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. 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






2. 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






3. 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






4. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






5. 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






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






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






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






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






10. 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






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






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






13. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






14. A sudden - striking pose (often with their eyes crossed - chin sharply turned - and big toe pointed towards the sky) in Kabuki accompanied by several powerful beats of wooden clappers






15. The orchestrated melodies






16. Type of theatre that grew out of ritual - incorporated acting - music - storytelling - poetry - dance - costumes - and lots of masks to create a theatre that combined ritual and ceremony with drama






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






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






19. 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






20. 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






21. Used giant puppets and actors to enact parables denouncing the Vietnam War and materialism






22. 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






23. One of the most well-known Muslim Playwrights - who uses her plays not only to express herself but also to prompt discussions about such topics as violence against women - religious fanaticism - and female sexual desire






24. 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






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






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






27. 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






28. 1. theatre has an actor who plays a character - theatre is artificial - and 2. theatre usually has a story with a conflict - conflict is key to all drama






29. Result of western influence - a toned down version of Kabuki - told stories of everyday life - particularly those of women - women played women's parts (whereas Kabuki was all male)






30. 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






31. 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






32. Recorded conversations of slum dwellers in Dublin and used their words verbatim in his plays


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






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






35. Divided into fatalist - hilarious and existentialist






36. 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






37. Grew out of the theatre of Thespis in Ancient Greece; passed from the Athenians to the Romans to the medieval Europeans






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






39. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






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






41. Told stories about common people who felt grand emotions and suffered devastating consequences (Enlightenment)






42. French physicist - mathematician - and philosopher - expressed the essence of Romanticism






43. 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)






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






45. A permanent - professional theatre outside NYC; founded in 1947 by Margo Jones; stage new plays alongside commercial hits and historical plays; appeal to the intellectual audiences that Hollywood seldom serves






46. Earliest form for photography






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






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






49. 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






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