enact parables denouncing the Vietnam War and materialism






40. One of the most important French philosophers of the Age of Reason - wrote and edited the first encyclopedia; was also a dramatist who penned books on the techniques of acting; authored The Paradox of Acting - a book that attached the pompous declama






41. Form of theatre that mixed traditional African ritual theatre and Western-style drama; encouraged African nationalism - glorified Africa's past - and advanced African customs - rituals - and culture; also dealt with serious political themes and appla






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






43. 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






44. One of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment - French poet - essayist - and playwright whose writing often got him in trouble with the church; built a theatre on his own estate so he could freely present his plays






45. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






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






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






48. 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






49. 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






50. Built in Venice in 1637