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. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






2. The German equivalent to Diderot; was a playwright - critic - and Enlightenment philosopher Who wrote tragedies and comedies about the middle-class; his greatest play was Nathan the Wise






3. A true-to-life interior containing a room or rooms with the fourth wall removed so that the audience has the feeling of looking in on the characters' private lives






4. Bandits discuss rival systems of goverment while waiting for an attack






5. 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






6. 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






7. Most famous of the absurdist playwrights; best considered a fatalist - although work is sometimes hilarious and can ask existential questions; Endgame (1957) Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961); Waiting for Godot (1953)






8. Writes the music






9. 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






10. The men who play female roles are called:






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






12. 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






13. 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






14. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






15. Records of this type of theatre are fragmentary - but we do know that it grew out of regional religious rituals related to Confucianism - Taoism - and Buddhism - and ritual dances performed during the Shang dynasty






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






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






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






19. A blend of melody and drama and refers to the background music often played during these performances






20. Only cost a nickel






21. 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






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






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






24. The first all-black show to pay at a top Broadway theatre






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






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






27. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






28. 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






29. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






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






31. 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






32. The first 'talkie' movie; featured white actor Al Jolson in blackface performing in a minstrel show






33. 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






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






35. 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






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






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






38. 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






39. Built in Venice in 1637






40. 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






41. Three parts of a Noh play






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






43. 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






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






45. 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






46. Writes the music






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






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






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






50. Plays without music