Ten of My Favorite Plays Trivia Quiz

Answer: Acting Rich

Robert Frankel wrote "Acting Rich", a farce in two acts. The Wentworths are going away on vacation, so the butler and maid (Billy and Wendy) decide to "act rich." The Wentworths' daughter returns home thinking no one is there, but when she sees the butler and maid, she pretends she is not Sharon but Cheryl, a friend of the family.

Hortense the next-door neighbor was having an affair with Mr. Wentworth and left her sweater at the house; she returns and pretends she is the maid getting the laundry so she can get her sweater before Mrs. Wentworth returns, and finds her sweater.

Jimmy, a thief comes to the house, and as he is caught Kitty appears, having been in a car accident. He claims he is her father. She keeps passing out (partially because random people keep knocking her out as everyone knows her for some reason or another and all are afraid she will divulge their secrets).

Answer: Norway

John Van Druten wrote "I Remember Mama". It takes place in San Francisco, California. It is about Mama and her family. Mama, Papa, Uncle Chris, Aunt Jenny, Aunt Trina, and Aunt Sigrid are from Norway. Mama's children are from the United States. They are a different culture and a different generation, and they are living life as best as they can in the early 20th century.

The show is based loosely on Kathyrn Forbes' memoir "Mama's Bank Account".

Answer: Barefoot in the Park

"Barefoot in the Park" takes place in New York City. Corie and Paul Bratter are newlyweds living in an apartment six flights up (or five flights and a stoop, depending on whether you ask Paul or Corie). Corie is carefree and lives in the moment. Paul is serious and would never do something so crazy as walking barefoot in a park.

Eventually, this drives a wedge between them. Although they were only married for six days at the start of the show, they fight more and more, and then Corie wants a divorce. Paul tells her that the marriage license has not even arrived yet. He then sets out to prove he can be just as crazy as his wife, and she realizes how much she does love him. He is drunk and on the roof and refuses to come in until she yells to the world that her husband is a lousy, stinking drunk.

Answer: The Glass Menagerie

"The Glass Menagerie" is about the Wingfield family: Tom, Amanda, his mother, and Laura, his sister. It takes place in St. Louis. Tom cannot stand his mother's nagging about everything. At one point, regarding her waking them up in the morning, he comments (paraphrased), "When I hear rise and shine, I think about how lucky dead people are."

Laura, his younger sister, has a glass menagerie set. She lives in her little world with the animals who, she explains, "she can't hear arguing." Tom and his mom fight all the time. Tom wants to leave but does not want to leave his sister. But how much can he take from his mother, and how much can he handle not seeing the rest of the world outside St. Louis?

Answer: angels

Bettye Knapp wrote "Down to Earth". Agnes and Wilfred are full-fledged angels. That is, they have their wings. Pilone still does not have his wings, is young and curious, and tends to get into trouble. They have been sent to earth to help Augusta Applegate and her family.

Pilone falls in love with Diana, Augusta's maid who is overly emotional. She can't see him, but sees things happening and falls in love with this invisible person she has named Oscar.

Answer: linguini

Neil Simon wrote "The Odd Couple (Female Version)".

Florence laughs at Olive calling it spaghetti. Olive asks her what is so funny.

Florence: "It's not spaghetti. It's linguini."

Olive who gets angry throws the plate at the wall and tells Florence, "Now it's garbage."

The pasta has to be cooked just right because the goal is to get some of it to stick to the wall (of the set). The reason it has to stick is because Florence comments on it hanging on the walls. She tells Olive that Olive needs to clean it, but Olive being the slob of the two does not care that there is food on the wall.

Answer: nun

Sister Aloysius is the principal of a Catholic school in the Bronx. She suspects Father Flynn, the priest, has had inappropriate relationships with one of the male students. The play is named for the fact that near the end of the play, she confesses to Sister James (one of the teachers) "I have doubts! I have such doubts!"

Interestingly, it is not revealed if Father Flynn is guilty or not. It depends on how the actor plays the role as to whether or not the audience will see him as guilty or not.

Answer: marriage

Feste is the court jester in Olivia's house. While dressed as the fool, he proves to be the wisest character in the play. He helps move the story along and seems to know more than the rest of the characters, showing omniscience.

He also sings the songs in the show. One of these songs is "O Mistress Mine." He sings this when Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby Belch ask him to sing a love song.

Answer: bus

"Bus Stop" takes place at Grace's cafe, about thirty miles from Kansas City. Cherrie is a singer, and Bo is a cowboy. He saw her perform in Kansas City and then followed Cherrie, having become obsessed with her. She asks the sheriff not to arrest Bo, but to keep him away.

At first, she plans to hide in the "powder room," but she discovers it is outside, and the bus could be there all night due to the snowstorm.

Answer: The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

A creative team is at a Westchester estate of the person backing their show, which flopped recently due to the Stage Door Slasher having murdered three chorus girls. Who is this person? That is an enigma. While everyone at the house tries to put together a show and stay alive, they try to solve the mystery as well with the help of Sergeant O'Reilly.