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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. Argued that the prime function of playwrights is to expose the social and moral evils of their time






2. 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






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






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






6. 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






7. 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






8. A German poet - director and playwright who challenged traditional ideas about theatre; became a communist after watching policement shoot 4 unarmed civilians; The Life of Galileo (1938) - Mother Courage and her Children (1939) & The Caucasian Chalk






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






10. Built in Venice in 1637






11. The first all-black show to pay at a top Broadway theatre






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






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






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






15. 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






16. Plays without music






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






18. Built in Venice in 1637






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






26. 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






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






28. The sung words






29. 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






30. Writes the book






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






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






33. 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






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






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






36. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






37. 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






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






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






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






42. A period of licentious gaudiness inspired by the elaborate styles that Charles II brought with him from the French Court






43. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






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






45. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






46. 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






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






48. 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






49. Instead of learning how to conjure real emotions - actors of Sanskrit drama studied for many years to learn representations of emotions through:






50. 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