Theatre Traditions Chapter.7 Verified Test Bank 12th Edition

Theatre, Brief, 12e (Cohen)

Chapter 7 Theatre Traditions

1) Historically, traditional drama began when

A) spoken drama was introduced into shamanistic rites.

B) rituals began to use theatrical elements like costumes and properties.

C) whole tribes of audiences began to gather to hear storytellers relate their tales.

D) dramatic competitions were introduced in Athens.

2) Ancient Egypt's Abydos Passion Play and other texts of that time employed plot elements that indicate they derived from

A) ritual forms that employed boats and other large nautical props.

B) storytelling forms that incorporated impersonation and built to a dramatic climax.

C) ancient reenactments of the coming of spring and celebration of rebirth.

D) ritualistic violence, combats, duels, and maiming.

3) The ancient Greek god of fertility, wine, agriculture, and sexuality was

A) Apollo.

B) Athena.

C) Mercury.

D) Dionysus.

4) The dithyramb was

A) an austere religious sacrifice involving the burning of incense and the consecration of a bull to Apollo.

B) a song-and-dance routine performed on the spring equinox and celebrated with flowers, grasses, and the blessing of ships.

C) an ancient, drunken, dance-chant fertility ritual that celebrated the birth of the wine god.

D) a rite of passage symbolizing the transition from virginity to marriage sanctified by the reading of oracles from Delphi.

5) What kind of sexualized, audacious, political, and scatological comedy was considered fit material for translation or publication only in recent times?

A) old comedy

B) modern comedy

C) commedia dell'arte

D) renaissance comedy

6) Which of the following is NOT true of the Greek chorus?

A) It offered individuals the opportunity to voice personal opinions.

B) It stood metaphorically and literally between the principal characters and the audience.

C) It enabled the playwright to bridge narrative and dramatic forms.

D) It danced in dithyrambic ceremonies.

7) Rome's greatest contribution to the theatre was

A) its improvements on the form of tragedy.

B) its introduction of a chorus.

C) their architecture and modifications of the theatre space.

D) its poetic manuscripts.

8) The "medieval era" describes the period of history

A) between the sack of Constantinople and the building of Chartres cathedral.

B) between the death of Aristotle and the birth of William Shakespeare.

C) between the fall of Rome and the coming of the Renaissance.

D) between the first Crusade and the invention of the printing press.

9) The liturgical trope Quem Queritis

A) celebrates the visit of the three Marys to the tomb of the crucified Christ.

B) celebrates the baptism of John the Baptist.

C) enacts the birth of Christ and a visitation by angels.

D) enacts the visitation of the three Magi to Christ on the feast of the Epiphany.

10) A vomitoria is

A) an elaborately constructed house.

B) a tunnel entrance on both sides of the orchestra, or stage.

C) the box on stage that appears to be a part of the scenery but which actually holds all the props needed for the play.

D) the platform segment which bears the stage planks.

11) The Renaissance was characterized by which of the following?

A) a renewed interest in classical (Greek and Roman) civilization

B) the vigorous revival of monastic scholasticism

C) the repudiation of the discoveries of the New World

D) a celebration of oriental cultures, especially India

12) Which of the following can NOT be said of Shakespeare?

A) He was basically ignored by royalty.

B) He was an actor.

C) He was part-owner of an acting company.

D) He was a contemporary of Christopher Marlowe.

13) Which Renaissance-era theatre building was restored in 1997 as a functioning performing space?

A) the Great Theatre of Dionysus

B) The Skylark

C) The Marlowe

D) The Globe

14) Popular playwrights during the Renaissance were

A) William Congreve, Aristotle, and Aristophanes.

B) Terence, Tennessee Williams, and Plautus.

C) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Victor Hugo, and Oscar Wilde.

D) Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and John Webster.

15) All of the following authors wrote for royal theatres EXCEPT

A) Pedro Calderón.

B) Jean Racine.

C) Shakespeare.

D) Molière.

