Theatre Appreciation Unit 2, Chapter 7,8

A characteristic of _____________ is that the language used in the play is verse.

traditional tragedy

Minor characters are

1) typically used as a dramatic device by the playwright to move the action along. 2) typically used to be supportive or confidante-like characters for the central character in a play. 3) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Shakespeare's Hamlet, for example. 4) ANSWER: all of the above

Which of the following would NOT be considered slapstick comedy?

A woman watches her husband slowly die after giving him the wrong medication.

_______________ includes plays that deal with middle- or lower-middle- class characters confronting problems of the family and the home rather than affairs of state.

Bourgeois or domestic drama

Which of the following is NOT a feature of melodrama?

Even if the ending is sad, an optimistic worldview is present.

Because we no longer have a society that believes in the concept of "the Gods" as they did in ancient Greece, traditional Greek tragedies are no longer feasible to consider for contemporary productions.

False

Common structure in musical theatre requires that every song have a segment that involves the chorus.

False

Minor characters in a play are always written as basic stock characters.

False

The term "robot" was actually first used in an early twentieth-century play by Neil Simon.

False

When nonhuman characters are written into a script it is typically because the producers do not want to create a stage prop when an actor can solve the problem nicely.

False

________ was at the heart of most plot complications in the commedia dell'arte.

Harlequin

The main representative character in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House who to this day serves as a symbol of the modern woman is

Nora Helmer

Which of the following things did NOT happen to or because of the Regina Giddens character in Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes?

Regina learned that her husband was a homosexual and he threatened to kill himself.

A tableaux structure begins with characters arranged in a visual stage picture and the action, frequently nonverbal, proceeds from that tableaux until the end of the scene.

True

As seen in some of Chekhov's plays it is possible to combine the climactic and the episodic forms.

True

In the modern period, tragicomedy has become the predominant form of many of the best playwrights

True

It has become more common in contemporary plays for characters within the play to "step out of their character" and also serve the function of a narrator by speaking directly to the audience about the action.

True

Narrators in the most traditional sense remain outside the action of the play and typically comment on the action communicating directly with the audience.

True

Patterns as structure exist not only in dance but also in some plays, where the characters' movement and circumstances can be repetitive, as in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

True

We know that playwrights frequently write plays about a single family in classic climactic structure and they will also occasionally create two contrasting characters that are siblings or husband and wife in order to allow character traits to stand out more dramatically in the action.

True

An intellectual or artistic movement that breaks with tradition and therefore seems ahead of its time is called ________; literally, it means "advance guard in a military formation."

avant-garde

A type of broad, exaggerated comedy that takes marriage and sex as objects of fun is called

bedroom farce

A characteristic of _____________ is that the subtext often appears much stronger than the surface expressions of the emotions, tensions, and thoughts.

bourgeois or domestic drama

The fifteen performers who sang, danced, chanted, and sometimes interacted with the main characters in a classic Greek drama are called the

chorus

Because existentialism suggests that characters have no personal history before the play begins, no background, and therefore no specific causes for their action, the structure of an existentialist play is often lacking in

exposition

The technical term for revelation of background material in a play is

exposition

Because we no longer have a society that believes in the concept of "the Gods" as they did in ancient Greece, traditional Greek tragedies are no longer feasible to consider for contemporary productions.

false

Cyrano de Bergerac is a modern example of

heroic drama

______________ includes serious drama of any period which features many of the traits of traditional tragedy, but has a happy ending or a basically optimistic worldview even when the ending is sad.

heroic drama

_______________ assumes a basically optimistic view of the universe, and places faith in the ability of humanity to overcome adversity.

heroic drama

Another word that means "contrast in the connection of scenes" is

juxtaposition

The use of a word that sounds like the right word but actually is a different word altogether is the use of a(n)

malaprop

A characteristic of _____________ is that characters are clearly recognizable as good or evil.

melodrama

A characteristic of _____________ is that the action is exaggerated, with the main characters always living on the edge of danger.

melodrama

There is a strong emphasis on suspense in

melodrama

A characteristic of _____________ is that the language used in the play is prose.

modern tragedy

________________ reflects the view that the individual human being is a helpless victim of society.

modern tragedy

When Horace Walpole said "This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel," he was probably NOT thinking

one should think about one thing profoundly and a thousand things well.

A selection and arrangement of scenes from a story is called a(n)

plot

Some tragicomedies, such as Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and All's Well That Ends Well, have been called

problem plays

A humorous use of words with the same sound but different meanings is the use of a(n)

pun

A repetition or reenactment of a proceeding or a transaction which has acquired special meaning is called a

ritual

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of comedy?

sense that the universe is cruel and unfeeling

Which of the following is NOT a technique of comedy?

strong emphasis on suspense

In tragicomedy, the overview, or prevailing attitude, is a ________ of the serious and comic.

synthesis

Plays that convey humanity's sense of alienation and its loss of bearings in an illogical, unjust, and ridiculous world are called theatres of

the absurd

A characteristic of _____________ is that the hero or heroine is an extraordinary person and a person of social stature: a king, a queen, a general, a nobleman, etc.

traditional tragedy

A characteristic of _____________ is that the heroes and heroines accept responsibility for their actions and also show a willingness to suffer and an immense capacity for suffering.

traditional tragedy

A characteristic of _____________ is that the heroes or heroines meet their fate with such dignity and determination that they defy the gods.

traditional tragedy

King Oedipus is an example of

traditional tragedy

The central figures of the play are caught in a series of tragic circumstances in

traditional tragedy

The situation becomes irretrievable: there is no turning back, no way out in

traditional tragedy