Thea 100 - Exam 1 - Cscc

Front 1

What are the three categories of Art?

Back 1

Literary, Visual and Performing

Front 2

What are the six major elements of theatre?

Back 2

Audience, Performers, Text or Script, Director, Theatre Space, and Design Elements

Front 3

TRUE or FALSE: Theatre is a collaborative art.

Back 3

True

Front 4

TRUE or FALSE: Theatre is characterized by performances consisting/pertaining to a single ethnicity/race.

Back 4

False, theatre is characterized by diversity and multiculturalism.

Front 5

Define director.

Back 5

The person who rehearses and coordinates performers to ensure that they interpret the text appropriately.

Front 6

Define global.

Back 6

Having to do with any activity - political, economic, artistic, cultural - in which nations and people around the world relate and interact.

Front 7

Define multiethnic/multicultural.

Back 7

Referring to any nation, community, or group in which people of various ethnic or cultural origins or beliefs coexist and interact.

Front 8

What are some examples of performing arts?

Back 8

Theatre, dance, opera, and music. Film also partakes of the performing arts.

Front 9

Define text (or script).

Back 9

Story, incident, or event put into theatrical form.

Front 10

Define theatre space.

Back 10

The place where performers and audiences come together.

Front 11

TRUE or FALSE: Television is influenced by theatre and/or drama.

Back 11

True

Front 12

TRUE or FALSE: Film does not often draw inspiration from theatre.

Back 12

False, film has been greatly influenced by theatre.

Front 13

TRUE or FALSE: Theatre and film have a close relationship, and many theatre artists have worked in both media.

Back 13

True. A good example is the actress Meryl Streep.

Front 14

TRUE or FALSE: Rock and Roll developed separately from theatre.

Back 14

False, Rock and Roll is heavily influenced by theatre.

Front 15

TRUE or FALSE: Today's world sees a small overall influence by theatre.

Back 15

False, television, film, amusement parks, museums and sporting events all use elements of theatre today.

Front 16

TRUE or FALSE: The digital frontier brought about a separation of theatre and digital media.

Back 16

False, the Internet and video games are clearly influenced by theatre.

Front 17

TRUE or FALSE: Every media form is influenced by theatre.

Back 17

True

Front 18

Define genre.

Back 18

Categories of artworks, based on style, form, or subject matter.

Front 19

Which physical elements of theatre do Rock and Roll performances emphasize?

Back 19

Stage spectacle, lighting, and sound effects.

Front 20

TRUE or FALSE: All art forms are selective.

Back 20

True, selectivity is one way of distinguishing one art form from another.

Front 21

What are various ways for art forms to be distinguished?

Back 21

Selectivity, time and space.

Front 22

TRUE or FALSE: Today's audience is uniform in terms of ethnicity and race.

Back 22

False, as a reflection of contemporary society, today's audiences are diversified.

Front 23

TRUE or FALSE: The audience participates in a theatre event.

Back 23

True, the audience sends the performers signals such as laughter, silence and palpable tension, as well as vicariously, through the mind and heart.

Front 24

Define vicarious.

Back 24

Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.

Front 25

Define willing suspension of disbelief.

Back 25

When the audience wants to believe in the reality of what is happening onstage to the point where they willingly put aside all literal and practical considerations.

Front 26

Define aesthetic distance.

Back 26

The audience must be in some sense separated from the performance, and must be aware that it is a work of art, in order to experience its aesthetic qualities.

Front 27

TRUE or FALSE: Throughout all of theatre's history, the audience was always diverse.

Back 27

False, for the Restoration theatre in England during the late 17th century, the audience consisted primarily of the upper classes. In Asian theatre, some eras were only for an elite audience.

Front 28

Define critic.

Back 28

An informed individual with a set of standards by which to judge, who observes theatre and then analyzes and comments on it.

Front 29

What are the two meanings of the world criticize?

Back 29

1. To find fault
2. To understand and appraise

Front 30

What is the difference between a reviewer and a critic?

Back 30

A reviewer usually works for a newspaper, a magazine, or a television station, is restricted by time and space, and is limited in experience and training.

Hint 30

In contrast, a critic publishes their analyses in magazines and scholarly journals, goes into greater detail in describing and analyzing theatre events, and has the time and space to do so.

Front 31

What are the three questions a critic (as well as the audience) should ask in assessing a theatre event?

Back 31

1. What is the playwright or production attempting to do?
2. How well is it being done?
3. Is it worth doing?

Front 32

Define auteur director.

Back 32

A director who believes that his or her role is to be the author of a production. An auteur director's point of view dominates that of the playwright, and the director may make textual changes and modifications.

Front 33

Define descriptive criticism.

Back 33

Criticism that attempts to describe as clearly and accurately as possible what is happening in a performance.

Front 34

Define prescriptive criticism.

