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. 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






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






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






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






5. 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






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






7. 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






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

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9. More serious plot and theme; West Side Story (1957)






10. 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






11. 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






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






13. 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






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






15. Comic operas that mixed popular songs of the day with spoken dialogue






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






17. 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






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






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






20. Includes all other forms of drama - from the ancient ritual theatre of Africa to the traditional theatre of Asia to the shadow and puppet theatre of Muslim lands






21. 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






22. 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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23. Argued that the prime function of playwrights is to expose the social and moral evils of their time






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






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






26. The men who play female roles are called:






27. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God






28. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






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






30. 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






31. 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






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






33. More serious plot and theme; West Side Story (1957)






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






35. Play by Wole Soyinka; celebrates Nigerian independence but also warns against returning to Nigeria's violent past






36. 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






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






38. Three parts of a Noh play






39. 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






40. Built in Venice in 1637






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






42. 'The Father of Realism'; was initially a Romantic writer and his early plays were verse dramas largely based on Norwegian history and folk literature; plays presented complex - sometimes distrubing - views of human society; A Doll's House (1879) - Gh






43. Plays without music






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






45. 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






46. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






47. A form of musical entertainment featuring bawdy songs - dancing women - and sometimes striptease






48. 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






49. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






50. A program of unrelated singing - dancing and comedy numbers