• 45 questions

TExES Theatre EC-12 Practice Test

Unofficial practice for TExES Theatre EC–12 (180): acting, stagecraft, history, criticism and teaching, each question with its source.

In which method of teaching drama do the students and the teacher both work in and out of role?

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Exam mode: 45 questions, 128 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Texas Education Agency or Pearson. Bank checked October 9, 2026.

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All 45 questions

Creating, performing and producing 11

  • A character says, "I'm fine," while the audience understands that she is furious. What is the unspoken meaning called? Wikipedia, Subtext. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 002
  • A director tells an actor to move upstage. Where does the actor go? Wikipedia, Blocking (stage). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 003
  • A school plans ticketed evening performances of a play that is under copyright. Which exclusive right of the copyright owner is involved? 17 U.S.C. 106, Exclusive rights in copyrighted works (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 004
  • An actor asks, "What would I do if I were in this situation?" Which part of Stanislavski's system is she using? Wikipedia, Stanislavski's system. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 002
  • An actor faces the audience. Which side is stage left? Wikipedia, Blocking (stage). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 003
  • An actor turns a character's inner need into one outward movement, then keeps it inside during performance. Whose technique is this? Wikipedia, Michael Chekhov. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 002
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Creating, performing and producing, continued

  • In which method of teaching drama do the students and the teacher both work in and out of role? Wikipedia, Process drama. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 001
  • Students perform a scene from a copyrighted play for their classmates during a regular class at a nonprofit school. What does 17 U.S.C. 110(1) say about this? 17 U.S.C. 110, Exemption of certain performances and displays (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 004
  • Viola Spolin gave what name to the acting exercises that train players to find choices improvisationally, in the present moment? Wikipedia, Viola Spolin. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 001
  • What is blocking? Wikipedia, Blocking (stage). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 003
  • Which actor training approach is known for repetition exercises that turn attention away from the words and toward the other actor? Wikipedia, Meisner technique. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain I, competency 002

Design and technical theatre 14

  • A costume designer gives a wealthy older character a heavy brocade coat and a young servant a plain smock. Which function of costume is at work? Wikipedia, Costume design. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 008
  • A crew member wants to stand on the cap of a stepladder to reach a batten. What does OSHA's ladder rule say? 29 CFR Part 1910, Occupational Safety and Health Standards, §1910.23. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 009
  • A designer needs a wide, soft-edged wash of light from above the stage. Which instrument fits? Wikipedia, Fresnel lantern. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 006
  • A lighting designer wants the shadow pattern of leaves on the stage floor. What goes into the instrument? Wikipedia, Gobo (lighting). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 006
  • A student will rip plywood on a table saw, and chips will fly. Under OSHA's eye and face protection rule, what eye protection is needed where flying objects are a hazard? 29 CFR Part 1910, Occupational Safety and Health Standards, §1910.133. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 007
  • An actor's false moustache must stay on through a whole performance. Which product is the standard theatrical adhesive for it? Wikipedia, Spirit gum. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 008
  • During a scene shift the fly crew is told a batten is "flying in." What is happening? Wikipedia, Fly system. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 009
  • In a scenery flat, what are the stiles? Wikipedia, Flat (theatre). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 007
  • In which stage setup does the audience surround the performance area? Wikipedia, Theatre-in-the-round. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 005
  • Red, green and blue beams overlap fully on a white cyclorama. What color appears where all three meet? Wikipedia, Additive color. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 006
  • What do the four shutters inside an ellipsoidal reflector spotlight do? Wikipedia, Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 006
  • Which book holds the blocking, the light and sound cues, the property lists and the contact sheet for a production? Wikipedia, Prompt book. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 009
  • Which document shows the electrics crew how to hang, focus, color and connect every lighting instrument? Wikipedia, Light plot. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 006
  • Which stage has the audience on three sides and joins the backstage area at its upstage end? Wikipedia, Thrust stage. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain II, competency 005

Theatre history and culture 6

  • According to ancient Greek sources, especially Aristotle, who was the first person to go on stage as an actor in a character's part? Wikipedia, Thespis. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain III, competency 010
  • English pantomime has its roots in which 16th-century Italian entertainment, with stock characters such as the masked Harlequin? Victoria and Albert Museum, The story of pantomime. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain III, competency 010
  • English public theatres reopened in 1660. What had happened in the years before? Wikipedia, Restoration comedy. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain III, competency 011
  • How was the first Globe theatre destroyed in 1613? Shakespeare's Globe, The Globe. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain III, competency 010
  • What is the hanamichi of a kabuki theatre? UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage: Kabuki theatre. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain III, competency 010
  • Which 1959 play was the first by a Black woman to reach the Broadway stage? Wikipedia, A Raisin in the Sun. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain III, competency 011