Back 34

Criticism that offers advice and sometimes suggests rules for what should be done in theatre.

Front 35

What are the six aspects of drama a playwright must answer to?

Back 35

1. Selecting the specific subject of the play
2. Determining focus and emphasis
3. Establishing purpose
4. Developing dramatic structure
5. Creating dramatic characters
6. Establishing point of view

Front 36

What are the five essentials of dramatic structure?

Back 36

1. Plot
2. Action
3. Conflict
4. Opposed forces
5. Balance of forces

Front 37

Define plot.

Back 37

The arrangement of events or the selection and order of scenes in a play.

Front 38

Define story.

Back 38

The full account of an event or series of events, usually in chronological order.

Front 39

TRUE or FALSE: Plot and story are the same

Back 39

False, a plot is the arrangement of scenes from a story for presentation on stage.

Front 40

Define action.

Back 40

The central, unifying conflict and movement throughout a drama, linked by cause and effect, with a beginning, middle, and end.

Front 41

Define antagonist.

Back 41

Opponent of the protagonist.

Front 42

Define chorus.

Back 42

Performers in a musical play who sing and dance as a group.

Front 43

Define climactic structure.

Back 43

Dramatic structure in which there are few scenes, a short time passes, there are few locales, and the action begins chronologically close to the climax.

Front 44

Define climax.

Back 44

The high point in action or the final and most significant crisis in the action.

Front 45

Define "Commedia dell'arte."

Back 45

Form of comic theatre, originating in 16th century Italy, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario calling for a set of stock characters.

Front 46

Define compilation.

Back 46

Introduction, in a play, of a new force that creates a new balance of power and entails a delay in reaching the climax.

Front 47

Define conflict.

Back 47

Tension between two or more characters that leads to crisis or a climax; a fundamental struggle or imbalance - involving ideologies, actions, personalities, etc. - underlying a play.

Front 48

Define crisis.

Back 48

Point within a play when the action reaches an important confrontation or takes a critical turn.

Front 49

Define "deus ex machina."

Back 49

Intervention of supernatural forces - usually at the last moment - to save the action from its logical conclusion.

Front 50

Define dialogue.

Back 50

Conversation between characters in a play.

Front 51

Define dominant trait.

Back 51

One paramount trait or tendency that overshadows all others and appears to control the conduct of the character.

Front 52

Define episodic structure.

Back 52

Dramatic structure in which there are many scenes, taking place over a considerable period of time in a number of locations, frequently using subplots.

Front 53

Define exposition.

Back 53

Imparting of information necessary for an understanding of the story but not covered by the action onstage; events or knowledge from the past, or occurring outside the play, which must be introduced for the audience to understand the characters or plot.

Front 54

Define minor characters.

Back 54

Characters who have small, secondary, or supporting roles.

Front 55

Define obstacle.

Back 55

That which delays or prevents the achieving of a goal by a character, creating complication and conflict.

Front 56

Define protagonist.

Back 56

Principle character in a play, the one whom the drama is about.

Front 57

Define representative characters.

Back 57

Characters who embody characteristics that represent an entire group.

Front 58

Define ritual.

Back 58

Specifically ordered ceremonial event, often religious.

Front 59

Define stock character.

Back 59

A character, representing a stereotype, who has one outstanding trait of human behavior to the exclusion of virtually all other attributes.

Hint 59

Most often used in comedy and melodrama.

Front 60

Define subplot.

Back 60

Secondary plot that reinforces or runs parallel to the major plot in an episodic play.

Front 61

TRUE or FALSE: Climactic structure involves plays where action, duration, and number of characters and locales are extensive and expanded.

Back 61

False, climactic structure is restricted in all aspects of a play, and is also known as intensive structure.

Front 62

TRUE or FALSE: Theatre doesn't follow a particular structure or form.

Back 62

False, theater is highly structured, involving action, tone, style, obstacles, conflict, climax and conclusion.

Front 63

Define narrator.

Back 63

A person who speaks directly to the audience, frequently commenting on the action.

Front 64

TRUE or FALSE: Another name for representative characters is quintessential characters.

Back 64

True.

Front 65

TRUE or FALSE: Another term for dominant trait is humor.

Back 65

True.

Front 66

What does a dramatic structure begin with?

Back 66

An opening scene, which starts the action and sets the tone and style for everything that follows.

Front 67

TRUE or FALSE: In climactic structure, the plot begins late in the story.

Back 67

True, the plot begins at a point where the story has reached a climax.

Front 68

TRUE or FALSE: In climactic structure, construction is tight, and events are arranged in an orderly, compact way, with no loose ends.

Back 68

True.

Front 69

TRUE or FALSE: Another way to classify episodic structure is "extensive structure."

Back 69

True

Front 70

TRUE or FALSE: Episodic plays typically cover an extended period of time and ranges over a number of locations.

