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. 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






2. Book - music - and lyrics






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






4. '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






5. Feature the work of a director-choreographer






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






7. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






8. 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






9. One of the most popular Kabuki and Bunraku playwrights - who - like Shakespeare - wrote crowd-pleasing plays that combined poetry and prose in dramatic tales of comedy - tragedy - love - and war






10. Most famous American expressionist playwright who won Nobel Prize for Literature (1936); A touch of the Poet (1935) - The Iceman Cometh (1939) - A Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) & A Moon for the Misbegotten (1952); The Hairy Ape (1952)


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






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






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






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






15. 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






16. 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






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






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






19. 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






20. 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)






21. 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






22. Type of theatre greatly influenced by Buddhism and Shinto; originates in ritual






23. 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






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






25. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






26. Peking Opera was dramatically altered when:






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






28. 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






29. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






30. No protagonist; deals with a family of characters who tell many stories at once; the fact that characters on stage take no action may inspire audience members to be motivated for the opposite in real life






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


32. 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






33. 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






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






35. 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






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






37. Elaborate geometrical designs were used for these roles which included supernatural beings - warriors - and bandits; the color of the make-up indicated the character's personality






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






39. Goethe's most famous Romantic play






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






41. 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






42. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






43. Based off the idea that before a problem can be solved - society must first understand that the problem exists; 'attack the message - not the messenger'






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






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






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






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






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






49. 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






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