Sam Shepard One Acts: War in Heaven (Angel’S Monologue), the Curse of the Raven’S Black Feather, Hail from Nowhere, Just Space Rhythm

Home , Action (play), Cowboy Mouth (play), Sam Shepard, The Holy Modal Rounders

Sam Shepard One Acts: War in Heaven (Angel’s Monologue), The Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather, Hail from Nowhere, Just Space Rhythm

Resource Guide for Teachers

Created by: Lauren Bloom Hanover, Director of Education

1 Table of Contents About Profile Theatre 3

How to Use This Resource Guide 4

The Artists 5 Lesson 1: Who is Sam Shepard? Classroom Activities: 1) Biography and Context 6 2) Shepard in His Own Words 6 3) Shepard Adjectives 7

Lesson 2: Influences on Shepard Classroom Activities 1) Exploring Similar Themes in O’Neill and Shepard 16 2) Exploring Similar Styles in Beckett and Shepard 17 3) Exploring the Influence of Music on Shepard 18

Lesson 3: Inspired by Shepard Classroom Activities 1) Reading Samples of Shepard 28 2) Creative Writing Inspired by Shepard 29 3) Directing One’s Own Work 29

Lesson 4: What Are You Seeing Classroom Activities 1) Pieces Being Performed 33 2) Statues 34 3) Staging a Monologue 36

Lesson 5: Reflection Classroom Activities 1) Written Reflection 44 2) Putting It All Together 45

2 About Profile Theatre Profile Theatre was founded in 1997 with the mission of celebrating the playwright’s contribution to live theater. To that end, Profile programs a full season of the work of a single playwright. This provides our community with the opportunity to deeply engage with the work of our featured playwright through performances, readings, lectures and talkbacks, a unique experience in Portland.

Our Mission realized... Profile invites our audiences to enter a writer’s world for a full season of plays and events. Whether attending a single performance or the whole season, our deep examination of the featured writer encourages audiences to view each play as part of a larger body of work, provoking ongoing, fluid dialogue. What does the artist observe and explore in their youth? What are they concerned with in the middle of their career? Now? How is their shifting perspective informed and influenced by the changing world in which they are writing? By experiencing a writer’s shifting perspective, audiences come to a deeper understanding of that artist’s world view as well as, hopefully, their own.

We believe that live theater begins with the playwright’s words. In honoring the playwright, Profile encourages its audience to recognize the creative dynamic between the playwright and live theater — the playwright is the springboard or seed from which everything else grows. The dramatists we profile always have something significant to say about humankind in all its variety, complexity, humor, tragedy, anger and goodwill. They shine a light on the desires and demons that drive us, helping us seek a better understanding of who we are, where we are going and why. At Profile, we seek to always make that search deeply enjoyable and stimulating.

About Inside Out, Our Community and School Tour Profile Theatre is proud to launch the second year of its touring program, Inside Out. Following a full run on our main stage, a selection of our Sam Shepard One Acts is touring to local high schools and community centers in the greater Portland area. The touring production of the play is presented in full costume with props and a soundscape. We bring only minimal set pieces to suggest surroundings. This enables us to easily transport the production to its destination, allowing us to spend longer with students and less time in set-up and travelling. The production is followed by a conversation between the students and the cast.

3 How to Use This Resource Guide:

This resource guide was developed to support teachers in preparing their students to see and to fully engage with Profile Theatre’s Inside Out School Tour performance of SAM SHEPARD’S ONE ACTS. There are five lesson plans in the guide. The first four are intended to be taught prior to seeing the performance, and the final lesson is intended to follow.

These lesson plans were developed primarily for language arts classes, though they can be easily adapted by theatre teachers. Each lesson plan includes pertinent quotes by the playwright which we encourage either teachers or students to read aloud to the class. All of the lesson plans also include classroom activities, along with discussion questions to promote robust conversation in class. These questions may also used as writing prompts for homework assignments. For any classroom exercise that makes use of excerpts of Sam Shepard’s work, we have included the specified material at the back of each respective lesson plan for teachers to print out and photocopy for students. Finally, each lesson plan sites the Common Core standards that are fulfilled by the exercises and analysis contained therein.

While the five lesson plans were developed as a loose progression culminating in the final reflection class, each lesson can also be a stand alone workshop, allowing teachers with limited time to pick and choose the lesson plans that they feel will be of the most benefit to their students. Additionally, the lessons were each structured to last approximately 50-55 minutes. With many schools now operating with block schedules, teachers should feel free to mix and match as they see fit.

Thank you so much for your commitment to bringing live professional theatre to your students, and for investing the time in preparing them to have the best experience possible. Please feel free to contact us with questions, concerns or feedback on this resource guide or the program in general.

Sincerely, Profile Theatre

4 The Artists

Andrés Alcalá* (Raven, Rhythm) has spent five years working with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Education department as a touring actor/teacher as well as a facilitating member of the Junior Summer Seminar for Youth. He was also an acting company member for two seasons with OSF 95-97. He spent 6 years in Arizona as an associate artist at Childsplay (Tempe, AZ) where he directed several productions and served as an actor as well as a teacher. Locally he has been a teaching artist with the Northwest Children's Theatre and for The Oregon Children's Theatre. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Oregon University. Has received several awards for both acting and directing in Portland, Phoenix, Tucson, and Chicago. Last seen in Profile Theatre's Production of EYES FOR CONSUELA.

Ben Newman* (Hail from Nowhere, Rhythm) New York: Jake in High Plains (A Western Myth) at Jimmy’s No. 43 and Edinburgh Fringe Festival ’13, Richard in Henry VI, Part III with Wide Eyed Productions at Classic Stage Company, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet at Columbia Stages, R.P., among others. Regional: Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Kansas City Actors Theatre, Riverside Shakespeare Festival. Ben has taught acting and ensemble development in Israel, New York, and all over the U.S. BA University of Northern Colorado. MFA University of Missouri – Kansas City. AEA, SAG-AFTRA.

