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Dying is Easy - Comedy Is Hard Quiz

For playwrights throughout the ages, "Make 'Em Laugh" has always been good advice.

A multiple-choice quiz by astorian. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
astorian

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
149,528

Updated
Oct 21 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
1823

Last 3 plays: Guest 185 (8/10), Guest 31 (6/10), Peachie13 (9/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. In Aristophanes' "Lysistrata," how do the women of Athens attempt to end the war with Sparta? Hint

Refusing to cook or do housework

Joining the Spartan army

Kidnapping the top general

Withholding sex from their husbands

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Which Neil Simon play was based on his own marriage to actress Marsha Mason? Hint

Barefoot in the Park

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Lost in Yonkers

Chapter Two

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Which supporting character from Shakespeare's "Henry IV" is the lead role in the comedy "The Merry Wives of Windsor"? Hint

Benedick

Nick Bottom

Falstaff

Petruchio

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. In the morbidly funny "Arsenic and Old Lace," to what actor is evil brother Jonathan said to bear an uncanny resemblance? Hint

James Cagney

Cary Grant

Boris Karloff

Humphrey Bogart

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. Which of the following best describes Moliere's character Tartuffe? Hint

Hypocrite and charlatan

Starry-eyed idealist

Loveable, well-meaning blunderer

Loudmouthed, opinionated ignoramus

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Which George Bernard Shaw comedy was the basis of the musical "My Fair Lady"? Hint

Pygmalion

Candida

Mrs. Warren's Profession

The Doctor's Dilemma

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," who is Mr. Bunbury? Hint

A cat

A non-existent friend

A clergyman

A dead body

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Who wrote the absurdist comedy "Rhinoceros," in which only one man on Earth resists becoming a rhinoceros? Hint

Franz Kafka

Jean Genet

Eugene Ionesco

Jean-Paul Sartre

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. What's funny about the character Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's play "The Rivals"? Hint

She swears like a sailor

She always uses the wrong word

She's constantly falling asleep

She has a high-pitched, squeaky voice

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. In Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," does Godot ever show up?

Yes

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Most Recent Scores

Dec 03 2024 : Guest 185: 8/10
Nov 23 2024 : Guest 31: 6/10
Nov 20 2024 : Peachie13: 9/10
Nov 20 2024 : Guest 1: 2/10
Nov 19 2024 : Guest 174: 10/10
Nov 19 2024 : davanvash: 8/10
Nov 19 2024 : Guest 92: 8/10
Nov 04 2024 : Guest 12: 10/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In Aristophanes' "Lysistrata," how do the women of Athens attempt to end the war with Sparta?

Answer: Withholding sex from their husbands

The Pentagon is undoubtedly working to suppress this play!

2. Which Neil Simon play was based on his own marriage to actress Marsha Mason?

Answer: Chapter Two

Before becoming a playwright, Neil Simon was a comedy writer for Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," along with Woody Allen, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.

3. Which supporting character from Shakespeare's "Henry IV" is the lead role in the comedy "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?

Answer: Falstaff

"The Merry Wives of Windsor" was adapted into the comic opera "Falstaff" by Giuseppe Verdi.

4. In the morbidly funny "Arsenic and Old Lace," to what actor is evil brother Jonathan said to bear an uncanny resemblance?

Answer: Boris Karloff

When "Arsenic and Old Lace" debuted on Broadway, this joke was heightened by the fact that the role of Jonathan was actually played by the real Boris Karloff.

5. Which of the following best describes Moliere's character Tartuffe?

Answer: Hypocrite and charlatan

Tartuffe poses as the model of religious rectitude, while secretly attempting to steal his benefactor's money and seduce his wife.

6. Which George Bernard Shaw comedy was the basis of the musical "My Fair Lady"?

Answer: Pygmalion

George Bernard Shaw won a Best Screenplay Oscar for adapting his own play "Pygmalion" into a film. That makes him the only man to win both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize.

7. In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," who is Mr. Bunbury?

Answer: A non-existent friend

Whenever the character Algernon wishes to get out of an unpleasant social obligation, he claims he must pay a visit to his sick, dying friend Bunbury.

8. Who wrote the absurdist comedy "Rhinoceros," in which only one man on Earth resists becoming a rhinoceros?

Answer: Eugene Ionesco

Berenger's resistance to becoming a rhinoceros, when everyone around him accepts the transformation happily, may symbolize the struggle of idealistic Europeans to resist the seemingly inevitable victory of fascism.

9. What's funny about the character Mrs. Malaprop in Richard Sheridan's play "The Rivals"?

Answer: She always uses the wrong word

Mrs. Malaprop made such an impression that her name made it into the dictionary: a malapropism is defined as "humorous misapplication of a word."

10. In Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," does Godot ever show up?

Answer: no

At the end of the play, a little boy informs Vladimir and Estragon that Godot can't make it, but will surely come tomorrow. (Or will he?)

Source: Author astorian

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
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