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. 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)


2. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






4. 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






5. 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






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






7. What western theatre is often called:






8. A robust and spectacular version of Noh; named after the characters for 'song' - 'dance' - and 'skill'; created by a woman named Okuni - owner of a brothel






9. 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


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






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






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






13. The audience remains alienated from the performance so they could critically consider the play's themes






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






15. 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






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






17. 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






18. 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






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






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






21. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






22. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






23. Most famous Restoration-era woman to make her living by writing plays






24. By Swedish Playwright August Strindberg; fourteen-act play that follows the disconnected logic of a dream






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






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






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






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






29. The sung words






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






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






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






33. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






34. 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






35. 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






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


37. Three parts of a Noh play






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






39. 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






40. 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






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






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






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






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






45. 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)


46. 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






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






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






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






50. A synthesis of music - dance - acting - and acrobatics; it was first performed by strolling players in markets - temples - courtyards - and the streets