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. An extreme form of realism; an acurate 'documentary' of everyday life - including its seamy side






2. 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






3. 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






4. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






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






6. The men who play female roles are called:






7. 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






8. 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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9. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






10. First part had musical numbers with little comic dialogue; second part was full of songs - dance and standup routines; third part featured a one-act play






11. 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






12. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






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






14. Staged inexpensive - noncommercial productions of artistically significant plays in small - out-of-the-way theatres






15. 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






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






17. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






19. 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






20. 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






21. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






22. 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






23. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






24. A form of musical entertainment featuring bawdy songs - dancing women - and sometimes striptease






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

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26. Brought Western-style theatre to Africa to dramatize Bible stories in order to win converts






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






28. Wooden clappers used in Kabuki






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






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






31. 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






32. Play by Wole Soyinka; celebrates Nigerian independence but also warns against returning to Nigeria's violent past






33. 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






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






35. 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






36. Characters were not individuals but types; standard roles included scholar - lover - hero - maiden - old woman - coquette - virtuous wife - and acrobatic warrior-maiden






37. 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






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






39. 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






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






41. A blend of melody and drama and refers to the background music often played during these performances






42. 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






43. 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






44. 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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45. 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






46. What western theatre is often called:






47. Earliest form for photography






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






49. One of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment - French poet - essayist - and playwright whose writing often got him in trouble with the church; built a theatre on his own estate so he could freely present his plays






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