Hard Curtain Up for Act Two - 10 More London Theatres Quiz / Test | World

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which London theatre opened in 1982 as part of a newly-built Arts complex in the City of London, where it was used as a London base by the Royal Shakespeare Company until 2002.

Answer: Barbican Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Company staged many memorable productions at the Barbican, including the long-running musical "Les Miserables" which was first performed there in 1985 before transferring to the West End. Following the RSC's departure, the Barbican moved to hosting a variety of brought-in shows, from mime to pantomime, often featuring foreign companies.

2. Which London theatre became associated in the 1950s and 60s with a series of comic farces usually starring Brian Rix?

Answer: Whitehall

The Whitehall farces tended to involve a harassed Brian Rix running in and out of a succession of doors and losing his trousers in the process. Quite daring for their day, they come very much from the same stable as the early "Carry On" films, with a similar mix of mild innuendo, pretty girls, and errant males getting their come-uppance.

3. The Globe Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue changed its name in 1994 in tribute to which famous British actor?

Answer: John Gielgud

The theatre opened in 1906 with the name of the "Hicks Theatre", becoming the "Globe" three years later. The change of name to the "Gielgud Theatre" in the 1990s was intended to avoid confusion with the reconstructed "Shakespeare's Globe" then being built in Southwark.

4. The Monty Python comedy team recorded a stage show at which major London venue, the name of which is included in the album's title of "Monty Python Live at ..." where?

Answer: Drury Lane

"Live at Drury Lane" was recorded in front of a live audience in 1974, and consists mostly of sketches from the TV series. Purists will note that it also includes the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch, which was originally written for the pre-Python "At Last the 1948 Show".

5. During the Second World War, the motto of London's Windmill Theatre was "We Never Closed". True or False?

Answer: True

Even at the height of the German bombing raids, patrons stayed in their seats to enjoy the "tableaux vivants" of nude (but strictly motionless) young ladies that were the Windmill's main attraction and claim to fame. Permission for the nudity was granted by the Lord Chamberlain (who acted as censor of all theatrical performances), on the grounds that as nude statues were not morally objectionable, neither were live nudes - as long as they didn't move!

6. Which theatre became famous in the 1950s for its championing of the "Kitchen Sink Drama" of such playwrights as John Osborne and Arnold Wesker?

Answer: Royal Court

Situated in the slightly unlikely location of trendy, upmarket Sloane Square, the Royal Court is still a centre of new writing. John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" received its premiere at the Royal Court in 1956. Rather more surprisingly, it also staged the premiere of "The Rocky Horror Show", in 1973.

7. Which theatre in North London was rebuilt twice in the twentieth century (1931 and 1998) and was the original home of the two companies now known as the Royal Ballet and English National Opera?

Answer: Sadlers Wells

There has been a theatre on the same site in Islington, North London, since 1683, when Richard Sadler gave his name to the new "Musick House" that he built. During the building of the theatre, an old well was discovered, relic of a monastery that had previously occupied the site.

The opportunistic Sadler, perhaps hoping to attract more patronage to his theatre, claimed that the waters had medicinal properties, and both his name and that of the waters became attached to each of the succession of six theatres that have been built there. During the 1930s and 40s, Lilian Baylis established the ballet and opera companies that went on to become the Royal Ballet and English National Opera.

8. The National Theatre Company was based at which theatre near Waterloo Railway Station from 1963 until 1976?

Answer: Old Vic

The Old Vic began life in 1818 as the "Royal Coburg Theatre", and was renamed the "Royal Victorian Theatre" in 1833, after the young Princess (later Queen) Victoria. The "Old Vic" Theatre Company began life in 1929, under John Gielgud, and lasted until 1963, when it became the National Theatre Company, which was based at the Old Vic until its new theatre complex on the South Bank opened in 1976.

9. Which theatre at Puddle Dock, Blackfriars, was at the time of its opening in 1959 the first new theatre built in the traditional City of London since the seventeenth century?

Answer: Mermaid Theatre

The Mermaid Theatre was the brainchild and labour of love of the actor/director Bernard Miles, who personally raised the money to build the theatre in the 1950s. His dedication to the Mermaid led to his being granted a life peerage in 1979, as Baron Miles of Blackfriars.

The 1967 detective novel "Death at the Dolphin" by Ngaio Marsh is set in a fictional "Dolphin Theatre" which is based on the Mermaid.

10. During most of the Eighteenth Century, only two theatres in London were licensed for the performance of serious spoken drama. One was the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Which was the other?

Answer: Covent Garden

Now internationally famous as the home of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, there has been a theatre on the site since 1732. Covent Garden and Drury Lane are situated a very short distance away from each other, and during the period in question there was fierce rivalry between the two.

Source: Author stedman

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Curtain Up for Act Two - 10 More London Theatres Quiz

The interval is over - please finish your ice creams and take your seats in the stalls for a second quiz on the famous theatres of London.

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