General Knowledge Proficiency Exam Questions And
Accurate Answers
ACTING TEACHERS/DIRECTORS/PERFORMANCE STYLE THEORISTS - Answer 1.)
Constantin Stanislavski
2.) Vsevolod Meyerhold
3.) Richard Boleslavski
4.) Bertolt Brecht
5.) Lee Strawsberg
6.) Sanford Meisner
7.) Viola Spolin
8.) Jerzy Grotowski
9.) Augusto Boal
10.) Tadashi Suzuki
Constantin Stanislavski - Answer Constantin Stanislavski was a Russian stage actor and
director who developed the naturalistic performance technique known as the
"Stanislavsky method," or method acting. In 1888, Stanislavski founded the Society of
Art and Literature. In June 1897 he and playwright/director Vladimir
Nemirovich-Danchenko decided to open the Moscow Art Theatre, which would be an
alternative to standard theatrical aesthetics of the day.
Vsevolod Meyerhold (Pedagogical Contributions) - Answer Vsevolod Meyerhold was a
Russian and Soviet actor and theater director, the creator of a new acting system called
"biomechanics". In 1920 Meyerhold founded a theater called "RSFSR-1" to use as his
own laboratory. This theatre changed names many times, until finally in 1926 it became
the State Meyerhold Theater. To work there, the actors needed to study
"biomechanics", Meyerhold's new acting system based on body movements. Meyerhold
thought the art of acting is the art of moving and that in order to understand the
character, the actor needs to begin with his mobility. According to Meyerhold, poses
and gestures represent thoughts and feelings more clearly than words.
,Richard Boleslavski - Answer Boleslavsky's book, Acting, the First Six Lessons, became
the first printed introduction to the Stanislavsky system in the U.S. Some critics have
said that Acting: the First Six Lessons was directed to attainment of a goal rather than
towards the process. In his lessons, lectures, and published material, Boleslavsky put
strong emphasis on the concept of the "affective memory" introduced, and afterwards
abandoned, by Stanislavsky as one of the essentials of the actor's work:
We have a peculiar memory for feelings and it acts unconsciously
by itself and for itself. There it is. It is in every artist. It is that which
makes experience an essential part of our life and craft. All we have to
do is to know how to use it. The French psychologist, Theodule Ribot,
was the first to speak of it over twenty years ago. He calls it
"affective memory" or "memory of affects".
THE CREATURE: How does it work? [.]
I: For example, there was a man and woman who married when they were very young.
He had proposed to her on one lovely summer evening as they walked through a
cucumber patch. They felt nervous, as nice young'
people are bound to under the circumstances, they would stop at times",
pick a cucumber, and eat it, enjoying very much its aroma, taste and the freshness and
richness of the sun's warmth upon it. They made the happiest decision of their lives,
between two mouthfuls of cucumbers, so to speak.. Long years of life and struggle
came; children and, naturally, difficulties. Sometimes they quarreled, and were angry.
Sometimes they did not even speak to each other. But their youngest daughter observed
that the surest
way to make peace between them was to put a dish of cucumbers on
the table. Like magic they would forget their quarrels, and would become
tender and understanding.. [Cucumbers] made these two people what the
Bertolt Brecht - Answer Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht, German: 10 February 1898 - 14
August 1956) was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director of the 20th century.
He contributed to dramaturgy and theatrical productions, the latter through the tours
undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble - the post-war theatre company operated by
,Brecht and his wife, long-time collaborator and actress Helene Weigel.
In this same year, 1927, the collaboration between Brecht and the young composer Kurt
Weill began. Jointly, they started to work on Brecht's project of Mahagonny, in thematic
lines of biblical Cities of the Plain, but rendered in terms of Neue Sachlichkeit's
Amerikanismus, which had informed Brecht's work done hitherto. They fashioned The
Little Mahagonny that July as a musikfeststuck-a music festival piece, Weill called it a
"stylistic exercise" in training for the big one. From that time Caspar Neher joined the
productive trio writing words, music, and scenery all fashioned together from the
beginning. The model for their mutual articulation lay in Brecht's newly formulated
principle of the "separation of the elements", which he first outlined in "The Modern
Theatre Is the Epic Theatre". The principle, a variety of montage, proposed by-passing
the "great struggle for supremacy between words, music and production" as Brecht put
it, by showing each as self-contained, independent works of art that adopt attitudes
towards one another.
The masterpiece of the Brecht/Weill collaborations, Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), caused an uproar when it was
premiered in 1930 in Leipzig, with Nazis in the audience protesting. The Mahagonny
opera would later premiere as a triumphal sensation in Berlin in 1931.
Lee Strasberg - Answer Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strasberg; November 17, 1901 -
February 17, 1982) was an Austrian-born American actor, director, and theatre
practitioner. He was born in a part of Galicia, Austrian Poland, in what is now Ukraine.
