1. Who wrote the play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"?

Answer: B) Tom Stoppard

Explanation: Tom Stoppard's 1966 absurdist play expands upon the story of two minor characters from Shakespeare's "Hamlet".

2. Which of these plays is NOT by Christopher Marlowe?

Answer: D) The Alchemist

Explanation: "The Alchemist" is a comedy by Ben Jonson, not Marlowe. Marlowe's works include the other three options.

3. What is the central theme of John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger"?

Answer: A) Post-war disillusionment

Explanation: The play (1956) epitomizes the "Angry Young Men" movement, expressing frustration with post-war British society.

4. In Shakespeare's "Macbeth", who says "Out, out, brief candle!"?

Answer: B) Macbeth

Explanation: This famous line appears in Macbeth's soliloquy upon hearing of Lady Macbeth's death (Act 5, Scene 5).

5. Which Restoration comedy features the characters Mirabell and Millamant?

Answer: A) The Way of the World

Explanation: William Congreve's 1700 comedy "The Way of the World" centers around these two witty lovers.

6. What dramatic device does J.B. Priestley use in "An Inspector Calls"?

Answer: B) Unity of time

Explanation: The play follows classical unities, with the entire action occurring in real-time during a single evening.

7. Which playwright introduced the concept of "comedies of menace"?

Answer: A) Harold Pinter

Explanation: Pinter's plays like "The Birthday Party" combine comedy with underlying threat and anxiety.

8. What is the setting of Shaw's "Pygmalion"?

Answer: B) Edwardian London

Explanation: The play (1913) is set in contemporary Edwardian London, just before WWI.

9. Which of these is a characteristic feature of Theatre of the Absurd?

Answer: C) Meaningless actions

Explanation: Absurdist plays (like Beckett's) often feature purposeless or repetitive actions highlighting existential themes.

10. Who wrote "The Revenger's Tragedy"?

Answer: C) Thomas Middleton

Explanation: Though once attributed to Tourneur, most scholars now accept Middleton as the author of this 1606 revenge tragedy.

11. Which Shakespeare play features the character Malvolio?

Answer: B) Twelfth Night

Explanation: Malvolio is the puritanical steward tricked by Maria and others in this comedy.

12. What is the main theme of Sarah Kane's "Blasted"?

Answer: B) The brutality of war

Explanation: Kane's controversial 1995 play uses extreme violence to examine human cruelty and war's impact.

13. Which play by Oscar Wilde contains the line "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune..."?

Answer: A) The Importance of Being Earnest

Explanation: This famous epigram is spoken by Lady Bracknell in Wilde's masterpiece comedy.

14. Which of these plays is considered the first great tragedy in English literature?

Answer: A) Gorboduc

Explanation: "Gorboduc" (1561) by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville is regarded as the first English tragedy, written in blank verse.

15. In which play does the character Hedda Gabler appear?

Answer: C) Hedda Gabler

Explanation: Hedda Gabler is the titular character of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play, though the question is included here as it's frequently studied in British drama courses.

16. Which theatrical convention involves actors directly addressing the audience?

Answer: C) Breaking the fourth wall

Explanation: This technique, common in Brechtian and modern drama, involves characters acknowledging the audience's presence.

17. Who wrote "Arcadia", a play that intertwines past and present timelines?

Answer: A) Tom Stoppard

Explanation: Stoppard's 1993 play "Arcadia" brilliantly alternates between 1809 and the present day in the same English country house.

18. Which Shakespearean play contains the famous "All the world's a stage" speech?

Answer: B) As You Like It

Explanation: This metaphorical speech about the seven ages of man is delivered by Jaques in Act II, Scene VII of "As You Like It".

19. What is the primary theme of Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls"?

Answer: B) Feminist critique of capitalism

Explanation: Churchill's 1982 play examines women's roles in society through surreal encounters with historical figures.

20. Which Restoration playwright was known for his "gay couple" dialogues?

Answer: B) William Congreve

Explanation: Congreve perfected the witty repartee between sophisticated lovers in plays like "The Way of the World".

21. In "Waiting for Godot", what does Vladimir repeatedly ask Estragon?

Answer: A) "Shall we go?"

Explanation: This recurring question (always followed by "We can't. We're waiting for Godot") epitomizes the play's existential themes.

22. Which Jacobean playwright wrote "The Duchess of Malfi"?

Answer: A) John Webster

Explanation: Webster's 1612 tragedy about a widowed duchess who secretly remarries is a masterpiece of Jacobean drama.

23. What dramatic form does T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral" follow?

Answer: B) Verse drama

Explanation: Eliot revived poetic drama in the 20th century with this 1935 play about Thomas Becket's martyrdom.

24. Which Shakespeare play features the character Caliban?

Answer: A) The Tempest

Explanation: Caliban, the native inhabitant of Prospero's island, has been interpreted as both monster and colonial subject.

25. Who wrote "The Homecoming", a play about family power dynamics?

Answer: A) Harold Pinter

Explanation: Pinter's 1964 play features his characteristic menacing atmosphere and power struggles within a London family.