Nelda Reyes (War in Heaven, Raven, Hail From Nowhere, Just Space)has been working as a bilingual performer and arts educator in the Northwest for the last 10 years. She is a graduate from the Moscow Art Theatre Summer School and IATT, Harvard University and PSU´s MA in Theatre Arts. Portland credits include: Miracle Theater, Shaking the Tree, Well Arts, Valley Repertory Theater, The Circus Project and NBC’s Grimm. Nelda is the Co-creator of Nuestro Canto, a traveling performing duet dedicated to share Latin American arts and culture.

Beth Thompson (Hail From Nowhere, Just Space)is a performer, teacher, and maker of new works. Since coming to Portland, she has had the pleasure of working with Shaking the Tree, Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival, Many Hats Collaborations, Action/Adventure, and Oregon Children’s Theatre. She has worked as a proud member of The Forgery Theatre Collective and Theatre Vertigo. Beth holds a B.A. from Illinois State University and is an AmSAT Certified Alexander Technique teacher.

Directors: Olga Sanchez (War in Heaven), Pat Patton (Rhythm, Raven), Matt Zrebski (Hail from Nowhere, Just Space) Stage Manager: D Westerholm* Assistant Stage Manager: Ross Jackson Scenic and Props Design: Kaye Blankenship Costume Design: Sara Ludeman Sound Design: Nick Erickson Tour Manager: Lauren Bloom Hanover

5 LESSON 1: Who is Sam Shepard?

Includes: - a basic biography of the playwright as well as a timeline that places him and his works in a historical context. - quotes by the playwright about his work and the time in which he was writing - discussion questions and activities examining the impact of cultural context on a writer, and expectations about the work of Sam Shepard

Classroom Activity #1: Biography and Context (7-10 minutes)

For Teachers: You will need to print out materials for this activity. They can be found following this lesson plan: Classroom Activity #1: Biography & Timeline

DIRECTIONS: - Distribute the biography of Sam Shepard. Have students spend a few minutes reading it to themselves. - Students should also look over the timeline that follows, with particular attention to getting a sense of the historical context in which he wrote.

Classroom Activity #2: Shepard in His Own Words (5 minutes)

DIRECTIONS: - Below are several quotes that can serve as an effective way of introducing students to Shepard’s work and to his unique voice. - We recommend that these be read aloud, either by students or by the teacher.

Quotes by Shepard:

Looking Back at the Early Work: “Things used to attack me in the mind. I had no idea where they were coming from, or why they were there, and I used to get more and more fascinated and look at them and mess around….and it turns out it’s a waste of time. There’s a much more creative life to the mind than following all the junk.” -Interviewed by Jennifer Allen, Esquire, Nov. 1988 pg. 148

On Stories: “The stories my characters tell are stories that are always unfinished, always imagistic _ having to do with recalling experiences through a certain kind of vision. They’re always fractured and fragmented and broken. I'd love to be able to tell a classic story, but it seem to be part of my 6 nature.” -Interviewed by Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 29 Jan. 1984, Sec. 2, p. 26

New York in the Early Sixties: “On the Lower East Side there was a special sort of culture developing. You were so close to the people going to the plays, there was really no difference between you and them -- your own experience was their experience, so that you began to develop that consciousness of what was happening…I mean nobody knew what was happening, but there was a sense that something was going on….a community was being established. It was a very exciting time.” -Interview in Theatre Quarterly pg.6-8

Changing Direction: “I'd been writing for ten years in an experimental maze - poking around, fishing in the dark. I wasn’t going anywhere. I felt I needed an aim in the work versus just the instinctive stuff, which is very easy for me to do. I started with character, in all its complexities. As I got more and more into it, it led me to the family. I always did feel a part of that tradition but hated it. I couldn’t stand those plays that were all about the ‘turmoil’ of the family. And then all of a sudden I realized, well that was very much a part of my life, and maybe that has to do with being a playwright, that you’re somehow snared beyond yourself.” - by Jennifer Allen, Esquire, November 1988 p. 148

Classroom Activity #3: Shepard Adjectives (10-15 minutes)

DIRECTIONS: - Split students into groups of 3 or 4. - Using one personal media device per group (or a school computer) the group has 5 minutes to use the internet to find as many adjectives or evocative phrases as possible used to describe the work of Sam Shepard. - Teams record their list on a piece of paper. - At the end of the five minutes, each group shares what they have found. - The teacher writes each adjective on the board so everyone can see them.

For Teachers: As each adjective is reported, it is interesting to ask the group how many people found the same adjective.

- Once all of the adjectives have been recorded on the board, ask the students what they notice or what strikes them about the collection of adjectives on the wall.

7 [Discussion/Reflection Questions:] 1) Having learned about Shepard and his life as well as some of the reactions to his work, what are your expectations about his plays and his writing? Do you think you are going to enjoy his work? Are you curious about it? Why or why not?

2) If you were to become a writer, what aspects of your society or your personal experience do you think would most influence your work? Why?

Common Core Standards Addressed:

Reading: Informational: -9-10: Standards 1, 2 & 3 -11-12: Standards 1, 2, & 3

Writing: - 9-10: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 - 11-12: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7

8 Biography of Sam Shepard

Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, screenwriter, director, author and musician. Born Samuel Shepard Rogers III in Fort Sheridan, Illinois on November 5th, 1943, Sam Shepard spent the early part of his childhood moving from base to base around the US until the family settled in Duarte, California. His father, Samuel Shepard Rogers Jr. was a teacher and farmer who served as a bomber pilot for the US Army during World War II. Shepard has described his father as "a drinking man, a dedicated alcoholic". His mother, Jane Elaine (née Schook), was also a teacher. Shepard first began writing and acting while in high school, during which time he also worked as a ranch hand. He graduated high school in 1961 and then spent a year studying agriculture at Mount San Antonio Junior College, with the intention of become a vet. It was during this time that Shepard became interested in the work of Samuel Beckett, abstract expressionism and jazz music.

In 1962, the Bishop’s Company Repertory Players, a touring theater company, visited the town. When they moved on, Shepard decided to join up and go with them, leaving home to tour with the company for the next two years. He eventually settled in New York where he began writing plays and performing with obscure off-off-Broadway groups. It didn’t take long before his work began to get noticed and gain recognition. In 1966 Shepard won his first OBIE (Off-Broadway) awards for three different plays, Chicago, Icarus’ Mother and Red Cross. Shepard won OBIES the following two years as well. It was around this time that Shepard also began writing for the screen.

Sam Shepard flirted with the world of rock, playing drums for the Holy Modal Rounders until he moved to London in 1971 with his wife Olan and young son, where he continued writing.

Back in the US by 1974, he moved to the 20-acre Flying Y Ranch in Mill Valley, California. He wrote plays out of his house and He served for a semester as Regents' Professor of Drama at the University of California, Davis. Shepard accompanied Bob Dylan on the Rolling Thunder Revue of 1975 as the ostensible screenwriter of the surrealist Renaldo and Clara (1978) that emerged from the tour; because much of the film was improvised, Shepard's services were seldom utilized. His diary of the tour (Rolling Thunder Logbook) was published by Penguin Books in 1978. Also in 1975, he became playwright in residence at San Francisco's Magic Theater where many of his notable works (including his Family Trilogy: Buried Child [1978], Curse of the Starving Class [1978], and True West [1980]) received their premier productions.[6] Some critics expand this grouping to a quintet which includes Fool for Love (1983) and A Lie of the Mind (1985). He continued to work as an increasingly well respected playwright throughout the 1970s and into the '80s. Throughout this time he had been dabbling with Hollywood having, most notably in the early days, worked as one of the writers on _"Zabriski Point" (1970). Shepard began his acting

9 career in earnest when he was cast as the handsome land baron in Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1978), opposite Richard Gere and Brooke Adams. This led to other important films and roles, most notably his portrayal of Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983), earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Throughout the years, Shepard has done a considerable amount of teaching on writing plays and other aspects of theatre. His classes and seminars have occurred at various theatre workshops, festivals, and universities. Shepard was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1986. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1986. He continues to write, act and direct, both on screen and in the theater.

10 Timeline: An interactive online version of this timeline can be found at our website: http://profiletheatre.org/2014/sam-shepard-season/

**: (!) = One Act (^)= Profile Main Stage Historical Year Personal Selected Plays** Awards Context Samuel Shepard

Rogers III born November 5 in Fort Sheridan Illinois to Jane (teacher) and Sam Rogers II (Army U.S. has been at 1943 Pilot) War for two years Allied invasion of

1944 Normandy, American troops

invade Iwo Jima, Hitler commits suicide, Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies, U.S. bombs Hiroshima, World War II ends 1945 offically

1947 Cold War "begins" Begins School in

1949 South Pasadena Korean War

begins/approved 1950 by Truman End of Korean

1953 War Shepard family

moves to avocado ranch in Duarte, 1955 California Graduates high

school, first experiences writing and acting at Mount San Antonio Junior 1960 College

Sam Shepard leaves home over family tension and father's

1961 alcoholism Escalation of U.S.

Moves to the Lower involvement in East Side in Vietnam War/ Manhattan, working John F. Kennedy 1963 as waiter Assassinated Begins collaboration with

La Mama Theatre Company: The Rock Garden, Cowboys, Up to Lyndon B. Thursday all written in Johnson signs the the first year of Civil Rights Act of 1964 collaboration 1964 Escapes draft on

basis of "supposed Chicago, Icarus's Mother, 1965 heroin addiction" 4H Club Wins Obies for

"Chicago," "Icarus's Mother," 1966 and "Red Cross" Cowboys #2 (!), La

Turista, Melodrama Play, Forensic and the Wins Obie for "La 1967 Navigators Turista" Wins Obies for Martin Luther King

"Forensic and the Jr. Assassinated/ Navigator" and Robert Kennedy 1968 "Melodrama Play" Assassinated Apollo 11 Lands

on the Moon/ Marries O-Lan Jones Woodstock Music 1969 in November Festival Son Jesse Mojo

Shepard born in May, begins affair The Unseen Hand, 1970 with Patti Smith Operation Sidewinder

Moves to London to Pursue Being a

1971 Musician Cowboy Mouth Break In at the

1972 Tooth of Crime Watergate Hotel Hawk Moon:The Curse of Wins Obie for

the Raven’s Black Feather "The Tooth of 1973 (!), Rhythm (!) Crime" Geography of a Horse

1974 Dreamer Nixon Resigns

Moves to Northern California/ Tours Wins Obie for

1975 with Bob Dylan "Action" Suicide in B Flat, The Sad

Lament of Pecos Bill on 1976 the Eve of Killing His Wife Wins Obie for

Curse of the Starving "Curse of the 1977 Class Starving Class"

Buried Child (^), Tongues

1978 (!) Wins Pulitzer

Prize, Obie for Start of the Iran 1979 Savage/Love (!) "Buried Child" Hostage Crisis

13 Wins Sustained John Lennon

1980 True West (^) Achievement Obie Assassinated AIDS first

Hawk Moon: Short identified by the Stories, Poems, and U.S. Centers for 1981 Monologues (Rerelease) Disease Control

Moves in with

1983 Jessica Lange Fool For Love

Death of Sam Rogers, Sr., Oscar: Best Actor Finalizes divorce in a Supporting from O-Lan Jones, Role, The Right Long Time Stuff Collaborator Joseph (Nominated), Two Chaikin suffers a Obies for "Fool for

1984 stroke Love" The War in Heaven

1985 (Angel's Monologue) (!) Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and New York Drama Critics Award for Daughter Hannah Best New Play for Disaster at the Jane born January A LIE OF THE Chernobyl Nuclear 1986 13 A Lie of the Mind MIND Power Plant Son Samuel 'Walker'