He co founded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre
in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective". In 1951, he
became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio in New York City, considered "the
nation's most prestigious acting school", and in 1966, was involved in the creation of
Actors Studio West in Los Angeles.
In describing his teaching philosophy, Strasberg wrote, "The two areas of discovery
that were of primary importance in my work at the Actors Studio and in my private
classes were improvisation and affective memory. It is finally by using these techniques
that the actor can express the appropriate emotions demanded of the character".
Strasberg demanded great discipline of his actors, as well as great depths of
psychological truthfulness. He once summed up his method this way:
The human being who acts is the human being who lives. That's a terrifying
, circumstance. In essence, the actor acts a fiction, a dream; in life, the stimuli to which
we respond are always real. The actor must always react to stimuli that are imaginary.
And this yet must happen not only just as it happens in life but actually more fully and
more expressively. Even though the actor easily can do things in life, the very same
thing he is to do upon the stage under fictitious conditions-just that he cannot do,
because as a human he is not fitted for the simple playing at imitating life. In some way
he must believe. He has to, somehow, believe that he is doing the right thing to fully do
things on the stage.
According
Sanford Meisner - Answer Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905-February 2, 1997), also
known as Sandy, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an
approach to acting instruction which is now called the Meisner technique. While Meisner
did come into contact with method acting through the Group Theatre, his own approach
to acting was radically different since he discarded any use of affective memory made
apparent in method acting. Meisner retained his focus on "the reality of doing," as
initially outlined above and serving as the basis of his technique.
Meisner technique
Meisner's techniques were nothing if not unusual yet effective. Years later, actor Dennis
Longwell wrote of sitting in on one of Meisner's classes, where Meisner brought two
students forward for an acting exercise. They were given a single line of dialogue, told
to turn away, and instructed not to do or say anything until something happened to make
them say the words-one of the fundamental principles of the Meisner technique. The first
student's line came when Meisner approached him from behind and gave him a strong
pinch on the back, inspiring him to jump away and yelp his line in pain. The other
student's line came when Meisner reached around and slipped his hand into her blouse.
Her line came out as a giggle as she moved away from his touch.
The aim of the Meisner technique has often been described as getting actors to "live
truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
Viola Spolin - Discussion Viola Spolin is the internationally acclaimed founder of Theater
Games - the foundation of improvisational theater. With her son, Paul Sills, Viola Spolin
developed the methods used by the members of Chicago's Second City and every other
improvisational comedy ensemble since.
Accurate Answers
ACTING TEACHERS/DIRECTORS/PERFORMANCE STYLE THEORISTS - Answer 1.)
Constantin Stanislavski
2.) Vsevolod Meyerhold
3.) Richard Boleslavski
4.) Bertolt Brecht
5.) Lee Strawsberg
6.) Sanford Meisner
7.) Viola Spolin
8.) Jerzy Grotowski
9.) Augusto Boal
10.) Tadashi Suzuki
Constantin Stanislavski - Answer Constantin Stanislavski was a Russian stage actor and
director who developed the naturalistic performance technique known as the
"Stanislavsky method," or method acting. In 1888, Stanislavski founded the Society of
Art and Literature. In June 1897 he and playwright/director Vladimir
Nemirovich-Danchenko decided to open the Moscow Art Theatre, which would be an
alternative to standard theatrical aesthetics of the day.
Vsevolod Meyerhold (Pedagogical Contributions) - Answer Vsevolod Meyerhold was a
Russian and Soviet actor and theater director, the creator of a new acting system called
"biomechanics". In 1920 Meyerhold founded a theater called "RSFSR-1" to use as his
own laboratory. This theatre changed names many times, until finally in 1926 it became
the State Meyerhold Theater. To work there, the actors needed to study
"biomechanics", Meyerhold's new acting system based on body movements. Meyerhold
thought the art of acting is the art of moving and that in order to understand the
character, the actor needs to begin with his mobility. According to Meyerhold, poses
and gestures represent thoughts and feelings more clearly than words.
,Richard Boleslavski - Answer Boleslavsky's book, Acting, the First Six Lessons, became
the first printed introduction to the Stanislavsky system in the U.S. Some critics have
said that Acting: the First Six Lessons was directed to attainment of a goal rather than
towards the process. In his lessons, lectures, and published material, Boleslavsky put
strong emphasis on the concept of the "affective memory" introduced, and afterwards
abandoned, by Stanislavsky as one of the essentials of the actor's work:
We have a peculiar memory for feelings and it acts unconsciously
by itself and for itself. There it is. It is in every artist. It is that which
makes experience an essential part of our life and craft. All we have to
do is to know how to use it. The French psychologist, Theodule Ribot,
was the first to speak of it over twenty years ago. He calls it
"affective memory" or "memory of affects".
THE CREATURE: How does it work? [.]
I: For example, there was a man and woman who married when they were very young.
