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






2. Kabuki borrowed many of these movements to make Kabuki acting highly stylized and almost puppet-like






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






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






5. 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






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






7. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






8. The sung words






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






10. 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






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






12. 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






13. 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






14. Earliest form for photography






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

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16. 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






17. Where more experts agree that human beings came into existence






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






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






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






21. 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






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






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






24. 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






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






26. 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






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






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






29. 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






30. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






31. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






32. The artist imposes his own internal state onto the outside world itself; expressionism is a subjective account of an objective perception; expressionist plays use deliberate set distortion






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






34. A repetition of the song - sometimes with new lyrics - sometimes with the same lyrics but with new meaning or subtext in order to make a dramatic point






35. Kabuki borrowed many of these movements to make Kabuki acting highly stylized and almost puppet-like






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






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






38. Elaborate geometrical designs were used for these roles which included supernatural beings - warriors - and bandits; the color of the make-up indicated the character's personality






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






40. '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






41. Developed from the dance-prayers of Buddhist priests; has five possible subjects: the deities - the deeds of heroic samurai - women - insanity - and famous legends






42. 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






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






44. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






45. 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






46. 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






47. 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






48. 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'






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






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