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. The men who play female roles are called:






2. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






4. 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






5. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






6. 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)






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






8. 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






9. Writes the lyrics






10. 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






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






12. Theatre was not seen as being of value to society - so plays were not an important part of:






13. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






14. Term used to describe performances that mix theatre - visual arts - music - dance - gesture and rituals; often use multimedia effects - sounds and lighting effects to make a point and allow the audience to understand its deeper implications; often re






15. Studied the history of class conflict






16. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






18. 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






19. Based off the idea that before a problem can be solved - society must first understand that the problem exists; 'attack the message - not the messenger'






20. 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






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






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






23. Book - music - and lyrics






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






25. 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






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






27. Built in Venice in 1637






28. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






29. 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






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






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






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






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






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






35. Bandits discuss rival systems of goverment while waiting for an attack






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






37. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






38. Six characters take on life of their own when the playwright fails to complete the play in which they were supposed to appear






39. 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






40. 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






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






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






43. 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






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






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






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






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






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






49. Plays about the issues of the day that were in Manhattan neighborhoods






50. The sung words