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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. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






2. 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






3. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






4. 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






5. Term used to describe performances that mix theatre - visual arts - music - dance - gesture and rituals; often use multimedia effects - sounds and lighting effects to make a point and allow the audience to understand its deeper implications; often re






6. Characters were not individuals but types; standard roles included scholar - lover - hero - maiden - old woman - coquette - virtuous wife - and acrobatic warrior-maiden






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






8. Writes the book






9. What western theatre is often called:






10. Greatest of the Sturm und Drang playwrights; was also a critic - journalist - painter - biologist - statesman - poet - novelist - philosopher - scientist - and the manager of the Duke of Weimar's playhouse






11. Earliest form for photography






12. Smaller - less expensive alternative experimental theatres; flourished in lofts - basements - coffeehouses and any found space usable






13. 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






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






15. Writes the lyrics






16. 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






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






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






19. Nigerian playwright that was executed for trying to protect the Ogoni people against encroachments of Shell oil company






20. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






21. Light opera - differs from 'grand opera' because it has a frivolous - comic theme - some spoken dialogue - a melodramatic story - and usually a little dancing; The Mikado (1885)






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






23. 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






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






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






26. Would be removed in the box set to give audience a real life look into the scene






27. 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






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






29. 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






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






31. Musicals that are mostly singing and have less spoken dialogue; similar to operattas - but thier tone is often much darker and more dramatic






32. 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






33. Showed middle-class characters finding happiness and true love (Enlightenment)






34. Contemporary form of Sanskrit Theatre - dramatized version of the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata






35. 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






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






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






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






40. Writes the music






41. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






42. 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






43. 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






44. Form of drama that dominated theatre in India for a thousand years; named for the ancient Indian language in which its plays are performed; combine the natural and the supernatural - the believable and unbelievable






45. The first theatre in the world to be lit with electric lights






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






47. 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






48. 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)






49. The men who play female roles are called:






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







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