Theater History Final Exam

premises

assertions or propositions which form the basis for a theory

biases

prejudices in favor of or against one thing, person or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair

primary source

means that it is a first-hand account or analysis, rather a later - or "secondary" - analysis of that source.

diary

example of a primary source document

secondary source document

article I write about you based on my reading of your diary

white Western theater

"Twenty-five centuries of stage history in more than 300 basic documents and other primary materials" there's an underlying and unsoken premise that "theater" means _________.

logeion

We know from surviving records that at some point the Greeks employed an elevated stage called a ______. But no one is sure whether a stage of this kind existed during the so-called "Golden Age" of Athenian fifth century B.C.E. theater.

no Greek work for stage

A. W. Pickard-Cambridge believe that during the fifth century there was _____ _________ and that there are no archaeological remans of a stage from this period

would have no precedence for one

A. W Pickard also believed that the choral performances which proceeded the invention of drama did not use a stage and thus ____ .

free mingling of actors and chorus

A. W. Pickard also believed that no extant plays require a stage but do require the ____ which a raised stage would have prevented.

was a raised stage

Those who follow Peter Arnott argue for a stage not that all ancient commentators, though they originally lived much later, unanimously believed that there _____ in the fifth century.

higher level

Peter Arnott also argued that a number of extant plays indicate that actors were on a _____ than the orchestra.

low raised stage

Peter Arnott also argued that the intermingling of actors and chorus was not often required so a ______ with steps to the orchestra was quite workable .

False

The "We See you, White American Theater" statement explicitly declares that all plays written by white playwrights are inherently racist

If the Theatre of Dionysus had a stage during the fifth century

Over what issues do historians A.W. Pickard-Cambridge and Peter Arnott differ?

True

A source Book in Theatrical History is mentioned in the lecture as an example of a book that fails to make a central premise clear

symbolic

The Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater define rituals as _______ actions developed by and performed for a community; usually to satisfy its spiritual or cultural needs

arranged in repeated patterns

Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater define rituals as ________ that eventually - often over many generations - become precise in execution

magical effects

Longman Anthology of drama and theater define rituals as believed to have originally been performed to achieve ____, such as controlling the weather or the siccess of a hunt

efficacious

in terms of rituals , designed to be this way, meaning "intended to achieve results," beyond the performing of the activity itself

theater

deliberately created by usually professional writers, directors, musicians, performers, and designers, and it is meticulously planned and rehearsed

contemporary commercial theater

created primarily to entertain, through The Lion King has an instructive value in the lessons it teaches and the culture it portrays

modern theatrical art

depends on commercial success to sustain itself

commercial theater

theater that is produced first and foremost to make money. Broadway productions exemplifies this, they cannot survive unless that have near full houses paying for tickets every performance.

ceremonies

formalized rituals meant to sanction a political, social, or religious concept, examples: wedding, graduation. funeral

absent other

rituals are often directed by this from Schechner that means someone or some agency that is not literally in the audience watching but to whom the performance is in part directed

The Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works of William Shakespeare

this is a comedy play where there are three performers who act out all 37 plays from William Shakespeare in 90 minutes. It requires audience participation or the show can't continue. Audience participation only happens in rituals and that is theater.

The Cherry Orchard

This was a production of Anton Chekhov's directed by Peter Brook - there was a famous heartbreaking scene in which a male character is expected to propose to a female character, but he can't quite bring himself to do it. You want him to, she wants hum to, the audience wants him to, he probably wants to, but somehow , it just doesn't happen.

True

Ceremony, Spirituality, and Ritual in Native American Performance is referenced to make the point that not all cultures view dramatic conflict in the same way

False

The Lion King is offered as an example of theater that has no other purpose than using entertainment to generate revenue

True

According to Brockett and Hildy, those who advocated the theory that theater grew out of earlier ritual were operating from biased assumptions towards non-Western societies

Because it is done with the intent to achieve a result

In what way can a rain dance be described a efficacious

popular entertainment

Which of the following best describes a performance event that lays no claim to having any important artistic or social value

true

One think that helps distinguish popular entertainments from theater is that they often lack written text

all the answers are dictionary definitions of the word theater

which of the following are dictionary definitions of the word theater

any place where events take place

dramatic art or dramatic works

a place where plays, motion pictures, operas, etc, are presented

encouragement of criticism

according to richard schechner which of the following do we not associate with ritual

central characteristic of Greek tragedy

the hero was always either a god, or more often, a mythological figure, although we should note that Aristotle himself never said this had to be so

