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Home , All That Fall, Come and Go, Eh Joe, Eleutheria (play), From an Abandoned Work, Play (play)

DEC 20—21, 2012 BAM Fisher

By Pan Pan Theatre

Study Guide Written by Nicole Kempskie

BAM PETER JAY SHARP BUILDING 30 LAFAYETTE AVE. BROOKLYN, NY 11217 All That Fall Table Of Contents Dear Educator Your Visit to BAM

Page 3 Behind the Scenes Welcome to the study guide for the The BAM program includes: this study production All That Fall that you and guide, a pre-performance workshop in Page 4 Samuel Beckett your students will be attending as part your classroom led by a BAM teaching Page 5 The Magic of Radio of BAM Education’s Live Performance artist, and the performance (December Page 6 Components Series. At this unique performance, 20-21; 100 minutes). Page 7—8 The in Context you and your students will sit in rock- ing chairs and listen to Samuel Beckett’s Page 9 Words, Words, Words radio play All That Fall, an immersive Page 10 Thematic Elements auditory experience recorded in How to Use this Guide Page 11 Curriculum Connections and directed by Gavin Quinn. Recreating the atmosphere of listening to the radio Arts experiences, such as the one you communally, with lighting that progresses have chosen to attend at BAM, always slowly from sunlight to moonlight and work best when themes, ideas, and stars, students will get to engage their elements from the performance can be imagination and intellect in an active aligned to your pre-existing classroom way, as they co-create the world of learning. This guide has been created Beckett’s play. In addition, this experience to do just that by providing you with can serve as an impetus to investigate background information to help you the musicality of Beckett’s writing—his prepare your students for their experience masterful use of language, silence, and at BAM. Depending on your needs, you sound, and his ability to seamlessly blend may choose to use certain sections that them into a compelling, enigmatic and directly pertain to your class exploration evocative dramatic experience. or the guide in its entirety. In addition, at the end of this guide you will find sug- gested classroom activities and ideas that you can implement before or after seeing the production. The overall goals of this guide are: to connect to your curriculum with standards-based information and activities, to reinforce and encourage critical thinking and analytical skills, and to provide you and your students with the tools and background informa- tion necessary to have an engaging, educational, and inspiring experience at BAM.

“Pan Pan provides an experience that is genuinely different from anything you’ll have encountered in the theatre before…Under Gavin Quinn’s direction, the company also provides an excellent perfor- mance of the play—perhaps even an exemplary one”

— Irish Theatre Magazine

Introduction2 “This tension is perfectly judged — it is not enough to distract from the fine performances and Beckett’s bleakly funny text, but it is enough to justify the whole idea of listening to them inside a controlled and designed environment.”

Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times BEHIND THE SCENES The Company concerned with breathing in and out and Synopsis attend the task of making theatre perfor- mances that I am engaged in, without The play begins with Maddy Rooney on PAN PAN THEATRE COMPANY being lascivious nor affected nor posing what seems to be a long and arduous Since Pan Pan was established by for the audience. For the past fifteen years journey to the to meet her co-directors Gavin Quinn and Aedín I have mainly collaborated with the de- blind husband Dan, whom she will walk Cosgrove, the company has constantly signer Aedín Cosgrove under the working back home. As she travels along she examined the nature of its work and has name of Pan Pan. passes the time with a number of local resisted settling into formulas. Developing characters: Christy, a dung carrier; Mr. new performance ideas is at the center of The theatre that Pan Pan creates is of a Tyler, a retired broker who is riding by on the company’s raison d’être which is born contemporary attitude with a lot of per- his bicycle and is almost hit by a passing from a desire to be individual and provide sonal feelings attached. van; and Mr. Slocum, a clerk from the innovation in the development of theater racehorses who gives Maddy a ride to the art. All the works created are original, Pan Pan is willing to use any language of station. At the station Maddy converses either through the writing (original plays) the theatre to express an intended mean- with more of the locals as she waits for or through the totally unique expression ing. Conventions, attitudes, and barriers Dan’s train, which seems to be delayed. of established writings. Pan Pan tries to that are both psychological and physical Eventually the train arrives and Maddy approach theater as an open form of are always limiting performance. Pan Pan and Dan begin their labored trip home. expression and has developed an individ- tries to approach theatre as an open form Dan refuses to tell Maddy why the train ual aesthetic that has grown from making of expression. Pan Pan has developed an was delayed, despite her nagging. Jerry, performances in a host of different situa- individual aesthetic that has simply grown a small boy who helped Dan off the train, tions and conditions. Pan Pan is commit- from making performances in a host of runs after the two to return something ted to presenting performances nationally different situations and conditions. Dan dropped. Jerry tells Dan and Maddy and internationally and developing links that the train was delayed because a for co-productions and collaborations. We work on the exploration of new forms, young child fell out of the carriage and The company has toured in Ireland, UK, new approaches, and experiments with onto the tracks. Europe, USA, Canada, Korea, Australia, time, space, music, and performance. New Zealand, and China. Our objective has always been to be idio- syncratic, to find the individual step. The Setting

