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. Won an acting competition in Athens - Greece in 534 B.C. Considered the first actor.






2. 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 -






3. An actor's ability to put himself in the place of another person - both for purposes of observation and for applying the Magic If to a role. It is possible to empathize with someone without sympathizing with that person.






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






5. The goal of a character pursues through action to satisfy a need. It is best identified using a transitive verb such as - 'to persuade him to give me a territory in town.'






6. The key to almost everything in acting. For an actor - _______ is not a reduction of energy but rather a freeing of energy and a readiness to react. AKA Restful Alertness. The first step in Letting Go. Awareness is at a high level.






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






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






9. Stanislavski's physical approach to acting.






10. Won an acting competition in Athens - Greece in 534 B.C. Considered the first actor.






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






12. 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.






13. 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.






14. The reduction of self-consciousness from the total engrossment in a role.






15. 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 -






16. The acceptance of responsibility for your own development through systematic effort.






17. 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.






18. 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.






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






20. 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.






21. The father of the modern actor.






22. 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






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






24. 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.






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


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






27. 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?






28. A person fully committed to an important objective.






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






30. 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.






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






32. An actor's ability to put himself in the place of another person - both for purposes of observation and for applying the Magic If to a role. It is possible to empathize with someone without sympathizing with that person.






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






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






35. The father of the modern actor.






36. The exchange of action and reaction.






37. Three finger widths below your navel. The origin of breath and therefore your voice - as well as all large motions of the body. The undistorted source from which our work begins in order to develop the unique ways of using our bodies and voice requir






38. _____ causes an _____ directed toward an __________






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






40. The reduction of self-consciousness from the total engrossment in a role.






41. _____ causes an _____ directed toward an __________






42. 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.






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


44. 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






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






46. 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.






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






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






49. Stanislavski's physical approach to acting.






50. Actresses began to appear on stage.