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. 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






2. One of the most well-known Muslim Playwrights - who uses her plays not only to express herself but also to prompt discussions about such topics as violence against women - religious fanaticism - and female sexual desire






3. 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






4. 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






5. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






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






7. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






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 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






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






11. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






12. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






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






15. One of the most important French philosophers of the Age of Reason - wrote and edited the first encyclopedia; was also a dramatist who penned books on the techniques of acting; authored The Paradox of Acting - a book that attached the pompous declama






16. '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






17. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






18. 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






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






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






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






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






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






24. 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






25. Second part of a Noh play - protagonist performs a dance that expresses his or her concern






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






27. Writes the book






28. Type of Islamic theatre which is created by lighting two-dimensional figures and casting their shadows on a screen; the audience watches the silhouettes while a narrator tells a story






29. Writes the lyrics






30. 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






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






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






33. 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






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






35. 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






36. 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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37. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






38. Said that the free enterprise system is seriously flawed and is a cause of great human misery because it exploits the poor






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






40. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






41. 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






42. 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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43. 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






44. All lines are sung - usually to grand classical music; Madama Butterfly (1904)






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






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






47. The realism of the play is expressed through lyrical language






48. 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






49. 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






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