Exit, Stage Left Trivia Quiz

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw premiered "Pygmalion" at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on October 16th, 1913. This original staging was performed in German, with the English version not being performed until April of 1914 in London's West End.

Inspired by the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion, who fell in love with one of his sculptures and brought it to life, this play has maintained its popularity over time. Shaw produced a revised version of the play that premiered in 1941, so there are now two versions available to stage.

And, of course, the characters of Eliza Dolittle and Professor Henry Higgins truly entered the public consciousness with the "My Fair Lady" adaptations as a musical (1956) and film (1964).

The debut performance of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" was in Princeton, New Jersey, on January 22, 1938. Since its original run, "Our Town" has had numerous revivals and adaptations. The first adaptation for radio happened within a few months, with Orson Welles, and in 1940 the first film adaptation was released with William Holden in the cast.

Dubbed "the greatest American play ever written" by playwright Edward Albee, this 'play-within-a-play' depiction of the citizens of the fictional town of Grover's Corners earned Wilder the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" first appeared on stage in early November of 1947 in New Haven, CT. The original cast included Jessica Tandy, Karl Malden and Marlon Brando, and was directed by Elia Kazan. The first film adaptation was released a few years later in 1951, with Kazan as the director again, and with Brando and Malden reprising their roles. Vivien Leigh replaced Tandy in the role of Blanche DuBois.

Both the original play and the film adaptation received many accolades. The play earned a Tony for Jessica Tandy as Best Actress, as well as the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The film earned four Oscars out of 11 nominations.

"Death of a Salesman" opened on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre on February 10th, 1949 and closed its run after 742 shows. Lee J. Cobb was the original Willy Loman in this highly successful play, which won six Tony Awards and earned Arthur Miller the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play has been revived on Broadway multiple times since then.

Multiple film and radio adaptations of the gritty two-act tragedy have been produced since that original staging, with the first being the 1951 film starring Frederic March, but a notable made-for-television film in 1966 saw Lee J. Cobb reprise his role (along with Mildred Dunnock, playing Linda Loman).

The titular Godot may never have arrived, but Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" did when it was published in print form in September of 1952, in advance of the first full (public) theatrical performance in January of 1953 in Paris (in the original French). There were private screenings beforehand, so that critics could publish reviews in advance of the public opening.

Interestingly, the play was composed in 1948-49, and it was almost a full year before the live theatre debut that an abridged version was performed on the radio (February of 1952) .

The play's minimal cast and stage dressing makes it a relatively easy and affordable play to produce, and it has seen many productions around the world since it debuted.

Eugene O'Neill's magnum opus, "Long Day's Journey Into Night" was written in the late 1940s, but was not published until 1956 after his death (which was in 1953). Set in 1912 in one long day, this four-act play was essentially autobiographical, with the characters representing himself and his family.

The play debuted in Stockholm, Sweden on February 2nd, 1956 at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theatre in October of 1962. The three-hour play examined the complex relationship between married couple George and Martha as they host a younger couple, and inadvertently draw them into their disputes.

The show earned the Tony for Best Play in 1963, and a successful film adaptation starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor was released in 1966. Taylor won the Oscar for Best Actress for the role.

Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" premiered on Broadway on March 10th, 1965 at the Plymouth Theatre. The famous duo of the forced together roommates - easygoing Oscar Madison and uptight Felix Ungar - were originally portrayed by Walter Matthau and Art Carney, respectively. The play earned four Tony Awards, but missed out on winning Best Play.

With the 1968 film adaptation, Matthau reprised his role, this time opposite Jack Lemmon as Ungar. That partnership would continue 30 years later with "The Odd Couple II" film sequel, also written by Neil Simon.

"Fences" premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1985 and moved to Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre in March of 1987. The play is the sixth in a series of ten plays by August Wilson that are set in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. The play won four Tony Awards, including Best Play.

The working-class African-American protagonist, Troy Maxson, was originally portrayed by James Earl Jones (who also took home the Tony for Best Leading Actor). In the 2010 revival, the role was taken on by Denzel Washington, with Viola Davis in the role of Troy's wife, Rose. Washington and Davis would reprise their roles in the 2016 film of the same name, which would earn Davis the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

John Guare's play "Six Degrees of Separation" premiered Off-Broadway at the Lincoln Center in 1990 on May 16th, starring James McDaniel Jr. in the role of the young con artist Paul, with Stockard Channing and John Cunningham as the wealthy Kittredges. Channing would go on to reprise her role in the Broadway run, then again in London's West End, and in the 1993 film adaptation (with Donald Sutherland as her husband, and Will Smith as Paul).