Intro to theatre midterm questions and answers
1 The Greek philospher Aristotle pointed out that a tragedy needed to observe three unities:
protagonist, antagonist, agon (argument)
conflict, enactment, and financial gain
time, place, and action
2 The performance contract:
is unspoken
is destroyed by pretense
cannot be broken by either party
3 Conflict is:
heightened interaction
never present in character to character interactions
never internal
4 The following are aspects of actor-audience interaction:
whether or not the actors like each other offstage
reviews online by a theatre critic
the social prestige of attending an opening night performance
5 Films and theatre are different in that films do not:
have character-character interactions
have actor-actor interactions
have immediate actor-audience interaction
6 The major characteristic of a proscenium theatre is:
clear separation of the space between actors and audience on either side of a “fourth wall”
audience surrounding three sides of the performance space
the orientation of all audience seats around the stage
7 Directors may encourage spontaneity in a scene through:
encouraging talks and lectures
asking the playwright to rewrite a scene
improvisations
8 If the audience responds enthusiastically to a play which the critic believes is of very poor quality, s/he should:
blast the audience
stand by his or her opinions, but note that others did like the play correct
rethink his or her responses and possibly change them
9 The use of the suffix -wright suggests that the playwright should be:
someone who writes plays
a crafter or builder of plays
always correct
10 Stage directions are always given:
from the point of view of a director watching the play from the audience
from the point of view of an actor standing on stage and facing the audience
from the point of view of an actor standing on stage facing away from the audience
11 The overall function of the critic is:
to make the audience more critical of what they see in the theatre
to improve playwriting
to enrich the theatre experience for the audience
12 Empathy is important in audience response because:
the purgation of pity and terror is an important goal of comedy
the capacity to identify with other people is required in many plays
only empathy can force the “unwilling suspension of disbelief”
13 The influence of the audience is felt in multiple ways in the theatre.
indirectly as the production company anticipates their reaction
both answers are correct
directly during the performance of the play
14 A playwright may begin by trying to understand and describe the characters that s/he will create and use. A typical way of beginning work on character is to:
search for good names online
use only members of one’s own family
create profiles on each one as if the playwright were a detective searching for a missing person
15 A tetralogy is:
a tragedy, a comedy, and a satyr play
a trilogy and a satyr play
an outdoor theatre festival
16 Because theatre is such a social art:
tickets must be provided when audience members have forgotten theirs
audience crowding is to be avoided at all costs
the seating density of an audience is important
17 The costume designer has the power to communicate character through:
individual touches like wear patterns and accessories
both answers are correct
choice of color and fabric
18 The lighting designer uses gels to create a range of colors to achieve one of her/his primary goals of:
mood
focus
intensity
19 The Festival of Dionysus awarded the best playwright with:
a gold trophy
a feast in his honor
a goat
20 Actor-actor interaction is similar to actor-audience interaction in that:
both need a script
both participants must pretend to believe
both depend upon the inspired soul of the actor
21 It is important for audiences to be demonstrative because:
appropriate audience response is an expected part of the actor-actor interaction
feedback is essential for the actor-audience interaction
disruptive behavior gives the actors more of a challenge
22 Identify the character who says:
Listen to me. You mock my blindness, do you?
But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind.
Creon
Teiresias
Oedipus
23 Which of the following was NOT one of Stanislavski’s five questions?
Who am I?
What do I want?
Who is my most important relationship?
24 Identify the character who says:
I pitied the baby, my King,
And I thought that this man would take him far away
To his own country.
Shepherd
Creon
Teiresias
25 Identify the character who says:
The full horror of what happened you can not know.
For you did not see it; but I, who did, will tell you
As clearly as I can how she met her death.
Iocaste
Second Messenger
Oedipus
26 Stanislavsky developed a technique to connect actors to the emotional life of their characters.
True
False
27 Empathy is the unfortunate condition of some people who cannot relate to the feelings of others.
True
False
28 One major function of the director is to stand in for the audience in rehearsal.
True
False
29 “Blocking” occurs when one actor stands in front of another, obstructing the audience’s view.
True
False
30 A scenic designer creates the environment(s) of a play and shares his/her ideas with the director using elevations, ground plans, and scale models.
True
False
31 The “willing suspension of disbelief” refers to the readiness of the audience to suspend its usually skeptical attitude.
True
False
32 Retrospective exposition is a way of letting the audience know what has happened in the backstory before the point of attack.
True
False
33 An actor cannot be expected to communicate with his or her body.
True
False
34 The crucial element which films do not have in common with theatre is the performance contract.
True
False
35 A representational play openly acknowledges the presence of the audience.
True
False
36 An element of a theatre experience which appeals to many people is the absolute predictability of the experience.
True
False
37 Only the rich male Athenian citizens attended the plays at the Festival of Dionysus.
True
False
38 Stanislavski dismissed the idea of inspiration.
True
False
39 Scripts are essential for theatre.
True
False
40 Jerzy Grotowski wrote Towards a Poor Theatre.
True
False
41 Apparently hidden action may be detected in the subtext.
True
False
42 It is unusual nowadays for a professional playwright to be a full-time member of a production company.
True
False
43 Stichomythia are highly emotional speeches by the protagonist dealing with inner conflict or torment.
True
False
44 Thespis is considered the first actor as he was said to step out of the chorus and impersonate a character.
True
False
45 Dithyrambs were the prizes awarded to the best actors at the Festival of Dionysus.
True
False
46 The stasis occurs both at the beginning and again at the ending of the play.
True
False
47 The primary function of Greek tragedy was religious observance and devotion.
True
False
48 H2O is considered a connotative symbol.
True
False
49 Peter Shaffer was inspired to write Equus because of an experience he had with horses as a boy.
True
False
50 Oedipus is an example of an early point of attack.
True
False
