ETE 131

Why does theatre have tremendous potential as a "humanizing force?"

A. Because it prompts us to value different cultures by dehumanizing others so that we do not think of their hopes or sufferings, but instead treat them as objects to be manipulated.
B. Because it asks us to enter imaginatively into the lives of others so that we may understand their aspirations and motivations.
C. Because it human-like qualities to non-human entities such as animals and inanimate objects.
D. Because it is considered the highest form of artistic expression among elitist groups.

B

Which statement accurately reflects similarities between theatrical performance and sports?
A. Both have players and spectators
B. Both have specialized dress for their participants
C. Both have a special playing space or area for the activity
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

D

In the statement "A performs B for C" which of the following is NOT a component of "A"?
A. Audience
B. Designer
C. Actor
D. Producer

A

Parades, juggling, pantomime, and street carnivals may all be considered theatrical entertainments.
True
False

True

It is much easier to control audience focus in the theatre than it is on television or film.
True
False

False

Education designed for competency in standardized tests has failed to cultivate major aspects of human intelligence and potential in the arts.
True
False

True

Plays show us a reflection of basic assumptions of the \_________ from which the plays have come.
A. production company
B. society
C. arts funding organization
D. patron

b

Both theatre and various forms of modern media have been accused by critics as asserting a \_________ influence on young people.

dangerous

What is the most basic, full definition of the art form known as theatre?

Someone performing something for someone else

There are right and wrong responses to works of art.
True
False

False

The typical audience member of a Broadway play is from the \________ class.

well-to-do middle

Theatre requires more \________ between the director and the audience than does film.
A. interaction
B. engagement
C. collaboration
D. discussion

c

Which of the following is true about the standards critics use to write about a theatrical production?
A. No standard can be proven incontestably better than another
B. Critics never damn productions for failing to satisfy criteria the play or production didn't strive to meet
C. All critics must follow established universal standards
D. Reviewers never use standards to write about theatrical production

a

Plays that appeal to a specific group of people may polarize an audience over artistic, racial, class, or gender issues.
True
False

true

What is the technical definition of the term "criticism"?

The act of making judgments

The mind and imagination of the spectator is where the final step in the \_________ process in theatre occurs.
A. imaginative
B. critical
C. creative
D. artistic

c

Because a theatrical performance is a(n) \____________ event, conditions surrounding and defining it play a role in how the audience responds.
A. entertaining
B. artistic
C. social
D. collaborative

c

There are very specific rules regarding how one should experience a theatrical performance.
True
False

false

Some people argue that entering so fully into a production that audience members completely forget themselves makes it impossible to watch critically or to be aware of the ideology or prejudices implied by the action.
True
False

true

T/F Criticism that is almost wholly descriptive can help the audience understand complex productions.

true

Which BEST describes Melodrama as a dramatic form?
A. Complex characters with complex motivations and responses
B. A serious action that is resolved happily and affirms the power of good over evil
C. A serious action that raises significant issues about the nature of human existence.
D. All of these are correct

b

Which most fully describes the qualities of effective dramatic action?
A. It should be complete and self-contained.
B. It should engage and maintain interest.
C. It should be deliberately shaped to reveal its purpose and goal.
D. It should be internally consistent.
E. All of these are correct

e.

Tragedy is a form associated especially with:

Elizabethan England and Ancient Greece

The plot of the play is usually longer than the storyline.
True
False

false

The most common plot structures are:

episodic and climactic

T/F Style in the theatre stems only from the manner in which a playwright uses the elements of drama.

false

Which of the following is NOT one of the most common plot structures?
A. Organizational
B. Episodic
C. Climactic

a

T/F Two of the most common plot structures are episodic and sequential

false

The beginning of a play usually involves \_______________: the setting forth of information about earlier events, the identity and relationship of the characters, and the present situation.

exposition

Which of the following is NOT one of the elements of drama, according to Aristotle?
A. Thought
B. Spectacle
C. Character
D. Situation
E. Plot
F. Diction (or Language)

d

Which best explains the difference between literary management and production dramaturgy?
A. Literary management is concerned with the entire season, whereas production dramaturgy is concerned with a specific production.
B. Literary managers are involved in the preparation of production scripts, and the dramaturgs are not.
C. Literary managers are never involved with new play development, but dramaturgs are.

a.

