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






2. 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






3. 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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4. 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






5. 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






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






7. Form of theatre that mixed traditional African ritual theatre and Western-style drama; encouraged African nationalism - glorified Africa's past - and advanced African customs - rituals - and culture; also dealt with serious political themes and appla






8. Named new 'photographic' realism NATURALISM and his phrase 'slice of life' is quoted description of it






9. 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






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






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






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. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






14. Writes the lyrics






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






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






17. 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






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






19. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






20. 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






21. 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






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






23. Sarcastic label of Scribe's plays; the sympathetic protagonist suffers at the hands of an evil antagonist in the course of intense action - suspense - and contrived play devices; ending is always happy and the loose ends are neatly tied up






24. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






26. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






27. 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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28. Writes the music






29. Studied the history of class conflict






30. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






31. 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






32. One of the most valuable historical records of Indian theatre; an encyclopedic book of dramatic theory and practice; has 37 chapters and covers every aspect of classical Indian drama - also a treatise on dramatic theory and philosophy - states that t






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






34. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






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






37. Writes the lyrics






38. 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






39. '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






40. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






41. 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






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






43. Smaller - less expensive alternative experimental theatres; flourished in lofts - basements - coffeehouses and any found space usable






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






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






46. Writes the book






47. 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






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






49. Earliest form for photography






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