16) Plays of the royal theatre era are characterized by

A) morality.

B) rational philosophy and sensibility.

C) melodrama.

D) mysterious and unexplained events.

17) The central creed of the Romantic theatre was

A) style above all.

B) expression of the individual.

C) wit.

D) eroticism.

18) Playwrights of the Romantic era include all of the following EXCEPT

A) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

B) Friedrich von Schiller.

C) Victor Hugo.

D) Pedro Calderón.

19) Which of the following is true of theatre in Asia?

A) There actually is no theatre to speak of.

B) A diverse tradition exists in Asian theatre.

C) Asian theatre was unoriginal and only imitated and reshaped western forms.

D) Western theatre took its plots from an Asian tradition that preceded it by three thousand years.

20) Which drama, whose name means "story play," originated in rural villages in the province of Kerala in the seventeenth century and is based on any of thousands of stories from two great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata?

A) sakuntala

B) natyasastra

C) kathakali

D) shivanu

21) In Mandarin, Chinese Opera is called xiqu, which means

A) "sung celebration of life."

B) "grateful blessings from the samisen."

C) "tuneful theatre."

D) "presented hours of joy."

22) The word kabuki

A) derives from kabuku, meaning "outlaw," and refers to a style of behavior that might today be called "punk."

B) derives from kabu, meaning "intoxicated," and refers to the drugs used by men and women during the performance to achieve a state of enlightened consciousness.

C) derives from the word kab kab, an onomatopoetic word reflecting the sound of wooden sandals on a stage and an allusion to the origin of the kabuki in the eleventh century vogue of extreme footwear.

D) means "fan" and refers to the central prop in kabuki theatre, used by men and women alike as a vehicle to express a range of emotions and passions.

23) What theatre type is a highly ceremonial musical and dance drama, of which the 240 texts produced today were written by members of a single family five hundred years ago, and whose lines were designed to be sung rather than spoken?

A) kyogen

B) kabuki

C) noh

D) bunraku

24) Which country is the home of the oldest continuous theatre tradition?

A) India

B) Indonesia

C) China

D) Vietnam

25) The most comprehensive and detailed theatrical treatise of the ancient world, detailing analyses of dramatic texts, the theatre building, acting, staging, music, and even theatre-company organization, is

A) the Sanskrit Natyasastra, or "rules of drama."

B) Kalidasa Kundalini, the Zen of drama.

C) Tan Tien, the handbook of the Peking Opera.

D) the Kabuki Nehru, written for directors and actors in Japan.

26) The primary foundations of theatre are ritual and dancing.

27) Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are the three masters of Greek tragedy.

28) Two Roman comic playwrights are Plautus and Terence.

29) Medieval mystery plays were performed only in Latin.

30) The work of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson in England and Machiavelli and commedia dell'arte in Italy are all examples of Renaissance theatre.

31) The excesses of Romanticism gave rise to melodrama and grand opera.

32) The Royal era was characterized by the targeted audience of peasants, farmers, and lower class citizens who enjoyed the outdoor ambience of the theatre.

33) The principles of the Romantic theatre were in reaction to the previous era's emphasis on rationality.

34) Performers in Chinese opera are adept at singing, speech, mime, acting, and acrobatics.

35) Kabuki consists of only one category: history plays.

36) Discuss how the ritualistic and storytelling origins of theatre are evident in Greek tragedy as well as dramas we see today. Does the actor in our society still retain, in some ways, the functions of the shaman? Has technology taken over any of these roles?

37) Describe the theatre of the Middle Ages (medieval) and specifically the Quem Quaeritis. Are there any equivalents of this type of theatre today?

38) Briefly discuss the contributions of Shakespeare and his works to the theatre. Discuss all the roles Shakespeare played in the theatre (actor, director, etc.).

39) Imagine you want to produce a Shakespeare play in the tradition of kabuki and noh theatre combined. What questions/choices would you have to make? Think of design as well as acting!

40) Briefly characterize the kabuki and noh dramas.