Who is NOT one of the main people who make suggestions for revision?
A. Director
B. Dramaturg
C. Actor
D. All of the above

c.

Playwrights need to see their work performed in order to answer questions about:
A. the dialogue and speeches.
B. the clarity of the dramatic action.
C. the effectiveness of the plot structure.
D. All of the above are correct.
E. None of the above are correct.

d

T/F In the course of developing a script, the playwright cannot enlist any collaborators.

false

One of the primary dramaturgical duties of a literary manager is to do what?

ask of any play proposed for production: Why this play for this audience at this time?

The initial act of writing a play is typically a personal and \____________ process.
A. collaborative
B. therapeutic
C. isolated
D. strenuous

c.

Although the playwright and the dramaturg serve different function in the theatre:
A. their work often converges.
B. they are both responsible for creating the play.
C. they are both concerned with ensuring the final version of the play realizes the playwright's intentions on the stage.
D. they are paid equally.

a.

Playwrights often revise new plays right up until:
A. first rehearsal.
B. their dramaturgs tell them to stop.
C. their agents tell them to stop.
D. opening night.

d.

It is not easy to answer the question, "What is a dramaturg?" but most theatrical professionals agree the main role of the dramaturg is to:

Help the director make decisions by asking questions or supplying information

The production dramaturg works most closely with which person?
A. Artistic director
B. Designer
C. Literary manager
D. Director

director

In film and television the \_______ controls what the audience sees; it frames the picture, restricting the audience's view

Camera

What are some qualities that help distinguish theater from the other arts?

Complexity of means, objectivity, immediacy, and lifelikeness

Which of the following is a key component of the performance?
Performance space
artistic collaboration
Theatrical elements
All of the above

All of the above

A dynamic in which the audience agrees to accept the fictional world of the play on an imaginative level while knowing it to be true

Willing suspension of disbelief

True or false: Because of empathy we don't call the police if we see a character murdered on the stage during a performance

false

Some critics have argues that film dulls the imagination whereas theater stimulates it because film(s)...
A. Use more special effects
B. Is more literal than theater, showing every detail, whereas theater requires the audience to imagine what cannot be shown

b

The rising costs of broadway production tickets have made audiences

Hesitant to attend unless they are sure they will like the production

What is the name of the theater director who wrote the following "I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theater to be engaged"

Peter Brook

T/F While historians, philosophers, and scientists work from their own perceptions and seek to involve humans' emotions, imagination, and intellect, artists primarily work by drawing conclusions in logical, expository prose.

False

T/F Parades, juggling, pantomime and street carnivals may all be considered theatrical entertainments

True

Plays show us a reflection of basic assumptions of the \_________ from which the plays have come.

Society

Which of the following is NOT part of the three-step process for developing critical judgement?
A. One has an experience
B. One analyzes the experience
C. One develops a subjective response
D. One communicates one's response to another

C

Audience response to a performance can be affected by which factor?
A. The size and shape of the auditorium
B. Other audience members
C. Each Audience member's imagination and concentration
D. All of the above

D.

T/F Some plays and musicals have met with negative or mixed reviews yet still achieve popular success

True

Which of these is NOT typically considered one of the basic questions the critic needs to answer?
A. What were the playwright, director, and other theatre artists trying to do?
B. How well did the playwright, director, and other theatre artists do what they were trying to do?
C. How valuable was the experience?
D. Is the experience of the play worth the cost of the ticket?

D

T/F Theatres that produce plays intended for a small segment of the population (such as minorities) always find it easier to attract an audience than theatres that strive to appeal to the community as a whole.

False

Which of the following is NOT a type of critic mentioned in textbook
A. Bloggers
B. Newspaper
C. Tweeters
D. Television

C

Which statement BEST describes today's rules for experiencing a theatrical performance?
A. The audience sits in the dark and quietly watches the play.
B. The audience is encouraged to interact socially during the play, and come and go freely.
C. There are no rules for experiencing a theatrical performance, although it may be more satisfying if theatergoers pay attention and use their imagination.
D. The audience must read the play prior to the performance.

