Comprehensive Theater History and Theory: Key Concepts and Periods

What are some given reasons to study the history of theater?

It tells us about the theater of today. It provides education to current and future artists. It delivers valuable insight into the past.

What does it mean when something is described as ephemeral?

It lasts for a very short time.

What are agreed to be three possible origins of theater?

Imitation, role-playing, and storytelling.

Writing theater history in a manner that relates the past to the present and assumes events build upon one another is:

a narrative approach.

Efficaciousness and methexis:

Both mean group sharing.

What is considered significant in theater history is intrinsically difficult to determine because:

What is valued now may not match what was valued in a tradition's own time; Money determines success and we often do not have records for how much money theater made in its own time; and Theater scholars do not share their work.

It is valuable when studying theater to consider defining characteristics of the audience (wealthy vs poor, nobility vs common people, general public vs a select group, etc.) for the following reason(s):

It offers better perspective and alters our interpretation of plays and theater practices.

Which of the following changes happened in Europe between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

The Roman Catholic Church was not as dominant; The feudal system gave way to autocratic rule of kings and princes; and The merchant class rose to wealth and prominence.

Made popular during the Renaissance, the focus on people rather than gods in literature and the arts is called:

Humanism.

The Italian Renaissance featured major innovations in these three areas of theater arts:

Acting (in commedia dell'arte), theater architecture, scene design.

When Capitano got entangled with his sword so that it emerged from between his legs as a ludicrous phallic symbol, he was performing a(n):

Lazzo.

A proscenium stage:

Was also called a picture-frame, fourth wall, or conventional stage; Hides the stage mechanisms for scene changes and special effects; and Was an impetus for the development of greater realism in theater.

As a result of the rake of the stage utilized in the time of Sebastian Serlio, even now:

The area of the stage closest to the audience is called 'downstage' and The area of the stage furthest from the audience is called 'upstage'.

Religious plays written in the latter half of the 16th century for the festival of Corpus Christi in Spain came to be known as:

Auto sacramentales.

A play written in rhyming couplets, in neoclassical form, with witty and comic dialogue, and with characters resembling those in commedia dell'arte was probably written by:

Molière.

Which of the following names are acceptable for the period of English history from 1485 - 1642?

Elizabethan Period; Early modern England; and English Renaissance.

Theater resources consult primary sources, which are:

Materials that survive from the period.

The primary sources researchers have about Elizabethan playhouses suggest:

That there was not one, homogeneous model of playhouse.

From which of the following did Shakespeare borrow plots?

Senecan revenge dramas, English History, Roman History, Italian Literature.

Which of the following were types of plays Shakespeare wrote?

Tragedies & Comedies; Histories; Problem Plays & Romances; and Co-authored Plays.

The majority of Shakespeare's comedies ended how?

A marriage.

What theatrical elements would an audience member expect to find in one of Shakespeare's romances?

Dramatic Scenes; Comedic Scenes; Songs; and Dance.

This powerful Shakesperean female disguises herself as a judge in order to deliver one of the more famous monologues of the canon. Her humanity is emphasized by her focus on mercy.

Portia.

Representative of Shakespeare rejecting the neoclassical rules, this play includes dismemberment, rape, beheading, and characters baked into a pie and served to their mother.

Titus Andronicus.

The word Restoration refers to:

Reinstatement of William & Mary; Reinstatement of theater in London; and Reinstatement of the monarchy, Parliament, the Anglican Church, and the nobility.

This kind of drama was short versions of full-length plays, usually comedies, that were performed while theater was outlawed during the Commonwealth.

Drolls.

Which of the following happened when theatrical activity resumed during the Restoration?

Actresses were allowed on stage.

This playwright is notable in part because she was also probably the first woman to earn a living by writing. She wrote at least twenty plays, several of which were successful and remained in theater repertoire well into the 18th century.

Aphra Behn.

This form of drama was the most popular in this period, and is characterized by the way it pokes fun at the fashions and foibles of the upper class with witty exchanges, repartee, and sexually suggestive references.

Comedies of Manners.

In which way(s) did Jeremy Collier's A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage change Restoration theater?

The sexual content of plays was toned down and morality was stressed.

Beginning in the 18th century, why does the study of history become more complex?

Because homogeneous, self-contained societies began to disappear.

In the 18th century, developments in learning and philosophy caused this period to be known as

the Enlightenment.

The idea that the audience views a play through an invisible wall and that audience and performer should not acknowledge each other's presence is called the:

Fourth wall.

This style of performance came to prominences in Germany in the 18th century, and is seen as a predecessor to romanticism in the 19th century. It rejected dramatic rules, and often had radical subject matter and style.

Sturm und drang / storm and stress.

A stage arrangement in which flats are cleated together at angles to form the three-dimensional walls of a room, this revolutionized scene design in the late 18th and early 19th century and became an integral element in realistic staging.

Box set.

Possibly the most important transformation of the early 19th century was:

The Industrial Revolution; Advances made in theater; and Changes to religion.

Longer runs of shows and splintered audiences demanding theater that spoke to their own needs was the result of:

The concentration of urban populations.

As a result of the new complexity found in the theater of the 19th century, theater began to need:

A director.

Throughout the 19th century, concert halls, saloons, and playhouses presented:

Mixed bill entertainments, the forerunner to vaudeville.

This new 19th century form of drama rejected all dramatic rules, was written in episodic structure with an epic scope, strove to create mood and atmosphere, had supernatural elements, and the hero was frequently a social outcast.

Romanticism.

This new 19th century form of drama emphasized careful cause-and-effect development and often revolved around a secret known to the audience but not to the characters.

Well-made play.

This new 19th century form of drama put a premium on surface effects, sharply delineated between heroes and villains, and had stock characters such as the threatened woman, the sidekick, and the 'fallen woman'.

Melodrama.

François Delsarte's theory and exercises for acting, such as preestablished gestures and body movements and vocal inflections, demonstrate:

A scientific approach to acting, consistent with the scientific spirit of the age.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner's concept of gesamtkunstwerk is best translated as:

"Masterwork".

Wagner increased the illusion of the stage by:

Forbidding musicians to tune their instruments in the orchestra pit; Forbidding audiences from applauding during the course of a presentation; and Extinguishing the house lights in order to focus the audience's attention on the stage.