The correct answer is (A).
Getting to the Answer:The question asks for the answer choice that best matches the figure of speech used in the sentence, so review the sentence to determine the image employed. The words "drama" and "starring roles" indicate that the writer is using the image of a theater or movie production. The correct answer choice will be another term used in the performance arts.
(A) Correct: "casting," like "drama" and "starring roles," is a word relating to the performance arts that supports the figure of speech used in the original sentence
(B) Incorrect: "installing" does not maintain the image of a theater or movie production used in the sentence
(C) Incorrect: "positioning" does not maintain the image of a theater or movie production used in the sentence
(D) Incorrect: "allocating" does not maintain the image of a theater or movie production used in the sentence and changes the sentence's meaning; historians are not "distributing" or "designating" women in the story of the gold rush