The Production There are primary characteristics to A rural village in Ireland All That Fall is a radio play written by our work: authenticity of the performer, Samuel Beckett which was first broadcast humility of purpose, the world as a place in 1957. Throughout his lifetime, Beckett of chaos and disorder full of oppositions, The Characters insisted that the play never be performed conflicts and complexities of existence. live, asserting that he specifically wrote it for the radio. Pan Pan, by presenting the —Gavin Quinn Maddy Rooney (Maddy) play in its true form—a radio recording in A woman in her seventies which audience members sit in rocking Christy A dung carrier chairs and listen—has found a way to Mr. Tyler A retired bill-broker share Beckett’s masterful radio play with The Cast Mr. Slocum Clerk of the Racehorse theater audiences without dishonoring Tommy A porter Andrew Bennett, Phelim Drew, Beckett’s intentions for the piece. Mr. Barrell Train station-master John Kavanagh, Áine Ní Mhuirí, Robbie Miss Fitt A woman in her thirties A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR: O’Connor, Joey O’Sullivan, David Pearse, A Female Voice I began making theatre when I was five Daniel Reardon, and Judith Roddy Dolly A small girl years old in the back garden of the house, Dan Rooney Husband of Mrs. Rooney, where I grew up in Dublin. My first works blind involved choreographing my sisters to Jerry A small boy the relevant pop music of the time. Circa 1974. I suppose even then I wanted to be a boy/man of my time. To be simply Introduction3 SAMUEL BECKETT Samuel Barclay Beckett was born on championed his works and is attributed Selected Works Good Friday, April 13th, 1906 in Foxrock, with getting his first plays produced. Dur- ing WWII, the two worked for the French Ireland, a well-to-do suburb of Dublin. Dramatic Works Resistance and were forced to flee to the The younger of two sons, Beckett was (1940) South of France, where Beckett would very close to his affectionate father, but (1953) spend his days as a farm laborer and his had a troubled relationship with his (1956) evenings writing his second , . overbearing mother. This conflicted (1957) relationship would find its way into Krapp’s Last Tape (1958) It was during this time period, the pre- Beckett’s writing later in life. (1961) and post-war years and after the death Play (1963) of James Joyce, that Beckett was most Growing up, Beckett was both a strong (1965) prolific and where he truly found and student, known for his intellectual rigor, (1969) developed his unique voice. John and a gifted athlete, excelling at both (1972) Banville wrote in the New York Review cricket and rugby. He received his B.A. (1975) of Books that: in Modern Literature (French and Italian) (1975) from Dublin’s prestigious Trinity College. A Piece of Monologue (1980) “It is certain that Beckett did undergo It was here he became engrossed in the (1981) some kind of profound realization of the great French authors of the time such as (1982) artistic path that he must take. He would , Gide, Larbaud, and the playwright (1983) Racine, as well as the Italian Renaissance allow “the dark” into his work, the chaos, pain, and painful comedy of existence as writer, Dante, and the great German phi- Radio he experienced it, and thereby make a losophers. He spent his hours away from (1957) new kind of art, one that depended not school taking in theatrical performances All That Fall (1957) on Joycean richness and playfulness, but and his summers traveling to France, (1957) Italy, and Germany where he could feed on deliberate shrinkage of material and elimination of literary ornament.” his love for the fine arts. Television (1965) This combination of existential question- In 1928, Beckett secured a short-term I + II (1981) teaching post in at the École Nor- ing along with a spare, compressed writ- ing style was perfectly served by Beckett’s male Supérieure, succeeding Irish poet Cinema choice not to write in his native language and academic Thomas MacGreevy, who Film (1965) introduced him to the Irish writer James of English (with the ornamental and lyrical flair of his Irish predecessors like Joyce and his friends. He worked along- /Novellas/Stories Joyce), but rather, in French. Between side Joyce, assisting him, writing essays Dream of Fair to Middling Women (1932) 1946 and 1960, Beckett produced nov- about his work, and helping to translate (1938) els, screenplays, teleplays, radio plays, what would later become Finnegan’s Watt (1945) and his most seminal dramatic works: Wake into French. In addition, he became (1951) Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp’s preoccupied with the work of modernist (1951) Last Tape, and Happy Days. The radio author Marcel Proust, whose existential (1953) play All That Fall, written in 1957, was ideas would later come to play greatly (1961) Beckett’s first foray into writing dramas in his writing. (1934) specifically for the radio, and his first Company (1980) dramatic piece written in English. In 1930, Beckett returned to Dublin (1983) for a full-time teaching job at Trinity (1945) Beckett continued to write and direct College where he found himself restless Stories and Texts for Nothing (1954) throughout the remainder of his life, and unhappy. He left the college, traveled receiving numerous awards and honors, and tried to live in Germany, Paris and in Non-fiction one of which included the Nobel Prize , finally returning to Dublin lost Proust (1931) for Literature in 1969. He died at the and distraught. A series of events, includ- age of 83 on December 22, 1989 in ing his cousin and first love Peggy collections Paris, France. Sinclair’s death to tuberculosis, as well Collected Poems in English (1961) as his father’s sudden death to a heart Collected Poems in English and French attack, sent him back to London where (1977) he spent two years under psychoana- lytical care, recovering from a “nervous collapse.”

