Exam 8: The Modern Theatre

Which of the following is true of Chekhov's style?

The foremost American playwright,whose ventures into naturalism eventually turned toward expressionism and the authorship of The Hairy Ape,was

The constructivist who broke with Stanislavsky's style of realist performance to create a nonrealist "biomechanical" style of acting and direction was

Which production had the most violent premiere in theatre history,such that the audience shouted,hissed,threw things,shook fists at the stage,and fought duels after subsequent performances?

What play, written by an Irish poet and playwright, follows two elderly men in bowler hats passing time at the base of a tree?

Realist theatre aspired to be a laboratory in which an audience makes the final judgment of a social ill or the nature of relationships.

The high point of stylistic realism is best exemplified by

Realist drama attempts to break through the limitation of language and character in order to arrive at an insight into a greater metaphysical cosmos.

Which movement can be interpreted to signal "the death of isms" in our contemporary age?

Surrealism,which means "beyond realism," was invented by Picasso.

The theatre where Chekhov collaborated with Konstantin Stanislavsky is the Moscow Art Theatre.

Which play exemplifies the genre of contemporary allegory?

Which is a characteristic of realist drama?

The subject matter of naturalistic plays is

The chief theoretician of naturalism was Voltaire.

Ubu Roi (by Alfred Jarry)is the French avant-garde antirealistic play that shocked audiences of 1896.Describe at least two elements of this play (staging,acting,scenery,content,etc. )that might still shock or offend audiences of today and explain why.

Which of the following is true about the age of "isms"?

Amiri Baraka's Dutchman (1964)employs the rhythms of everyday urban life interspersed with mythical incantation to explore issues of race and gender.Even though his theatrical form is a bit dated,do you think his play could still be relevant today? Why or why not?

Which movement was based in the idea that,although humans search for some meaning or purpose in human life,they are met with a world that is fragmented,unorganizable,and chaotic,making the effort futile?

Caryl Churchill's play Cloud Nine is a devised work that emerged from a group vision that suggests that identity is a collection of masks and performances,rather than a stable essence.