The Dumb Waiter Quizzes

The Dumb Waiter Quiz 1

1 Who is the playwright of "The Dumb Waiter"?
J. R. R. Tolkien

Samuel Beckett

William Shakespeare

Harold Pinter
2 Where is "The Dumb Waiter" set?
A farmhouse

A school

A hospital

A basement
3 Who are the characters that appear onstage in the "The Dumb Waiter"?
Ben and Wilson

Ben, Gus, and Wilson

Ben and Gus

Ben, Gus, and the target
4 What is Ben doing at the beginning of the play?
Sleeping

Arguing over the phone

Reading the newspaper

Putting on his shoes
5 What is Gus doing at the beginning of the play?
Sleeping

Arguing over the phone

Reading the newspaper

Putting on his shoes
6 What does Gus pull out of his shoes?
A faulty ballcock

A stone and a seashell

Two pages of Ben's newspaper

A flattened cigarette pack and box of matches
7 Who dies in the two stories Ben reads in the newspaper?
An old man and a little girl

A little boy and little girl

An old man and a little boy

An old man and a cat
8 Why does Ben say he stopped the car when he and Gus were driving in the morning?
It was too foggy

They were too early

He wanted to take a nap

He had second thoughts about killing someone
9 What football team is from Birmingham?
The Villa

The Wilsons

The Patriots

The Spurs
10 What is in the envelope that is slid under the door?
A note from Wilson

Matches

Nothing

A note from the people in the room above
11 What does Gus pull from under his pillow?
A dagger

A box of matches

A bag of chips

A revolver
12 Who thinks you should not say "Light the kettle"?
Gus

The woman

Ben

Wilson
13 What does Ben do at the climax of the fight over saying "Light the kettle"?
Slap Gus

Choke Gus

Leave the room

Shout into the dumb waiter
14 What was notable about the last person Gus and Ben killed?
It was an old man

It was a woman

It was a child

It was a Christian
15 When the men open the dumb waiter for the first time, what is inside?
Matches

A note requesting different kinds of food and drink

A cold cup of tea

A note from Wilson
16 What do the men send up in the dumb waiter?
Food from Gus's bag

A note with questions for Wilson

A note saying there isn't any food

A hot cup of tea
17 What method of communication do the men discover?
A speaking-tube

A television

A telephone

A Morse code translator
18 When the men go over the instructions, who says each phrase first?
Wilson

Ben

Gus

Ben and Gus alternate turns
19 What does Ben say they should do differently if the target is a woman?
They should aim lower because women are shorter

They should make sure she is unarmed

Nothing

They should let her go
20 Who does Gus say is playing games with them?
Wilson

God

The playwright

The prime minister
21 At the climax of the play, who appears at the door as the target?
A woman

Gus

Wilson

Ben
22 How does the play end?
Ben shoots Wilson

Ben and Gus stare at one another in silence

Gus shoots Ben

Ben shoots Gus
23 In what year was The Dumb Waiter first performed in English?
1959

1958

1960

1957
24 Which is not a theme in the play?
Lack of communication

Gender

Violence

Marriage
25 What is a fortnight?
A sleepover

A period of two weeks

A basement room

A part of a toilet