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. 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






2. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






3. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






5. Composed and produced by Bob Cole - lyrics by Billy Johnson; story of a con man and used minstrel stereotypes and spoofed Chinatown; in one scene a young black man sings about he and his date were denied entry to a nightclub cuz He was black and this






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






7. The men who play female roles are called:






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






9. 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






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






11. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






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






14. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






15. 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






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






17. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






18. 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






19. The orchestrated melodies






20. What western theatre is often called:






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






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






23. Type of theatre that grew out of ritual - incorporated acting - music - storytelling - poetry - dance - costumes - and lots of masks to create a theatre that combined ritual and ceremony with drama






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






31. 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






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






33. 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






34. 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






35. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






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






37. 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






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






39. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






40. Would be removed in the box set to give audience a real life look into the scene






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






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






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






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






45. '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






46. 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






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






48. History plays about major political events of the past - domestic plays about the loves and lives of merchants and townspeople - and dance-dramas about the world of spirits and animals






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






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