Hamlet

this is an example of someone who is not a god or mythological creature because by the European Renaissance, playwrights moved away from mythological tragic heroes and started putting "real" people in those roles, although they came exclusively from the upper classes.

modernity

one of the defining characteristics is its strong emphasis on the individual and individual accomplishment such as how all the buildings in Rutgers are named off of real people. In ancient Greece public buildings were often named after gods, another sign that while the Greeks put humans at the center of things they were still committed to their deities.

peripeteia

key attribute of the tragic hero, meaning reversal of fortune from good at the beginning of the story to bad or as the dictionary puts it "great suffering" by the end.

tragic flaw

the hero contributes to his demise in some crucial way. this is used to describe this phenomenon although note that Aristotle called this hamartia, which literally translate to "missing the mark:, a term actually borrowed from archery.

Anagnorisis

THis is the recognition scene where the tragic hero realizes she's not only going through a reversal of good fortune to bad, but understands why the reversal is happening and maybe even the role she played in it.

feminist theater-makers

they have argued that Aristotle's analysus of dramatic structure, and indeed, the so-called "linear" western dramatic form associated with his name with "rising action" leading to a climax and "falling action" leading to a resolution, reflects a patriarchal perspective on human experience.

black theater artists

they have argued alongthe same lines that aristolean linear model does not reflect the black experience or its african roots and performance motifs.

Augustus Wilson

acknowledged his connection both to the Poetics and to African traditions. "We embrace the values of [ancient Greek] theater," he said in his much-quoted 1996 speech, The Ground on Which I Stand, "but reserve the right to amend, to explore, to add our African consciousness and our African aesthetic to the art we produce."

True

In breaking down the component parts of tragedy, Aristotle seems to suggest that the story elements of a play are more important than the performance elements.

False

The lecture suggests that the best way to understand Greek tragedy's ongoing hold on contemporary theater is to study under leading scholars of a university classics department.

The hero needed clearly individualized character traits so the audience could sympathize with him

Which of the following is NOT true of the tragic hero according to Aristotle?

true

Acting in ancient Greece was seen as more of a civic duty than a professional occupation.

Assess it

What does the lecture recommend you do with regards Aristotle theory of tragedy?

women were not allowed to perform at the city dionysia

Which of the following is MOST accurate with regards women acting in ancient Greece?

True

According to Aristotle, the aim of tragedy was to produce pity and fear in the audience.

tourists ignoring poverty

In the Chris Rock clip, the Piña Colada represents

True

New Comedy was based more on the struggles of the typical Greek family than Old Comedy.

Correct answer:

True

False

Unlike Old Comedy, New Comedy rejected stock, easily recognizable characters in favor of unique, individual characterizations.

Elizabethan period

in England this was the period when bullbaiting and bearbaiting were popular spectator sports, often taking place in the same theatre space as organized, formal theatre.

originators of great drama

because most of the works of plautus and terence were based on greek models and the plays of seneca are not outstanding examples of tragedy, the romans are not considered ______,

Romans entertainment

they adopted this from Greek sources -- mime and the Atellan farces mentioned earlier -- and form Etruscan culture, which were also presented at festivals.

modern circus

many roman entertainments correspond to the _____

Circus Maximus

The _______ constructed in 600 B.C.E. for chariot races are frequently remodeled thereafter. seated over 60,000 people

Atellan farce

a popular comic entertainment since the 300s B.C>E. became more of a traditional theatrical form as Roman society moved toward becoming an empire.

roman mime

like greek mime, included gymnastics, juggling, songs, and dances, and became popular in the third century B.C.E; it included female performers

pantomime

this was a unique roman stage presentation that some scholars believe that this which is distinct from mime, may have developed during the first century B.C.E. It required a principal dancer, an assistant, a chorus, and musical accompanists and might be compared to ballet. The major performer in this danced a mythological, historical, or occasionally comical story; the chorus chanted the narrative and explained the action .

false

Unlike contemporary mimes, the performers in the mime clip from the Rome series at the end of the lecture use speech, as well as silent gesture, to convey the story.

false

The Circus Maximus reflected Roman interest in small, intimate performance spaces.

True

Roman theaters were in essence more grandoise versions of earlier Greek theaters.

True

Physical differences between Roman and Greek theaters speak in part to the reduced role of the chorus in Roman drama.

religious rites, shamanistic ceremonies, and sacred dances

theater in the many countries if Asia sprang from __________ and _______ and _____.