Beckett then returned to Paris, settled, and began his writing career in earnest in 1938, publishing poetry, short stories and his first novel,Murphy. That same year, he began his lifelong partnership with Suzanne Déchevaux-Dumesnil, who Background4 The Magic of Radio can be traced back to radio shows like ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY Abbott and Costello; Amos ‘n’ Andy; The Adventures of Superman; Little Orphan Tuning In “Radio is at once both public and pri- Annie; The Shadow; Clara, Lu, and Em; Lassie; and The Hitchhiker. Many shows vate…it is much more direct; it’s one to were broadcast in a serial format, similar one…we are required to collaborate as Begin by reviewing and discussing the to the episodic television programming we “Radio Drama Components” on the fol- we are when we read a book. Then we watch today, and audiences would have lowing page with students. (Students also are giving something. We are not just to tune in the following week to find out have a copy in their student guide.) taking…There’s no set designer like your if Superman saved the day or what the future held for Orphan Annie. own self; you furnish the mis-en-scène, Next, choose a radio play from the 30s, 40s, or 50s for students to listen to. the wardrobe, the physical proportions In addition to weekly serial programming, of the actor, and the setting.” The web archive at (http://archive.org/de- full-length radio dramas hit the airwaves tails/oldtimeradio) contains numerous free Radio Drama writer/director Norman Corwin and became hugely popular. These were options including such classics as The full-length plays that were either writ- The History Adventures of Superman, The Hitchhiker, ten for Broadway and performed live in Little Orphan Annie, Lassie, and War of Chances are it will be difficult for students the studio for broadcast, or were written to imagine a world without Facebook, the Worlds. specifically for the radio, like All That Fall. Twitter, and YouTube, let alone without Most notable was actor and director Or- television, but in the early 30s, the most Have students turn to the “Listening son Welles’s Mercury Theatre on the Air Activity Notes” page of the student guide. popular form of home entertainment was program, known for its historic broadcast a box with a dial and speakers that broad- of War of the Worlds, a radio play that casted music, news and programming Play the program and have students sent listeners into a panic thinking that take notes according to the instructions ranging from soap operas to superhero aliens had invaded New Jersey. adventures. That box was the radio and and prompts in the table as they listen. prior to 1922, this new form of technol- How it Worked ogy created by Italian inventor Guglielmo After listening, have students share Radio plays were created, recorded, and their responses with the class. Marconi was mainly used like a tele- broadcast from the studio. Actors were graph, serving as an effective tool in cast in roles based on their voices and Standards: CCR6-12 Speaking & Listening 1-4; Lan- WWI for international and at-sea com- would perform at microphones, scripts in guage 1-5; Blueprint: Making Connections munication. hand. In addition, all of the sound effects were made simultaneously by “sound That all changed when David Sarnoff, effect artists,” artists hired to “play” the a worker at the American Marconi Co. sound effects in much the same way an (which would later become RCA) saw instrumentalist plays their instrument in how much potential the radio had, if only an orchestra. The sound effects were it were wireless and more affordable. In small handmade “instruments” con- a 1916 memorandum he wrote: “I have structed to make the sounds of trains, in a plan of development which car engines, brakes screetching, doors would make a radio a ‘household utility’ opening and closing, horses galloping, in the same sense as the piano or pho- and so on. nograph. The idea is to bring music into the home by wireless.” And that’s exactly Active Listening what he did. The beauty of radio theater is that it re- quires the listener to take part in bringing The wireless Radiola console was intro- a story to life. Much like reading a book, duced in 1922 and middle-class citizens the listener actively engages their imagi- who were enjoying the financial boom of nation and paints images with their mind the 20s scurried to buy one of these new- as the drama unfolds. In this fast-paced, fangled boxes. In a matter of three years, wired world we live in, a world in which sales of the Radiola rose from $11 million we are all so used to engaging in mul- to $60 million, and the radio became a tiple activities at once (texting, emailing, permanent fixture in the American home. tweeting, watching television, talking on our phones, etc.), students might need Early Radio Programming a little practice cultivating the stillness, Families would gather around the radio, focus, and deep level of concentration in much the same way families gather required when listening to a rich, layered around the television today to watch radio play such as All That Fall. Prepare a favorite show. The same genres of students by doing the activity on the right- programming that we encounter while before your visit. channel surfing with our remotes today— adventure, drama, comedy, and suspense Background5 RADIO DRAMA COMPONENTS

