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






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






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






4. Improved the daguerreotype and created modern photography; was also an English physicist






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






6. 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






7. 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






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






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






10. 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






11. 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






12. 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






13. Grew up in poverty and put himself through medical school and set up free clinics in Russia to help the poor; The Seagull (1896) - Uncle Vanya (1899) Three Sisters (1901) & The Cherry Orchard (1904); placed on stage the lazy chaos of lives crushed by






14. A popular form of stage entertainment from the 1880s to the 1940s; included a dozen or so slapstick comedy routines - song-and-dance numbers - magic acts and juggling or acrobatic performances






15. 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






16. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






17. Play that takes place in a mental institution - the audience sits on the stage with the actor-patients






18. 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






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






20. Type of Islamic theatre - religious drama of Iran which allowed for actors - both professional and amateur - and has been performed in open-air playing spaces and on some occasions in specially constructed indoor stages for hundreds of years

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21. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






22. 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






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






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






25. 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






26. 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






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






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






29. Recorded conversations of slum dwellers in Dublin and used their words verbatim in his plays

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30. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






31. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






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






34. Built in Venice in 1637






35. 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






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






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






38. 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






39. 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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40. A synthesis of music - dance - acting - and acrobatics; it was first performed by strolling players in markets - temples - courtyards - and the streets






41. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






42. 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






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






44. Showed middle-class characters finding happiness and true love (Enlightenment)






45. Writes the music






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






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






48. 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)






49. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God






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