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. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






2. 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






3. 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






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

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5. 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






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






7. The orchestrated melodies






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






9. Includes all other forms of drama - from the ancient ritual theatre of Africa to the traditional theatre of Asia to the shadow and puppet theatre of Muslim lands






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






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






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. 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






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






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






16. 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






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






18. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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

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20. Wrote 'high comedies' which were cerebral socially relevant plays that had an intellectual scope so vast they forced audiences to reassess their values; Man and Superman (1903) & The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891)






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






22. Thought that inner truths could be hinted at only through symbols; sought to replace the specific and concrete with the suggestive and metaphorical; usually had little plot or action and tended to baffle the audience






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






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






25. Romanian-born French playwright best categorized as a hilarious absurdist; The Bald Soprano (1949) & Rhinoceros (1959)






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






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






28. 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






29. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






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






32. The audience remains alienated from the performance so they could critically consider the play's themes






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






34. Russian playwright whose play The Lower Depths (1902) took look at people living in cellar of Moscow flophouse






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






36. Writes the music






37. First black woman playwright to be producted on Broadway; Raisin in the Sun based of her actual childhood






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






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






40. What western theatre is often called:






41. One of the most famous Sanskrit dramas - a love story in seven acts written by the playwright Kalidasa






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






43. 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






44. 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






45. 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






46. Three parts of a Noh play






47. 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






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

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






50. 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