The Introduction The Music After Your Visit: A theme song or opening repeated at the Orchestrations used to create the mood or Discussion Questions start of every episode that lets listeners tone. In radio plays, music can be used Knowing what you know about traditional know that a specific program is starting. to punctuate key moments, to underscore radio theater, how does Beckett push the emotional moments, and to transition boundaries of the form in innovative ways? Example: Superman: “Look up in the from one scene to the next. How does he use background sounds dif- sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super- ferently? Why do you think he does that? man.” Example: String instruments underscor- From whose perspective do you think we ing a romantic scene between a couple are hearing the background sounds? How in love. The Announcer is that effect created and why? The narrator of the show who re-caps the How does he use the action sound of previous show at the start of an episode, The Sponsor Maddy’s footsteps for dramatic effect? who inserts descriptive , and sets The corporation who is paying for the pro- the scene so that we can visualize the gram’s air time on the radio in exchange How do the actors use their voices and the location or the events occurring, and who for advertising. language to help us understand their emo- closes the episode. tional states? Example: Today’s production of Little Example: “When last we saw him, Super- Orphan Annie is sponsored by Ovaltine! What piece of music does Beckett use? man was trapped in the warehouse, un- Don’t forget to drink your Ovaltine Why do you think he chose that? able to save Lois Lane from the evil Boris every day!” Beeker.” How is silence used?

The Dialogue How is the language used in a musical way? The conversations between the characters in the play. Often the actors will utilize a wider range of vocal techniques and dynamics (volume, pitch, tempo, empha- sis, and emotion) than film or television actors do and the dialogue will be more descriptive.

Example: “Look! That lamp is on fire! The flames are getting closer! We must run!” The Sound Effects Atmospheric sounds that help us create vibrant images in our as we listen, and help us understand the actions that are taking place. Background sound effects create the environment. Action sound effects indicate physical actions that are occurring.

Example: Background sound effects for a radio play set on a ship might include waves crashing, seagulls, wind; action sound effects for that same play might include the footsteps of the sailors, the sound of a sailor raising the mast, a door opening to the galley. Theater6 THE PLAY IN CONTEXT

“In life man commits himself to his The Backdrop: The A Selection of Existential own portrait, outside of which there is nothing. No doubt this thought may Horrors Of World War II Precepts Horrified by the rise of Hitler’s Nazi seem harsh to someone who has not Our lives are determined by our indi- regime, Beckett witnessed the persecution made a success of his life. But on the vidual choices as opposed to a predeter- of his Jewish friends in occupied Paris. other hand, it helps people to under- mined fate. When Paul León, a friend and assistant stand that reality alone counts, and to Beckett’s mentor James Joyce, was The universe is random and meaning- that dreams, expectations, and hopes arrested and sent to a concentration camp less, as opposed to ordered and rational. only serve to define man as a broken on August 21, 1941, Beckett decided to join the French Resistance. As a member dream, aborted hopes, and futile We create meaning in our lives and of the Resistance, Beckett mainly acted expectations.” define ourselves through our values and as an information handler. In August how we choose to act according to those of 1942 when his Resistance cell was — JEAN-PAUL SARTRE (From, Existentialism values. Is a Humanism) discovered, Beckett and his wife nar- rowly escaped arrest and deportation to Humans should make decisions and Beckett, like many great writers, is an a concentration camp. They managed act based on their own personal belief author who can’t be compartmentalized to escape to a rural area in unoccupied systems rather than for rational reasons; or placed into one specific intellectual France where they lived out the remainder authenticity is emphasized versus acting or cultural context. For example, Beck- of the war. in accordance with social norms. ett was raised in a middle-class suburb in Ireland and assisted one of the most During this time Beckett worked as a farm Because such an emphasis is placed characteristically Irish writers—James laborer in the day and in the evenings he on our individual freedom and a respon- Joyce—but chose to write in French. wrote. The aftermath of WWII and the sibility for the path our lives take, this In his early days he lacked an interest horrors of the Holocaust left artists and leads us to feel a great deal of “existential in politics, but during WWII joined the writers like Beckett disillusioned at best, angst,” despair, dread, and anxiety. French Resistance. Nevertheless, all writ- devastated at worst. As a result, nations ers are influenced by the political, social, around the world faced a social, econom- An emphasis is placed on “The and economic climates that surround ic, and existential crisis. A sense of cyni- Absurd”: the notion that there is no them, even if it is indirectly. cism toward conventions and a general meaning to be found in life beyond what sense of unease and anxiety pervaded. meaning we give it. In Beckett’s lifetime he lived through two world wars, the rise of Stalin and Hitler, the Holocaust, the Anglo-Irish War, the Existentialism Irish Civil War, colonial wars in Africa and Existentialism was a complex philo- the threat of atomic warfare as the Cold sophical movement that came out of this War heightened. Out of these dark times pervading sense of national despair. It came a number of key philosophical and was associated with a number of post- cultural movements that coincided with war French thinkers. Key figures in the Beckett’s writing career. While scholars movement held different positions within disagree as far as which of these events the discipline, but a core belief was that come into play directly in Beckett’s work, self-inquiry was the way to understand the following overview of existentialism, human existence. This philosophical absurdist theater, and modernism will movement found its way into the lit- allow students to ponder that question erature, art, and dramatic writing of the for themselves. Post-WWII period during which Beckett created a number of his masterpieces.

