History of Theatre
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Course Introduction
History of Theatre explores the evolution of theatrical performance from its ancient origins to contemporary practices around the world. This course examines the major periods, movements, and innovators that have shaped the art of theatre, from Greek tragedy and Roman comedy to medieval mystery plays, Renaissance drama, and modern experimental theatre. Students will engage with a variety of dramatic texts, historical contexts, and performance traditions, gaining an understanding of theatres role in society and its ongoing influence on culture and the arts.
Recommended Textbook
The Art of Theatre Then and Now 4th Edition by William Missouri Downs
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390 Verified Questions
390 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Theatre, Art, and Entertainment
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Sample Questions
Q1) In his book The Empty Space,English director Peter Brook states that all that is needed for theatre to occur is an empty space and someone to walk across that space while someone else does what?
Answer: Watches
Q2) Which of the following is not one of the five basic elements that all art has to a certain extent?
A)A form of human expression
B)Values
C)Subject and medium
D)Reaction
E)A perception of order
Answer: B
Q3) Which category of theatre is designed to support the heritage,customs,and point of view of a particular people,religion,class,country,or community?
Answer: Cultural theatre
Q4) Is it correct that the main purpose of art is to reaffirm society's values?
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Stage versus Screen
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Q1) An example of product placement is...
A)Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl"
B)An actor in a movie drinking Tropicana orange juice
C)Super Bowl advertising
D)Dubbing songs for screen actors
Answer: B
Q2) What distinguishes the role of the actor in film from that of the theatre?
Answer: Unlike stage actors,screen actors have backups to deal with issues such as stunts; there are no close ups in stage acting,so actors must be expressive with their entire bodies; screen actors have fewer lines than stage actors; and screen actors have the freedom to fail.Student answers will vary.
Q3) A playwright's pay is called...
A)A royalty
B)A tax write-off
C)A play fee
D)The author's fee
E)The playwright's take
Answer: A
Q4) Which type of scriptwriters sells their copyrights?
Answer: Screenwriters
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Chapter 3: Theatre of the People
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Sample Questions
Q1) One study found that while 73.1 percent of all speaking roles in movies were white,only 4.9 percent of all speaking roles were written for Hispanic/Latino actors.This makes whites in movies a _________.
Answer: privileged group
Q2) ____________ gives voice to groups that privileged cultures ignore or silence.
Answer: Theatre of identity
Q3) When someone attributes a generalized identity to people unlike themselves,they are creating what?
A)A stereotype
B)A culture blockage
C)G.C.C.(generalized character content)
D)Multiculturalism
E)Ethnocentrism
Answer: A
Q4) In a country as diverse as our own,what is the role of protest theatre within our culture?
Answer: Protest theatre gives a voice to the many points of view in our culture and sheds light on issues affecting minorities and oppressed groups.Student answers will vary.
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Chapter 4: Experiencing and Analyzing Plays
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Q1) According to the authors of your text,there are specific actions that comprise audience etiquette.List five of those.Has audience etiquette changed over the years? If so,in what ways and to what do you attribute those changes?
Q2) What are the six elements in Aristotle's Poetics? Select a play that you have seen recently and demonstrate how each of these elements could be used to discuss the production of that play.
Q3) This is someone's opinion of a play,which often includes whether it is worth attending.
A)Criticism
B)Assessment
C)Review
D)Aristotelian opinion
Q4) The imaginary wall between the actors and audience is called...
A)The invisible wall
B)The fourth wall
C)The Berlin wall
D)The theatrical wall
E)The wall of disbelief
Q5) In theatre lingo,what term means to give away lots of free tickets?
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Chapter 5: A Day in the Life of a Theatre
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Q1) The people who work backstage during a production are called...
A)Grips
B)Running crew
C)Moles
D)Men in black
E)The unseen
Q2) The _________ helps the actors with speech clarity,volume,and preservation of their voices for the long run of a show.
A)sound designer
B)musical director
C)director
D)dialect coach
E)vocal coach
Q3) What is the purpose of the ghost light?
A)To scare the audience
B)To increase the artistic quality of the performance
C)To increase safety
D)To cue actors to make their entrance
E)To light the audience's way in case of a fire
Q4) The person in charge of the ushers is called...
