A performer shows a wall, a rope and a heavy box using only the body and face, with no words and no props. Which technique is this?Wikipedia, "Mime artist". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
A script sets a scene at dawn, in winter, an hour after a funeral. In Stanislavski's terms, what are these facts to the actor?Wikipedia, "Given circumstances". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
An actor recalls the details of a loss in her own life to bring real grief to a scene. Which technique, made central to the Method by Lee Strasberg, is she using?Wikipedia, "Affective memory". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
Before a show the cast hums, runs lip trills and works through tongue twisters. What is a vocal warm-up for?Wikipedia, "Vocal warm-up". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
The director sets Friday as the day the cast must be "off book". What must each actor be able to do by then?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "OFF BOOK". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
Show all 50 questions (45 more)
Acting, continued
In an improvised scene one student says, "Doctor, the patient has turned blue." Under the rule "Yes, and ...", what should the partner do?Wikipedia, "Yes, and ...". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
In stage combat, what is a knap?Wikipedia, "Stage combat". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
In Stanislavski's system, what is a character's supertask, also called the superobjective?Wikipedia, "Stanislavski's system". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
Where is the sound of the speaking voice first produced?Wikipedia, "Vocal cords". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
Which approach to actor training, begun by Mary Overlie in the 1970s and adapted by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau, works through elements such as spatial relationship, shape, time and movement?Wikipedia, "Viewpoints". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 1 (acting)
Creative dramatics 3
A class presents a story by reading it aloud with expression, scripts in hand, with no costumes, props or scenery. Which approach is this?Wikipedia, "Readers theater". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 2 (creative dramatics)
How did Winifred Ward, who led creative dramatics in the Evanston schools from 1924, set it apart from rehearsing a scripted play?Wikipedia, "Winifred Ward". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 2 (creative dramatics)
Students freeze in a silent group picture of the moment a storm hits a ship. What is this drama strategy called?Wikipedia, "Tableau vivant". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 2 (creative dramatics)
Theatre production and design 12
A scene shop keeps spray adhesives and solvents. Under OSHA's Hazard Communication standard, what must be readily accessible to workers for each hazardous chemical?Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard Communication, paragraph (g)(8). Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
A sound designer chooses condenser microphones for a choir. What do these microphones need that a dynamic microphone does not?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Sound, "CONDENSER MIC". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
A stage manager "spikes" a chair. What has she done?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "SPIKE". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Books on a shelf, pictures on the wall and a vase that no actor touches are added to finish a room setting. What are these items called?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "DRESSING (the set)". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
During a performance, what does "calling the show" mean?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "CALLING THE SHOW". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
How does a makeup artist make an actor's cheekbones look sharper and the cheeks more hollow from the audience's seats?Wikipedia, "Theatrical makeup". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
What is a Hollywood flat, also called a studio flat?Wikipedia, "Flat (theatre)". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Which digital standard carries control data from a lighting console to the dimmers and moving lights?Wikipedia, "DMX512". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Which document does a costume designer make to track which character is in which scene and when each actor changes?Wikipedia, "Costume design". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Which drawing shows a set to scale from directly overhead, with everything that stands on the stage floor?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "GROUNDPLAN". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Which lighting instrument is worked by an operator so that its beam can stay on one actor who moves around the stage?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Lighting, "FOLLOWSPOT". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Which members of a production operate its technical elements during each performance?Wikipedia, "Running crew". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 3 (theatre production and design)
Dramatic literature and criticism 5
A play opens in the middle of a siege, and the events that led to it come out later through dialogue. Which term names this way of beginning a plot?Wikipedia, "In medias res". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 4 (dramatic literature and criticism)
A play piles up highly implausible plots, exaggerated characters, physical humor and misunderstandings to make the audience laugh. Which genre is it?Wikipedia, "Farce". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 4 (dramatic literature and criticism)
In Aristotle's account of tragedy, what is hamartia?Wikipedia, "Hamartia". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 4 (dramatic literature and criticism)
Japan's Nôgaku theatre is made up of which two forms, played in the same space?UNESCO, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Nôgaku theatre. Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 4 (dramatic literature and criticism)
Which idea did Jerzy Grotowski set out in the book Towards a Poor Theatre (1968)?Wikipedia, "Jerzy Grotowski". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 4 (dramatic literature and criticism)
Theatre history 8
How were the mystery plays of medieval England usually staged for the townspeople?Victoria and Albert Museum, The story of theatre. Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
In an ancient Greek theatre, what was the orchestra?Wikipedia, "Theatre of ancient Greece". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
The Natya Shastra, attributed to the sage Bharata, is an ancient treatise on the performing arts written in which language?Wikipedia, "Natya Shastra". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
What was the name of the first playhouse in Britain, built in London in 1576?Victoria and Albert Museum, The story of theatre. Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
Which 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical epitomized the "book musical", in which songs and dances are fully integrated into the story?Wikipedia, "Oklahoma!". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
Which New Deal program of 1935 to 1939 paid for live theatre across the United States and staged the Living Newspaper plays?Wikipedia, "Federal Theatre Project". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
Which Norwegian playwright, the author of A Doll's House (1879), pioneered theatrical realism and is often called the father of modern drama?Wikipedia, "Henrik Ibsen". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
Who is credited with bringing the proscenium arch and movable scenery in perspective into British theatre?Victoria and Albert Museum, The story of theatre. Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 5 (theatre history)
Directing 7
A director walks to the end seat of the front row to check that an upstage doorway can still be seen. What is she checking?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "SIGHTLINES". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
A director wants to cut two scenes from a play that is under copyright and write a new ending. Which exclusive right of the copyright owner does that touch?U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright Law of the United States, Title 17, section 106 (Exclusive rights in copyrighted works). Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
At an audition, actors are handed a scene they have not seen and asked to read it aloud at once. What is this called?Wikipedia, "Cold reading (theatrical)". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
At the first rehearsal the whole cast sits around a table and reads the script aloud from start to finish. What is this session called?Wikipedia, "Read-through". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
In a musical, who makes sure the cast knows the music thoroughly, supervises the musical interpretation and conducts the orchestra?Wikipedia, "Music director". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
On a production team, who makes sure the production is complete and of good quality and leads the creative team in realizing an artistic vision for it?Wikipedia, "Theatre director". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
To save time in a technical rehearsal, the company skips the dialogue between one lighting or sound cue and the next. What is this way of working called?Theatrecrafts.com, Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms, Stage Management, "CUE TO CUE". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 6 (directing)
Playwriting 3
A playwright wants a character, alone on stage, to speak her private thoughts aloud. Which device is that?Wikipedia, "Soliloquy". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 7 (playwriting)
Early in a play, two characters mention that the family lost its farm five years before the action begins. Which element of dramatic writing is this?Wikipedia, "Exposition (narrative)". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 7 (playwriting)
Which feature belongs to a screenplay and not to a stage play script?Wikipedia, "Screenplay". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 7 (playwriting)
Career opportunities 2
In the United States, which graduate degree is typically recognized as the terminal degree for practitioners of theatre, qualifying them to become university professors?Wikipedia, "Master of Fine Arts". Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 8 (career opportunities)
Which U.S. labor union, founded in 1913, represents professional stage actors and stage managers?Actors' Equity Association, About Equity. Written to FTCE Drama 6–12 (006), competency 8 (career opportunities)
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the Competencies and Skills and Blueprint of FTCE Drama 6–12 (006) in the test information guide on the FTCE/FELE website, https://www.fl.nesinc.com/studyguide/FL_SG_obj_006.htm (copyright State of Florida, Department of State; site run by Pearson), read 2026-10-11: approximately 80 multiple-choice questions in eight competencies, acting about 20 percent, creative dramatics 5, theatre production and design 25, dramatic literature and criticism 10, theatre history 15, directing 15, playwriting 5 and career opportunities 5. Each question names the public page its answer was checked on, opened 2026-10-11. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
These FTCE Drama 6-12 practice tests follow exam 006: 50 questions of our own across its eight competencies. The page is unofficial: this site is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Florida Department of Education or Pearson.
Read the full guide
Eight competencies and their weights
Theatre production and design carries about 25% of the questions and acting 20%. Theatre history and directing carry 15% apiece, dramatic literature and criticism 10%. Creative dramatics, playwriting and career opportunities carry 5% each. This bank holds 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 3, 3 and 2.
Timing
Exam mode asks 48 of these 50 in 90 minutes, the real test's time for each question.
Backstage counts most
A quarter of the test is production: safety, ground plans, set construction, props, lighting, sound, costume, makeup and who does what on a crew. Most of the production questions here cite a technical theatre glossary or OSHA's Hazard Communication standard.
The acting competency names stage combat, pantomime, improvisation and acting for multimedia beside voice, warm-ups and actor training.
Theatre history runs wider than Europe: the blueprint asks for the major periods of world theatre, American theatre and musical theatre.
Questions and answers
Is there an FTCE Drama 6-12 study guide?
The FTCE site has a free test information guide for Drama 6–12. Its competencies and skills page lists the eight competencies and every skill under them, and each question here names the competency it was written to.
How many questions are on the FTCE Drama 6-12 test?
Approximately 80 multiple-choice questions on a computer in 2 hours 30 minutes, the FTCE site says. It lists no reference materials for this test, and a test may include questions being tried out that do not count toward the score.
What is a passing score on the FTCE Drama 6-12?
A scaled score of at least 200. A scaled score is not a percent, so exam mode here reports how many you got right and gives no pass or fail.
Is there an FTCE Drama 6-12 practice test PDF?
Yes. After a set, Print opens a question sheet you can extend to the whole bank, with an answer key if you want one. Choose Save as PDF in the print window to keep the file.