Theatre History: Exam 3

Renaissance Art began in Italy around 1300 with the Divine Comedy by whom?

What is the first major literary work written in a modern vernacular language?

What Italian writer urged study of the classics, compiled information about classical myths, wrote a defense of secular authors, and a celebrated “novel” detailing a “lust for life”?

What was name of the collection of bawdy tales of love celebrated for its lust for life?

Who is the famous writer and historian who urged the study of ancient Greece, championed human over theological subjects, and modeled his style after Cicero and Seneca?

What is the earliest tragedy of the Renaissance, written by Albert Mussato, which used a modified Senecan form and drew its subject matter from Christian doctrine?

What is the earliest known tragedy uniting classical form and subject and written by Antonio Laschi?

What is the title of the oldest known Renaissance comedy, a satire on student life, by Pier Paolo Vergerio?

By 1508 a new vernacular drama was launched with what play by Ariosto, with a Roman plot and a contemporary Italian setting?

What Renaissance play, by Cardinal Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena, blends traditional and contemporary elements, and became a model for others?

What play, by Niccolo Machiavelli, used Roman form but invented subject matter and resulted in a form that was similar in tone to medieval farce?

What is the name of the first important vernacular tragedy written in 1515 by Giangiorgio Trissino, that was a deliberate attempt to counteract the effects of Seneca based on a Greek model, used a chorus of fifteen and no act divisions, and ultimately launched a controversy over the merits of Roman vs. Greek form?

What is the name of the 1541 play which was the first tragedy written in Italian to be produced?

What playwright, whose later plays are more like melodramas, moved to serious plays with happy endings, finding that audiences preferred this kind of plot, and whom no other serious dramatist rivaled in popularity?

What dramatic form, probably developed out of interest in Satyr plays, thrived in Renaissance Italy through plots based on the idyllic world of shepherds and nymphs, in which the principal subject was love triumphing over obstacles first appearing in 1471 and peaking in the late 16th century?

What are the three basic premises of the Neoclassic Ideal?

What renaissance form is descended from mascherata
of carnival time and court entertainments, and was often used to pay elaborate compliments to those being honored, drawing parallels between mythological figures and contemporary persons, and whose appeal was in their spectacle – scenery, costumes, music, dance, etc, using dialogue only when plots needed explanation?

What form grew out of attempts by the Camerata of Florence to recreate Greek tragedy in the late 16th century and grew into one of the major art forms of the baroque era, and, in Italy, came to displace interest in spoken drama, and is one of the only Renaissance forms that exists today?

What was the first full-length work produced by the Camerata of Florence and, consequently, the first opera?

What was the term for the recreations of scenery which were made based on Vitruvius’ text De Architectura and printed w/ a collection of Terence’s plays?

Who is usually credited with the systemization of perspective painting and drawing?

Who wrote Della Pittura in 1435, the first treatise on perspective which disseminated practical directions for making perspective drawings?

The first documented proof that perspective settings may have been used in theatre as early as dates to the 1480’s, but was definitely used in 1508 for what play by Ariosto which blends traditional and contemporary elements, and became a model for others?

What was the first Renaissance architectural work to devote a section to the theatre, including illustrations of the tragic, comic, and satyric scenes as described by Vitruvius and was the prime disseminator of Italian ideals?

Who wrote the Manual for Constructing Scenes and Machines, in 1638, in which he described two methods for shifting scenery, including adding new wings in front of existing ones or the use of painted canvases pulled around wings to conceal previous scenes, or the use of “book” flats and grooves for changing backdrop?

What system of scene changing was developed by Giacomo Torelli and constituted the next significant step in scene shifting after book flats?

Who is the Italian designer who succeeded the developer of the chariot and pole method of scene shifting, and was the “teacher” of Inigo Jones and Cosmi Lotti, the Spanish designer?

Who is the designer who served as architect and designer for the Medicis for 60 years, whose work foreshadowed and probably helped create the visual style that was to become so elaborate during the baroque era?

What is the oldest surviving Renaissance theatre, located in Venice, built between 1580-84 and designed by Andrea Palladio, trying to reproduce a Roman theatre indoors?

