Deck 4: Experiencing and Analyzing Plays

Question 1

According to the authors of your text,there are specific actions that comprise audience etiquette.List five of those.Has audience etiquette changed over the years? If so,in what ways and to what do you attribute those changes?

Answer 1

Audience etiquette includes: turn off cell phones and beepers,do not text or tweet,do not talk,try not to cough,do not be late,do not eat,be courteous,go light on the perfume or cologne,do not leave until intermission or the end,and no photos or recording devices.Student answers will vary.

Question 2

In 1919,Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote,"The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic." This famous maxim has often been cited to underscore the fact that free speech is not a viable defense when such speech is used to perpetrate a fraud.What is this limitation of our freedom of speech often called?

Answer 2

Breach of the peace

Question 3

What are the six elements in Aristotle's Poetics? Select a play that you have seen recently and demonstrate how each of these elements could be used to discuss the production of that play.

Answer 3

The six elements are plot,character,thought,diction,spectacle,and song.Student answers will vary.

Question 4

When we go to the theatre we know what is happening on stage is not real and so we put aside our concerns about reality and agree to accept the play's quasi reality.What is this called?

Question 5

This type of theatre makes no attempt to offer a realistic illusion on stage,and the actors openly acknowledge the audience and sometimes even invite members to participate.

A)Realism
B)Naturalism
C)Representational
D)Presentational

Question 6

Which of the following is not one of Goethe's three questions for play analysis?

A)What is the artist trying to say?
B)Did you enjoy it?
C)How well has the artist done it?
D)Is it worth doing?

Question 7

In terms of group dynamics,what are characteristics of a live audience in the theatre?How do they differ from movie or television audiences?How does theatre use group dynamics to manipulate the audience?

Question 8

In theatre lingo,what term means to give away lots of free tickets?

Question 9

The performance artist Ron Athey shocked the audience at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis with his performance piece based on African tribal traditions and the disease ____________________.

Question 10

This term means to prudishly remove erroneous,vulgar,obscene,or otherwise objectionable material before publication.

A)Balkanization
B)Kulturkampf
C)Bourgeoisie
D)Bowdlerize

Question 11

The First Amendment protects our right to express ourselves.Which of the following is not an exception to freedom of speech?

A)Breach of the peace
B)Defamation
C)Incitement to crime
D)Obscenity
E)Spiritual injury

Question 12

This term has to do with the audience's ability to remove themselves from a work of art just far enough so that they can contemplate it?or even judge it.

A)Spectator aloofness
B)Art detachment
C)Aesthetic distance
D)Aristotelian remoteness
E)Quasi-participation

Question 13

In 1737,a law was passed in England that placed the censoring of plays under the authority of the Lord Chamberlain.What was the name of this law?

Question 14

Human beings have a tendency to act and react differently when they are in a group than when they are alone.This is known as...

A)The audience effect
B)Sharing a common experience
C)Grouping
D)The laugh track effect
E)The group dynamic

Question 15

This is someone's opinion of a play,which often includes whether it is worth attending.

A)Criticism
B)Assessment
C)Review
D)Aristotelian opinion

Question 16

This is the audience's willingness to put aside everyday reality and agree to accept the play's quasi reality.

A)Group dynamics
B)Aesthetic distance
C)Literary appraisal
D)Suspension of disbelief

Question 17

Greek philosopher Aristotle deconstructed plays into six elements.Which of the following is not one of those elements?

A)Plot
B)Thought
C)Diction
D)Spectacle
E)Visual art

Question 18

The imaginary wall between the actors and audience is called...

A)The invisible wall
B)The fourth wall
C)The Berlin wall
D)The theatrical wall
E)The wall of disbelief