C

Although some theatre critics may write flippant remarks, the most constructive or useful criticism:
A. Balances itself with a discussion of both excellence and shortcomings
B. Provides sufficient description of the production for the reader to understand the experience
C. Seeks to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of the production, and relates (however subjectively) its ultimate worth
D. All of the above

D

T/F Attending a live performance is considered more satisfying than reading a play

True

T/F A reader may re-read, reflect, and sustain several possible interpretations of a line, scene or entire play, but the playgoer experiences the action and characters more immediately and directly.

True

T/F Professional critics always adhere to a single context in making their judgements

False

T/F The dramatic element of music can be thought to include the transformation of language into sound by the performers

True

There is a difference between the play, which is the written text, and a theatrical production of the play because

The same play may serve as the basis for many different productions

T/F An effective tragedy require the arousal of empathy for those who strive for personal integrity and dignity

True

T/F Meaning in drama is implied rather than stated directly. It is also suggested by relationships among characters, ideas associated with unsympathetic or sympathetic characters, the conflicts and their resolution, and indicated by devices such as spectacle, music and song.

True

Style in the theatre results from
A. being grounded in assumptions about what is truthful and valuable.
B. the manner in which a playwright manipulates the means of expression.
C. the manner in which the play is presented in the theatre.
D. All of these answers are correct.

D

Which of the following is NOT a purpose of music in drama?
A. To establish mood
B. To suggest ideas
C. To impose structure
D. To add pleasure

C

Comedy, says the scholar Henri Bergson, requires "an anesthesia of the heart," because it is difficult to laugh at anything \__________________.

About which we feel deeply

Visual elements were given more prominence beginning in which century

19th

Playwrights have been the most removed from the production process in which era?

Since the 19th century

Which playwright was preoccupied with the human predicament in and unknowable universe

Samuel Beckett

T/F Almost all plays that are written for the theatre eventually gain a fully mounted production

False

(T/F)
The Humana Festival in stages multiple new plays every year

True

What is the name of the organization to which most playwrights belong and that seeks to protect the rights of playwrights by establishing professional and contractual standards for its members?

Dramatists Guild

A production dramaturg

Assists the director by supplying information and asking critical questions

A dramaturg advises by \________

attending rehearsals often and discussing disparities

The dramaturg's work may be divided roughly into two parts

Literary management and production dramaturgy

The Off-Broadway company Playwrights Horizons not only offers twenty to twenty-five readings of new plays each year and awards commissions for the early development of new works, but also:

Operates a film-development program with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment

Playwrights have been the most removed from the production process in

21st Century America

Where is Trifles set?

The kitchen of a farmhouse

John Wright was killed by:

strangulation

Who is in jail throughout trifles?

Mrs. Wright

Why does the country attorney suggest that Mrs. Wright wasn't much of a housekeeper?

The towels were dirty

T/F In trifles the women have come to the house to help their husbands with the investigation.

False

T/F Mrs. Peters tells Mrs. Hale that the County Attorney has to find a motive - something to show anger or a sudden feeling - in order to prove the case.

True

What one thing did Mrs. Wright ask to be brought back to her?

An apron

What did Mrs. Wright used to do before she married John Wright?

Sing

What was wrong with the quilt

The sewing was poorly done

What was wrong with the birdcage?

Broken hinge on the door

Mrs. Hale says she stayed away from the house because

It wasn't cheerful

What do the ladies find in the small box?

A dead bird

T/F the ladies decide to tell Mrs. Wright that all of her fruit jars had broken

False

What do the ladies do with the box

Mrs. Hale hides it in her coat

T/F By the end of the play, the audience understands that there is no motive for the murder

False

What happened right before the opening of Pipeline?

Omari had gotten into a fight at school

What is Nya's job?

public school teacher

What happened to Laurie to make her miss 3 weeks of school?

Her face was cut up by the family of a student

Whose poem does Nya teach?

Gwendolyn Brooks

What is the last line of Pipeline?

We die soon