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






2. 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






3. One of the most well-known Muslim Playwrights - who uses her plays not only to express herself but also to prompt discussions about such topics as violence against women - religious fanaticism - and female sexual desire






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






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






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






7. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






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






9. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






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






11. 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






12. Developed from the dance-prayers of Buddhist priests; has five possible subjects: the deities - the deeds of heroic samurai - women - insanity - and famous legends






13. 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






14. Built in Venice in 1637






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






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






17. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






18. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






19. 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






20. A blend of melody and drama and refers to the background music often played during these performances






21. 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






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






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






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






25. Writes the book






26. What western theatre is often called:






27. Characterized by a light-hearted - fast-moving comic story - whose dialogue is interspersed with popular music; Guys and Dolls (1950)






28. 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






29. Closely tied to ritual - and it uses color - dance - song - and movements to exaggerate - stylize - and symbolically represent life






30. Writers who felt science was not adequate to describe the full range of human experience - and their writings stressed instinct - intuition - and feeling






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






32. Known for life-like sets that used hand-painted screens and gas-powered lighting effects to stage realistic sunrises and storm clouds; invented the DAGUERREO-TYPE - which was an early form of photography






33. '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






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






35. 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






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






37. Three parts of a Noh play






38. 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






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






40. Grew up in poverty and put himself through medical school and set up free clinics in Russia to help the poor; The Seagull (1896) - Uncle Vanya (1899) Three Sisters (1901) & The Cherry Orchard (1904); placed on stage the lazy chaos of lives crushed by






41. The men who play female roles are called:






42. Writers who felt science was not adequate to describe the full range of human experience - and their writings stressed instinct - intuition - and feeling






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






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






45. The artist imposes his own internal state onto the outside world itself; expressionism is a subjective account of an objective perception; expressionist plays use deliberate set distortion






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






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






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






49. 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






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