He had proposed to her on one lovely summer evening as they walked through a
cucumber patch. They felt nervous, as nice young'
people are bound to under the circumstances, they would stop at times",
pick a cucumber, and eat it, enjoying very much its aroma, taste and the freshness and
richness of the sun's warmth upon it. They made the happiest decision of their lives,
between two mouthfuls of cucumbers, so to speak.. Long years of life and struggle
came; children and, naturally, difficulties. Sometimes they quarreled, and were angry.
Sometimes they did not even speak to each other. But their youngest daughter observed
that the surest
way to make peace between them was to put a dish of cucumbers on
the table. Like magic they would forget their quarrels, and would become
tender and understanding.. [Cucumbers] made these two people what the
Bertolt Brecht - Answer Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht, German: 10 February 1898 - 14
August 1956) was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director of the 20th century.
He contributed to dramaturgy and theatrical productions, the latter through the tours
undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble - the post-war theatre company operated by
,Brecht and his wife, long-time collaborator and actress Helene Weigel.
In this same year, 1927, the collaboration between Brecht and the young composer Kurt
Weill began. Jointly, they started to work on Brecht's project of Mahagonny, in thematic
lines of biblical Cities of the Plain, but rendered in terms of Neue Sachlichkeit's
Amerikanismus, which had informed Brecht's work done hitherto. They fashioned The
Little Mahagonny that July as a musikfeststuck-a music festival piece, Weill called it a
"stylistic exercise" in training for the big one. From that time Caspar Neher joined the
productive trio writing words, music, and scenery all fashioned together from the
beginning. The model for their mutual articulation lay in Brecht's newly formulated
principle of the "separation of the elements", which he first outlined in "The Modern
Theatre Is the Epic Theatre". The principle, a variety of montage, proposed by-passing
the "great struggle for supremacy between words, music and production" as Brecht put
it, by showing each as self-contained, independent works of art that adopt attitudes
towards one another.
The masterpiece of the Brecht/Weill collaborations, Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), caused an uproar when it was
premiered in 1930 in Leipzig, with Nazis in the audience protesting. The Mahagonny
opera would later premiere as a triumphal sensation in Berlin in 1931.
Lee Strasberg - Answer Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strasberg; November 17, 1901 -
February 17, 1982) was an Austrian-born American actor, director, and theatre
practitioner. He was born in a part of Galicia, Austrian Poland, in what is now Ukraine.
He co founded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre
in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective". In 1951, he
became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio in New York City, considered "the
nation's most prestigious acting school", and in 1966, was involved in the creation of
Actors Studio West in Los Angeles.
In describing his teaching philosophy, Strasberg wrote, "The two areas of discovery
that were of primary importance in my work at the Actors Studio and in my private
classes were improvisation and affective memory. It is finally by using these techniques
that the actor can express the appropriate emotions demanded of the character".
Strasberg demanded great discipline of his actors, as well as great depths of
psychological truthfulness. He once summed up his method this way:
The human being who acts is the human being who lives. That's a terrifying
, circumstance. In essence, the actor acts a fiction, a dream; in life, the stimuli to which
we respond are always real. The actor must always react to stimuli that are imaginary.
And this yet must happen not only just as it happens in life but actually more fully and
more expressively. Even though the actor easily can do things in life, the very same
thing he is to do upon the stage under fictitious conditions-just that he cannot do,
because as a human he is not fitted for the simple playing at imitating life. In some way
he must believe. He has to, somehow, believe that he is doing the right thing to fully do
things on the stage.
According
Sanford Meisner - Answer Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905-February 2, 1997), also
known as Sandy, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an
approach to acting instruction which is now called the Meisner technique. While Meisner
did come into contact with method acting through the Group Theatre, his own approach
to acting was radically different since he discarded any use of affective memory made
apparent in method acting. Meisner retained his focus on "the reality of doing," as
initially outlined above and serving as the basis of his technique.
Meisner technique
Meisner's techniques were nothing if not unusual yet effective. Years later, actor Dennis
Longwell wrote of sitting in on one of Meisner's classes, where Meisner brought two
students forward for an acting exercise. They were given a single line of dialogue, told
to turn away, and instructed not to do or say anything until something happened to make
them say the words-one of the fundamental principles of the Meisner technique. The first
student's line came when Meisner approached him from behind and gave him a strong
pinch on the back, inspiring him to jump away and yelp his line in pain. The other
student's line came when Meisner reached around and slipped his hand into her blouse.
Her line came out as a giggle as she moved away from his touch.
The aim of the Meisner technique has often been described as getting actors to "live
truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
Viola Spolin - Discussion Viola Spolin is the internationally acclaimed founder of Theater
Games - the foundation of improvisational theater. With her son, Paul Sills, Viola Spolin
developed the methods used by the members of Chicago's Second City and every other
improvisational comedy ensemble since.
