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






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






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






4. 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






5. 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






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






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






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






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






10. 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






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






12. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






13. Proclaimed 'God is dead...and we have killed him.'; felt taht absence of God was a tragedy - but believed human beings needed to accept the tragedy and move forward in a world that was unjust and meaningless






14. 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






15. One of the most popular Kabuki and Bunraku playwrights - who - like Shakespeare - wrote crowd-pleasing plays that combined poetry and prose in dramatic tales of comedy - tragedy - love - and war






16. 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






17. 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






18. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






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






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






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






22. 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






23. Type of theatre that grew out of ritual - incorporated acting - music - storytelling - poetry - dance - costumes - and lots of masks to create a theatre that combined ritual and ceremony with drama






24. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






25. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






26. 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






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






28. A period of licentious gaudiness inspired by the elaborate styles that Charles II brought with him from the French Court






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






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






31. Writes the lyrics






32. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






34. '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






35. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






36. History plays about major political events of the past - domestic plays about the loves and lives of merchants and townspeople - and dance-dramas about the world of spirits and animals






37. 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






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






39. 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'






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






41. 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






42. Three parts of a Noh play






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






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






45. Most famous surrealist and was a French writer and director; studied Asian religions - mysticism - and ancient cultures; declared theatre should should wake the nerves and heart; argued that proscenium arch theatres create a barrier between the audie






46. 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






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






48. A program of sketches - singing - dancing and songs pulled from previous sources






49. A production of British actor Charles Kean; had realistic costumes - set and props that he had researched to make sure they were historically correct

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50. 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