Page 7
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Chapter 6: The Art of Playwriting
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Q1) Who is the protagonist of this story?
A)President's shy daughter
B)Oprah
C)Literary art
D)The Porsche
E)Brad
Q2) Can plays make good screenplays? Can the opposite be true? Why,or why not?
Q3) What structural part of the story does (2)indicate?
A)Complication
B)Enlightenment
C)Disturbance
D)Climax
E)Major decision
Q4) What structural part of the story does (8)indicate?
A)Climax
B)Dark moment
C)Catharsis
D)Enlightenment
Q5) A line of dialogue has two levels: what the character says (the text)and what the character consciously or subconsciously means.This second level is called...
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Chapter 7: The Art of Acting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which is not an actor's union?
A)Actor's Equity Association
B)SAG
C)AFTRA
D)WGA
Q2) When actors think back over certain incidents in their lives and remember them well enough to relive the accompanying emotions,it is called...
A)Catharsis
B)Emotionalism
C)Impassioned dramatics
D)Emotional memory
E)Temperamental acting
Q3) Acting on stage and acting in film,while related,are very different kinds of performance.How would you describe the major differences between the two? While it is true that many stage actors have "crossed over" to film acting,many fewer film actors have "crossed over" to live performance.Why is that?
Q4) If a character's inner conflict is powerful enough to affect his or her good judgment and cause the character to make unfortunate choices,it is called a(n)...
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Chapter 8: The Art of Directing
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Q1) A director will divide dialogue into small structural units to understand the play moment by moment.What are these units called?
A)Beats
B)Minis
C)Minor moments
D)Scene subdivision
Q2) A common theatre adage says that 90 percent of directing is
A)Script analysis
B)Devising the production concept
C)Picturization
D)Casting
E)Blocking
Q3) What are the primary responsibilities of a director? Use one of the plays you have read as a way by which to illustrate each of your points.
Q4) During rehearsals,the director helps the actors plot their movements.This is called...
Q5) One of the greatest directors was Konstantin Stanislavsky.With which theatre is he associated?
Q6) Actors who take focus when they aren't supposed to are said to be doing what?
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Chapter 9: The Art of Design
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Sample Questions
Q1) Not all theatre takes place in theatres?sometimes it is performed in churches,town squares,basements,warehouses,gymnasiums,jails,or subway stations.What are these type of theatrical spaces called?
A)Found or created spaces
B)Non-theatrical spaces
C)Concept spaces
D)Allegorical spaces
E)Thematic theatres
Q2) Sofas,chairs,and beds are examples of A)Models
B)Straight props
C)Set decorations
D)Set props
E)Hand props
Q3) What are the basic elements of design? Define each term and give an example from the plays you have read that might illustrate each concept.
Q4) Designers will often use this computer program to work on the design for a production.
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Chapter 10: A Creative Life
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Q1) Which is not one of the characteristics describing creative people?
A)Burning curiosity
B)Concentration
C)Accepting failure
D)Mental agility
E)Moodiness
Q2) Which of the following most closely characterizes creativity as it was defined in the book?
A)Beyond description
B)A moment of insight
C)A branch of philosophy
D)Inspired by emotion not reason
E)Pure thought
Q3) Talent is an important part of creativity,and it rarely needs developing-people are simply born with it.
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to researchers,what are five of the most important characteristics of creative people? Which one would you say is the most essential and why?
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Chapter 11: The Musical
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Q1) At the beginning of a traditional musical,the __________ lets the audience know that the performance is about to begin.
A)Reprise
B)Showstopper
C)Ballad
D)Overture
E)Revue
Q2) Some musical do and can reflect the period in which they were first performed.Hair certainly did that for the 1960s,and Rent has done that for the late twentieth and early twenty-first century.How do each of these shows reflect or speak for the time periods in which they were first performed?
Q3) A(n)____ is a program of satirical sketches,singing,and dancing on a particular theme.
A)Burlesque
B)Extravaganza
C)Variety show
D)Vaudeville
E)Revue
Q4) When a song is sung a second time in a musical it is called a(n)...
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Chapter 12: Theatre Around the World
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Q1) Which type of Indian drama is named for the ancient Indian language?
