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Recalling History on Stage Trivia Quiz

How much do you know about these plays based on historical events and people?

A multiple-choice quiz by FatherSteve. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
FatherSteve

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
367,392

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
531

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 86 (7/10), Guest 31 (8/10), AliTob (8/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee wrote what play about "the Scopes Monkey Trial"? Hint

Storm Warning

Bedtime for Bonzo

Inherit the Wind

Mr. Smith

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Question 2 of 10

2. Arthur Miller, who was once married to Marilyn Monroe, wrote what play about the Salem Witch trials? Hint

The Crucible

After the Fall

The Misfits

Bell, Book and Candle

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Question 3 of 10

3. "Murder in the Cathedral" is a 1935 play about the murder (martyrdom?) of Thomas Becket of Canterbury written by whom? Hint

T.S. Eliot

Harold Pinter

Robert Bolt

W.H. Auden

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Question 4 of 10

4. James Goldman's play "The Lion in Winter" (1966) is about what historic couple? Hint

Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault

Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York

Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon

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Question 5 of 10

5. What was the title of American dramatist Doug Wright's play about the last years of the Marquis de Sade, first produced in the late 1990s? Hint

At Home with the Marquis de Sade

Justine

Quills

The Crimes of Love

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Question 6 of 10

6. A 1959 play, "The Gang's All Here" depicts the election of a US President whose incompetence and corruption lead to his downfall. Who wrote this play? Hint

Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

Eugene Burdick and William Lederer

Kingsley Amis and Martin Amis

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

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Question 7 of 10

7. Irish playwright Se�n O'Casey wrote three plays known as "The Dublin Trilogy". Which one was about the Easter Rising of April, 1916? Hint

The Shadow of a Gunman

The Plough and the Stars

Juno and the Paycock

The Playboy of the Western World

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Question 8 of 10

8. Robert Bolt's play about the English court (which became a successful motion picture), "A Man for All Seasons" portrays what historical figure? Hint

Thomas Cranmer

Sir Thomas More

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk

Thomas � Kempis

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Question 9 of 10

9. The Broadway musical, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," contains a scene about which nautical tragedy? Hint

the sinking of the RMS Titanic by an iceberg

the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald by a storm

the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat

the sinking of the USS Arizona by Japanese bombs

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Question 10 of 10

10. Maxwell Anderson's play "Anne of the Thousand Days" (which was made into a movie of the same name) was about whom? Hint

Anna (Symmes) Harrison, first lady

Anne Elliot, protagonist of Jane Austen's last novel

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal

Anne Boleyn, queen

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Most Recent Scores

Apr 17 2024 : Guest 86: 7/10
Mar 30 2024 : Guest 31: 8/10
Mar 23 2024 : AliTob: 8/10
Mar 22 2024 : jeklou: 8/10
Mar 21 2024 : Guest 80: 9/10
Mar 07 2024 : Cymruambyth: 9/10
Feb 28 2024 : Guest 24: 5/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee wrote what play about "the Scopes Monkey Trial"?

Answer: Inherit the Wind

Lawrence and Lee specialized in writing historical drama, and taught the subject to future playwrights. "Inherit the Wind" was based on the 1925 trial of The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes. A 1960 movie followed the 1955 stage play. The title of both refers to Proverbs 11:29 which says, "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind."

2. Arthur Miller, who was once married to Marilyn Monroe, wrote what play about the Salem Witch trials?

Answer: The Crucible

Miller's "The Crucible" was produced in 1953, adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre for a French movie version in 1957, adapted by Robert Ward for an opera in 1961, and adapted by Miller himself for an American movie version in 1996. The direct historical referents of the play were the trials for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay in the 1690s, but the allegorical referents were what Miller considered witch-hunting by the House Committee on Un-American Activities and by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy.

3. "Murder in the Cathedral" is a 1935 play about the murder (martyrdom?) of Thomas Becket of Canterbury written by whom?

Answer: T.S. Eliot

Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" is based on the 1170 killing of the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket. The play was commissioned by George Bell, the Bishop of Chichester. The first performance was staged in the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral.

While the play is unquestionably grounded in the death of the archbishop, Eliot was also deeply concerned about the rise of European fascism and its threat to individual liberties.

4. James Goldman's play "The Lion in Winter" (1966) is about what historic couple?

Answer: Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine

"The Lion in Winter" depicts how the family -- Henry, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their children -- spent Christmas of 1183. The play was first produced in 1966, the film adaptation starring Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn in 1968 and a made-for-TV movie in 2003.

5. What was the title of American dramatist Doug Wright's play about the last years of the Marquis de Sade, first produced in the late 1990s?

Answer: Quills

Doug Wright (b. 1962) wrote "Quills", which was staged in Washington, DC, in 1995. The play won an Obie. He then adapted it for the screen; Philip Kaufman directed "Quills" in 2000. The film was nominated for numerous awards but was criticized by historians as taking too many liberties with known facts about de Sade's confinement at the Charenton insane asylum.

6. A 1959 play, "The Gang's All Here" depicts the election of a US President whose incompetence and corruption lead to his downfall. Who wrote this play?

Answer: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

Although the authors denied that they were telling the story of President Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal, it is impossible to fail to recognize Harding's administration, his affair with Nan Britton, and his corrupt Secretary of the Interior and Attorney General in this play.

The team were responsible for "Inherit the Wind", "Auntie Mame", "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail", and "First Monday in October".

7. Irish playwright Se�n O'Casey wrote three plays known as "The Dublin Trilogy". Which one was about the Easter Rising of April, 1916?

Answer: The Plough and the Stars

O'Casey's "The Plough and the Stars" opened in 1926 on the stage of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The title of the play refers to the Starry Plough flag or banner which was flown by the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter uprising. The star pattern in Ursa Major shown on the flag is called the Big Dipper in North America and The Plough in Ireland and England.

8. Robert Bolt's play about the English court (which became a successful motion picture), "A Man for All Seasons" portrays what historical figure?

Answer: Sir Thomas More

Bolt's 1960 play was preceded by a 1954 radio play, and by a shorter 60-minute TV version in 1956. The play is based on the life of Thomas More, a devout Roman Catholic who opposed King Henry VIII's divorce of his wife Catherine of Aragon. In Bolt's version, More is a noble and innocent man who was betrayed at trial and executed unjustly.

9. The Broadway musical, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," contains a scene about which nautical tragedy?

Answer: the sinking of the RMS Titanic by an iceberg

Margaret Brown (1867-1932) was a rich American from Denver who survived the sinking of the Titanic on which she was a first-class passenger. She gained the nickname "the unsinkable Molly Brown" from her work in rescuing other passengers, her taking an oar in Lifeboat number 6, and her encouraging the officer in charge of the boat to pull more passengers out of the water.

In addition to the 1960 Broadway musical, the play was adapted to film in 1964, starring Debbie Reynolds.

10. Maxwell Anderson's play "Anne of the Thousand Days" (which was made into a movie of the same name) was about whom?

Answer: Anne Boleyn, queen

Maxwell Alexander's 1948 play about Anne Boleyn was written partly in blank verse, only some of which was preserved when Hal B. Wallis adapted the play to film in 1969. The screen version starred Richard Burton as King Henry VIII, Anthony Quayle as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Irene Papas as Queen Catherine of Aragon and Genevi�ve Bujold as Anne Boleyn.

Source: Author FatherSteve

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