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






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






3. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






4. Staged inexpensive - noncommercial productions of artistically significant plays in small - out-of-the-way theatres






5. Unstructured theatrical events on street corners - bus stops and anywhere else people gathered






6. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






7. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






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






9. 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






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






11. Comedies forced Victorian society to reexamine its hypocrisies; Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) - A WOman of No Importance (1893) - An Ideal Husband (1894); advocated 'art for art's sake'; The Importance of Being Ernest






12. Writes the lyrics






13. People who dismissed Traditional African Theatre because it was so unlike anything they knew






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






15. Writes the book






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






17. Thought that inner truths could be hinted at only through symbols; sought to replace the specific and concrete with the suggestive and metaphorical; usually had little plot or action and tended to baffle the audience






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






19. What western theatre is often called:






20. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






22. 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






23. Instead of learning how to conjure real emotions - actors of Sanskrit drama studied for many years to learn representations of emotions through:






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






25. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






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






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






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






29. French director who stage play The Butchers (1888) with real sides of beef infested with maggots






30. Studied the history of class conflict






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






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






33. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






34. Most famous surrealist and was a French writer and director; studied Asian religions - mysticism - and ancient cultures; declared theatre should should wake the nerves and heart; argued that proscenium arch theatres create a barrier between the audie






35. 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






36. 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






37. One of the most famous Sanskrit dramas - a love story in seven acts written by the playwright Kalidasa






38. Three parts of a Noh play






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






40. 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






41. 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






42. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






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






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






46. 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)






47. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






49. 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






50. 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