Shepard born June 1987 14 Short Life of Trouble

14 Fall of the Berlin

1989 Wall Nelson Mandela

1990 Freed from Prison Collapse of the

1991 States of Shock Soviet Union

First Successful Cloning of a

1996 Buried Child (rewritten) Mammal The Good Friday

Agreement Establishes Peace in Northern 1998 Eyes for Consuela (^) Ireland The Supreme

Court Hands Down their Decision in Bush 2000 The Late Henry Moss v. Gore

2001 September 11th

2003 Invasion of Iraq

2004 God of Hell

2007 Kicking a Dead Horse Barack Obama

Elected President of the United 2008 States Separates from

2010 Jessica Lange Evanescence, or

Shakespeare in the Alley 2011 (*)

2012 Heartless

2013 A Particle of Dread

15 Lesson 2: Influences on Shepard

Includes: - Quotes from the Playwright: On O’Neill, Originality from Ignorance, On Jazz and Other Music - Two exercises exploring the influence of other great dramatists on the work of Shepard. - An exercise analyzing the impact of music and percussion on Sam Shepard.

Sam Shepard has had a significant impact on contemporary theatre, not just in America but throughout the field. His unapologetic and unflinching work has made more room for not only the exploration of controversial themes and subject matters, but also for a wider range of styles used for storytelling onstage. Naturally, Shepard himself was influenced by not only other writers, but also was deeply impacted by his passion for and experience with music.

Classroom Activity #1: Exploring Similar Themes in O’Neill and Shepard (15-20 minutes)

EUGENE O’NEILL: Eugene O’Neill is one of the foremost American playwrights. Writing in the early part of the 20th century, O’Neill’s plays were largely responsible for introducing realism into American Theatre. Many of his most famous plays focused on the stories of his own family members.

Quote by Shepard: On O’Neill: “Plays have to go beyond just ‘working out problems’... What makes O’Neill’s Long Day's Journey into Night such a great work, for instance, is that O’Neill moves past his own personal family situation into a much wider dimension. I read that play in high school, and I've always thought that that was truly the great American play. It’s so overwhelmingly honest - O’Neill just doesn’t pull any punches. You can’t confront that play without being moved.” -Interviewed by Jonathan Cott, Rolling Stone, 18 December. 1986, p. 172

Much of Shepard’s most famous work also explores issues of family. Five of Shepard’s full length plays, taken together are considered by many to be his “Family Quintet” which explores the idea of the American family, the potency of “home,” and the deterioration of the American Dream. Many of Shepard’s characters seem to be inspired by members of his own family, particularly his father.

For Teachers: You will need to print out materials for this activity. They can be found following this lesson plan: Excerpts for Classroom Activity #1 (Excerpts of A LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and CURSE OF THE STARVING 16 CLASS.)

DIRECTIONS: - Select two students to read the first scene (one as Jamie and one as Tyrone) - Select two students to read the second scene (one as Wesley and one as Weston.) - Reach each scene out loud. - Discuss as a class the similarities and differences between the pieces. -What themes do they have in common? -What is the nature of the relationships between the fathers and the sons? How are they similar? How are they different? What else do they have in common?

Classroom Activity #2: Exploring Similar Styles in Beckett and Shepard (15-20 minutes)

SAMUEL BECKETT: Samuel Beckett was an Irish playwright, novelist and director. His avant garde style and the minimalism of much of his work has left an indelible mark on the theatre. His work had a profound impact on the young Sam Shepard, who up until coming across Beckett’s famous play WAITING FOR GODOT, was very limited in his understanding of what theatre could be or look like.

Quote by Shepard:

Originality from Ignorance: “I hardly knew anything about the theatre. I remember once in California I went to this guy’s house who was called a beatnik by everybody in the school….he sort of shuffled over to me and threw this book on my lap and said, why don’t you dig this, you know. I started reading this play he gave me, and it was like nothing I’d ever read before - it was Waiting for Godot. And I thought, what’s this guy talking about, what is this? And I read it with a very keen interest, but I didn’t know anything about what it was. I didn’t really have any reference for the theatre, except for the few plays I had acted in. But in a way I think that was better for me, because I didn’t have any idea about how to shape an action into what is seen -- so the so-called originality of the early work just came from ignorance.” - Interview in Theatre Quarterly, pg. 5

For Teachers: You will need to print out materials for this activity. They can be found following this lesson plan: Excerpts for Classroom Activity #2 (Excerpts of WAITING FOR GODOT and COWBOYS #2.) Also included is an image of a production of each play, with design that follows the direction of each playwright. The visual will add another layer to student’s understanding of Beckett’s influence.)

17 DIRECTIONS: - Select two students to read GODOT and two students to read COWBOYS. (You may wish to read the stage directions out loud.) - Read the scenes out loud. - Discuss as a class the similarities and differences between the pieces, with particular attention to style and theatrical convention. -How are the world’s similar? How are they different? - What is the style of storytelling? If not naturalism, what techniques do the playwrights use to give us, the audience, information about the world of the plays? - How are the characters similar and different? What about their relationship to one another and to their surroundings?

Classroom Activity #3: Influence of Music on Shepard (15-20 minutes)

Sam Shepard did not necessarily set out to be a writer. In fact, music in general and rock and roll specifically, were of great interest to him. His move to London in 1971 was motivated by a desire to be a rock and roll star, and he played for a time with the Holy Modal Rounders as a percussionist.

Quotes by Shepard:

On Jazz and Other Music: “Jazz could move in surprising territory without qualifying itself. You could follow a traditional melody and then break away, and then come back, or drop into polyrhythms….But more importantly, it was an emotional thing. You could move in all these emotional territories, and you could do it with passion. You could throw yourself into a passage, and then you could calm down, and then you could ride this thing, then you could throw yourself in again….Jazz was what I wanted to dive into; it represented a kind of sophistication. Then after a while I started reacting against that, the whole jazz influence. So I began to think rock and roll music represented another kind of back to a raw gut kind of American thing. Then that came to an end. Now I’m back to country music.” - Interviewed by Pete Hamill, ‘The New American Hero’, New York, 5 Dec. 1983, Pg. 80

Music and rhythm are an undeniable influence and force on much of the work of Sam Shepard. In RHYTHM, one of the pieces that will be a part of the tour performance, this influence is on full display.

