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. 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






2. 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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3. French philosopher often called the Father of the Romantic movement; argued that people could find happiness in a 'state of nature' and that they should learn from nature rather than the artificial and corrupted teachings of society






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






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






6. Contemporary form of Sanskrit Theatre - dramatized version of the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata






7. Sigmund Freud's book which analyzes the character of Oedipus and Hamlet






8. Sigmund Freud's book which analyzes the character of Oedipus and Hamlet






9. 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






10. Showed middle-class characters finding happiness and true love (Enlightenment)






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






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






13. Writes the lyrics






14. 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






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






16. Closely tied to ritual - and it uses color - dance - song - and movements to exaggerate - stylize - and symbolically represent life






17. 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






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






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






20. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






21. Plays without music






22. 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






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






24. Three parts of a Noh play






25. 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






26. Highlights the insanity of life in a comical way






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






28. 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






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






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






31. 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






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






33. 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






34. Built in Venice in 1637






35. 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






36. French director who stage play The Butchers (1888) with real sides of beef infested with maggots






37. Developed from the dance-prayers of Buddhist priests; has five possible subjects: the deities - the deeds of heroic samurai - women - insanity - and famous legends






38. Most famous English actress - born into poverty - started out singing in taverns and selling oranges in theatres - became the King's mistress






39. 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)






40. The artist imposes his own internal state onto the outside world itself; expressionism is a subjective account of an objective perception; expressionist plays use deliberate set distortion






41. 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






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






43. 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






44. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






45. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






47. 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






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






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






50. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre