The Dumb Waiter Quizzes

The Dumb Waiter Quiz 1

1 Who is the playwright of "The Dumb Waiter"?
Samuel Beckett

Harold Pinter

William Shakespeare

J. R. R. Tolkien
2 Where is "The Dumb Waiter" set?
A hospital

A school

A farmhouse

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

Ben and Wilson

Ben, Gus, and Wilson

Ben, Gus, and the target
4 What is Ben doing at the beginning of the play?
Arguing over the phone

Reading the newspaper

Sleeping

Putting on his shoes
5 What is Gus doing at the beginning of the play?
Arguing over the phone

Reading the newspaper

Putting on his shoes

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

A stone and a seashell

A flattened cigarette pack and box of matches

Two pages of Ben's newspaper
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?
He had second thoughts about killing someone

They were too early

It was too foggy

He wanted to take a nap
9 What football team is from Birmingham?
The Wilsons

The Patriots

The Villa

The Spurs
10 What is in the envelope that is slid under the door?
Nothing

Matches

A note from Wilson

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 revolver

A bag of chips
12 Who thinks you should not say "Light the kettle"?
Wilson

Gus

Ben

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

Leave the room

Choke Gus

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 Christian

It was a child
15 When the men open the dumb waiter for the first time, what is inside?
A cold cup of tea

A note from Wilson

A note requesting different kinds of food and drink

Matches
16 What do the men send up in the dumb waiter?
A note with questions for Wilson

A note saying there isn't any food

Food from Gus's bag

A hot cup of tea
17 What method of communication do the men discover?
A Morse code translator

A telephone

A television

A speaking-tube
18 When the men go over the instructions, who says each phrase first?
Ben

Wilson

Gus

Ben and Gus alternate turns
19 What does Ben say they should do differently if the target is a woman?
They should make sure she is unarmed

They should let her go

Nothing

They should aim lower because women are shorter
20 Who does Gus say is playing games with them?
The prime minister

God

Wilson

The playwright
21 At the climax of the play, who appears at the door as the target?
Gus

Wilson

Ben

A woman
22 How does the play end?
Ben shoots Gus

Ben shoots Wilson

Gus shoots Ben

Ben and Gus stare at one another in silence
23 In what year was The Dumb Waiter first performed in English?
1958

1960

1957

1959
24 Which is not a theme in the play?
Lack of communication

Violence

Marriage

Gender
25 What is a fortnight?
A basement room

A sleepover

A part of a toilet

A period of two weeks