A)Natyasastra
B)Dushyanta
C)Kalidasa
D)Shakuntala
E)Sanskrit
Q2) In India,____ is the god of actors and dancers.
A)Brahmin
B)Vishnu
C)The Mahabarata
D)Siva
E)Krishna
Q3) Many scholars agree that theatre grew out of...
A)Aristotle's writing
B)Bronze Age kings
C)Political speeches
D)Religious rituals
E)Scripted weddings
Q4) ____________________ by Kalidasa is one of the most revered and important Sanskrit plays.
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Chapter 13: The Greeks to the Rise of Christianity
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Q1) Around 500 BCE,Greece was made up of strong independent city-states,including all but which of the following?
A)Sparta
B)Corinth
C)Thebes
D)Athens
E)Rome
Q2) Which phrase means "god from a machine" and is used to describe a contrived or unimaginative ending during which an unbelievable coincidence or implausible twist (like a god flying in)sets all the problems of the play right?
A)E pluribus unum
B)Deus ex machina
C)In flagrante delicto
D)Habeas corpus
E)Nullus-a-um abdico ab despecto
Q3) Greek plays often began with a short introductory speech or scene known as the
Q4) The word philosophy comes from the ancient Greek words for ____________________ and ____________________.
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Chapter 14: The Dark Ages to the Dawn of the Renaissance
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Q1) The artistic and intellectual achievements of Muslim Spain were represented by its...
A)Theatres
B)Libraries
C)Museums
D)Universities
Q2) The "dance of death" common in paintings and frescoes for many years was inspired by
Q3) What type of play is The Second Shepherd's Play?
A)Mystery
B)Miracle
C)Morality
D)Tragedy
E)Melodrama
Q4) The earliest brief playlets may have grown out of chanted or sung phrases incorporated into Mass as an embellishment or commentary on a religious lesson.What were these chanted or sung phrases called?
Q5) On Tuesday,May 29,1453,what city fell after a six-week siege?
Q6) Writers of mystery plays rarely put their names on the scripts so as not to show the sin of
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Chapter 15: The Renaissance
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Q1) In a commedia dell'arte,_______ is the servant and acrobat who is smarter than his master.
A)Arlecchino
B)Scapino
C)Pantalone
D)Innamorata
E)La Ruffiana
Q2) During the Renaissance,many people thought ancient Greek plays were entirely sung.This led to what new type of theatre?
A)Commedia dell'arte
B)Musical comedy
C)Ritual tragedy
D)Opera
E)None of these choices
Q3) In Shakespeare's day,acting companies were often accused of being vagabonds.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which type of theatre only took place at court and was written especially for the monarch and an invited audience?
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Chapter 16: The Restoration, the Enlightenment, and Romanticism
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Q1) Which Enlightenment playwright wrote not only plays but also books on acting and an encyclopedia?
Q2) The most famous Restoration-era female playwright was...
Q3) Enlightenment theatre differed from earlier forms of theatre in that it fully explored the lives of the
A)Aristocracy
B)Middle class
C)Clergy
D)Monarchy
Q4) ____ called Beaumarchais' The Marriage of Figaro a "dangerous folly" and initially banned it from being performed.
A)Louis XVI
B)Charles I
C)Ferdinand II
D)Henry VIII
E)James II
Q5) ?Named for the background music that often accompanied the performances,__________included sensational subjects,stock characters,virtuous heroes,dastardly villains,and striking spectacles.
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Chapter 17: Modern Theatre
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Q1) Unstructured theatrical events staged on street corners,at bus stops,and virtually anywhere people gathered were known as
Q2) Which "ism" might be described as a subjective account of a subjective perception?
A)Surrealism
B)Dadaism
C)Expressionism
D)Naturalism
E)Absurdism
Q3) Which of Chekhov's plays was the first one produced by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898 and initiated the new style of acting advocated by Stanislavsky that would later become the dominant form of acting for most theatre and film today?
A)The Seagull
B)The Three Sisters
C)Uncle Vanya
D)The Cherry Orchard
Q4) Which type of theatre,founded by Antonin Artaud,agitates the masses,attacks the spectators' sensibilities,and purges people of their destructive tendencies?
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