Theater 7 THE PLAY IN CONTEXT

“The Theatre of the Absurd attacks the the plays are plays, the characters are gious, political, and social views. comfortable certainties of religious or performers, and the audience members political orthodoxy. It aims to shock its are spectators. A belief that the world is created in the act of perceiving it—it is what audience out of complacency, to bring it Non-linear dramatic structure; action that we say it is. face to face with the harsh facts of the has no clear beginning, middle, or end. human situation as these writers see it. The conviction that there is no such But the challenge behind this message The present experienced as futile and the thing as absolute truth. All things are is anything but one of despair. It is a memories of their pasts and relative. their hopes for the future as futile. challenge to accept the human condition Little distinction between characters’ An emphasis on the individual and as it is, in all its mystery and absur- individual identities. inner strength. dity, and to bear it with dignity, nobly, responsibly; precisely because there are An emphasis on language in which it is The belief that life is unordered. no easy solutions to the mysteries of ex- used repetitively, rhythmically, sparingly, istence, because ultimately man is alone and comically to play up the existential A concern with the subconscious. themes of anxiety about isolation and the in a meaningless world. The shedding of pointlessness of existence. Modernist artists and writers… easy solutions, of comforting illusions, Adopted complex and difficult new may be painful, but it leaves behind it a Broad vaudeville elements and physical forms and styles. sense of freedom and relief. And that is comedy combined with disturbing and why, in the last resort, the Theatre of the tragic situations. Experimented with perspective and content. Absurd does not provoke tears of despair TO DISCUSS but the laughter of liberation.” While many of the criteria above apply Wanted to rupture realistic MARTIN ESSLIN, introduction, Absurd Drama specifically to visual theater, challenge conventions. students to apply the criteria to the performance of All That Fall. How does Favored the avant garde, unique- Beckett use language, music, and sound ness, originality, and individuality. The Theatre of the effects in such a way that could be con- Explored their feelings of alienation, Absurd sidered absurdist? How is the plight of loss, and despair in their work. Dan and Maddy absurdist? The term Absurdist Theatre was coined by writer Martin Esslin in his book of MAKING CONNECTIONS: the same name. It was an outgrowth of THE INFLUENCE OF MODERNISM existential philosophy. This style of the- Beckett’s writing, always innovative and ater rejected the conventional “realistic” original, has often been examined for its representations of the human experience modernist attributes. Known for pushing that audiences had become accustomed boundaries in form, content, and style, to at the theater, and questioned the Beckett’s foray into radio drama was no standards by which theater had been different. In fact, new technology had judged for centuries. Such standards to be invented in order for Beckett to included: logical dialogue, recognizable use sound effects the way he did in or motivated characters, and a tradi- All That Fall. tional three-act structure that contained a beginning, middle, and end that tied The Modernist movement, like Absurd- up neatly. Contrarily, the practitioners ism and Existentialism, was a reaction of Absurdist Theatre took the ideas and to the horrors of war, albeit in this case, arguments of the existential thinkers WWI. Artists, philosophers, and writers and philosophers and applied them to like Marcel Proust, whom Beckett wrote their playwriting, dramatic structure, about extensively, felt betrayed by the character choices, directing styles, and war and the institutions which led the dramaturgical choices. world into its atrocities. Like existential- ists, modernists questioned institutions Absurdist Theatre was as being a reliable means to access the characterized by… meaning of life. Instead they turned with- Minimal, strange, and abstract physical in themselves to discover the answers. surroundings which the characters seem trapped in. Modernism was characterized by…. Non-illusory theatre, theatre that refer- A strong and intentional break with ences in the staging and dialogue that tradition, including established reli- Curriculum8 Connections WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

