Theater MTEL UPDATED ACTUAL Exam
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Preview - CORRECT ANSWER - Holding a performance outside of the actual production
venue in order to solicit ideas for improving a show before its opening.
Foreshadowing - CORRECT ANSWER - Foreshadowing hints to the audience what will
happen later on in the play. Two examples include Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. Hedda commits suicide
in the play and plays with a gun in a earlier scene. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the witches speak
in rhyme about events to come.
An early form of Greco-Roman comedy called "mime." - CORRECT ANSWER - Actors
combined dialogue with dancing and suggestive gestures, paving the way for later versions of
"mime" where actors communicate only with gestures, movements, and facial expressions, rather
than sound or speech.
Apron Stage - CORRECT ANSWER - Another name for Thrust stage. Seats audience on the
sides of the platform.
Kabuki Theater - CORRECT ANSWER - Began in Japan in the late 16th Century. Addresses
injustices faced by the merchant class. Originally, actors were women, but females were banned
in 1629 by the government.
Bunraku - CORRECT ANSWER - Japanese puppet theatre
Quarter - CORRECT ANSWER - Shouted to actors by stage management backstage 15
minutes a show starts.
Half - CORRECT ANSWER - Shouted to actors by stage management backstage 30 minutes
a show starts.
,Prompt Book - CORRECT ANSWER - A copy of the script, usually kept by the Stage
Manager, that includes all the actors' movements and tech cues.
Prompt Side - CORRECT ANSWER - The side of the stage where the prompt corner is and
where the prompter stands ready to give lines and cues. It is usually on the left side.
OP - CORRECT ANSWER - Stands for "opposite prompt" - the side of the stage opposite
from the prompt corner.
Noise Gate - CORRECT ANSWER - Used to decrease background noise by keeping sound
level. This is achieved by muting or increasing a signal relative to changes in volume.
Overlay - CORRECT ANSWER - When there are two followspots on an actor, this is the
wider of the two.
Examples of Shakespearean "Problem Plays" - CORRECT ANSWER - All's Well That Ends
Well, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure
Tramp Migratory - CORRECT ANSWER - An American clown type - finds work everywhere
he goes.
Hobo Migratory - CORRECT ANSWER - Am American clown type - Travels, but does not
work.
Bum - CORRECT ANSWER - An American clown type - Doesn't travel and doesn't work.
Mise-En-Scene - CORRECT ANSWER - Everything placed on a stage to be part of the
performance. Includes actors, scenery, lighting, props, costumes, etc. Some feel it is so all
encompassing that it can be used to describe the overall theme of a piece.
, Contra-Auguste Character - CORRECT ANSWER - Mediator between the whiteface clown
and the Auguste character. Lower status than the whiteface clown, but higher status than the
Auguste. Social climber. Often employed by the whiteface clown to correct the Auguste.
Auguste Character - CORRECT ANSWER - An anarchist, a joker or a fool. He is clever, but
of lower status than a whiteface clown. Often takes orders from the whiteface clown, but has
trouble executing tasks or purposefully does not execute them.
Antistrophe - CORRECT ANSWER - When the chorus responds to the previous verse in
Greek drama. Not generally used in contemporary theater.
Apostrophe - CORRECT ANSWER - A character addresses an abstract thing/person not on
stage (e.g. god, the fates)
Soliloquy - CORRECT ANSWER - Character speaks his/her thoughts outloud to him/herself.
Syllogism - CORRECT ANSWER - Three-step method (major-premise, minor premise,
conclusion) of deductive reasoning that should present a sound argument. Major premise is a
generalization, while the minor premise is a specific example. A conclusion is drawn by applying
a generalization to a specific case. (e.g. if all theater is awesome, then this play must also be
awesome). If either premise is untrue, the argument is undone. (e.g. it is subjective that all
theater is awesome).
Straw Man Fallacy - CORRECT ANSWER - Oversimplification or distortion of opposing
viewpoints. If your argument is very weak, it will be overturned.
Proletcult - CORRECT ANSWER - Russian theatrical movement from 1917 that strove to
create theater without any bourgeois influence. Also known as the "theater of attractions" since it
drew on random spectacles to solicit a reaction in the audience rather than a plot-driven story.
Denouement - CORRECT ANSWER - When the final conflict in a play is resolved.