Back 70

True.

Front 71

TRUE or FALSE: Episodic plays rarely have subplots.

Back 71

False, episodic plays often have parallel and subplots.

Front 72

TRUE or FALSE: Plays must be exclusively episodic or climactic, but not both.

Back 72

False, the two structures may be intertwined.

Front 73

Define serial structure.

Back 73

A series of acts or episodes - individual theatre events - offered as a single presentation.

Front 74

What are the two oldest and best-known genres in theatre?

Back 74

Comedy and tragedy.

Front 75

Define tragedy.

Back 75

A serious drama involving important personages caught in calamitous circumstances, evoking fear and apprehension in the audience for the characters who are suffering, and admiration for the courage they display.

Front 76

TRUE or FALSE: Tragedy assumes that the universe is indifferent to human concerns, and often cruel or malevolent.

Back 76

True.

Front 77

What are the two basic kinds of tragedy?

Back 77

Traditional and modern.

Front 78

TRUE or FALSE: In traditional tragedy, the hero is often an extraordinary person such as a king, general, or member of nobility.

Back 78

True.

Front 79

TRUE or FALSE: In traditional tragedy, there is always a way to turn back events and reverse the tragic situation.

Back 79

False, the tragic situation becomes irretrievable.

Front 80

TRUE or FALSE: In traditional tragedy, the hero accepts responsibility for their actions and shows a willingness to suffer and an immense capacity for suffering.

Back 80

True.

Front 81

TRUE or FALSE: In traditional tragedy, the language of the play is normally vernacular so as to appeal to the common crowd.

Back 81

False, the language of traditional tragedy is verse, or poetry.

Front 82

TRUE or FALSE: Modern tragedies are written in prose rather than verse.

Back 82

True.

Front 83

TRUE or FALSE: Like traditional tragedies, modern tragedies typically involve kings or queens as central figures.

Back 83

False.

Front 84

TRUE or FALSE: Playwrights creating comedies are frivolous and unconcerned with important matters.

Back 84

False.

Front 85

What are the three characteristics of comedy?

Back 85

1. Suspension of natural laws
2. Contrast between individuals and the social order
3. The comic premise

Front 86

What is the origin of the term slapstick?

Back 86

A stick made of two flat wooden slats fastened closely together, created to make the sound of hitting even more fearsome. When this stick would hit someone, the two slats would slap together, making the whack much louder.

Front 87

Define comic premise.

Back 87

An idea or concept that turns the accepted notion of things upside down.

Front 88

What are the six forms of comedy?

Back 88

1. Farce
2. Burlesque
3. Satire
4. Domestic Comedy
5. Comedy of Manners
6. Comedy of Ideas

Front 89

Define slapstick comedy.

Back 89

Comedy which relies on ridiculous physical activity - often violent in nature - for its humor.

Front 90

Define Burlesque.

Back 90

Satire of a serious form of literature.

Front 91

Define comedy.

Back 91

A play that is light in tone, concerned with issues that are not serious, has a happy ending, and is designed to amuse.

Front 92

Define comedy of manners.

Back 92

Drama emphasizing a cultivated or sophisticated atmosphere and witty dialogue, popular in 17th century France and the English Restoration.

Front 93

Define farce.

Back 93

A subclass of comedy with emphasis on plot complications and with few or no intellectual pretensions.

Front 94

Define heroic drama.

Back 94

Serious but basically optimistic drama, written in verse or elevated prose, with noble or heroic characters in extreme situations or unusual adventures.

Front 95

Define melodrama.

Back 95

Play that emphasizes action and spectacular effects and also uses music; consists of stock characters and clearly defined villains and heroes.

Front 96

Define satire.

Back 96

Drama using techniques of comedy, such as wit, irony, and exaggeration, to attack people and expose folly and vice.

Front 97

Define theatre of the absurd.

Back 97

Plays expressing the dramatist's sense of the absurdity and futility of existence.

Front 98

Define tragicomedy.

Back 98

A play having tragic themes and noble characters but a happy ending, where serious and comic elements are integrated.

Front 99

TRUE or FALSE: Domestic comedy usually deals with family situations.

Back 99

True, it is found most frequently today in television situation comedies (sitcoms) that feature members of a family or neighborhood friends caught up in a series of complicated but amusing situations.

Front 100

What are the three main challenges an actor/actress has to face?

Back 100

1. To acquire many skills (physical and verbal) that stage performances demand.
2. To make characters believable.
3. To integrate skills with credibility.

Front 101

TRUE or FALSE: The performer's body does not play a large role in theatre.

Back 101

False, traditional and modern theatre makes strong demands on the performer's body.

Front 102

TRUE or FALSE: The voice of the performer is important to the production.

Back 102

True, the performer's voice must be clearly audible by the audience.

