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. Studied the history of class conflict






2. 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






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






4. 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






5. 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






6. The orchestrated melodies






7. Built in Venice in 1637






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






9. 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






10. Three parts of a Noh play






11. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






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






13. 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






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






15. One of the most valuable historical records of Indian theatre; an encyclopedic book of dramatic theory and practice; has 37 chapters and covers every aspect of classical Indian drama - also a treatise on dramatic theory and philosophy - states that t






16. This happened for the first time during the Restoration






17. Writes the music






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






19. 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






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






21. 'The Father of Realism'; was initially a Romantic writer and his early plays were verse dramas largely based on Norwegian history and folk literature; plays presented complex - sometimes distrubing - views of human society; A Doll's House (1879) - Gh






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






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






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






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






26. 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






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






28. 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






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






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






31. 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






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






33. Comedies forced Victorian society to reexamine its hypocrisies; Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) - A WOman of No Importance (1893) - An Ideal Husband (1894); advocated 'art for art's sake'; The Importance of Being Ernest






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






35. Includes all other forms of drama - from the ancient ritual theatre of Africa to the traditional theatre of Asia to the shadow and puppet theatre of Muslim lands






36. Type of Islamic theatre which is created by lighting two-dimensional figures and casting their shadows on a screen; the audience watches the silhouettes while a narrator tells a story






37. Set out to break all the neoclassical rules - attacked the three unities






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






39. 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






40. What western theatre is often called:






41. 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






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






43. 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






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






45. First female theatre manager in London; was also an actor and singer; managed first theatre to have a box set; Olympic Theatre in London






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






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






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






49. Studied the history of class conflict






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