26. Which of these is a characteristic of Ben Jonson's "comedy of humours"?

Answer: A) Stock characters representing bodily fluids

Explanation: Jonson based characters on the medieval medical theory of four bodily humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile).

27. In Shaw's "Saint Joan", what historical period is depicted?

Answer: A) The Hundred Years' War

Explanation: Shaw's 1923 play about Joan of Arc is set during the early 15th century conflict between England and France.

28. Which theatrical movement was Bertolt Brecht associated with?

Answer: A) Epic Theatre

Explanation: Though German, Brecht's alienation techniques greatly influenced British political drama of the 20th century.

29. What is the setting of J.M. Synge's "The Playboy of the Western World"?

Answer: A) Rural Ireland

Explanation: Synge's 1907 play, though Irish, is often studied in British drama for its influence on modern theatre.

30. Which Shakespeare play features the line "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"?

Answer: B) Hamlet

Explanation: Queen Gertrude says this during the play-within-a-play scene (Act III, Scene II) in Hamlet.

31. Who wrote "Cloud Nine", a play exploring gender and colonial politics?

Answer: A) Caryl Churchill

Explanation: Churchill's 1979 play uses cross-gender casting to examine sexual and colonial oppression.

32. Which Restoration comedy features the character Horner and the "china scene"?

Answer: A) The Country Wife

Explanation: Wycherley's risqué 1675 play contains the famous scene where Horner's "china" becomes a sexual metaphor.

33. What is the main theme of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America"?

Answer: A) The AIDS crisis

Explanation: Though American, this 1991 play is frequently studied in British drama for its theatrical innovations and gay themes.

34. Which playwright is associated with the term "in-yer-face theatre"?

Answer: A) Sarah Kane

Explanation: Kane's violent, confrontational plays like "Blasted" epitomize this 1990s British theatrical movement.

35. In Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus", what does Faustus demand from Mephistopheles?

Answer: B) Twenty-four years of service

Explanation: The tragic pact grants Faustus knowledge and magical powers for 24 years before damnation.

36. Which Shakespeare play features the line "Now is the winter of our discontent"?

Answer: B) Richard III

Explanation: This famous opening line introduces Richard's villainous ambitions in the history play.

37. Who wrote "The Caretaker", a play about two brothers and a homeless man?

Answer: A) Harold Pinter

Explanation: Pinter's 1959 play exemplifies his "comedy of menace" with its power struggles and ambiguous dialogue.

38. Which play by George Bernard Shaw critiques the English class system through a flower girl's transformation?

Answer: B) Pygmalion

Explanation: Shaw's 1913 play (basis for "My Fair Lady") examines class through phonetics professor Henry Higgins' experiment.

39. What theatrical device is used in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town"?

Answer: A) Minimalist staging

Explanation: Though American, Wilder's 1938 play influenced British theatre with its bare stage and Stage Manager narrator.

40. Which Jacobean tragedy features the character Vittoria Corombona?

Answer: A) The White Devil

Explanation: Webster's 1612 tragedy centers on this strong female protagonist who defies Venetian society.

41. In "Endgame", what relationship do Hamm and Clov have?

Answer: B) Master and servant

Explanation: Beckett's 1957 absurdist play features this interdependent yet antagonistic relationship at its core.

42. Which Shakespeare comedy features the "green world" of the Forest of Arden?

Answer: B) As You Like It

Explanation: Northrop Frye's concept of the "green world" as transformative space applies perfectly to this pastoral comedy.

43. Who wrote "The Birthday Party", a play about mysterious strangers threatening a boarding house resident?

Answer: A) Harold Pinter

Explanation: Pinter's first full-length play (1957) established his signature menacing, ambiguous style.

44. Which play by Alan Bennett features a group of schoolboys preparing for Oxford entrance exams?

Answer: B) The History Boys

Explanation: Bennett's 2004 play examines education through charismatic teacher Hector and his unconventional methods.

45. In "The Spanish Tragedy", what device does Hieronimo use to achieve revenge?

Answer: A) A play-within-a-play

Explanation: Kyd's 1580s revenge tragedy established this meta-theatrical device later used by Shakespeare in Hamlet.

46. Which Restoration comedy features the character Sir Fopling Flutter?

Answer: A) The Man of Mode

Explanation: George Etherege's 1676 comedy presents this foppish character as the height of ridiculous fashion.

47. What is the primary theme of Timberlake Wertenbaker's "Our Country's Good"?

Answer: A) The transformative power of theatre

Explanation: This 1988 play dramatizes Australian convicts performing Farquhar's "The Recruiting Officer" in 1789.

48. Which Shakespeare history play features the Battle of Agincourt?

Answer: C) Henry V

Explanation: The famous "St Crispin's Day" speech precedes this underdog English victory in 1415.

49. Who wrote "No Man's Land", a play featuring two elderly writers in a power struggle?

Answer: A) Harold Pinter

Explanation: Pinter's 1974 play explores memory and identity through its ambiguous character relationships.

50. Which play by Joe Orton features farcical elements and a dead grandmother in a cupboard?

Answer: A) Loot

Explanation: Orton's 1965 black comedy satirizes Catholicism and authority through this outrageous premise.