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. 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






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






3. The orchestrated melodies






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






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






7. 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






8. Filled with characters who cannot resist an argument about social issues; no character is exempt from talking politics and theorizing about moral - artistic or religious reform






9. A robust and spectacular version of Noh; named after the characters for 'song' - 'dance' - and 'skill'; created by a woman named Okuni - owner of a brothel






10. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (2005); The Dumb Waiter (1957)






11. 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






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






13. 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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






21. Writes the music






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






23. 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






24. Earliest form for photography






25. Type of theatre greatly influenced by Buddhism and Shinto; originates in ritual






26. Writes the lyrics






27. 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






28. 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






29. Most famous English actress - born into poverty - started out singing in taverns and selling oranges in theatres - became the King's mistress






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






31. Writes the music






32. Writes the lyrics






33. 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






34. 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






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

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37. 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






38. 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






39. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






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






41. 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)






42. 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






43. The first modern musical; a melodrama about black magic staged in NYC in 1866






44. 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






45. Writes the book






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






47. 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






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






49. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






50. Contemporary form of Sanskrit Theatre - dramatized version of the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata