Chapter 11: The Critic – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
A play's final repository is
answer
the minds and memories of its audiences.
question
Dramatic criticism usually appears in all the following forms EXCEPT
answer
annotated versions of a playscript used in production.
question
Examples of theatres that have been created or sustained by governments or ruling elites include all of the following EXCEPT the
answer
theatre of the absurd.
question
Why is the theatre in a strong position to force and focus public confrontation with social issues?
answer
Most productions do not act as propaganda but present the issues in all their complexity as food for thought and as such focus public debate, stimulate dialogue, and turn public attention and compassion to important issues.
question
A play's relation to the individual stems from the fact that the best plays
answer
link up with our deepest musings and help us to put our unconnected ideas into some sort of order or philosophy.
question
An audience member's aesthetic sensibility and response is
answer
a composite of many individual reactions and therefore subjective.
question
Plays that deal with theatrical matter not simply as a vehicle but as a theme are called
answer
metadrama or metatheatre.
question
Which of the following is NOT an example of a play that makes the theatre a matter in the play itself?
answer
Sophocles' Oedipus The King
question
What word fits the definition of "that which holds the attention?"
answer
entertainment
question
A member of the audience may see a play from five different critical and dramaturgical perspectives. What are five perspectives?
answer
Social, personal/human, artistic, theatrical, and entertainment value
question
What form does professional dramatic criticism take?
answer
production reviews, scholarly works, and online blogs and journals.
question
The journalist's review generally is
answer
limited to a brief, immediate reaction written within a few days of seeing the performance.
question
Scholarly critics generally write
answer
detailed, comprehensive, and rigorously researched articles without the deadline or space limitations of newspapers.
question
Which type of critic needs sufficient background to provide a context for opinion and evaluation? His or her judgment are made against a background of knowledge.
answer
the informed critic
question
Which type of critic holds the theatre to its highest possible standards and cuts against the inherent danger in drama to turn toward pure entertainment or sensationalism?
answer
the demanding critic
question
Which type of critic expresses thoughts with precision, clarity, and grace, through the careful building up of ideas, a presentation of evidence, logical argument, the use of helpful analogy and example, and clear style of expression?
answer
the articulate critic
question
Which type of critic goes to the theatre with an open mind and sharply tuned senses?
answer
the observant critic
question
Which type of critic must be receptive to artistic experience and life itself and admits to life's messiness?
answer
the sensitive critic
question
The presence of a critical focus in the audience has the effect of keeping the theatre
answer
honest
question
All plays and play productions can be usefully analyzed and evaluated on the way they use the theatrical format to the best advantage and make us rethink the nature of theatrical production
answer
True
question
Scholarly dramatic criticism is itself a literary art, of which works by Aristotle, Goethe, Shaw, and Nietzsche have outlasted their presumed subjects and helped shape out vision of life.
answer
True
question
Generally the playwright is more intelligent and better informed than the members of the audience.
answer
False
question
Entertainment includes theatrical flourishes such as brilliant debate and witty epigrams; qualities such as the spectacular the suspenseful, and the adventurous; and can include any form of drama that stirs our feelings and heightens our awareness.
answer
True
question
Dramaturgy is essentially a subset of directorial responsibilities.
answer
False
question
The public form of play analysis following a production is called
answer
Dramatic Criticism
question
Performance studies is a form of criticism that rates the "performance" of different plays based on how "perform-able" they are.
answer
False
question
The discipline of performance studies draws from what other scholarly field?
answer
Anthropology
question
Founded by Luis Valdez in 1965, which contemporary Chicano theatre was created to dramatize the farm workers' situation in California through didactic actos?
answer
Teatro Campesino
