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. 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






2. Exposed the squalid living conditions of the urban poor and explores scandalous topics like poverty - venereal disease and prostitution; 'Sordid Realism'






3. Wrote plays about the rugged lives of Irish peasants using their dialect; Riders to the Sea (1904) & The Playboy of the Western World (1907)






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

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5. 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






6. Elaborate geometrical designs were used for these roles which included supernatural beings - warriors - and bandits; the color of the make-up indicated the character's personality






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






8. One of the most valuable historical records of Indian theatre; an encyclopedic book of dramatic theory and practice; has 37 chapters and covers every aspect of classical Indian drama - also a treatise on dramatic theory and philosophy - states that t






9. 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






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






11. Play that takes place in a mental institution - the audience sits on the stage with the actor-patients






12. French philosopher and playwright; The Flies (1943) & No Exit (1944)






13. 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






14. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






15. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






16. Said that the free enterprise system is seriously flawed and is a cause of great human misery because it exploits the poor






17. 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






18. French philosopher often called the Father of the Romantic movement; argued that people could find happiness in a 'state of nature' and that they should learn from nature rather than the artificial and corrupted teachings of society






19. Musicals with a particularly well-developed story and characters






20. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






21. 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






22. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






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






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






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






26. Three parts of a Noh play






27. Wrote 'high comedies' which were cerebral socially relevant plays that had an intellectual scope so vast they forced audiences to reassess their values; Man and Superman (1903) & The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891)






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






29. Any artist or work of art that is experimental - innovative or unconventional; some styles would be symbolism - expressionism - futurism - Dadaism - surrealism - and absurdism






30. Proclaimed 'God is dead...and we have killed him.'; felt taht absence of God was a tragedy - but believed human beings needed to accept the tragedy and move forward in a world that was unjust and meaningless






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






32. Only cost a nickel






33. 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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34. Plays without music






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






36. French Enlightenment playwright; was an inventor and thinker who spent countless hours at the leading intellectual salons of France; most famous plays are The Barber of Seville - and The Marriage of Figaro - his plays reflect the attitudes of the Enl






37. The first 'talkie' movie; featured white actor Al Jolson in blackface performing in a minstrel show






38. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






39. Named new 'photographic' realism NATURALISM and his phrase 'slice of life' is quoted description of it






40. What western theatre is often called:






41. 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






42. Records of this type of theatre are fragmentary - but we do know that it grew out of regional religious rituals related to Confucianism - Taoism - and Buddhism - and ritual dances performed during the Shang dynasty






43. Kabuki borrowed many of these movements to make Kabuki acting highly stylized and almost puppet-like






44. The first 'talkie' movie; featured white actor Al Jolson in blackface performing in a minstrel show






45. 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






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






47. 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'






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






49. 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






50. 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