Deck 9: Contemporary Theatre and Its Diversity

Question 1

???_____Which playwright is director Lloyd Richards MOST associated with?

A) August Wilson
B) Lorraine Hansberry
C) George C. Wolfe
D) LeRoi Jones

Answer 1

A

Question 2

_____ In the play Lydia, the central character, Lydia, has been in a tragic car accident

Answer 2

False

Question 3

_____What type of dramatic structure does How I Learned to Drive use?

A) An episodic plot structure in which the action moves forward and backwards in time through associations structured through a central metaphor of a driving lesson
B) A climatic plot structure with a late point of attack which begins on the day of Lil'Bit's high school graduation
C) An absurdist structure in which a state of being rather than a dramatic question is explored

Answer 3

A

Question 4

_____Which BEST describes some of the ideas and practices of Postmodernism?

A) There are many stylistic categories and each is clearly defined
B) Realistic elements blended with fragmented, suggested scenery
C) Mingling of elements from disparate styles, periods, or cultures
D) A blending of music, song, and dance

Question 5

_____ "Magic Realism" is defined as realistic and fantastic elements existing alongside each other

Question 6

_____Martin McDonough's plays combine verbal wit and highly imaginative action with complex ideas about perceptions of reality

Question 7

During 2008, not-for-profit theatres presented how many productions?

A) 5,000
B) 10,000
C) 15,000
D) 20,000

Question 8

_____ In the play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom the setting for the recording studio is emblematic of the hierarchy that the musicians see

Question 9

_____Robert Wilson's productions juxtapose visual images; often of a variety of styles, cultures and historical periods, out of which each spectator constructs his or her own associations and meanings

Question 10

_____Contemporary performance art is much the same today as it was in the 1970s

Question 11

_____ What type of theatre did Amiri Baraka advocate?

A) A black separatist theatre: "By us, about us, for us"
B) A fully integrated national theatre wherein African American, Asian, and Hispanic performers could play roles traditionally cast as Caucasian
C) A theatre dedicated to staging intercultural plays from a variety of cultures

Question 12

_____The musical Rent is a modern adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion.

Question 13

_____Which American female playwright has NOT won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama?

A) Marsha Norman
B) Beth Henley
C) Tracy Letts
D) Lynn Nottage

Question 14

_____Which was the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway?

A) The Colored Museum
B) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
C) Raisin in the Sun
D) 'Night Mother

Question 15

_____Postmodernists argue that it is the director's task to translate the script faithfully

Question 16

_____ Lydia by Octavio Solis, has been compared to the works of:

A) Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter
B) Samuel Beckett and Eugene O'Neill
C) Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller
D) Arthur Miller and Harold Pinter

Question 17

_____ George C. Wolfe is an influential African American playwright and director

Question 18

_____Which is considered an important factor in the revival of the American musical?

A) Adapting movies into musicals
B) The Disney corporation producing musicals
C) The 42^nd Street Development Project
D) All of the above
E) None of the above
True/False

Question 19

_____ Which theatre began in 1965 by performing political skits to support striking migrant farm workers?

A) El Teatro Campesino
B) San Francisco Mime Theatre
C) The Living Theatre
D) Bread and Puppet Theatre

Question 20

_____Tony Kushner's Angels in America marked the first turning point in the acceptability of plays about homosexuality

Question 21

Explain the differences between modernism and postmodernism; what factors may limit the appeal of postmodernism to a popular theatre audience? How, if at all, may these factors differ from those that may have limited the appeal of modernist styles?

Question 22

To be sure, there is a great deal more to contemporary theatre and drama than identity politics. However, the attempt by various groups to identify and represent themselves and their concerns is a large part of contemporary theatre landscape. How do these attempts at community building compare to the innovations and explorations in respect to theatrical space and to what is being performed?