Responding to and analyzing theatre 6

  • A play's unsolvable problem is abruptly fixed by an unexpected and unlikely event. Which term names this device? Wikipedia, Deus ex machina. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain IV, competency 012
  • A production shows captions above the stage so that spectators do not simply identify with the characters. Which concept, credited to Bertolt Brecht, is this? Wikipedia, Distancing effect. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain IV, competency 012
  • Actors pretend not to see the audience, who watch through an imaginary barrier. What is the convention called? Wikipedia, Fourth wall. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain IV, competency 012
  • In Aristotle's Poetics, which part of tragedy covers the set, costumes and props, and is called the least artistic? Wikipedia, Poetics (Aristotle). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain IV, competency 012
  • In dramatic criticism, what does catharsis refer to? Wikipedia, Catharsis. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain IV, competency 012
  • Who on a production team researches the script, the playwright and the context of the play to help realize its world on stage? Wikipedia, Dramaturgy. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain IV, competency 012

Theatre education 8

  • A company of trained actor-educators performs for students in order to change knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. What is this practice called? Wikipedia, Theatre in education. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 015
  • A Grade 5 teacher has students explore body awareness and spatial perception without words. Which activity do the Texas standards name for this? 19 Texas Administrative Code §117.119, Theatre, Grade 5 (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 015
  • In Grade 5 theatre, the Texas standards expect students to "demonstrate safe use of" what? 19 Texas Administrative Code §117.119, Theatre, Grade 5 (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 015
  • In the theatre TEKS, a student expectation says "stage movement techniques such as mime, pantomime, stage combat". What does "such as" signal? 19 Texas Administrative Code §117.315, Theatre, Level I (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 014
  • The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for theatre are organized under four basic strands. Which list is correct? 19 Texas Administrative Code §117.315, Theatre, Level I (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 014
  • Under which strand of the theatre TEKS do students accept constructive criticism and learn to appreciate and evaluate live theatre? 19 Texas Administrative Code §117.315, Theatre, Level I (Legal Information Institute copy). Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 014
  • Which British drama teacher used "teacher in role" across the curriculum and developed "mantle of the expert"? Wikipedia, Dorothy Heathcote. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 014
  • Which Northwestern University professor is known for her work in children's theatre and for pioneering creative dramatics? Wikipedia, Winifred Ward. Written to TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) Domain V, competency 016

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the exam framework of TExES Theatre EC–12 (180) in Section 3 of the preparation manual on the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program website, https://www.tx.nesinc.com/Content/StudyGuide/TX_SG_obj_180.htm (copyright Texas Education Agency), read 2026-10-09: 100 selected-response questions in five domains, Creating, Performing and Producing Theatre about 25%, Design and Technical Theatre 31%, Theatre History and Culture 13%, Responding to and Analyzing Theatre 13% and Theatre Education 19%. This bank holds 45: 11, 14, 6, 6 and 8. Every fact was read on the public page named under its question, each opened 2026-10-09: 29 CFR Part 1910 in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 17 U.S.C. 106 and 110 and 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 117 in the Legal Information Institute copies, UNESCO, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shakespeare's Globe, and Wikipedia articles on stagecraft, acting and theatre history. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

A free TExES Theatre EC–12 practice test: 45 of our own questions across the five domains of exam 180. Unofficial, and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Texas Education Agency or Pearson.

Read the full guide

Five domains, design the largest

Design and Technical Theatre is about 31% of the exam. Creating, Performing and Producing Theatre is 25%, Theatre Education 19%, and history and analysis 13% each. The bank splits the same way: 14, 11, 8, 6 and 6.

100 questions in 4 hours 45 minutes

The real exam asks 100 selected-response questions in 4 hours 45 minutes of testing time. Exam mode gives 128 minutes for the 45 here, the same pace.

Where the facts come from

Shop safety questions quote OSHA's general industry rules, 29 CFR Part 1910. Teaching questions quote the Texas theatre standards, 19 TAC Chapter 117. Performance rights questions quote the Copyright Act.

  • Stage left is the actor's left; house left is the audience's. Read each blocking question for whose view it takes.
  • The Copyright Act treats a scene performed in class differently from a ticketed public show. Two questions turn on that line.

Questions and answers

What is on the TExES Theatre EC-12 (180) exam?

Sixteen competencies in five domains: creating, performing and producing theatre; design and technical theatre; theatre history and culture; responding to and analyzing theatre; and theatre education. The framework is Section 3 of the free preparation manual.

How many questions are on the TExES Theatre exam?

100 selected-response questions, taken by computer in a 5-hour appointment: 15 minutes for the tutorial and compliance agreement, then 4 hours 45 minutes of testing. The program says some questions may be unscored.

What is the passing score for TExES Theatre EC–12?

240, according to the exam's page on the Texas Educator Certification Examination Program site. That figure is scaled, so a count of right answers on a practice page cannot be turned into it.

Does this TExES Theatre practice test use real exam questions?

No. Every question was written for this site from a competency and the public source named beside it. The real exam and the manual's sample questions were not copied or reworded.

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