Theatre Practice Exam 1

1. In Oedipus The King, the only one who can “see” the truth is the blind seer Tiresias. This device is called?

a. Dramatic Irony
b. Literary Allusion
c. Metaphoric Twist
d. Dumb Show
e. Audience Participation

2. Which of the following would violate the classical notions of Greek tragedy?

a. Jumping to various times & places
b. Violence on stage
c. Woman playing a woman
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

3. Who is the Greek God of fertility?

a. Hermes
b. Persephone
c. Demeter
d. Dionysus
e. Mercury

4. The “deus ex machina” device in theatre accomplishes what?

a. Allows the curtain to fall
b. Machine that would bring a God to resolve the play
c. Sung before communion during the Middle Ages
d. The choragus telling the audience what happens off stage
e. A piece of scenery rolled on to the stage to suggest a different location

5. A trope added to the introductory section of the Easter Sunday mass in the year 925. The Latin words mean: "Whom do you seek in the sepulcher, followers of Christ?" "Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, 0 heaven dwellers." "He is not here, he has risen as he foretold. Go announce that he has risen from the sepulcher." This trope is called?

a. Moritori te salutimus
b. Vox moritorium
c. Deus ex machina
d. Dominus vobiscum
e. Quem quaeritis

6. The play Everyman was used as an example of?

a. Miracle Play
b. Mystery Play
c. Morality Play
d. Mother of God Play
e. Military Play

7. In commedia dell’arte, Frazier from the sitcom Frazier would be representative of ?

a. Pantallone
b. Dottore
c. Inmorata
d. Harlequin
e. Capitano

8. Which of the following was a central component of the commedia dell’arte?

a. Slapstick
b. Improvisation
c. Lazzi
d. Stock characters
e. All of the above

9. Looking at the stage in the production of Romeo & Juliet in the film Shakespeare in Love, one could say that it is reminiscent of ?

a. The Italian renaissance
b. The Middle Ages
c. Greek comedy
d. The Roman renaissance
e. Monastic theatre

10. The scene from Shakespeare In Love shown in class was used to approximate Shakespeare’s theatre during the late sixteenth century. On the basis of that film clip, which of the following best characterizes the theatre of that period in England?

a. Was primarily a theatre of the noble class and the court
b. Used realistic costumes and settings so that the audience had the sense that they were looking into through a window into the world of the play
c. The audience was to be distanced as much as possible from the action of the play
d. The audience was made up of a wide variety of people that were very close to the action & the setting & director just suggested the place and time of the action
e. The actors relied on literal action and setting more than language to carry the play