Exam Prep Chapter.3 The Actor 12th Edition

Theatre, Brief, 12e (Cohen)

Chapter 3 The Actor

1) A perfect example of the actor's nemesis is

A) star status.

B) confidence.

C) mimicry.

D) stage fright.

2) What are the two fundamental notions/approaches of acting?

A) spoken and declaimed

B) physical prowess and strength of voice

C) internal and external

D) indirect and feigned

3) The type of performing that asks the actor to experience the life of the character being played is

A) external mimesis.

B) internal.

C) self-reflection.

D) objective meditation.

4) Actors who mimic or imagine how their characters should walk, talk, and behave, using their imagination, are said to demonstrate techniques of the ________ method of acting.

A) inspirational

B) virtuosic

C) self-reflective

D) external

5) What is "the Method"?

A) an American style of training voice using tapes, constant feedback from a voice coach, and tape-recording the actor's own voice

B) a realistic American acting style derived from the Russian actor-director Konstantin Stanislavsky's self-proclaimed system and made popular by Lee Strasberg in New York

C) the style of physical training devised and codified by Vsevolod Meyerhold to enable the actor to gain physical control through the isolation and exercise of discrete muscle units

D) a collection of vocal exercises, based on principles of yoga, used to control breathing

6) Stanislavsky felt it was important for actors to focus on

A) studying nine ways of thinking of time and space onstage.

B) the inner life of the character.

C) performance styles such as singing, miming, and stage combat.

D) creating a compelling presence onstage.

7) Who maintained that the actor should be "an unmoved and disinterested onlooker" and imitate emotion rather than feel it?

A) Aristotle

B) Denis Diderot

C) Horace

D) Stanislavsky

8) Today, the best method of acting

A) has resolved by abandoning both internal and external acting and embracing entirely new forms.

B) is still unresolved, with the United States and England bitterly divided.

C) is an integration of both forms—internal and external acting.

D) is purely an academic distinction since actor training has never actually seen itself as "representational."

9) The first component of actor training is

A) discipline.

B) learning stage combat.

C) creating a character.

D) development of the actor's instruments.

10) Stanislavsky insisted that actors needed to discover their characters'

A) style.

B) goal.

C) movement.

D) kinesthetic response.

11) What is the actor's instrument?

A) inner thoughts

B) movements

C) body and voice

D) wardrobe

12) Which of the following is a paradox of acting?

A) Actors must act as if they are the character and yet also be aware of their technique.

B) A great amount of effort must go into seeming effortless.

C) Actors should pretend to feel an emotion rather than actually feel it.

D) All of these answers are correct.

13) What alternate meaning of "presence" explains the intangible quality an actor conveys that will attract the attention of a director?

A) the ability to seem outside of time

B) the power of speaking through the mind rather than language

C) the quality of the body that makes it seem inhuman

D) the projection of an aura of magic and the divine

14) The three main elements of the actor's approach are goals, tactics, and

A) solutions to the problems imposed by the tactics.

B) the incorporation of both into the physicality of the character.

C) personal history that can be transmitted into theatrical technique.

D) researching the style of the play and mode of performance.

15) Which faculty keeps the actor within established bounds and at the same time ensures artistic agility?

A) credibility

B) discipline

C) memory

D) voice

16) "Tactics" refers to

A) the methods actors use to achieve their goals.

B) the skills learned in Viewpoints training.

C) the exercises actors use to prepare themselves before rehearsal.

D) the techniques actors use to research their roles.

17) Konstantin Stanislavsky, founder of the Moscow Art Theatre (1898), said, "You must live the life of your character on stage." Which style of acting does this statement describe most closely?

A) the external mode of acting

B) the internal mode of acting

C) the physical mode of acting

D) the mental mode of acting

18) Actors are expected to take care of their body and as such are expected to

A) be on a special diet.

B) take regular trips to the gym—required of many acting schools.

C) make small gestures and movements on stage.

D) not worry too much about strength or stamina.

19) A challenge faced by stage actors but that is unknown to film actors is

A) developing their imagination skills through mask work.

B) learning challenging physical stances.

C) finding adequate training.

D) maintaining a high level of spontaneity.

20) Stanislavsky's system stresses the actor's work with the zadacha, which refers to

A) the unconscious "spirit" of characters that make them respond to present events as if they were from the ancient past.

B) the character's "problem" or "goal," what the character desires to achieve.

C) the actor's "secret dream," defined in terms of psychological anxieties hidden in the recesses of the self.

D) the temporal and geographical context for the production.

21) Most professional auditions consist of performing

A) one- or two-minute contrasting monologues from plays.

B) a five-minute extended declamation, usually a soliloquy taken from the work of a major author.

C) a song taught on the spot to show the actor's vocal range and intelligence.

D) an improvisation with a prop or piece of furniture.

22) Which of the following does the director NOT typically look for in an audition?

A) actor's ease at handling the role

B) intangible presence that makes for "theatre magic"

C) physical, vocal, and emotional suitability for the part

D) personal history that exactly matches that of the character

23) "Blocking" refers to

A) stage movements.

B) dialogues.

C) loudness of voice.

D) gestures.

24) Directed stage actions that are precisely scripted physical behaviors worked out in blocking are called

A) platforming.

B) stage business.

C) mimetic motion.

D) performance technique.

25) The term "subtext" refers to

A) the preface or initial stage directions to a script.

B) the script that exits prior to the final script.

C) a character's unspoken and undescribed goals.

D) a part of an individual's unconscious.

26) Stage fright is groundless and based on irrational fears.

27) Acting can be a highly stressful occupation, often with an unsteady income, fraught with uncertainties, and beset by demands for sacrifice from every direction and yet, can lead to incredibly satisfying and exhilarating experience by being artistically fulfilled.

28) Rehearsals are the time for actors to experiment and make discoveries.

29) The performers feel the presence of the audience, and it can have a profound effect on them.

30) The actor's "magic" has nothing to do with the divine or stage presence.

31) "Discipline" refers to the strictness and decorum with which the actor converses with the director.

32) An actor who has been brilliant in rehearsals will always be brilliant in the final performances.

33) Great, superior acting must transcend mere technique or training and elevate itself into something much higher.

34) Professional actor Patrick Stewart considers all his years sitting on thrones of England on the stage of Stratford-upon-Avon as a lead-in for his experience sitting in the captain's chair of the Enterprise (Star Trek).

35) The three stages of the actor's routine are audition, rehearsal, and performance.

36) Discuss the difference between internal and external notions of acting. What do previous theoreticians and writers have to say on the matter? How much of what we consider "the character" is actually the actor? How much of the character is the part as written by the playwright?

37) Discuss the importance of the actor's physical body—including physical prowess, strength, and virtuosity—to an actor's career. (Include contemporary influences.)

38) Discuss the role of imagination for acting. How does it come into play in the process of acting? Are there any limits on imagination? How does imagination connect with the character's objective?

39) Discuss the steps of the actor's mental/physical preparation for an audition and role.

40) Discuss what the actor's discipline means (include artistic, work ethic, emotional, and physical demands).