Glossary Agog: Very curious or eager to hear ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY something. Death and the Maiden: A classic piece of The Words written by Arcady: A region offering rural simplicity in1824 after suffering through a seri- and contentment. ous illness and realizing he was dying; Before attending the performance, have Schubert’s testament to death. Grimm’s Law: A linguistic formula cre- students stand in a circle and say the line ated by Jakob Grimm that explained de- that follows together. After the students Hinny: The offspring of a male horse and velopmental and pronunciation changes are comfortable speaking the line and a female donkey. Because of cross- in certain German words. can recite it from memory, go around breeding they have an uneven number of the circle, and one at a time have stu- chromosomes and an incomplete repro- Lunatic specialist: A psychotherapist. dents recite the line experimenting with ductive system, making them sterile. each of the vocal tools below. Bogey: A person or thing that causes fear Dung: Manure or alarm. Do not imagine, because I am silent, that I am not present, and alive, to all Laburnum: A small tree that has chains Elevenses: Tea or coffee taken at mid- that is going on. of yellow flowers. All parts of the tree and morning and often accompanied by a its flowers are poisonous. snack. VOLUME: How loud or soft the actor speaks—such Doily: A small table napkin. Cretonne: A strong cotton or linen cloth as a whisper, a shout, casual tone, etc. used for curtains and upholstery Protestant: A member of a Western PITCH: Christian church whose faith and practice Where the actor places the sound in deny the universal authority of the Pope their vocal mechanism—high, low, and affirm the Reformation principles of mid-range, etc. justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the only TEMPO: source of revealed truth. How quickly or slowly the actor speaks and paces the words. Lusitania: A British ocean liner launched in 1907 that sank after being struck by a EMPHASIS: German U-Bomber; 1,195 people died. Which words the actor chooses to put the emphasis on and how that changes the Matterhorn: A mountain in meaning or emotion behind the text. the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy with one of INTENTION: the highest peaks in the Alps. Who the actor is speaking to, how they feel about them, what the circumstances Fixture: A sports match or social are, and why they are speaking at that occasion. moment.

Nip up: To spring up to a standing After students have had the chance to position. experiment with the tools in the circle, discuss how the actors who did the re- Guff: Verbal abuse. cording of All That Fall might have utilized these tools in order to express the full Blancmange: A cream and sugar based range of their character’s emotions. dessert with the consistency of pudding. Standards: Blueprint: Theater Making

Curriculum Connections9 THEMATIC ELEMENTS

Samuel Beckett is the most written about ENRICHMENT EXERCISE playwright other than Shakespeare. The In addition to using the questions pro- reason that Shakespeare and Beckett’s vided below for a classroom discussion, works transcend time and resonate with have students complete the “Supporting us today as strongly as they did when Evidence from the Play’s Text” column in they were originally performed is because the table provided in their student guide. both had the ability to tap into universal themes, longings, questions and experi- Standards: CCR6-12 Reading 1-7; Writing 1; Listening ences that are so rooted in our human 1-6; Language 1-6; Blueprint: Making Connections existence that they never grow old.

THE THEME FOR DISCUSSION SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FROM THE PLAY’S TEXT Weightiness, Exertion, & Intertia How does Beckett use the characters, events, and sound ef- Examples: The unmoving hinny; the unresponsive fects to create a heavy, foreboding mood throughout the play car engine; the delayed train; and Maddy’s laborious that is palpable, despite the fact that we can’t see anything? footsteps.

What is the larger meaning or metaphorical meaning of weightiness, exertion, and inertia as they relate to the charac- ters’ lives? Of the human condition? Absence / Invisibility Beckett said the following: “I once attended a lecture by [Carl] Examples: Maddy’s statement, “Do not imagine, Jung in which he spoke about one of his patients, a very young because I am silent, that I am not present, and alive, girl. After the lecture, as everyone was leaving, Jung stood by to all that is going on;” the dead child referred to in silently. And then, as if speaking to himself, astonished by the Maddy’s story about the conference; and Minnie, discovery that he was making, he added: In the most funda- Maddy and Dan’s deceased child. mental way, she had never really been born. I too always had the sense of never having been born.”

How does this idea thematically tie into All That Fall? Death References to death and despair pervade in this play. How can Examples: The child falling onto the tracks; Mr. this prevalent theme be linked to the philosophical movements Slowcum running over a chicken and killing it; (Existentialism, Modernism, and Absurdism) and Beckett’s and Maddy’s insistence on continuing to speak experiences in WWII? a “dead” language.

If you were to stage this play or film it, what visual imagery would you use to convey this theme?

Sterility If looked at metaphorically, sterility can refer to the lost op- Examples: The hinny (a sterile cross-breed of a don- portunities or ruptured possibilities of the characters, a theme key and horse); Mr. Tyler discussing his daughter’s Beckett often explored. In what ways is this true of the charac- hysterectomy; and the lack of affection between Dan ters in All That Fall? and Maddy when she meets him at the station.

Are there any moments in the play that use the opposite of sterility—sexuality—to poke fun at the characters and bring in an element of humor and parody? Symbols & How are some of the audio choices that Beckett makes (music Examples: Falls/Falling; “Death and the Maiden;” and sound effects) symbolic? laburnum; the hinny; the train; and the wind.

Why do you think Beckett chose to name the play All That Fall?

