Q 01/05

In which city was Shaw born in 1856?

A) Dublin

B) Belfast

C) London

D) Cork

Answer · why

A) Dublin

Dublin: Shaw said he owed 'much of the only real education I ever got' to the city's public art gallery, and he remembered it in his will.

Q 02/05

Which form of his name did Shaw insist on for the title pages of his plays?

A) G. B. Shaw

B) George B. Shaw

C) Bernard Shaw

D) G.B.S.

Answer · why

C) Bernard Shaw

Bernard Shaw: he said nothing enraged him more than to be 'Georged in print', though he happily signed his reviews with all three initials, G.B.S.

Q 03/05

About how many plays did Shaw write in his lifetime?

A) About 6

B) About 20

C) About 60

D) About 200

Answer · why

C) About 60

About 60: counts run from fifty to sixty-two; his first was not staged until he was 36, and he was still writing them at 93.

Q 04/05

Shaw refused his 1925 Nobel money, which instead funded what?

A) Swedish translations

B) A national theatre

C) Drama scholarships

D) Actors' pensions

Answer · why

A) Swedish translations

Swedish translations: Shaw said his readers and audiences already gave him 'more than sufficient money for my needs', so the prize set up a foundation...

Q 05/05

Shaw was the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and what other award?

A) An Oscar

B) A Tony Award

C) A Grammy

D) A Pulitzer Prize

Answer · why

A) An Oscar

An Oscar: it came for his 1938 Pygmalion screenplay, and Shaw scoffed that it was 'an insult for them to offer me any honour'.