Front 103

Define realism.

Back 103

An attempt to present onstage people and events corresponding to those in everyday life.

Front 104

Define emotional recall.

Back 104

Stanislavski's exercise that helps the performer present realistic emotions. The performer feels a character's emotion by thinking of an event in his or her own life that led to a similar emotion.

Front 105

Define ensemble playing.

Back 105

Acting that stresses the total artistic unity of a group performance rather than individual performances.

Front 106

What question does Stanislavski's "Magic If' exercise require the performer to ask his/herself?

Back 106

"How would I react if I were in this character's position?"

Front 107

Who was Anton Chekov's director, co-founder of the Moscow Art Theater in Russia, and creator of the system which taught realistic acting?

Back 107

Konstantin Stanislavski

Front 108

Define casting.

Back 108

Finding an actor or actress for each role.

Front 109

Define auditions.

Back 109

When actors and actresses try out for various roles.

Front 110

Define blocking.

Back 110

The arrangement and movements of performers relative to each other as well as to furniture and to the places where they enter and leave the stage.

Front 111

Define stage business.

Back 111

Physical activities of performers (such as opening of an umbrella, etc.).

Front 112

Define stage picture.

Back 112

The visual composition, or how the entire scene onstage will appear to the audience.

Front 113

Define technical rehearsal.

Back 113

Rehearsal at which all the design and technical elements are brought together.

Front 114

Define run-through.

Back 114

Rehearsal in which the cast goes through the entire text of the play in the order it will be performed.

Front 115

Define "spine" in terms of Stanislavski's method.

Back 115

A character's dominant desire or motivation; usually thought of as an action and expressed as a verb.

Front 116

Define stage manager.

Back 116

Person who coordinates all the rehearsals for the director and runs the actual show during its performances.

Front 117

Define "dramaturg."

Back 117

Literary manager or dramatic adviser of a theater company.

Front 118

Define dress rehearsal.

Back 118

Rehearsal in which a play is performed as it will be for the public, including all the scenery, costumes, and technical effects.

Front 119

Define pace.

Back 119

Rate at which a performance is played; also, to play a scene or an entire event to determine its proper speed.

Front 120

Define producer.

Back 120

In the US, the person responsible for the business side of a production, including raising the necessary money. In the UK, a producer is the equivalent of a US director.

Front 121

Define front of house.

Back 121

All of the non-production elements of the theatre space that relate to the audience's experience, including the auditorium, lobby, and box office.

Front 122

Define artistic director.

Back 122

Person responsible for all creative and artistic activities for resident and repertory companies.

Front 123

What are the characteristics of an Arena stage?

Back 123

Stage entirely surrounded by the audience; also known as theater-in-the-round.

Front 124

What is a Corral?

Back 124

Theatre of the Spanish golden age, usually located in the courtyard of a series of adjoining buildings.

Front 125

What are the characteristics of a Proscenium stage?

Back 125

Arch or frame surrounding the stage opening in a box or picture stage.

Front 126

What are the characteristics of a Platform stage?

Back 126

Elevated stage with no proscenium.

Front 127

What are the characteristics of a Thrust stage?

Back 127

Theatre space in which the audience sits on three sides of the stage.

Front 128

What are the characteristics of a Wagon stage?

Back 128

Low platform mounted on wheels or casters by means of which scenery is moved on- and offstage.

Front 129

Define Multifocus theatre.

Back 129

Theatre in which something is going on simultaneously in several playing areas.

Front 130

What is created or found space?

Back 130

Space not originally intended for theatre use which is converted for productions. Avant-garde artists often produce in found spaces.

Front 131

Define black box.

Back 131

A theatre space that is open, flexible, and adaptable, usually without fixed seating or a permanent stage area.

Front 132

Define fly loft.

Back 132

Space above the stage where scenery may be lifted out of sight by means of ropes and pulleys.

Front 133

What is the fourth-wall convention?

Back 133

Pretense that in a proscenium-arch theatre the audience is looking into a room through an invisible fourth wall.

Front 134

Define Multimedia theatre.

Back 134

Use of electronic media - such as slides, film, and videotape - in live theatrical presentations.

Front 135

What is the theatre definition of orchestra?

Back 135

Ground-floor seating in an auditorium.

Front 136

Define rake.

Back 136

An upward slope of the stage floor away from the audience.

Front 137

Define run.

Back 137

Operation of a show; also, the length of time a production is performed.

Front 138

TRUE or FALSE: The Greeks were known for their proscenium stages.

Back 138

False, proscenium stages were first introduced in Europe during the Italian Renaissance. The Greeks were known for their Thrust stages.

Front 139

TRUE or FALSE: The arena stage allows a greater proximity of the audience to the performers, allowing a greater feeling of intimacy.

Back 139

True.