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. 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






2. Two types of traditional Japanese theatre






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






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






5. 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






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






7. The first 'talkie' movie; featured white actor Al Jolson in blackface performing in a minstrel show






8. Earliest form for photography






9. Writes the lyrics






10. 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






11. 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






12. 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






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


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






15. 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






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






17. 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






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. Musicals that are mostly singing and have less spoken dialogue; similar to operattas - but thier tone is often much darker and more dramatic






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






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






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






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






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


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






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






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






28. Musicals that feature a particular band's songs






29. 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






30. Only cost a nickel






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






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






33. 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






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






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






36. History plays about major political events of the past - domestic plays about the loves and lives of merchants and townspeople - and dance-dramas about the world of spirits and animals






37. Estrangement; essentially the alienation effect






38. The want for more 'genuine' sets - more 'honest' acting - and dialogue to be modeled after everyday speech - influenced by ideas of CHarles Darwin - Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx






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






40. 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






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






42. 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






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






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






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


46. '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






47. Islam's holy book - contains a warning about 'graven images' similar to the one in the Bible - prohibition applies to dolls - statues - portraits - and people playing a character






48. Writes the book






49. 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






50. 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)