Name: __________________________
Date: ____________
August Wilson and Acting 101
1.
August Wilson
a.) was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
b.) lived with his father in North Carolina until he was 18.
c.) didn’t meet his mother until 1969, when he took on her maiden name.
d.) was named after his mother, Julia August, an employee at a German bakery.
2.
August Wilson left school because
a.) he was bullied as a result of his skin color, and his teacher didn’t believe he had written a twenty-page
report on Napoleon.
b.) his mother needed him to work to help support the family.
c.) he was frequently ill in middle school and was not able to catch up after missing significant class time.
d.) Trick question; Wilson earned a degree in English at the University of Chicago.
3.
Wilson learned to read
a.) at the Carnegie Library in Oakland.
b.) with his mother at age four.
c.) in elementary school, per usual.
d.) at the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good.
4.
Wilson’s ______ were the men hanging out in grocery stores and diners and chatting on street corners telling
stories and singing songs.
a.) substitute fathers
b.) only friends
c.) earliest rivals
d.) only relatives
5.
Before he began writing drama in the late ‘70s, Wilson considered himself primarily a(n)
a.) actor
b.) poet
c.) comedian
d.) beatnik
6.
A beat is a
a.) repeated practice in preparation for a performance.
b.) the time and place of a scene or play.
c.) a unit of thought or action in a script.
d.) a cross from one side of the stage to the other.
7.
A character’s objective is
a.) what he or she wants in the scene or script.
b.) a change in the pitch or tone of his or her voice.
c.) what that character does to get what he or she wants — a strategy.
d.) the place where he or she was born.
8.
Musicians from Pittsburgh are famous for playing what type of music?
a.) Jazz
b.) Rap
c.) Rock
d.) Country
9.
As a young man, August Wilson was inspired by hearing the work of poets in
a.) a library.
b.) a coffee house.
c.) an art gallery.
d.) a neighbor’s living room.
10. August Wilson has won several awards, most notably
a.) The Ralph Ellison Award for Excellence in Interracial Literature.
b.) The University of Maryland Distinguished Faculty Award.
c.) The Pulitzer Prize for Fences.
d.) The “World’s Best Dad” mug, awarded to him by his daughter Sakina in 1982.
11. August Wilson wrote a series of
a.) seven plays, one for each day of Kwanza.
b.) four plays, each paralleling one of the four gospels.
c.) four plays, one for each week of Ramadan.
d.) ten plays, one for each decade of the 20th century.
12. All of August Wilson’s plays except one share the same setting. What is it?
a.) The Dorchester neighborhood in Boston, MA
b.) The Hill District neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA
c.) The Hamilton Heights neighborhood in Harlem, NY
d.) The Adamsville neighborhood in Atlanta, GA
13. How many of August Wilson’s plays have been produced at the Huntington Theatre Company?
a.) One
b.) Three
c.) Seven
d.) Ten
14. Which of the following describes neutral position:
a.) Feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms by your sides, head/shoulders/hips in alignment
b.) Slouching to one side, looking down at the floor
c.) Feet together, legs completely straight, hands clasped behind your back, facing directly forward
d.) Sitting on the floor, cross-legged position
15. Which of the following is NOT a play by August Wilson?
a.) Fences
b.) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
c.) The Myth of Sisyphus
d.) The Piano Lesson
16. August Wilson’s signature theme was
a.) the unavoidability of death.
b.) the African-American experience.
c.) the loss of innocence.
d.) the squalor of an escaped French prisoner amidst the Paris Uprisings of 1832.
17. August Wilson co-founded which theatre with his friend, Rob Penny?
a.) True Colors Theatre Company
b.) Penumbra Theatre
c.) Black Horizon Theatre
d.) Alliance Theatre
18. Which of the following is NOT a reason why actors do warm-ups?
a.) To expand their vocal range
b.) To increase and maintain the flexibility of their bodies
c.) To help themselves fall asleep
d.) To sharpen their mental focus before going on stage
19. To articulate means to:
a.) Speak loudly so that the entire audience can hear
b.) Speak quietly in a whisper
c.) Mumble and slur words together
d.) Pronounce consonants and vowels so that words can be clearly understood
20. Subtext is:
a.) a text message sent from an underwater submarine
b.) what is implied, but not directly stated
c.) a footnote at the bottom of a page
d.) the lines of dialogue in a play