Midterm Exam Study Guide

Question 1

Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner were all primarily influenced by the work of which Russian director?

Answer 1

Konstantin Stanislavski

Question 2

Vsevolod Meyerhold was a proponent of a physical training technique called?

Answer 2

Biomechanics

Question 3

Laurence Olivier was best known for his _______ productions.

Answer 3

Shakespeare

Question 4

Julie Taymor received intense criticism and was fired from her production of Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, in sharp contrast to the acclaim she received for _________

Answer 4

The Lion King

Question 5

At 20 years old, Orson Welles had a successful Broadway debut with his direction and adaptation of ____________.

Answer 5

Macbeth

Question 6

Orson Welles worked with this theatre company in his youth….

Answer 6

the Federal Theatre Project

Question 7

The term ensemble in a theatrical sense refers to….

Answer 7

A group of individuals committed to collaborative creation, committed to working together over years to develop a distinctive body of work and practices.

Question 8

The term auteur refers to a director who…

Answer 8

Is also a writer, designer and potentially a performer as well.

Question 9

Erwin Piscator’s 1927 production of Rasputin was significant because of_________.

Answer 9

The innovative dome set design and incorporation of film projection.

Question 10

Both these directors are known for using physical etudes/improvisations in their development of productions.

Answer 10

Meyerhold and Growowski

Question 11

This directors approach has been called “forensic”.

Answer 11

Katie Mitchell

Question 12

Who wrote ‘The Directors Craft’? A book that advocates designers to be absolutely clear about what they mean, and respect of different actor “languages”.

Answer 12

Katie Mitchell

Question 13

__________ was known for directing the films of A Streetcar Named Desire and On The Water Front.

Answer 13

Elia Kazan, also involved in a HUAC controversy for naming a list of his colleagues who were then blacklisted.

Question 14

Bob Fosse directed and choreographed what musicals?

Answer 14

Chicago, Pippin, Sweet Charity

Question 15

This directors book Empty Space was published two years before this directors 1970 production of A Midsummer NIghts Dream….

Answer 15

Peter Brook

Question 16

Although Diane Paulus received criticism for adapting the text of _______ she also won the Tony for Best Direction of a Musical in 2012

Answer 16

Porgy and Bees

Question 17

Emma Rice formerly the artistic director of Kneehigh will be the artistic director of _______ until later this year when she will be succeeded by Michelle Terry.

Answer 17

Shakespeare’s Globe

Question 18

What is the title of the person responsible for teaching an Ancient Greek chorus and most likely responsible for staging plays?

Answer 18

Diadaskolos

Question 19

Was the theatre of Ancient Rome considered a writers theatre or an actor’s theatre?

Answer 19

Actors theatre

Question 20

Originally discussed by Aristotle and the key feature of both Roman and neoclassical tragedies, what are the three unities and how do they affect dramatic structure?

Answer 20

TIME PLACE ACTION

Question 21

What are examples of how physical context informs the performance style for a traditional time period?

Answer 21

Greek Amphitheatre (Large space with thousands of spectators, masks, chorus, presentational style) 
Commedia dell'Arte (small stages in public squares and  broad physical comedy) 
Medival Theatre (church produced pageants, wagons)

Question 22

List two ways in which the artistic and scientific developments of the Renaissance changed theatrical theatre design.

Answer 22

Perspective drawing, chariot and pull system, the printing press

Question 23

By the end of the 16th-century theatre changed significantly. How?

Answer 23

Theatre became a professional craft
It moved from religious to secular
Theater begins to move indoors

Question 24

Based on the evidence from his plays, what do we know about staging practices during Shakespeares time?

Answer 24

Cue scripts were given to actors with only their lines
All male casts, boys were used as interns and played women
There were actor-managers who functioned like directors

Question 25

Why were the Meiningen Players so influential to modern directors?

Answer 25

They introduced the long rehearsal process and dramaturgical research
Period appropriate sets and costumes were used
There was an ensemble of actors
They successfully toured

Question 26

What are the key movements that marked the transition from the18th century to the 19-century drama? How did these movements influence modern directors?

Answer 26

Rationalism, Romanticism
Meaning specifically life as it is thought to be vs life as it is felt to be
Reason shifts to emotion

Question 27

What is the character structure of a melodrama?

Answer 27

Hero, Villian, Victim

Question 28

What are the three main lineages that contribute to modern directors?

Answer 28

Naturalism, Realism, Symbolism

Question 29

What are the differences between realism and theatricality?

Answer 29

The breaking of the 4th wall is theatrical
Representational vs Presentational style
Musicals vs realistic straight plays

Question 30

Epic theatre directors like Piscator and Brecht are known for creating the Verfremdungseffekt (“making strange” or alienation). What are some techniques for creating this effect in a production?

Answer 30

Addressing the audience or speaking in the third person
Non-linear storylines
High degrees of theatricality
Exposing lighting fixtures or other theatrical elements
Character narration

Question 31

How does an ensemble director differ from an auteur director? Is it possible to be both at once?

Answer 31

Ensemble directors are collaborative while the other is controlling
It is possible to be both, Peter Brook is a combination of the two.

Question 32

What is the difference between a conceptual director and a traditional director?

Answer 32

Traditional: Serve the script and the denotative meaning of the playwright’s vision
Conceptual directors: Manipulate the themes and script to represent an idea, radically cut and change the script