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Preview - CORRECT ANSWER - Holding a performance outside of the actual production
venue in order to solicit ideas for improving a show before its opening.
Foreshadowing - CORRECT ANSWER - Foreshadowing hints to the audience what will
happen later on in the play. Two examples include Ibsen's Hedda Gabler. Hedda commits suicide
in the play and plays with a gun in a earlier scene. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the witches speak
in rhyme about events to come.
An early form of Greco-Roman comedy called "mime." - CORRECT ANSWER - Actors
combined dialogue with dancing and suggestive gestures, paving the way for later versions of
"mime" where actors communicate only with gestures, movements, and facial expressions, rather
than sound or speech.
Apron Stage - CORRECT ANSWER - Another name for Thrust stage. Seats audience on the
sides of the platform.
Kabuki Theater - CORRECT ANSWER - Began in Japan in the late 16th Century. Addresses
injustices faced by the merchant class. Originally, actors were women, but females were banned
in 1629 by the government.
Bunraku - CORRECT ANSWER - Japanese puppet theatre
Quarter - CORRECT ANSWER - Shouted to actors by stage management backstage 15
minutes a show starts.
Half - CORRECT ANSWER - Shouted to actors by stage management backstage 30 minutes
a show starts.
,Prompt Book - CORRECT ANSWER - A copy of the script, usually kept by the Stage
Manager, that includes all the actors' movements and tech cues.
Prompt Side - CORRECT ANSWER - The side of the stage where the prompt corner is and
where the prompter stands ready to give lines and cues. It is usually on the left side.
OP - CORRECT ANSWER - Stands for "opposite prompt" - the side of the stage opposite
from the prompt corner.
Noise Gate - CORRECT ANSWER - Used to decrease background noise by keeping sound
level. This is achieved by muting or increasing a signal relative to changes in volume.
Overlay - CORRECT ANSWER - When there are two followspots on an actor, this is the
wider of the two.
Examples of Shakespearean "Problem Plays" - CORRECT ANSWER - All's Well That Ends
Well, Troilus and Cressida, Measure for Measure
Tramp Migratory - CORRECT ANSWER - An American clown type - finds work everywhere
he goes.
Hobo Migratory - CORRECT ANSWER - Am American clown type - Travels, but does not
work.
Bum - CORRECT ANSWER - An American clown type - Doesn't travel and doesn't work.
Mise-En-Scene - CORRECT ANSWER - Everything placed on a stage to be part of the
performance. Includes actors, scenery, lighting, props, costumes, etc. Some feel it is so all
encompassing that it can be used to describe the overall theme of a piece.
, Contra-Auguste Character - CORRECT ANSWER - Mediator between the whiteface clown
and the Auguste character. Lower status than the whiteface clown, but higher status than the
Auguste. Social climber. Often employed by the whiteface clown to correct the Auguste.
Auguste Character - CORRECT ANSWER - An anarchist, a joker or a fool. He is clever, but
of lower status than a whiteface clown. Often takes orders from the whiteface clown, but has
trouble executing tasks or purposefully does not execute them.
Antistrophe - CORRECT ANSWER - When the chorus responds to the previous verse in
Greek drama. Not generally used in contemporary theater.
Apostrophe - CORRECT ANSWER - A character addresses an abstract thing/person not on
stage (e.g. god, the fates)
Soliloquy - CORRECT ANSWER - Character speaks his/her thoughts outloud to him/herself.
Syllogism - CORRECT ANSWER - Three-step method (major-premise, minor premise,
conclusion) of deductive reasoning that should present a sound argument. Major premise is a
generalization, while the minor premise is a specific example. A conclusion is drawn by applying
a generalization to a specific case. (e.g. if all theater is awesome, then this play must also be
awesome). If either premise is untrue, the argument is undone. (e.g. it is subjective that all
theater is awesome).
Straw Man Fallacy - CORRECT ANSWER - Oversimplification or distortion of opposing
viewpoints. If your argument is very weak, it will be overturned.
Proletcult - CORRECT ANSWER - Russian theatrical movement from 1917 that strove to
create theater without any bourgeois influence. Also known as the "theater of attractions" since it
drew on random spectacles to solicit a reaction in the audience rather than a plot-driven story.
Denouement - CORRECT ANSWER - When the final conflict in a play is resolved.
