History of Theatre Quiz 1

true/false: in ancient egypt, there were no theatre specific spaces

true

what are the names of the dirt steps that travel up to the orchestra

charons steps

the san people or bushmen probably have the oldest continuous culture in the world, their rituals often involved their most powerful spirit animal, the ________

eland

true/false: a difference between new and old comedy is that old comedy contained parabasis (when the chorus speaks directly to the audience) and new comedy didn't

true

which ancient greek performance space is considered the best preserved and still host modern theatre performances to this day

epidaurus

true/false: the oldest extant piece of dramatic literature is the ramesseum dramatic papyrus

true

what is the greek word for tent

skene

what is a. religious ceremony consisting of a series. of actions carried out according to a prescribed order

ritual

true/false: western scholars recognize ancient egyptian theatre to be the earliest form of theatre

false

which of these themes did the ramesseum drama NOT feature?
a. mythology
b. hierarchical status
c. gender norms
d. economics

d. economics

match the egyptian god/goddess to their power/domain

god/goddess:

osiris, iris, horus, anubis, set (seth)

power/domain:

chaos, war/hunting, death/underworld & fertility/rebirth, funeral practices,wives/mothers

osiris- death/underworld & fertility/rebirth
iris- wives/mothers
horus- war/hunting
anubis- funeral practices
set- chaos

which of the following was NOT a function of masks in ancient greek theatre
a. allowed actors to play multiple roles
b. exaggerated features for stadium viewing
c. visually differentiated between tragedy and comedy
d. acoustics/volume

d. acoustics/volume

temporary scenic elements that were usually placed in the openings of the greek skene is called __________

pinakes

doors and their frames which pierce the facade of the skene or episkenion in the hellenistic theatre is called ________

thyromata

what is the english translation for the greek word 'parados'

passageway

true/false: of aeschylus' 80+ plays, only 9 remain extant

false

define periaktoi

triangular columns with different facings

true/false: the first stage used in theatre was in egypt

false

why do we study theatre

understanding our forms of history allows the next generation of artists to innovate

who were the major tragic writers in ancient greece

aeschylus, sophocles and euripides

what were the three types of theatre in ancient egypt

pageants, performative rituals and passion plays

what are the two oldest theaters

delphi and epidaurus

what is the material that seats in greek theatres were made out of that helped to amplify the sound

limestone

what is the difference between voms and charons steps

voms are of roman origins and hide entrances and exits to the stage, where charons steps are greek in origin and are dirt steps that lead o the orchestra

what are the two elements that created theatre in its beginning

ritual and performance

what obsession did that ancient egyptians have that were extremely frequent in their pieces of theatre

death

what is dionysus the god of

fertility, wine, euphoria and ecstasy

theatron

a seeing place

what are he three types of footwear used in greek theatre

sandals
buskin
kothorni

what is the english translation for the greek word orchestra

dancing place

when pharos participated in plays which gods did they always portray

horus