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






2. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






3. 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)






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






5. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






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






7. 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






8. A big production number that usually receives a torrent of applause that literally stops the show






9. Musicals with a particularly well-developed story and characters






10. The first modern musical; a melodrama about black magic staged in NYC in 1866






11. Wrote plays about the rugged lives of Irish peasants using their dialect; Riders to the Sea (1904) & The Playboy of the Western World (1907)






12. Improved the daguerreotype and created modern photography; was also an English physicist






13. 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






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






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






16. A big production number that usually receives a torrent of applause that literally stops the show






17. 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






18. 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






19. 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






20. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






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






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






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






25. 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






26. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






28. 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






29. 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






30. Plays without music






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






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






33. What western theatre is often called:






34. 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






35. 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






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






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






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






39. 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






40. Only cost a nickel






41. Writes the music






42. 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






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






44. Studied the history of class conflict






45. 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






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






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






48. 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






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






50. Built in Venice in 1637