Theatre Appreciation, Test 2: Chapter 5

Question 1

True/False: Gatekeepers and mediators influence performance and audience perception of it without, usually, their influence being recognized.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

True/False: We live in an age of competing theatrical theories, none dominating.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

True/False: Sophisticated audience members typically read lots of criticism.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

True/False: Reviewers make value judgements about performances.

Answer 4

True

Question 5

True/False: A dramaturg can function as a kind of research assistant.

Answer 5

True

Question 6

True/False: In a media culture like ours, audience perception of a performance is likely to be shaped before the audience ever gets to the performance space.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

True/False: Theatrical criticism consists primarily of giving the reasons why a critic does or does not like a play,

Answer 7

False

Question 8

True/False: A reviewer is the same as a critic.

Answer 8

False

Question 9

True/False: Contemporary dramatic theory is dominated by semiotics.

Answer 9

False

Question 10

True/False: A good beginning question to ask about a play is, what theory is it based on?

Answer 10

False

Question 11

True/False: All critics are, to a degree, biased.

Answer 11

True

Question 12

True/False: Reviewers rely heavily on performance theories in doing their work.

Answer 12

False

Question 13

True/False: Reviews should make a distinction between a play and a particular performance of it.

Answer 13

True

Question 14

True/False: A public relations person may have responsibilities beyond advertising a play.

Answer 14

True

Question 15

True/False: Agents function as go-betweens, smoothing the way for theatre artists and their potential employers to meet productively.

Answer 15

False

Question 16

True/False: Critics ask the same kinds of questions, regardless of their theoretical assumptions.

Answer 16

False

Question 17

True/False: Dramaturgs often write program notes.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

True/False: Reviewers, like critics, are highly trained in theatre.

Answer 18

False

Question 19

True/False: Agents often serve as mediators and so encourage a conservative tendency within theatre.

Answer 19

True

Question 20

True/False: Performance theory is now more highly developed than dramatic theory.

Answer 20

False

Question 21

True/False: Postmodern theories differ from modern theories in their heavy reliance on science and the scientific method.

Answer 21

False

Question 22

True/False: Play readers mediate between playwrights and producing entities.

Answer 22

True

Question 23

MC: Dramatic theories, to be good, should be:

Answer 23

General, systematic, internally consistent (d. all of the above)

Question 24

MC: Reviews posted on web sites are:

Answer 24

often individual viewpoints and are not always from reliable and experienced sources (e. a and b)

Question 25

MC: Good theories of performance are today based mostly on the writings of:

Answer 25

e. none of the above

Question 26

MC: Performance theories are more difficult to develop than dramatic theories because performance:

Answer 26

b. is ephemeral

Question 27

MC: If one part of a theory contradicted another part of the theory, the theory would lack:

Answer 27

b. consistency

Question 28

MC: Which of the following is NOT a trait associated with postmodernism?

Answer 28

e. history as progressive

Question 29

MC: Which of the following is NOT a function usually given to a dramaturg?

Answer 29

b. designing posters for plays

Question 30

MC: The person paid to get an audience into the theatre is most likely the:

Answer 30

d. public relations person

Question 31

MC: The person most concerned with consumer protection is the:

Answer 31

e. reviewer

Question 32

MC: If a theorist is asking questions about gender in performance, he or she is most likely relying on the theories of:

Answer 32

c. feminism

Question 33

MC: Casting directors shift through an acting pool to find the most suitable actors for a production. The casting director works for:

Answer 33

e. The Producing Entity