All About Tom Stoppard

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Tom Stoppard was born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia. His family fled the country to escape the Nazi occupation. What country did they flee to initially? United States India Singapore Great Britian

2. Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing," was dedicated to his second wife, Miriam. In that play, the semi-autobiographical character Henry Boot, a playwright, leaves his first wife for an actress named Annie. Not long after the play debuted, Stoppard left his second wife for the actress who played Annie. Who was that actress? Diana Rigg Jennifer Ehle Glenn Close Felicity Kendal

3. Tom Stoppard's first marriage to Josie Ingle, ended in divorce in part because Josie was unable to adjust to Tom's burgeoning fame. His second wife, Dr. Miriam Stoppard, had no such difficulty. In fact, she may have been even more famous among the British than Tom. What was her area of expertise? psychology cancer literature sex

4. Tom Stoppard won the Academy Award in 1998 for "Shakespeare in Love." It was his second nomination. For what movie did he receive his first nomination? Empire of the Sun Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Brazil Vatel

5. Tom Stoppard's Oscar success in 1998 put him in elite company, joining which of the following playwrights as a screenwriting Oscar winner? John Guare Tony Kushner Arthur Miller George Bernard Shaw

6. Tom Stoppard's Czech origins have been a significant influence on his writing. Which of the following plays was NOT set (at least in part) in Czechoslovakia? Every Good Boy Deserves Favour Professional Foul Rock 'N' Roll The Coast of Utopia

7. In addition to his original works, Tom Stoppard has also translated/adapted several foreign language plays. The original cast for one of these adaptations featured Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Kline, Natalie Portman, John Goodman, Christopher Walken and Marcia Gay Harden. What was the name of the play? "The Seagull" by Anton Chekov "Largo Desolato" by Vaclav Havel "Henry IV" by Luigi Pirandello "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht

8. Tom Stoppard began his writing career as a ... novelist journalist poet theater critic

9. Though Tom Stoppard was criticized early in his career as an apolitical writer, politics became a major theme of several later works. Which of the following world leaders has NOT appeared as a character in an original Stoppard work? Kambawe President Ginku Mageeba Soviet Chairman Vladimir Lenin Czech President Vaclav Havel Polish President Lech Walesa

10. Early in Tom Stoppard's career, he felt uncomfortable writing plots. He got around this weakness by borrowing plots from other works. Stoppard has borrowed plots from all of the following works except ... "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde "Mouse Trap" by Agatha Christie "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare "Ulysses" by James Joyce