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






2. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






3. First part had musical numbers with little comic dialogue; second part was full of songs - dance and standup routines; third part featured a one-act play






4. Romanian-born French playwright best categorized as a hilarious absurdist; The Bald Soprano (1949) & Rhinoceros (1959)






5. Earliest form for photography






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






7. 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






8. 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






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






10. 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






11. Sigmund Freud's book which analyzes the character of Oedipus and Hamlet






12. Closely tied to ritual - and it uses color - dance - song - and movements to exaggerate - stylize - and symbolically represent life






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. 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






15. 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






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






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






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






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






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






21. 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)






22. 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






23. A blend of melody and drama and refers to the background music often played during these performances






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






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






26. No spoken dialogue - entirely sung; comes from the Latin word 'work' and may have originally meant 'works in music' or 'musical works for the stage'; first operas were in Italy in late 1500s






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






28. Characters were not individuals but types; standard roles included scholar - lover - hero - maiden - old woman - coquette - virtuous wife - and acrobatic warrior-maiden






29. Spoken lines of dialogue as well as the plot






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






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






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






33. 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






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






35. Records of this type of theatre are fragmentary - but we do know that it grew out of regional religious rituals related to Confucianism - Taoism - and Buddhism - and ritual dances performed during the Shang dynasty






36. 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






37. 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






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






39. Closely tied to ritual - and it uses color - dance - song - and movements to exaggerate - stylize - and symbolically represent life






40. 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)






41. 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






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






43. 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






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






45. 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






46. 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






47. The men who play female roles are called:






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






49. Included comic scenes - dance interludes and sentimental ballads all based on white stereotypes of black life in the South






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






Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?



Let me suggest you:

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests



Major Subjects

Tests & Exams


AP
CLEP
DSST
GRE
SAT
GMAT

Browse all subjects

Browse all tests

Most popular tests