TExES Theatre EC-12 (180)

1. Question 1 · Creating, Performing, and Producing Theatre

   A high school student submits the first draft of a one-act play. Character names are buried in the middle of lines, and stage directions run into the dialogue with nothing to set them apart. The teacher wants the draft to follow standard stage-play format. Which revision guidance is MOST accurate?
   • A.Number every line of dialogue in order and list the characters' entrances in a separate table at the end.
   • B.Put quotation marks around each line of dialogue and attribute it with a speaker tag, as in prose fiction.
   • C.Set each character name apart above or before its lines, and mark stage directions with italics or parentheses.
   • D.Write the stage directions in past tense from the audience's view and place them after the lines they describe.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Set each character name apart above or before its lines, and mark stage directions with italics or parentheses.

   Standard play format sets the speaker's name apart, often centered or in capitals, and visually separates stage directions, usually with italics or parentheses, so actors and directors can read the script easily. Quotation marks with speaker tags belong to prose fiction, not scripts. Stage directions are written in present tense, not past tense from the audience's view.

2. Question 2 · Creating, Performing, and Producing Theatre

   A director holding auditions for a large-cast comedy asks actors to read unfamiliar sides from the script after only a few minutes of preparation. What is the PRIMARY advantage of this audition method?
   • A.It measures how thoroughly actors have memorized a contrasting monologue.
   • B.It removes the need for callbacks, since each actor reads for every role in the play.
   • C.It reveals how well actors sing and move in a group dance combination.
   • D.It shows how actors interpret the actual material and how they take direction.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. It shows how actors interpret the actual material and how they take direction.

   A cold reading shows how actors handle the play's own language and characters, and the director can give an adjustment to test how actors take direction. Prepared monologues test memorized material chosen by the actor, which is a different method. Cold readings usually lead into callbacks rather than replacing them.

3. Question 3 · Design and Technical Theatre

   While troubleshooting a dead unit during focus, the master electrician needs a list giving every unit's hanging position, unit number, circuit, channel, color, and purpose. Which document should the electrician consult?
   • A.The magic sheet
   • B.The cue sheet
   • C.The instrument schedule
   • D.The lighting section drawing
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. The instrument schedule

   The instrument schedule (or hookup) is a list that records each unit's position, number, circuit, dimmer or channel, color, and purpose, so it is the tool for tracing a problem unit. A magic sheet is a quick visual reference of channels for programming, and a cue sheet records cues rather than equipment details.

4. Question 4 · Theatre History and Culture

   A student adapting a story as a French neoclassical tragedy plans a plot spanning several years, moving between two countries, and mixing a comic subplot with the tragic main plot. Which revision would bring the script MOST in line with neoclassical expectations?
   • A.Add a chorus that comments on the action between the years and locations
   • B.Compress the action into one day in a single location with one tragic plot
   • C.Replace the verse dialogue with prose so the shifts feel more natural
   • D.Divide the action into five acts while keeping the comic subplot and scene shifts
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Compress the action into one day in a single location with one tragic plot

   Neoclassical critics demanded the unities of time, place, and action and opposed mixing comic and tragic material, so compressing the play into one day, one place, and one plot addresses every violation. Dividing into five acts follows one convention but leaves the subplot and shifts intact, and replacing verse with prose moves away from neoclassical decorum.

5. Question 5 · Responding to and Analyzing Theatre

   A teacher wants students to write a structured reflection on their own recorded performances, moving from observation toward judgment so that conclusions are grounded in evidence. Which sequence of steps best accomplishes this goal?
   • A.Evaluate, describe, interpret, then analyze
   • B.Interpret, evaluate, describe, then analyze
   • C.Describe, analyze, interpret, then evaluate
   • D.Analyze, evaluate, describe, then interpret
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Describe, analyze, interpret, then evaluate

   Beginning with description and moving through analysis and interpretation before evaluation ensures that judgments rest on observed evidence. Any sequence that starts with evaluation invites students to form conclusions first and then hunt for support.

6. Question 6 · Creating, Performing, and Producing Theatre

   While studying Greek tragedy, a playwriting student notices that Oedipus Rex opens very near the end of the story, with most earlier events revealed through dialogue as the action unfolds. Which term describes this structural choice?
   • A.A circular plot structure
   • B.A late point of attack
   • C.An early point of attack
   • D.An episodic structure
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. A late point of attack

   The point of attack is where in the overall story the play begins. Classical tragedy uses a late point of attack and reveals the past through exposition. An early point of attack begins well before the crisis. Episodic structure, common in Elizabethan and epic drama, covers many places and long stretches of time instead of compressing them.

7. Question 7 · Creating, Performing, and Producing Theatre

   A high school director anticipates disappointment and complaints after posting the cast list for the spring musical. Which practice BEST supports a fair and transparent casting process?
   • A.Let the students vote on who should be cast in each of the leading roles.
   • B.Share audition criteria in advance and offer feedback to students who request it.
   • C.Cast students by seniority so that the older, more experienced students receive the leading roles.
   • D.Post the list without explanation so that the decisions cannot be questioned.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Share audition criteria in advance and offer feedback to students who request it.

   Clear criteria announced before auditions, plus constructive feedback afterward, make casting transparent and turn disappointment into a learning opportunity. Casting by seniority ignores how students actually auditioned. A student vote turns casting into a popularity contest and gives up the director's responsibility.

8. Question 8 · Design and Technical Theatre

   A designer wants a smooth, even sky color from top to bottom across a large cyclorama. Which lighting approach is MOST effective?
   • A.Ellipsoidals on the balcony rail focused on the center of the cyc
   • B.A single followspot with its iris fully open aimed at the cyc
   • C.Fresnels hung on the first electric, aimed upstage at the cyc
   • D.Cyc units lighting it from the top, with a ground row from below
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Cyc units lighting it from the top, with a ground row from below

   Cyc lights or striplights from above, blended with a ground row at the bottom, spread even color over the full height of the cyclorama. Ellipsoidals from the balcony rail and Fresnels from the first electric would create hot spots and throw actor shadows onto the cyc.

9. Question 9 · Theatre History and Culture

   A designer for a high school production creates distorted, sharply angled scenery, harsh shafts of light, and nameless characters identified only by job titles, all to present the world as the anguished protagonist perceives it. Which movement is this approach most consistent with?
   • A.Naturalism
   • B.Constructivism
   • C.Expressionism
   • D.Symbolism
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Expressionism

   Expressionism distorts scenery and light and reduces characters to types in order to project the protagonist's subjective, often tormented, view of the world. Naturalism seeks objective, detailed reproduction of reality, and constructivism emphasizes functional scaffolding structures rather than a subjective inner vision.

10. Question 10 · Responding to and Analyzing Theatre

    After watching a performance from an unfamiliar cultural tradition, a student writes that the acting seemed 'exaggerated and unrealistic.' After researching the tradition's conventions, what would be the MOST appropriate next step in the student's critical reflection?
    • A.Reassess the judgment against the tradition's own aesthetic goals
    • B.Compare the acting to Western realism to confirm the judgment
    • C.Keep the original judgment since first impressions are most honest
    • D.Replace the judgment with a summary of the tradition's history
    Show answer and explanation

    Answer: A. Reassess the judgment against the tradition's own aesthetic goals

    Informed criticism evaluates a work in light of the conventions and goals of its own tradition, so the student should revisit the initial reaction with this new understanding. Measuring the work against Western realism repeats the original bias, and summarizing history alone abandons evaluation.

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