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. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






2. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






3. The orchestrated melodies






4. 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






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






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






7. The time period that glorified humans' power to reason and analyze - a period of great philosophical - scientific - technological - political - and religious revolutions






8. Greatest of the Sturm und Drang playwrights; was also a critic - journalist - painter - biologist - statesman - poet - novelist - philosopher - scientist - and the manager of the Duke of Weimar's playhouse






9. 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






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






11. First female theatre manager in London; was also an actor and singer; managed first theatre to have a box set; Olympic Theatre in London






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






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






14. 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






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






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






17. Sell over $1billion worth of tickets annually - majority of those are for musicals






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

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19. Book - music - and lyrics






20. 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






21. 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






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






23. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






24. Named new 'photographic' realism NATURALISM and his phrase 'slice of life' is quoted description of it






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






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






27. Studied the history of class conflict






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






29. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






31. Plays without music






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






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






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






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






37. 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






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






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






40. 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






41. 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






42. Most famous of the absurdist playwrights; best considered a fatalist - although work is sometimes hilarious and can ask existential questions; Endgame (1957) Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961); Waiting for Godot (1953)






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






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






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






46. '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






47. 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






48. Life has no purpose and they confused and antagonized audiences by refusing to adhere to a coherent set of principles - mirroring the madness of the world






49. 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






50. 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)