Mark Aspen’s New Year Quiz

In expectation yet more great theatre locally in 2018, here are twenty questions, all on a local thespian theme.

If you are looking for help, there are many clues here at Mark Aspen, just follow the great theatre photographs of a year in the theatre!

1. One hundred and ten years ago Leopold Glasspoole set up a local theatre company, which is still thriving today. What is it now called? 
   

   Photograph by Ace

2. In Jonathan Dove’s new opera adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, the Crawfords sing of the “follies and grottos of Twickenham”. Which novel?
   

   Photograph by Robert Workman

3. On 16th January, it will be ten years since a local theatre was officially opened, having been in use for some while. Which theatre?
   

   Photograph by Marc Brenner

4. The Temple to Shakespeare was built in 1756. In whose garden?
   

   Photograph by Christina Bulford

5. In October a new theatre was opened opposite Twickenham railway station. What is it called?
   

   Photograph courtesy of Ian Hughes

6 The present Q2 theatre performs at The Avenue. But the original Q theatre opened to the public on Boxing Day, 1924. Which landmark did it face?

 

7 The tenor John Templeton (1802-1886) sang in the first English production Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. Which local theatre now stands near his house?

 

8 Which opera by Philip Glass had its UK premiere last year in Hampton?

 

9 Which songwriter was born at 131 Waldegrave Road, Teddington?

 

10 “With his receding hairline and goatee beard, he is one of those theatre critics who could normally find something good to say about almost any production with a particular penchant for leading actresses”. Which local theatre reviewer is the British Theatre Guide describing?

11 Which Grade II* listed theatre has the largest collection of fully restored Victorian scenery in the world?

 

12 Which European president had his stage plays premiered at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond?

 

13 In February 1603 a month before her death, William Shakespeare once again brought his company of actors to a local venue to perform for Queen Elizabeth. Where was it?

 

14 Richmond Theatre was opened in 1898. Who was the architect who designed it?

 

15 Which famous local artist was baptised in the Actors’ Church, St Paul’s, Covent Garden?

 

16 In 1934 Errol Flynn’s first major film role in Murder at Monte Carlo was shot where?

 

17 The Richmond Shakespeare Society has been performing Shakespeare’s plays annually in the open air since 1934. In recent years, these have been put on in various locations in York House, Twickenham. What was the previous venue for the open-air performances?

 

18 What is the official name of the theatre that would you find next to Barnes Pond?

19 Which Twickenham poet mocked special effects in the theatre in these words: “Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth/ A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball / Till one wide Conflagration swallows all.”

 

 

20 Who was the theatre and music hall impresario who had a lavish houseboat built on the Thames at Hampton, which included a full sized concert-hall and theatre?

Mark Aspen

January 2018

Answers will be published next week.