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. 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)






2. 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






3. The want for more 'genuine' sets - more 'honest' acting - and dialogue to be modeled after everyday speech - influenced by ideas of CHarles Darwin - Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx






4. 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






5. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






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






7. Most famous English actress - born into poverty - started out singing in taverns and selling oranges in theatres - became the King's mistress






8. 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






9. 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






10. Built in Venice in 1637






11. A big production number that usually receives a torrent of applause that literally stops the show






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






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






14. Russian playwright whose play The Lower Depths (1902) took look at people living in cellar of Moscow flophouse






15. 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






16. One of the most important French philosophers of the Age of Reason - wrote and edited the first encyclopedia; was also a dramatist who penned books on the techniques of acting; authored The Paradox of Acting - a book that attached the pompous declama






17. A form of musical entertainment featuring bawdy songs - dancing women - and sometimes striptease






18. Writes the book






19. 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






20. Told stories about common people who felt grand emotions and suffered devastating consequences (Enlightenment)






21. 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






22. What western theatre is often called:






23. 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






24. 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






25. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






26. Theatre was not seen as being of value to society - so plays were not an important part of:






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






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






29. Closely tied to ritual - and it uses color - dance - song - and movements to exaggerate - stylize - and symbolically represent life






30. 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






31. A dialogue that captures the incoherence - broken language - and pauses of modern speech; usually marked by surreal distortion and impending danger; from writing of Franz Kafka






32. Uses rock music - the rock and roll of the 1950s (Grease) - the psychedelic rock of the 1960s (Hair) or contemporary pop and rock (Rent)






33. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






35. 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'






36. A dialogue that captures the incoherence - broken language - and pauses of modern speech; usually marked by surreal distortion and impending danger; from writing of Franz Kafka






37. Composed and produced by Bob Cole - lyrics by Billy Johnson; story of a con man and used minstrel stereotypes and spoofed Chinatown; in one scene a young black man sings about he and his date were denied entry to a nightclub cuz He was black and this






38. First black woman playwright to be producted on Broadway; Raisin in the Sun based of her actual childhood






39. 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






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






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






42. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






43. Plays without music






44. Improved the daguerreotype and created modern photography; was also an English physicist






45. A period of licentious gaudiness inspired by the elaborate styles that Charles II brought with him from the French Court






46. 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






47. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






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






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






50. First black woman playwright to be producted on Broadway; Raisin in the Sun based of her actual childhood