# Theater Studies Students' Discussion on Theater Programs: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 20, Test 3, Listening Part 3

Source: Recording, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 20, Test 3, Listening Part 3. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 21 | B | I'm glad we picked this subject ... No one else on the course is doing the same as us |
| 22 | A | Contrary to what many people think, theatres don't hire people to do the programs. |
| 23 | C | people accused the theater of breaking their agreement with the audience |
| 24 | A | theater programs were of limited value in advertising plays ... beating drums and announcing their upcoming performances |
| 25 | C | because they told the theater goers so many things ... And about the writer, the plot, and sometimes the history of the play. |
| 26 | B | they didn't go back to being more than one sheet, or change in any way for over 25 years |
| 27 | F | Good enough to put in a frame on the wall. |
| 28 | E | so we can learn how the production was created, and the thoughts and feelings of the cast |
| 29 | B | the earliest surviving document to have been printed on Australia's first printing press |
| 30 | D | the British Library's digitized collection of programs that was started a few years ago |

## Why these answers are right

**21. B.** Finn says he is glad they picked the subject because no one else on the course is doing the same topic. Nobody else doing it means it had not been chosen by other students, which is option B.

**22. A.** Maya says that, contrary to what many people think, theaters don't hire people to produce programs; instead companies buy the rights and earn money from adverts. The mistaken belief is therefore that theatres pay companies to make them, A.

**23. C.** Finn hadn't realized that if a named star did not appear, audiences accused the theater of breaking their agreement, demanding refunds or even rioting. Treating the program's promise as an agreement means it was seen as a kind of contract, C.

The why and the trap for questions 24 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/theater-studies-students-discussion-on-theater-programs/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Part 3.

**Announcer:** You will hear two theater studies students, Maya and Finn, discussing their project on theater programs.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26.

**Maya:** So Finn, I've done as much as I can for our project on theater programs.

**Maya:** How's your research coming along?

**Finn:** Ok, Maya.

**Finn:** I didn't know theater programs are called playbills in the USA, till I started looking into the topic.

**Finn:** Even though I struggled to find many useful websites, I'm glad we picked this subject.

**Finn:** No one else on the course is doing the same as us, although it is one of the research areas of the module convenor.

**Maya:** That might actually put some people off.

**Finn:** Huh, I suppose so.

**Finn:** Anyway, I hadn't realized there are actually companies specializing in creating theater programs.

**Maya:** Yes, they're quite common nowadays.

**Maya:** Contrary to what many people think, theatres don't hire people to do the programs.

**Maya:** In fact companies buy the rights to publish programs on the theatre's behalf.

**Maya:** And then make their money selling advertising space within the program booklet.

**Finn:** It must be easier for theaters to do it that way.

**Maya:** Yes.

**Finn:** I remember reading something about programs in early British theater.

**Finn:** It said that the cast was always very important.

**Maya:** Yeah, audiences were very familiar with leading actors, and big names would draw huge crowds.

**Finn:** But I hadn't realized that if the program named a famous actor, that's who the public expected to perform, and if that didn't happen, people accused the theater of breaking their agreement with the audience.

**Finn:** They would demand refunds, and if they didn't get them, there were riots.

**Maya:** Outrageous. That'd never happen now.

**Finn:** No, people are too polite, even when they're disappointed if the star of the show misses a performance.

**Maya:** We should definitely include that information about early audiences in our project.

**Maya:** I also think it's important to mention that lots of ordinary people at that time were illiterate, so theater programs were of limited value in advertising plays.

**Maya:** When a company of actors arrived in a town, they'd parade around the streets in their costumes, beating drums and announcing their upcoming performances.

**Finn:** Interesting.

**Finn:** I couldn't imagine that happening now either.

**Finn:** Hmm.

**Maya:** There's also an interesting comparison to make between 18th and 19th century programs.

**Finn:** Wasn't it in the 19th century that theater programs started to resemble programs today?

**Maya:** Yes.

**Maya:** And unlike programs from the 18th century, they always used color.

**Finn:** And there was a greater variety of designs. But personally, I think 18th-century programs were superior, because they told the theater goers so many things, including about the actors.

**Maya:** And about the writer, the plot, and sometimes the history of the play.

**Finn:** That's right.

**Finn:** What should we say about theater programs in the 20th century?

**Maya:** I reckon the most important thing is the dramatic change they underwent during World War 2.

**Finn:** When the government imposed restrictions on the use of paper.

**Maya:** Yeah, but that was only in the UK, in the USA, programs or rather playbills continued to be published in the same format.

**Finn:** Well, here in the UK, programs became merely a single sheet of paper folded to create 4 pages for text.

**Finn:** Hmm.

**Maya:** What I don't really get is that after the war, they didn't go back to being more than one sheet, or change in any way for over 25 years.

**Maya:** I know there were paper shortages after the war, but only for 5 or 10 years.

**Finn:** Hmm, strange.

**Announcer:** Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30.

**Announcer:** Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30.

**Maya:** I've got some pictures of programs we could include on the slides for our presentation.

**Finn:** I found a couple too, Maya.

**Finn:** Let's go through and see what we think.

**Maya:** um Oh, this is an old one, for a play called Ruy Blas.

**Finn:** Hmm, never heard of that, but the program looks very decorative.

**Maya:** Good enough to put in a frame on the wall.

**Maya:** The images are just beautiful.

**Maya:** Finn, what did you find?

**Finn:** I've got some pages from a program for Man of La Mancha.

**Finn:** I thought this was a good program to show, not because of the pictures.

**Finn:** But because it contains articles written by members of the theater company, so we can learn how the production was created, and the thoughts and feelings of the cast.

**Maya:** Good.

**Maya:** I've got a copy of a program that's now in a museum.

**Maya:** It's for The Tragedy of Jane Shore, and it's said to be the earliest surviving document to have been printed on Australia's first printing press.

**Finn:** Fantastic.

**Maya:** Another program to talk about is for the Sailors Festival.

**Maya:** It comes from the British Library's digitized collection of programs that was started a few years ago.

**Maya:** It already comprises over 200,000 programs, which is amazing.

**Finn:** Huh, wish I'd known about it while I was doing my research.

**Announcer:** That is the end of part 3.

**Announcer:** You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part 3.

[Practice Theater Studies Students' Discussion on Theater Programs](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/theater-studies-students-discussion-on-theater-programs)