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. 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






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






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






4. 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






5. 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






6. Earliest form for photography






7. A medley of the show's songs played as a preview; usually the beginning of a traditional musical; lets the audience know that it's time to stop talking because the performance is about to begin






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






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






10. 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






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






12. Most famous of the absurdist playwrights; best considered a fatalist - although work is sometimes hilarious and can ask existential questions; Endgame (1957) Krapp's Last Tape (1958) and Happy Days (1961); Waiting for Godot (1953)






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






14. Light opera - differs from 'grand opera' because it has a frivolous - comic theme - some spoken dialogue - a melodramatic story - and usually a little dancing; The Mikado (1885)






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






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






17. Form of drama that dominated theatre in India for a thousand years; named for the ancient Indian language in which its plays are performed; combine the natural and the supernatural - the believable and unbelievable






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






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






20. 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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21. 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






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






23. Earliest form for photography






24. 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






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






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






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

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






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






30. 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






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






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






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






34. Three parts of a Noh play






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






36. 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






37. People who dismissed Traditional African Theatre because it was so unlike anything they knew






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






39. Holds that human beings are naturally alone - without purpose or mission - in a universe that has no God






40. 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






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






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






43. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






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. 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






46. Book - music - and lyrics






47. 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






48. 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






49. Suggests we are trapped in an irrational universe where even basic communication is impossible






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