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. 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






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






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






4. Type of Islamic theatre - religious drama of Iran which allowed for actors - both professional and amateur - and has been performed in open-air playing spaces and on some occasions in specially constructed indoor stages for hundreds of years

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5. 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






6. First part of a Noh Play - usually a chance meeting between two characters - introductions are made and the characters engage in a question-and-answer sequence that reveals the protagonist's concern






7. Only cost a nickel






8. 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






9. 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






10. Most famous American expressionist playwright who won Nobel Prize for Literature (1936); A touch of the Poet (1935) - The Iceman Cometh (1939) - A Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) & A Moon for the Misbegotten (1952); The Hairy Ape (1952)

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11. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






13. 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






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






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






16. 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






17. 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)






18. 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






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

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20. 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






21. French physicist - mathematician - and philosopher - expressed the essence of Romanticism






22. Type of theatre greatly influenced by Buddhism and Shinto; originates in ritual






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. During the Enlightenment there were revolutions in: ... which had a profound effect on theatre






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






26. 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






27. 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






28. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God; not a negative - for without God humans can create their own existences - purpose and meaning






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






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






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

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32. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






33. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






35. What western theatre is often called:






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






37. 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






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






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






40. Africa's greatest living playwright; born in Nigeria; plays combine symbolism - mysticism - beautiful dialogue - and they make strong political points; plays are deeply rooted in African myths - dance - and rituals but also influenced by Western dram






41. 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






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






43. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






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






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






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






47. 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






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






49. 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)






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