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. Writes the lyrics






2. 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






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






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






5. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






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






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






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






10. 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






11. 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






12. 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






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






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






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






16. 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






17. 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






18. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






19. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






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






21. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






22. 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






23. Three parts of a Noh play






24. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






25. Book - music - and lyrics






26. The want for more 'genuine' sets - more 'honest' acting - and dialogue to be modeled after everyday speech - influenced by ideas of CHarles Darwin - Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx






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






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






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






30. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






31. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






32. 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






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






34. 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






35. Earliest form for photography






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






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






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






39. 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






40. 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)






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






42. Musicals that are mostly singing and have less spoken dialogue; similar to operattas - but thier tone is often much darker and more dramatic






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






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






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






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






47. 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






48. 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






49. 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'






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