What is the significance of the following bible passage that Dan quotes: “The Lord upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.”

Curriculum10 Connections CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

This American Life on most smart phones works well for Selected Bibliography recording.) Standards: CCR6-12 Writing 3-6; Blue- Direct students to the website for the Banville, John. “The Painful Comedy of print: Theater Making, Theater Literacy popular National Public Radio program Samuel Beckett.” November 14, 1996. This American Life (www.this american- The New York Review of Books on the life.org/) and for homework have them Exploring Existentialism web. choose one episode to listen to and write http://www.nybooks.com/articles/ a short report on the episode they chose. Use the list of existential thinkers and archives/2009/apr/30/the-making-of- The report should cover the following: artists provided below and in the student samuel-beckett/ the episode title and date, why they guide and have students choose one per- Dickstein, Morris. “An Outsider in His chose it, what the topic was, what they son to do further research on. Students Own Life.” August 3, 1997. New York learned from listening to the episode, and can present their findings in a traditional Times on the web. an overall assessment or critique (what research paper; an essay that links that http://www.nytimes. they liked or disliked). Students should person’s ideas to Beckett’s All That Fall, com/books/97/08/03/ be encouraged NOT to multi-task while an oral presentation or a compare/con- reviews/970803.03dickstt.html they are listening (no emailing, texting, trast essay. Esslin, Martin. The Theatre of the tweeting, etc.) and to listen to the one Absurd. Vintage. New York. 1961. hour program uninterrupted. The next Søren Kierkegaard Kunkel, Benjamin. “Sam I am: Beckett’s day, have students share their reports Friedrich Nietzsche private purgatories.” August 7, 2006. with the class and discuss the following: Martin Heidegger The New Yorker on the web. Gabriel Marcel http://www.newyorker.com/ How would you rate your experience of Jean Paul-Sartre archive/2006/08/07/060807crbo_ listening to a radio program for an hour? Simone de Beauvoir books What was challenging about it? What Franz Kafka (Metamorphosis) O’Neill, Joseph, “I’ll Go On.” April 2, was rewarding? Albert Camus (The Stranger) 2009. New York Times on the web. Were you able to just listen without Fyodor Dostoyevsky (The Brothers http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/ doing any other activities? Karmazov, Notes from the Underground) books/review/ONeill-t.html Jean Genet (The Balcony) Matlin, Leonard. The Great American With visual media widely available, why Eugene Ionesco (The Bald Soprano, Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio’s do you think people still tune into this The Chairs) Golden Age. New York: Dutton, 1997. program on the radio? Arthur Adamov (The Confession) McDonald, Ronan. The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Beckett. New Standards: CCR6-12 Writing 1-5; Speaking & Listening Standards: CCR6-12 Reading 1-9; York: Cambridge UP, 2006. 1-3; Language 1-6; Blueprint: Making Connections Writing 1-9; Speaking & Listening 1-6; Wartenberg, Thomas E. Existentialism: Language 1-6; Blueprint: Making Con- A Beginner’s Guide. Oneworld. New War Of The Worlds nections York. 2008.

Listen to the classic radio play War of BEYOND ALL THAT FALL the Worlds by Orson Welles based on Read another play by Beckett, such as H.G. Wells’s science-fiction novel of the Endgame, Waiting for Godot, or Happy same name and have students research Days. Have students write an essay why it has gone down in history as be- comparing All That Fall with one of these ing one of the most famous radio plays other selections. broadcast. Standards: CCR6-12 Reading 1-9; Writing 1-9; Language 1-6; Blueprint: Standards: CCR6-12 Speaking & Listening 1-3; Lan- Theater Literacy, Making Connections guage 1-5; Blueprint: Making Connections

BECKETT ON FILM Re-Creating Radio All 19 of Samuel Beckett’s plays were filmed with some of the best and bright- Have students work in small groups to est acting and directing talents of our write and record radio dramas using all time in a series called of the components listed on the “Radio produced by director Michael Colgan. Drama Components” table in this guide. Choose one or two films to view with After writing scripts, have students your students. Standards: Blueprint: rehearse and perform them live, and Making Connections if possible, do audio recordings of the performances that the students can listen to after. (The voice memo application Curriculum Connections11 Major support for BAM Education programs provided by: Foundation; Target; Michael Tuch Foundation; Turrell Fund; Joseph LeRoy and Ann C. Warner Fund.

Education programs at BAM are endowed by: Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund for Community, Educational, & Public Affairs Programs; Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin; William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education and Humanities Programs; Irene Diamond Fund; and The Robert and Joan Catell Fund for Education Programs. Leadership support for BAM Education Programs is provided by The Irene Your tax dollars make BAM programs possible through funding from: Diamond Fund, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Expansion of BAM’s Community and Education Programs made possible by the support of the SHS Foundation.

