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. 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






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






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. Plays without music






5. Studied the history of class conflict






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






7. 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






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






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






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. Book - music - and lyrics






12. A popular form of stage entertainment from the 1880s to the 1940s; included a dozen or so slapstick comedy routines - song-and-dance numbers - magic acts and juggling or acrobatic performances






13. 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






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






15. Included comic scenes - dance interludes and sentimental ballads all based on white stereotypes of black life in the South






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






17. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






18. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






19. Wrote plays about the rugged lives of Irish peasants using their dialect; Riders to the Sea (1904) & The Playboy of the Western World (1907)






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






21. Only cost a nickel






22. 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






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






24. Characterized by a light-hearted - fast-moving comic story - whose dialogue is interspersed with popular music; Guys and Dolls (1950)






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






26. 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






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






28. 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






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

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30. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






31. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






32. Based off the idea that before a problem can be solved - society must first understand that the problem exists; 'attack the message - not the messenger'






33. 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






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






35. Staged inexpensive - noncommercial productions of artistically significant plays in small - out-of-the-way theatres






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






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






38. 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






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






40. 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






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






42. 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






43. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






44. 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






45. 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






46. 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






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






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






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






50. 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