For Teachers: You will need to print out materials for this activity. They can be found following this lesson plan: Excerpts for Classroom Activity #3 (Rhythm) Prior to sharing the piece with your students, you may elect to

18 play a selection of jazz and/or rock music that is contemporary with the early part of Shepard’s career. Two possibilities are below:

-So What by Miles Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEC8nqT6Rrk -Whipping Post by The Allman Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6up076lSH8

DIRECTIONS: - Listen to the music selections. - Brainstorm with your students adjectives or qualities that they feel are appropriate to describe each piece of music. - As a group, read through Shepard’s RHYTHM. (You may choose to either have the entire class read the piece out loud, one student for each phrase/sentence, or to select two students to trade each phrase back and forth, or another alternative method of your choosing.) - After reading the piece all together, have students provide a written answer to the following questions: 1) What images struck you the most? Why? 2) How is this piece like a piece of music? 3) What writing techniques and devices does Shepard use to mirror the characteristics of music? 3) How could you turn this piece of writing into a performance piece? How many people would perform it? How would you stage the musicality of the piece?

Common Core Standards Addressed: Reading: Literary: -9-10: Standards 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10 -11-12: Standards 1, 2, 3, 5, 10

Writing: - 9-10: Standards 1, 2, 4 - 11-12: Standards 1, 2, 4

19 Excerpt for Classroom Activity #1: O’Neill and Shepard Thematic Comparison

[LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT]

JAMIE: After a pause. What did Doc Hardy say about the Kid?

TYRONE: Dully. It’s what you thought. He’s got consumption.

JAMIE: God damn it!

TYRONE: There is no possible doubt, he said.

JAMIE: He’ll have to go to a sanitorium.

TYRONE: Yes, and the sooner the better, Hardy said, for him and everyone around him. He claims that in six months to a year Edmund will be cured, if he obeys orders. He sighs -- gloomily and resentfully. I never thought a child of mine -- It doesn’t come from my side of the family. There wasn’t one of us that didn’t have lungs as strong as an ox.

JAMIE: Who gives a damn about that part of it! Where does Hardy want to send him?

TYRONE: That’s what I’m to see him about.

JAMIE: Well, for God’s sake, pick out a good place and not some cheap dump!

TYRONE: Stung. I’ll send him wherever Hardy thinks best!

JAMIE: Well, don’t give Hardy your old over-the-hills-to-the-poorhouse song about taxes and mortgages.

TYRONE: I’m no millionaire who can throw money away! Why shouldn’t I tell Hardy the truth?

JAMIE: Because he’ll think you want him to pick out a cheap dump, and because he’ll know it isn’t the truth -- especially if he hears afterwards you’ve seen McGuire and let that flannel-mouth, gold-brick merchant sting you another piece of bum property!

TRYONE: Furiously. Keep your nose out of my business!

JAMIE: This is Edmund’s business. What I’m afraid of is, with your Irish bogtrotter idea that consumption is fatal, you’ll figure it would be a waste of money to spend any more than you can help.

TYRONE: You liar!

JAMIE: All right. Prove I’m a liar. That’s what I want. That’s why I brought it up.

20 TYRONE: His rage still smouldering. I have every hope Edmund will be cured. And keep your dirty tongue off Ireland! You’re a fie one to sneer, with the mapo fit on your face!

JAMIE: Not after I was my face. Then before his father can react to this insult to the Old Sod, he adds dryly, shrugging his shoulders. Well, I’ve said all I have to say. It’s up to you. Abruptly. What do you want me to do this afternoon, now you’re going uptown? I’ve done all I can do on the hedge until you cut more of it. You don’t want me to go ahead with your clipping, I know that.

TYRONE: No. You’d get it crooked, as you get everything else.

JAMIE: Then I’d better go uptown with Edmund. The bad news coming on top of what’s happened to Mama may hit him hard.

TYRONE: Forgetting his quarrel. Yes, go with him, Jamie. Keep up his spirits, if you can. He adds caustically. If you can without making it an excuse to get drunk!

JAMIE: What would I use for money? The last I heard they were still selling booze, not giving it away.

- LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Eugene O’Neill, Copyright Carlotta Monterey O’Neill, 1955 Pages 79-81

[CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS:]

WESTON: ...you recognize poison, right? You recognize it when you see it?

WESLEY: Yes.

WESTON: Yes, you do. I can see that you do. My poison scares you.

WESLEY: Doesn’t scare me. Photo from 2008 production at the Signature Theatre in New York WESTON: No?

WESLEY: No.

WESTON: Good. You’re growing up. I never saw my old man’s poison until i was much older than you. Much older. And then you know how I recognized it?

WESLEY: How?

WESTON: Because I saw myself infected with it. That’s how. I saw me carrying it around. His poison in my body. You think that’s fair?

WESLEY: I don’t know.

WESTON: Well, what do you think? You think I asked for it?

WESLEY: No.

WESTON: So it’s unfair, right?

WESLEY: It’s just the way it happened.

WESTON: I didn’t ask for it, but I got it.

WESLEY: What is it anyway?

WESTON: What do you mean, what is it? You can see it for yourself!

WESLEY: I know it’s there, but I don’t know what it is.

WESTON: You’ll find out.

WESLEY: How?

WESTON: How do you poison coyotes?

WESLEY: Strychnine.

WESTON: How! Not what!

WESLEY: You put it in the belly of a dead lamb.

WESTON: Right. Now do you see?

WESLEY: (after pause) No.

WESTON: You’re thick! You’re really thick. (pause) You know I watched my old man move around. I watched him move through rooms. I watched him drive tractors, watched him watching baseball, watched him keeping out of the way of things. Out of the way of my mother. Away from my brothers. Watched him on the sidelines. Nobody saw him but me. Everybody was right here, but nobody saw him but me. He lived apart. Right in the midst of things and he lived apart. Nobody saw that.

