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






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






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






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






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






6. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






7. 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






8. A true-to-life interior containing a room or rooms with the fourth wall removed so that the audience has the feeling of looking in on the characters' private lives






9. 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






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






11. Book - music - and lyrics






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






13. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






14. 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






15. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






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






17. 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






18. 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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19. 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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20. Attacked the evils and restrictions of society; tried to reveal the higher reality of the unconscious mind with fantastic imagery and contradictory images; performances were often violent and cruel as they tried to shock the audience into the realiza






21. 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






22. Founded in 1946 by Julian Beck and Judith Malina; dedicated itself to contemporary social issues and highly political - easthetically radical plays






23. Three parts of a Noh play






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






25. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






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






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






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






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






30. Thought that inner truths could be hinted at only through symbols; sought to replace the specific and concrete with the suggestive and metaphorical; usually had little plot or action and tended to baffle the audience






31. One of the most famous Sanskrit dramas - a love story in seven acts written by the playwright Kalidasa






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






33. 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






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






35. 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






36. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






37. Earliest form for photography






38. 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)






39. First part had musical numbers with little comic dialogue; second part was full of songs - dance and standup routines; third part featured a one-act play






40. 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'






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






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






43. 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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44. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






45. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






46. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






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






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






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