What theatre is the prototype of the modern proscenium stage, located in Parma, and is the oldest surviving structure with a permanent proscenium arch, designed by Aleotti, completed in 1618 and served as the example of the proscenium stage for the next 300 years?

What theatres established the “box, pit, and gallery” style auditorium?

The oldest 50 Commedia scenarios, refined over time and passed from one troupe to another, were published in 1611 by whom?

What writer, whose work in farce is cited as a possible forerunner of Commedia dell’arte, took inspiration from everyday life and ordinary speech of northern Italy, and wrote plays which center around the peasant character Ruzzante, a role he played?

What were the specific comic bits which were common and expected in any given Commedia scenario?

What is the term applied to the young lover character who is often opposed in his love by an older man, often his father?

What is the term applied to the young lover character who is usually a young lady courted by both young and old men?

What are the two basic categories of commedia characters/roles?

In Commedia, masked roles are divided into what two categories?

What commedia character is a braggart and coward who boasts his prowess in love and war, usually discredited in both, and is frequently an unwelcome suitor of the inamorata, ccostumed in a sword, cape, and feathered headdress?

What commedia character is a middle-aged or elderly merchant who speaks in a Venetian dialect and is fond of proverbs, and who, despite his age, often poses as a young man, usually costumed in a tight-fitting red vest, red breeches and stockings, soft slippers, an ankle-length black coat, and a soft brimless cap, with a gray beard, and a large hooked nose?

What commedia character usually holds an established place in society, is an “educated” man (pedant), who loves to show off his learning, speaking a Bolognese dialect with Latin words and phrases stuck in, but is usually tricked by others, and is usually doctor or lawyer, costumed in the academic cap and gown and is usually a jealous, but often cuckolded husband?

What is the name for the most varied of all the commedia types who usually figured prominently in the intrigues and kept the plot moving as they sought to help or thwart their masters?

Which of the servant characters is by far the most popular, displaying a mixture of cunning and stupidity, is usually an accomplished acrobat and dancer, was usually at the center of any intrigue, and was usually costumed in stylized red, blue, and green diamond-shaped patches?

Who is the most frequent companion of the above character, and is a libidinous, cynically witty servant?

What commedia character is a mixture of shrewdness and foolishness, wit and dullness, villainy and love, whose function in the scenarios varied, being sometimes a servant or host of an inn, or a merchant, but is always a Neapolitan?

What is the distinct Spanish form of religious play which told allegorical stories, some having no human characters in them, and some of the earliest were merely nativity plays?

What is the name of the highly ornate 2-story wagons made of wooden frames with painted canvas and a façade of the upper story often hinged to reveal something, which were used to perform autos?

What is the title of the first important early work of Spanish secular drama, but is essentially a novel in dialogue rather than a true play?

Who is the author of The Comedy of Calisto and Melibea, who also influenced later writers by showing conflict between idealized and realistic behavior?

Who is the playwright who wrote and acted in “eclogues” after studying with Spanish humanist Nebrija and is often called the founder of Spanish drama?

What is the name for the form of Spanish secular plays which were the first Spanish secular dramas to be performed?

Who is the playwright who first imitated Encina, then went on to write sophisticated farces and comedies, publishing his plays in 1517 with important preface which provided one of the first contributions to dramatic theory in Europe?

What is the name of the play (by Bartolome de Torres Naharro) which established the honor vengeance theme that influenced later dramatists?

Who is the playwright who wrote primarily for Portuguese court (but many of his plays were written in Spanish) and was considered superiors to his contemporaries due to his lyrical gift, great range, comic sense, and spontaneity?

What is the name of the playwright considered to be the first important figure of Spanish professional theatre, the founder of Spanish professional theatre, and also the first successful writer of plays for the popular audience? He is also best known for his paso, The Mask and The Olives, in which the plots serve as an excuse for earthly humor and picturesque dialogue, and fools and simpletons, roles played the playwright, were the most developed characters?