(Long pause.)

WESLEY: You want an artichoke? 22

WESTON: No.

WESLEY: Who’s the buyer?

WESTON: Some guy. Owns the “Alibi Club” downtown. Said he’ll give me cash.

WESLEY: How much?

WESTON: Enough to get to Mexico. They can’t touch me down there.

WESLEY: Who?

WESTON: None of your goddamn business! Why is it you always drive yourself under my skin when I’m around? Why is that?

WESLEY: We don’t get along.

WESTON: Very smart! Very observant! What’s the matter with you anyway? What’re you doing around here?

WESLEY: I’m part of your offspring.

WESTON: Jesus, you’re enough to drive a sane man crazy! You’re like having an espionage spy around. Why are you watching me all the time?

(WESTON looks at him. They stare at each other for a moment.)

WESTON: you can watch me all you want to. You won’t find out a thing.

WESLEY: Mom’s trying to sell the place, too.

(WESTON looks at him hard.)

WESLEY: That’s who the lawyer guy was. She’s selling through him.

(WESTON stands and almost topples over.)

WESTON: I’LL KILL HER! I’LL KILL BOTH OF THEM! Where’s my gun. I had a gun here! A captured gun!.

WESLEY: Take it easy.

WESTON: No, you take it easy! Photo from the 2008 production at the American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco - CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS by Sam Shepard, Copyright Sam Shepard, 1976

23 Excerpt for Classroom Exercise #2: Beckett and Shepard Stylistic Comparison

Waiting for Cowboys #2 Godot by Sam Shepard by Samuel Beckett The setting is a bare stage, very dimly lit. Upstage center is a sawhorse with a yellow caution light mounted on it. The light blinks on and off throughout the play. On each side of the sawhorse is a YOUNG MAN seated against the upstage wall. They ACT 1: A country road. A tree. both wear black pants, black shirts and Evening. vests, and black hats. They see to be sleeping. Offstage is the sound of a single Estragon, sitting on a low mound, is trying cricket, which lasts throughout the play. to take off his boot. He pulls at it with As the curtain rises there is a long pause, both hands, panting. He gives up, then a saw is heard offstage, then a exhausted, rests, tries again. hammer, then the saw again. As before. Enter Vladamir. MAN NUMBER ONE: (Off left) It’s going to rain. ESTRAGON: (giving up again) Nothing to be done. STU: Do you think so? VLADIMIR: (Advancing with short, stiff strides, legs wide apart) CHET: I’m beginning to come round to that What? opinion. All my life I’ve tried to put it from me, saying, Vladimir, be STU: reasonable, you haven’t yet tried Uh, rain? everything. And I resumed the struggle.(He broods, musing on the CHET: struggle. Turning to Estragon.) So there Oh….sure. Maybe. you are again. STU: ESTRAGON: Could be. Am I? CHET: VLADIMIR: Let’s see. I’m glad to see you back. I thought you were gone for ever. (MAN NUMBER ONE whistles as if calling a dog off left. Pause) ESTRAGON: Me too. STU: It wouldn’t be bad for my clothes. VLADIMIR: Together again at last! We’ll have to CHET: celebrate this. But how? (He reflects.) Clothes? Get up till I embrace you. STU: ESTRAGON: (irritably) It’d be good for my clothes, I said. It’d Not now, not now. be like taking a bath with my clothes on.

VLADIMIR: (hurt, coldly). CHET: May one inquire where His Highness Sure. It’d be the same for me, I guess. spent the night? STU: ESTRAGON: Sure. Why don’t you go over there and In a ditch. see if you can see any cloud formations?

VLADIMIR: (admiringly). (He points downstage. CHET gets up and A ditch! Where? crosses downstage like an old man. He stands center and looks up at the sky, ESTRAGON: (without gesture) then speaks like an old man.) Over there. CHET: VLADIMIR: Well, well, well, well. I tell ya’, boy. I tell And they didn’t beat you? ya’. Them’s some dark ones, Mel. Them’s really some dark ones. ESTRAGON: Beat me? Certainly they beat me. STU: (Talking like an old man) Dark, eh? How long’s it been since ya’ VLADIMIR: seen ‘em dark as that? The same lot as usual? CHET: ESTRAGON: How long’s it been? Long? How long? The same? I don’t know. STU: Yeah. How long a time, Clem? VLADIMIR: When I think of it...all these years...but CHET: for me…where would you be… Long a time? Well, it’s been a piece. A (Decisively.) You’d be nothing more than piece a’ time. Say maybe, off a year or a little heap of bones at the present so. Maybe that. minute, no doubt about it. STU: ESTRAGON: A year, eh? And what of it? CHET: VLADIMIR: Yep. Could be longer. (gloomily). It’s too much for one man. (Pause. Cheerfully.) On the other hand STU: what’s the good of losing heart now, Longer? that’s what I say. We should have thought of it a million years ago, in the CHET: nineties. Yep. Could be two or three year since i seen ‘em all dark like that. ESTRAGON: Ah stop blathering and help me off with STU: this bloody thing. That’s a piece a’ time, Clem. That’s for sure. VLADIMIR: Hand in hand from the top of the Eiffel CHET: Tower, among the first. We were Yep! Yep! (He whistles loudly and starts respectable in those days. Now it’s too doing a dance like an old man.) late. They wouldn’t even let us up.

25 (Estragon tears at his boot.) What are STU: you doing? (Normal voice) Hey! Come back!

ESTRAGON: From COWBOYS #2 by Sam Shepard Taking off my boot. Did that never happen to you?

From WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett Copyright: Grove Press Inc. 1954 Pages 7-8

From WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett Center Theatre Group, March 2012 Directed by Michael Arabian Set Design by John Iacovelli

From COWBOYS #2 by Sam Shepard The Theatre School at DePaul, February 1984 Directed by Joseph Guastaferro Scene Design by Terrance McClellan

26 Classroom Exercise #3: RHYTHM by Sam Shepard

If everything could be sung to the standard rock and roll progression -- C, A minor, F, G chords -- then everything’d be simple. How many variations on a single theme. The greatest drum solo I ever heard was made by a loose flap of tarpaulin on top of my car hitting the wind at eighty. The second best is windshield wipers in the rain, but more abstract, less animal. Like the rhythms of a rabbit scratching his chin. Vision rhythms are neat like hawk swoops and swan dives. Slow motion space rhythms. Digging rhythms like shovels and spades and hoes and rakes and snowplow rhythms. Jackhammer rhythms make Ginger Baker and Keith Moon look like punk chumps. Oilcan rhythms, ratchet wrench rhythms. Playing cards in bicycle spokes. A string of rapid-fire, firecracker rhythms. Propeller rhythms. Cricket rhythms. Dog claws clicking on hardwood floors. Clocks. Piston rhythms. Dripping faucets. Tin hitting tin in the wind. Water slapping rocks. Flesh slapping flesh. Boxing rhythms. Racing rhythms. Rushing brooks. Radio static buzz in a car when the engine is the dictator. Directional turnsignal blinkers. Off and on neon lights. Blinking yellow arrows. Water pumps. Refrigerator hums. Thermostatic-controlled heating systems. Clicking elevators with the numbers lighting up for each floor. Snakes sliding through grass. in fact any animal through grass. At night. Buoy lights. Ship signals. Airplane warnings. Fire alarms. Rhythms in a stick car horn. Eating rhythms. Chewing rhythms. The cud of a cow. The chomp of a horse. Knives being sharpened. Band saws. Skill saws. Hack saws. Buzz saws. Buck saws. Chain saws. Any saw rhythm. Hammers and nails. Money clanking in a poker game. Cards shuffled. Bus meters. Taxi meters. Boiling water rhythms. Clicking ballpoint pens. Clicking metal frogs. Roulette wheel spinning rhythms. Tire rhythms. Whittling. Stitching. Typing. Clicking knitting needles. Parrots sharpening their beaks on wood. Chickens scratching. Dogs digging for moles. Birds cleaning their feather. Cocking guns. Spinning guns. Bolt actions. Lever actions. Snapping ginger nails. Finger popping. Cracking knuckles. Snapping bones. Farting. Spitting. Blinking eyes. Blowing nose. Coughing without congrol. Candle flicker rhythms. Creaking houses. Thawing ice. And you call yourself a drummer?

- From HAWK MOON by Sam Shepard, (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973), 63-64.

27 Lesson 3: Inspired by Sam Shepard

Includes: -Selections of representative pieces by Shepard to be read aloud -Quotes from the Playwright: Regarding Secrets & Added Dimensions, On Endings -A creative writing exercise and a classroom activity encouraging leadership and collaboration

Shepard is an extraordinarily prolific writer. In addition to his numerous plays, he has published several collections of short stories and has also penned a number of screenplays.

Quote by Shepard:

Regarding Secrets and Added Dimensions “Every play is a discovery. You create a framework...and leave something open in the hope you will discover something…..with a really great writer like Samuel Beckett, every time he writes he is approaching a certain kind of secret. As he approaches it the audience is approaching it too. As soon as you name it, you kill it. There is no question of naming it and having it at the same time.” -Interviewed by Michael White, ‘Underground Landscapes’, The Guardian, 20 Feb. 1974, pg. 8

Classroom Activity #1: Reading Samples of Shepard (5-10 minutes)

For Teachers: You will need to print out materials for this lesson. They can be found following this lesson plan: Excerpts for Classroom Activity #1.

DIRECTIONS: - Clear a space in the center of the room (if one does not already exist) - Gather students in a circle, sitting or standing - Select someone to begin, and have each student read up to a full stop or the end of a line. - The student next to them should then read to the next sentence/phrase to the full stop. - Continue around the circle until the piece is completed.

You may choose to read as many selections as time permits.

Following each selection, you may choose to ask students to reflect on what they thought the piece was about, any impressions it gave them, any observations they made, etc. citing the texts as specifically as possible.

28 Quote by Shepard: On Endings “I think it’s a cheap trick to resolve things. It’s totally a complete lie to make resolutions: l’ve always felt that, particularly in the theatre when everything’s tied up at the end with a neat little ribbon and you’re delivered this package. You walk out of the theatre feeling that everything's resolved and you know what the play’s all about. So what? It’s almost as though why go through all that if you're just going to tie it all up at the end? It seems like a lie to me - the resolutions, the denouement and all the rest of it. And it’s been handed down as if that is the way to write plays... I never know when to end a play. I’d just as soon not end anything. But you have to stop at some point, just to let people out of the theatre. I don't like endings and I have a hard time with them. So True West doesn't really have an ending; it has a confrontation. A resolution isn't an ending; it’s a strangulation.” -Interviewed by Amy Lippman, as above, p. 59

Classroom Activity #2: Creative Writing Inspired By Shepard (15-20 minutes)

DIRECTIONS: - Give students 15-20 minutes to create their own composition inspired by Shepard. - The piece can be a monologue, a short story, a poem, whatever feels right.

For Teachers: If you feel the students need more structure or guidance, you may choose to tell students to use one of the following phrases as their inspiration, or to find a way to include include it verbatim in their piece.

-She’s a fireball, isn’t she? -Don’t you yell at my mother! -I feel like I’m on enemy territory. -You’re gonna erase me. -There’s no one to speak for me now. -Talk with your teeth. -I know how to kill. -This is my last chance to get this done. -You got everybody buffaloed, don’t ya? -This whole thing is cruel.

Classroom Activity #3: Directing One’s Own Work (20-30 minutes)

Sam Shepard often directed his own work, creating an exciting collaborative relationship between himself as a writer, his actors and his role as the director. This exercise is intended to allow students to hear their own words spoken and performed by another, providing some distance and perspective on their own work as well as the opportunity to adjust and hone the piece while guiding their performer to a more effective presentation of their writing. DIRECTIONS:

29 - Once students have completed Classroom Activity #2, pair them with another student. - Have the students exchange compositions. - Give the class 3 minutes for students to work individually on reading the piece aloud to themselves. - Then the two students should work together, spending 3-5 minutes each directing their partner in the performance of their original piece. - At the end of class, or at the start of the following class period (depending on your schedule) gather the students together and have them get up and present the work of their classmate.

