Q 01/05

Because every British theatre was booked for the season, in which country did An Inspector Calls premiere?

A) The Soviet Union

B) The United States

C) Switzerland

D) The Netherlands

Answer · why

A) The Soviet Union

The Soviet Union staged it first, at Moscow's Kamerny Theatre and Leningrad's Comedy Theatre, months before any London audience saw it.

Q 02/05

Which liner does Arthur Birling, in a play set in 1912, insist is 'absolutely unsinkable'?

A) The Lusitania

B) The Titanic

C) The Mauretania

D) The Olympic

Answer · why

B) The Titanic

The Titanic sank on 15 April 1912, so a 1946 London audience heard Birling's boast as proof of how wrong the confident Edwardian was. Priestley plays ...

Q 03/05

An Inspector Calls is set in 1912 but was first staged in which year, as the Second World War ended?

A) 1951

B) 1948

C) 1945

D) 1955

Answer · why

C) 1945

1945 was the year Labour swept to power promising a welfare state, and Priestley's inspector preaches the same collective responsibility. The 33-year ...

Q 04/05

How long did Priestley take to write An Inspector Calls, a speed that still left no London theatre free for it?

A) About a month

B) Six months

C) Two years

D) A single week

Answer · why

D) A single week

A single week was all Priestley needed for the script, yet every British stage was booked for the season, so the play opened abroad first.

Q 05/05

What do the Birlings conclude about Goole after learning no such officer serves on the local force?

A) He was a hoax

B) He was a journalist

C) He was a blackmailer

D) He was Eva's brother

Answer · why

A) He was a hoax

He was a hoax, the family decide, and Gerald and the elder Birlings celebrate in relief while Sheila and Eric still rue what they did. The call that f...