Test your basic knowledge |

Acting 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. The father of the modern actor.






2. This occurs when: Everything the actor does as the character should grow directly out of the needs of the character - so that the 'inner' world of the character and the 'outer' world of the performance are unified.






3. The ability to function on more than one level of awareness at a time. Ex: A character pursuing his or her objective simultaneously observing and adjusting the performance for the sake of the spectators.






4. The job a character was created to perform within a story.






5. Although it has a literal - physical dimension - being in a state of________ implies a unified sense of self that allows actions to involve the whole body and be well focused.






6. The quality of an action or performance that makes it seem to be happening right now - before our eyes - as if for the first time.






7. Becoming the new version of yourself by needing and doing what the character needs and does.






8. The great unifier of body - mind - and voice.






9. All parts of the actor--body - voice - and mind--work together in an integrated way.






10. Male choir groups began competing against one another reciting poems at religious festivals in Ancient Greece. Gradually the choir leader began to speak as an individual character and acting was born. As a second actor was added - dialogue emerged -






11. Stanislavski's physical approach to acting.






12. Immediate and urgent needs cause actions in the pursuit of objectives within given circumstances.






13. A person fully committed to an important objective.






14. Although it has a literal - physical dimension - being in a state of________ implies a unified sense of self that allows actions to involve the whole body and be well focused.






15. The event itself. It is not 'about' something.






16. Male choir groups began competing against one another reciting poems at religious festivals in Ancient Greece. Gradually the choir leader began to speak as an individual character and acting was born. As a second actor was added - dialogue emerged -






17. The quality of an action or performance that makes it seem to be happening right now - before our eyes - as if for the first time.






18. The condition of relaxed playfulness that some psychologists say allows for maximum creativity. When the inner parent allows the inner child to come out and play.






19. The ______ is what his or her character does to try to fulfill a need by attaining some objective. Stanislavski spoke of both spiritual (inner) and physical (outer). Note that speaking is one of the most common forms - in other words speaking is doin






20. Our relationship to ______ implies internal states to the audience. Ex: Willie Loman with a bent back is hopeless and defeated and losing his battle with _____. In musical theatre it is convention that lovers actually defy _______ by skipping - as if






21. Believed the qualities of a good play and a good actor should be: 1) Believable 2) Connect with the audience in a personal way. AKA Empathy 3) Immediacy 4) Communicate 'truthfulness'. Present experiences in a meaningful way relative to the audience.






22. He developed a presentational and overtly theatrical style of acting.






23. German word for power. The actor's physical and vocal tools.






24. The condition of relaxed playfulness that some psychologists say allows for maximum creativity. When the inner parent allows the inner child to come out and play.






25. Meyerhold. The fusion of mind and body; teaching the 'body how to think'.






26. An actor devoted to searching for the truth of human behavior. The craft of working 'from the inside out'.


27. Immediate and urgent needs cause actions in the pursuit of objectives within given circumstances.






28. An actor devoted to searching for the truth of human behavior. The craft of working 'from the inside out'.


29. Actresses began to appear on stage.






30. The ______ is what his or her character does to try to fulfill a need by attaining some objective. Stanislavski spoke of both spiritual (inner) and physical (outer). Note that speaking is one of the most common forms - in other words speaking is doin






31. Bertolt Brecht's idea that the actor does not become the character completely - but rather demonstrates the character's behavior for the audience while still expressing some attitude about it.






32. The father of the modern actor.






33. The exchange of action and reaction.






34. The dramatic ______ is what happens in the story - scene - or beat in the most fundamental sense.






35. Becoming the new version of yourself by needing and doing what the character needs and does.






36. The dramatic ______ is what happens in the story - scene - or beat in the most fundamental sense.






37. Our relationship to ______ implies internal states to the audience. Ex: Willie Loman with a bent back is hopeless and defeated and losing his battle with _____. In musical theatre it is convention that lovers actually defy _______ by skipping - as if






38. Something a character lacks or wants that drives him to pursue an action to satisfy that lack or desire.






39. Singular - Immediate - & Personal. (SIP)






40. Relinquishing too much effort - chronic physical tension - a false voice - preconceptions about the work - personal fear - and most importantly who you already are.






41. Bertolt Brecht's idea that the actor does not become the character completely - but rather demonstrates the character's behavior for the audience while still expressing some attitude about it.






42. Heightening the drama of an action or scene by making it more significant or urgent.






43. Stanislavski's physical approach to acting.






44. The event itself. It is not 'about' something.






45. Showing the audience something about the character instead of simply doing what the character does.






46. _____ causes an _____ directed toward an __________






47. Stanislavski's classic question. If I were in the situation of the character - and if I wanted what the character wants - what would I do?






48. Recalling a significant moment in your past to fit a character. WARNING: Must be appropriate for the character.






49. Everything an actor does in a performance has to be _______ by the character's internal need.






50. A unit of action with it's own specific conflict and crisis. In each one a character has a single objective. They are formed of interactions and flow to create the underlying structure of a scene.