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. 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






2. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






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. Type of theatre greatly influenced by Buddhism and Shinto; originates in ritual






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






7. 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






8. 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






9. 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






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






11. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






12. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






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






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






16. 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






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






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






19. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






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






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






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

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23. 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






24. 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






25. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






26. Six characters take on life of their own when the playwright fails to complete the play in which they were supposed to appear






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






28. An early form of theatre; it used theatrical techniques such as song - dance - and characterization - but it was still firmly rooted in religion






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






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






31. Earliest form for photography






32. 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






33. 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






34. Any artist or work of art that is experimental - innovative or unconventional; some styles would be symbolism - expressionism - futurism - Dadaism - surrealism - and absurdism






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






36. A robust and spectacular version of Noh; named after the characters for 'song' - 'dance' - and 'skill'; created by a woman named Okuni - owner of a brothel






37. Six characters take on life of their own when the playwright fails to complete the play in which they were supposed to appear






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






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






41. 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






42. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






43. What western theatre is often called:






44. Comic interludes performed during the intermissions of opera






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






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






47. 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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48. 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






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






50. The German equivalent to Diderot; was a playwright - critic - and Enlightenment philosopher Who wrote tragedies and comedies about the middle-class; his greatest play was Nathan the Wise