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. First black woman playwright to be producted on Broadway; Raisin in the Sun based of her actual childhood






2. Life has no purpose and they confused and antagonized audiences by refusing to adhere to a coherent set of principles - mirroring the madness of the world






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






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






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






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






7. Type of Islamic theatre - religious drama of Iran which allowed for actors - both professional and amateur - and has been performed in open-air playing spaces and on some occasions in specially constructed indoor stages for hundreds of years


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


9. 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






10. The sung words






11. 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






12. 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






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






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






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






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






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






18. Including operetta - developed out of intermezzi






19. A production of British actor Charles Kean; had realistic costumes - set and props that he had researched to make sure they were historically correct


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






21. Only cost a nickel






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






23. Big-time vaudeville who performed a series of lavish musical reviews on Broadway






24. Three parts of a Noh play






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






26. 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






27. More serious plot and theme; West Side Story (1957)






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






29. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






30. 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






31. Wrote 'high comedies' which were cerebral socially relevant plays that had an intellectual scope so vast they forced audiences to reassess their values; Man and Superman (1903) & The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891)






32. 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






33. 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






34. Showed middle-class characters finding happiness and true love (Enlightenment)






35. Third part of a Noh play - the protagonist appears as a new self - and the cause of torment is resolved






36. 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






37. Contemporary form of Sanskrit Theatre - dramatized version of the Hindu epic poems Ramayana and Mahabharata






38. 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






39. 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






40. 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






41. First black woman playwright to be producted on Broadway; Raisin in the Sun based of her actual childhood






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






43. Life has no purpose and they confused and antagonized audiences by refusing to adhere to a coherent set of principles - mirroring the madness of the world






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






45. 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






46. 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






47. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






48. Three parts of a Noh play






49. 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






50. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs