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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. An artist from _____ made sketches for Laughton of Galileo.

2. What is Brueghel's great war painting called?

3. The rapid decline of artistic methods under the Nazis seemed to Brecht to have take place _____.

4. Brecht thought that the bourgeois theatre's performances always aimed to create _____.

5. In Life of Galileo, Richard Gloster courts _____.

Short Essay Questions

1. What does theatre show us about the structure of society and how is this represented?

2. What is Brecht's view on previews?

3. Why does Brecht say that mere catastrophe is a bad teacher?

4. How was performance kept subordinate to the story in Antigone?

5. With whom did Brecht and Laughton fill the cast of Galileo and what did they have trouble with?

6. In what works did Brecht give up iambics and why?

7. What does Brecht see as the reasons for lifeless and stereotyped portrayals of characters by actors?

8. What is the role of the story in theatre?

9. What is Brecht's view on run-throughs?

10. What does Brecht say is considered to be social gest?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Brecht's theories of 'gest'. What does the word mean? How did it come into being?

Essay Topic 2

Explain Brecht's views on stage design in epic theatre. What is the sole function of visual design in an epic play?

Essay Topic 3

Compare Brecht's ideas on illusion versus truth in theatre. Why do films lean toward illusion? Why is truth a more appealing aesthetic for Brecht?

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