1 PIPPIN Study Guide

PIPPIN Study Guide An Opportunity to Share Your Wisdom! On Friday, 10/25, we will take a test on the play that will focus on character analysis and theme. The format will be essay questions. We will have both class periods to work on the test. (about 90 minutes) Those who like to work on a computer can bring from home. We’ll also have the computers in the Library available. If needing extra time, don’t worry- we’ll create an additional time slot during the next Performing Arts class to finish. Preparation: Read the script carefully including the songs. Be familiar with the events that occur, and the characters involved in the action. Check out the articles included in this packet. This will be an open book test. Use of the script and the below is encouraged to support your viewpoints. Of course, it will be your interpretations that are key. All articles are posted online. Hard copies distributed • “Pippin Themes and Meaning, Interview with Stephen Schwartz” • “INSIDE PIPPIN,” Scott Miller, New Line Theatre • From DAYS IN THE LIFE website: The Real *bleep*ing Meaning • FROM THE FEMINIST SPECTATOR, JUNE 25, 2013 FROM “Pippin Themes and Meaning”- interview with Stephen Schwartz (He wrote the script) Overall Themes? “Basically, PIPPIN is about a young man in search of what to do with his life. But like many of us in contemporary society, particularly those with enough economic freedom to allow choice, he has the illusion that there is one particular choice which, if only he finds it, will lead to complete fulfillment and contentment. He has not yet learned that it is the process of seeking that contains the joy, not the attainment of the goal itself. He also is quite selfish in his pursuits at the beginning, as most of us are when we are young. It isn't until he learns to give himself to someone else (Catherine and her son) that he begins to find a sense of inner peace and self---worth. Ultimately, he realizes that the demand for something without flaw or compromise is not just self---defeating but ultimately self---destructive. He must come to accept that life is never perfect and that what we have to do is find something and someone to care about, devote ourselves to that, and do the best we can. In other words, he grows up. I know a lot of this answer is couched in 90's psycho---babble, but I hope you will understand what I mean and I hope it proves helpful.” Relevance? ... I think the continuing interest in the show for people stems from the central struggle of its title character, a young man trying to find something meaningful to do with his life. I think he asks questions we all ask ourselves, and experiences disappointments and frustrations that we either have personal familiarity with or have observed in the lives of others. I think the mordant tone of the show, its lack of sentimentality in viewing the idealism and romanticism of its hero, is also something that resonates for contemporary audiences. Plus, of course, it's sexy and funny, which usually doesn't hurt.” 1 FROM “Pippin Themes and Meaning”, continued Relativity to VIETNAM WAR? “There's no question that PIPPIN was greatly affected by having been written during the Vietnam era. Not only the war sequence (or perhaps anti---war sequence would be a better way to put it), but the political sequence when Pippin becomes king and tries to put all his idealistic principles into practice, were influenced by what were then current events. If the war section made left-wing members of the audience happy, the Pippin--- as---emperor section probably made right-wing members of the audience equally happy. But I think it is too limiting to view the entire show as being about a reaction to the Vietnam war, or any other single event. Pippin's search for something fulfilling to do with his life is, I believe, timeless and universal Why set himself on fire? The following is of course an over--- simplification: but in essence they represent the part of all of us that is never satisfied, the hunger that can never be sated, the desire for excitement and glamour that is impossible to achieve, the unfulfillable urges that lead us to self-destructive behavior, excess, depression for some, and mania for others (or for the same people at different times.) The extreme version of never being able to be devoted enough to something to be able to commit to it is a spiral of self-destruction. Pippin's setting himself on fire is a metaphor for that (and actually derives from a Greek myth of a character who kept changing shape until he ultimately burst into flame.) The ending? There is certainly no intention (nor any stage direction to that effect in the script) to have Pippin and Catherine "run away in fear", but rather for them to look on helplessly as they realize that their son, like all of us, will have to wrestle with his own demons and make his own choices…Pippin has made his choice, and has successfully and heroically come to terms with the realities of life. But he has not chosen for all men for all time. By taking the spotlight, literally and figuratively, off of Pippin at the end, and putting it onto the emerging consciousness of Theo, I feel the ending makes the show more universal and more clearly (and theatrically) dramatizes this universal human choice. Morals? I don't really like to tell people the "moral" of any of my shows; I think each member of the audience should take from a show what he or she will. That being said, I think it's clear that Pippin talks about having to find a balance in one's life between idealism and ambition and finding a life one can commit to, even if it doesn't satisfy every longing or goal. One doesn't want to just settle for something and give up one's dreams and aspirations, but on the other hand, one doesn't want to chase something that is always endlessly just out of reach and wind up nowhere and with nothing. It's a choice each of us (in a relatively free, class---less society anyway) has to deal with (or run away from) and find a way to reconcile. From INSIDE PIPPIN, Scott Miller, New Line Theatre Pippin is a largely under-appreciated musical with a great deal more substance to it than many people realize. Because it rejects a Happily-Ever-After in favor of a real world ending of compromise and doubt, and because it is happening in real time and on a stage, it may also be one of the most realistic musicals ever produced. Though it is set in Charlemagne's France, it is about the here and now; sprinkled with anachronisms in the costumes and dialogue, it makes 2 INSIDE PIPPIN, continued no pretense at actually being a period piece, despite its characters' names. It is about America as much as The Music Man or Oklahoma! The show deals with the coming of age, the rites of passage, the lack of role models and guidelines for the young adults of today's society, and the hopelessness that has become more and more prevalent among young people…Even people who've done the show often don't realize the depth of meaning and subtext in Pippin. The show may actually have even more resonance today than it did when it ran on Broadway in the 1970's. In America, the teens and young adults of our culture find themselves without a road map, without any discernible guidelines for growing up and making their way in the world. The American Dream doesn't exist today in the same way it did in the earlier days … Pippin is a young man just out of college, with plenty of energy but no idea where to direct it. He wants complete fulfillment, the too-hyped “American Dream,” and has been told that he can have it all if he just works hard enough. When Pippin is confronted with the mundane realities of life and finds that he can't have his ideal life, he is angry and bitter…Our increasingly secular society has lost touch with the myths and lessons that guided earlier generations and that still guide people in other cultures. Pippin is lost. All he needs is a guide to point him in the right direction, but how will Pippin know when the right guide has come along? Because of (the style of the play-breaking the 4th Wall), we—as audience—become a part of the event, a part of the action, more so than with any other musical. Not only do characters interact with us throughout the show, but we also become a reason for Pippin to kill himself in the finale, as Leading Player tells him he's going to disappoint the audience if he doesn't set himself on fire. We witness the Leading Player(s) losing control of the show, so that the show both admits its artifice and pretends to reality simultaneously. Catherine rebels by taking control of her scene and singing a song that Leading Players don’t know she's going to sing (the song is traditionally not listed in the program for this reason). Then Pippin rebels, by refusing to do the finale. Finally, Leading Player loses all composure and has a temper tantrum, signaling a total loss of control.

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