Q 01/05

Which word for a deceiver comes from the ancient Greek term for a stage actor?

A) Charlatan

B) Impostor

C) Hypocrite

D) Dissembler

Answer · why

C) Hypocrite

Hypocrite comes from Greek hypokrites, a stage actor, whose related verb also meant to play a part or pretend, probably how an actor's word came to me...

Q 02/05

Which Theban tragedy, Aristotle's model in the Poetics, won only second prize when first staged?

A) Oedipus Rex

B) Medea

C) The Bacchae

D) Prometheus Bound

Answer · why

A) Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex supplies Aristotle's example of reversal: the messenger who comes to cheer Oedipus reveals who he is and produces the opposite effect.

Q 03/05

Which comedy was on at Ford's Theatre when Lincoln was shot, the gunshot timed to a laugh line?

A) Uncle Tom's Cabin

B) Our American Cousin

C) The Octoroon

D) Rip Van Winkle

Answer · why

B) Our American Cousin

Our American Cousin gave John Wilkes Booth his chance: the actor learned only that morning that Lincoln would attend that night's performance.

Q 04/05

Which Shakespeare play do superstitious actors refuse to name inside a theatre, for fear of bad luck?

A) Hamlet

B) Macbeth

C) King Lear

D) Othello

Answer · why

B) Macbeth

Macbeth's curse comes with a traditional cure: the offender leaves the theatre, turns around three times, spits and swears, then knocks to be let back...

Q 05/05

Which orange-seller turned comic actress, praised by Pepys, became a mistress of Charles II?

A) Moll Davis

B) Elizabeth Barry

C) Anne Bracegirdle

D) Nell Gwyn

Answer · why

D) Nell Gwyn

Nell Gwyn went from selling oranges inside the theatre to its stage, and Pepys once found her backstage cursing because so few people were in the pit.