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. An early form of theatre; it used theatrical techniques such as song - dance - and characterization - but it was still firmly rooted in religion






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






3. Only cost a nickel






4. Writes the lyrics






5. 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)






6. Used giant puppets and actors to enact parables denouncing the Vietnam War and materialism






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






8. 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






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






10. 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






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






12. A medley of the show's songs played as a preview; usually the beginning of a traditional musical; lets the audience know that it's time to stop talking because the performance is about to begin






13. The sung words






14. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






15. What western theatre is often called:






16. 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






17. Studied the history of class conflict






18. Type of theatre that grew out of ritual - incorporated acting - music - storytelling - poetry - dance - costumes - and lots of masks to create a theatre that combined ritual and ceremony with drama






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






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






21. A sudden - striking pose (often with their eyes crossed - chin sharply turned - and big toe pointed towards the sky) in Kabuki accompanied by several powerful beats of wooden clappers






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






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






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






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

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26. 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






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






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






29. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






30. A production of British actor Charles Kean; had realistic costumes - set and props that he had researched to make sure they were historically correct

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31. 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






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






33. In Sigmund Romberg's play the king young heir to the throne sacrifices his personal happiness for the good of the kingdom when he sorrowfully pulls himself away from his true love in order to marry a princess whom he does not love






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






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






36. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






37. A blend of melody and drama and refers to the background music often played during these performances






38. Brought Western-style theatre to Africa to dramatize Bible stories in order to win converts






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






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






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






42. 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






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






44. A medley of the show's songs played as a preview; usually the beginning of a traditional musical; lets the audience know that it's time to stop talking because the performance is about to begin






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






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






47. 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






48. 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






49. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






50. Recorded conversations of slum dwellers in Dublin and used their words verbatim in his plays

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