Leadership support for school-time performances, pre-show preparation BAM would like to thank the Brooklyn Delegations of the New York State workshops and educational film screenings is provided by The Simon and Eva Assembly, Joseph R. Lentol, Delegation Leader; and New York Senate, Senator Colin Foundation and Lemberg Foundation. Velmanette Montgomery, Delegation Leader.

The BAM facilities are owned by the City of New York and benefit from Education programs at BAM are supported by: public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Barclay’s Nets Community Alliance; Barker Welfare Foundation; Tiger Baron Affairs with support from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Cultural Affairs Foundation; BNY Mellon; The Bay and Paul Foundations; Constans Culver Commissioner Kate D. Levin; the New York City Council including Council Foundation; Charles Hayden Foundation; Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Finance Committee Chair Domenic M. Recchia, Foundation; David and Susan Marcinek; Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation; Jr., Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Jimmy Van Bramer, the Brooklyn Tony Randall Theatrical Fund; The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Inc.; The Delegation of the Council, and Councilwoman Letitia James; and Brooklyn David Rockefeller Fund; Martha A. & Robert S. Rubin; May and Samuel Borough President Marty Markowitz. Rudin Family Foundation; Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation; Sills Family

BAM Education is dedicated to bringing the most vibrant, exciting artists and Spring Season. The Iconic Artist Talk series, launched as part of BAM’s 150th their creations to student audiences. The department presents performances anniversary celebrations, features iconic artists and companies examining the and screenings of theater, dance, music, opera, and film in a variety of pro- evolution of their work at BAM over the years through on-screen projections grams. In addition to the work on stage, programs take place both in school of original footage and images from the BAM Hamm Archives. In September and at BAM that give context for the performances, and include workshops 2012, BAM launched On Truth (and Lies), a series hosted by philosopher with artists and BAM staff members, study guides, and classes in art forms Simon Critchley that explores the ambiguity of reality with prominent artists that young people may never have had access to before. These programs in- and thinkers, as a co-presentation with the Onassis Cultural Center NY. clude Shakespeare Teaches, AfricanDanceBeat, AfricanMusicBeat, Dancing into the Future, Young Critics, Young Film Critics, Brooklyn Reads, Arts & Humanities at BAM also include year-round literary programs: Unbound, Justice, and our Screening programs, as well as topically diverse professional a new fall series presented in partnership with Greenlight Bookstore that development workshops for teachers and administrators. celebrates contemporary books and authors from across the literary spectrum, BAM Education also serves family audiences with BAMfamily concerts, the and the ongoing Eat, Drink & Be Literary series in partnership with the BAMfamily Book Brunch, and the annual BAMkids Film Festival. National Book Awards, in the spring. In addition, BAM Education collaborates with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restora- tion Corporation to provide an arts and humanities curriculum to students who The department also hosts master classes, including the Backstage Seminar, perform on stage in BAM’s DanceAfrica program. a series of workshops on the process of theater-making with BAM’s production staff and guest artists. Humanities at BAM

BAM presents a variety of programs to promote creative thinking and ongoing learning. The Artist Talk series, in conjunction with mainstage programming, enriches audiences’ experience during the Next Wave Festival and the Winter/

Department of Education and Humanities Staff: Study Guide Writer: Nicole Kempskie is a playwright, lyricist and theatre and media educator. She Stephanie Hughley: VP Education & Humanities currently manages the School & Family Programs at the Paley Center for Me- Suzanne Youngerman, Ph.D.: Director of Education & Family Programs dia, is a teaching artist for BAM, a lead facilitator for the Broadway Teacher’s John P. Tighe, DMA: Assistant Director Lab, and is an Adjunct professor in CCNY’s Education Theatre program. She Violaine Huisman: Humanities Director has worked as a consultant and teaching artist for NYC DOE, Arts Connec- John S. Foster, Ph.D.: Education Manager tion, TADA, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Step-Up Drama, the McCarter Theatre, Gwendolyn Kelso: Program Manager North Shore Music Theatre, Music Theatre International, Tams-Witmark, Jennifer Leeson: Administrative Coordinator Disney, TheatreworksUSA, Broadway Classroom, and is the co-founder of Nathan Gelgud: Box Office Manager/Program Associate Brooklyn Children’s Theatre. Her most recent full-length musical, Helen on Lesley Hunter: Administrative Assistant VP 86th St., premiered Off-Broadway in the spring of 2010. She holds an MA Rebecca Dragonetti: Administrative Assistant in Theatre and Sociology from the Gallatin School at NYU, was a contribut- Molly Silberberg: Humanities Assistant ing writer and professional development leader for the DOE’s Moving Image Rebekah Gordon: Education Assistant Blueprint and served as a juror for the children’s division of the International Hannah Max: Humanities Intern Emmy Awards.

Copyright © 2012 by Brooklyn Academy of Music All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permis- Creditssion in writing from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. All That Fall