Bharata

In India the deity _____ appeared to the mortal priest and instructed him in the ways of theater so humans might be enlightened about life in its sublime state

priests

In China the first professional actors may have been _____ employed by farmers to perform sacred dances that would ensure bountiful harvest

Buddhist temple dances

The Noh theater of Japan evolved from ______ and even today retains a spiritual dimension in its attempt to induce its audience into meditation

leather figures

In Indonesia and Malaysia these represented man, gods, and evil spirits were used as shadow puppets to enact the great myths of the people

realism

There is no pretense of _______ in the performance of traditional Asian plays.

interaction

There is a high degree of ____ among performers and spectators

dance, mime, and gestures

_____, ____, and ____ are as important as the verbal aspects of Asian plays

music

in Asian plays this is integral to the performance

episodic

most plays are _____ and reflect the Asian theater's indebtedness to storytelling

become, present

actors rarely try to ______ the character they portray. Rather, they _____ the character as a type

False

The Noh stage is highly adaptable, and changes dimensions to meet the specific configuration of each particular theater building.

false

Traditional Asian theater borrowed the "climactic" form of drama from the ancient Greeks, with its emphasis on exciting plot events and obvious reversals and recognition scenes.

false

Bunraku is the largest children's puppet theater not just in Asia but in the world.

true

In contrast to Noh, Kabuki was a commercial theater oriented toward Japan's rising merchant class.

The purpose of the mie

to allow the audience to see the inner emotional life of the character

true

Noh theater grew out of entertainments originally performed at temples during religious festivals.

true

Noh was developed as an entertainment form for Japan's military upper class, or samurai.

false

Like ancient Greek theater, we know very little about the origins of Noh or how it developed.

master pierre pathelin

an example of medieval farce where the story's eponymous "hero" is a scam-artist/lawyer. Tom improve his fortunes, he decides he needs a new set of clothes. There's a problem, however; he has fallen on hard times and has no money.

farce

The word "farce" comes from the french word facir, which means to studd. ONe explanation for this term is that comic bits were increasingly "stuffed" in between the religious plays in the cycle productions to hold the attention of the audience, which might very well have found the somber, didactic, mystery plays a bore.

true

Pierre finally admits to himself that the shepherd got the best of him.

false

The pageant master was expected to bring a highly individualized interpretation, or "vision," to the plays he was staging; in this sense, he was very similar to the modern director.

The cold weather killed all the sheep

Why does the Clothier claim the cloth he sells Pierre costs so much?

False

At one point, Pathelin threatens The Clothier with physical violence if he doesn't stop trying to overcharge him.

renaissance

s a historical demarcation speaks to several distinct but intertwined phenomena: First, the reintroduction into European society of ancient Greek and Roman ideas, texts, and art that occurred roughly between the early fifteenth and mid sixteenth centuries; second, the desire among many thinkers and artists during this period to distinguish and even disassociate themselves from the immediately preceding medieval era, which they viewed as "backward"; third, a shift in emphasis away from the medieval ideal of contemplative spiritual devotion towards more active engagement with the secular world; fourth, the self-awareness that a new, "modern" era, drawing from but moving beyond the great lessons of antiquity, was at hand, and fifth, the introduction of texts that would lay the early foundations of Western white supremacist ideology.

Virtuvian Man

powerfully reflects a key Renaissance idea that human beings were central players in life's drama. In the Middle Ages, pictures of the human form would have had Christ or other biblical figures as their subject matter, or perhaps one of god's "chosen" emissaries, like a king or a pope. And they wouldn't have been completely naked; in medieval Catholic doctrine, adult nudity was sinful, not something to be celebrated.

Humanism

represented a shift from the "contemplative life" to the "active life." In the Middle Ages, great value had often been attached to the life of contemplation and religious devotion, away from the world (though this ideal applied to only a small number of people)

Renaissance Man

refers to an individual who, in addition to participating actively in the affairs of public life, possesses knowledge of and skill in many subject areas. (Such figures included Leonardo Da Vinci and John Milton, as well as Francis Bacon, who had declared, "I have taken all knowledge to be my province."

the history and description of africa

which promoted denigrating images of africans along the lines of Zurara's chronicle.

False

From the performer's point of the view, the aim of commedia was to impress the audience with one's mastery of as many widely different character types as possible.

playwriting

Which of the following is NOT an area of the theater in which the Renaissance Italians made lasting and innovative contributions?

False

Proscenium arches are often very popular in the modern theater because they promote intimacy between between the audience and performer.