What is the name of the playwright working in Seville, who was one of the first dramatists, to draw on Spanish history and also wrote contemporary and classical subjects and is best known for popularizing polymetry?

What is the name given to the practice of using different meters to fit diverse characters and situations?

Who is the Spanish playwright who wrote about 30 plays, some of which are semi-autobiographical, and with Cueva, provided a link between academic and professional drama?

What is the term applied to any full-length play, serious or comic, most of which were divided into three acts?

What is the name of the short topical sketches (interludes)performed between acts of plays, some of which were sung, some spoken, some both?

What is the term for the prologue, delivered either as a dialogue or monologue, referred to as the “compliment”, designed to gain good will of the audience usually preceded by singing and dancing?

What is the name for the short farces performed by professional companies?

Who is the first Spanish dramatist to make a living as a playwright, was also the most prolific Spanish playwright writing between 800 and 1800 plays, 331 of which have survived, who also wrote on dramatic criticism in The New Art of Writing Plays for Our Times, in which he rejects neoclassic theories of France and Italy?

What is the name of the Spanish simpleton character?

Who was the friend and follower of de Vega, who wrote 43 plays, and who is remembered today for The Youthful Adventures of the Cid upon which Corneille based his famous controversial play Le Cid?

Who is the Spanish playwright who wrote a variety of comedias, tragedies based on biblical stories, comedies dealing with contemporary political issues, who was exiled from Madrid in 1625, and whose most famous play is famous as the first dramatic treatment of Don Juan story?

What is the name of the Spanish play which was the first dramatic treatment of the Don Juan story, written by Tirso de Molina?

Who is the Spanish playwright, born in Mexico and educated in Spain, who wrote about 25 plays, most based on Madrid court life, and who, in his plays, makes characterization and moral sentiments the basis of his dramatic action?

Who is the Spanish Playwright who wrote in primarily two types, Cape and Sword plays and Honor plays, and is said to have perfected the auto form, in which he embodied Catholic dogma in symbolic stories with beautiful lyrical dialogue?

What is the name for the type of musical play which become of the most popular Spanish forms, which is short, light, based on classical myths or pastoral subjects, with choral passages and much of the dialogue set to music, most of which were performed at the royal hunting lodge for which the form was and still is named?

Who is the Spanish playwright who replaced the traditional gracioso characters with pompous ones, wrote primarily for the royal theatre, and was greatly admired in France and adapted by several French writers?

Who is the Spanish playwright whose plays are primarily adaptations of de Vega and others, who brought delicate poetry, elegant and subtle wit, and interesting character portraits to the stage, and is best known for his play Scorn for Scorn 1654, used by Moliere as basis for his La Princesse d’Elide?

A type of drama displaying preoccupation with a narrow code of honor and a failure to probe deeply into the human condition which made it universal, is typical of what era?

What is the term for sharing troupes?

What is the Spanish term for companies of the road, which actors not contracted to licensed companies would join?

What is the name of the guild actors were allowed to form in 1631, which still exists today and is open to all theatrical personnel?

What is the Spanish term that came to be used for “theatre” in the Spanish Golden Age?

What is the name of the last public theatre structure built at an Inn in Spain in 1628, which still exists today?

What Organization, founded in 1565 to feed and clothe the poor, was the first to be granted the privilege of operating a theatre to raise money, which began a long association between theatre and charities in Spain,and also helped isolate the theatre from criticism, due to its good works?

What is the name of the first permanent theatre in the capital, Madrid, built in 1579?

What is the name of roofed theatre structure built for court, but open to the public?

What is the name for the stage at one end of the yard in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What is the name for the tiring house behind the stage in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What is the name for the large central courtyard occupied by standing spectators stage in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What is the name for the bleacher style seating located along each side of the patio in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What is the name for the windows in the adjoining houses which served as a box seat for performances in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What is the name for the refreshment booth at the rear of the patio in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What was the name of the gallery above the refreshment booth reserved for unaccompanied women in Spanish Golden Age theatres?

What was the name of the ballad, with music singing, and dancing which was the common beginning of a typical play in the Spanish public theatres of the Golden Age?