For Teachers: The authors may remain anonymous or the students may share who wrote what they are presenting (this is a decision that the students can make themselves or that you can make prior to starting the exercise).

Once you have completed the presentation, you may use the following questions to initiate a discussion in class, or may choose to assign the students the questions as a homework assignment.

NOTE: We would love to read what your students write! If it is possible for you to collect and either scan and email us their pieces, or photocopy them so we can arrange to pick them up from the school, it would be much appreciated.

[Discussion/Reflection Questions:]

1) What additional impressions/ideas did you get from reading some of Shepard’s prose work? What other adjectives might you use to describe his writing?

2) How did using Shepard as an inspiration affect the way you wrote? How was your composition similar or different from other writing that you have done?

3) What was it like to direct another student and to shape the way they presented your own words? What was it like to present the work of another student?

Common Core Standards Addressed: Reading: Literary: -9-10: Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 -11-12: Standards 1, 2, 3, 4 Writing: - 9-10: Standards 3, 4 - 11-12: Standards 3, 4

Excerpts for Classroom Exercise #1: Reading Samples

Deserted

Fangs out it lunged for meat and cracked its head on the glass. Fell back, belly up in a tropical miniature garden. Like a nine hole pitch and putt minus the pitchers. Squirming, flopping over, right side up and panting, sides heaving, scales swelling and falling, cracking off like paint. Begins to move and slide in a sideways shuffle through the moss and fern and finds a white mouse, swallows it whole like a fly and keeps on going. Avoids a giant pink fingered tentacle hand with bitten-off nails and axle grease and black and blue thumb. Runs right into another one and silently screams, slashes with teeth and claws but is caught firm around the midriff and hoisted like a plane over six feet in the air. Then set down suddenly and left in a giant open-air arena with no glass forever and stars for lights and moon for more. Miles and miles of this going on and on. The sound of the tentacled one’s car fading off in the distance. Can’t move. Frozen with vastness and uncertainty. The silent boom of the desert. Deserted. Left to be wild and not knowing how anymore. Not needing to be. It slowly eats its tail and hind legs and belly and swallows itself whole. In the morning a truck roars by without a driver, the radio blaring. Just the truck, the radio and the desert.

- HAWK MOON, by Sam Shepard (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973) 31.

Letter From A Cold Killer

Maybe you’d love me more if I didn’t kill for a living Having to smell my Luger Blackhawk every single night Counting the bullets like my pag check It’s true we move around a lot and it’s hard on the kid You get used to the Dodge and the next day it’s gone At least he gets to see the lay of the land He loves the trains and the passport changes What’s a lie now and then The blood on the tie He’s seen that in the movies Pass it off for lipstick The powder burned eye Tell him the matches exploded Or better yet tell him I’m a Cold Killer Trying to pay his way through College And give him a kiss on the head And tuck him in his bed And write down what he mumbles in his sky blue sleep - HAWK MOON by Sam Shepard, (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973) 66

31 BURIED CHILD: Vince Monologue I was gonna run last night. I was gonna run and keep right on running. I drove all night. Clear to the Iowa border. The old man’s two bucks sitting right on the seat beside me. It never stopped raining the whole time. Never stopped once. I could see myself in the windshield. My face. My eyes. I studied my face. Studied everything about it. As though I was looking at another man. As though I could see his whole race behind him. Like a mummy’s face. I saw them dead and alive at the same time. In the same breath. In the windshield, I watched him breathe as though he was frozen in time. And every breath marked him. Marked him forever without him knowing. And then his face changed. His face became his father’s face. Same bones. Same eyes. Same nose. Same breath. And his father’s face changed to his Grandfather’s face. And it went on like that. Changing. Clear on back to faces I’d never seen before but still recognized. Still recognized the bones underneath. The eyes. The breath. The mouth. I followed my family clear into Iowa. Every last one. Straight into the Corn Belt and further. Straight back as far as they’d take me. Then it all dissolved. Everything dissolved.

-BURIED CHILD, Copyright Sam Shepard, 1979

Photo of Profile Theatre’s 2014 production of BURIED CHILD. Vince is in the center in the red shirt.

32 Lesson 4: What Are You Seeing?

Includes: - Descriptions about each of the pieces in the tour performance - Quotes from the Playwright: About Theatre and One Act Form, Audiences and the Cultural Machine - Classroom Exercises: Full Body Explorations of Language and Imagery

Quote by Shepard:

About Theatre: “The fantastic thing about theatre is that it can make something be seen that’s invisible, and that’s where my interest in theatre is - that you can be watching this thing happening with actors and costumes and light and set and language, and even plot, and something emerges from beyond that, and that’s the image part that I’m looking for, that’s the sort of added dimension.” - Interview Theatre Quarterly pg. 9

Classroom Activity #1: Pieces Being Performed (5min)

The performance that your students will see will consist of five different pieces. Of those five pieces, only the first - “THE WAR IN HEAVEN” (ANGEL’S MONOLOGUE) - was written to be performed. The other four pieces were written to be included in collections of published prose and poetry. The directors of each piece have decided how they wish to dramatize the work, bringing the stories to life in a theatrical way.

“THE WAR IN HEAVEN” (ANGEL’S MONOLOGUE): Published in Joseph Chaikin & Sam Shepard: Letters and Texts 1972-1984, Copyright Barry Daniels, Joseph Chaikin and Sam Shepard, 1989

CURSE OF THE RAVEN’S BLACK FEATHER: Published in HAWK MOON, (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973)

HAIL FROM NOWHERE & JUST SPACE: Published in CRUISING PARADISE, (New York: Knopf, 1996)

RHYTHM: Published in HAWK MOON, (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973)

WAR IN HEAVEN The monologue was written in 1987 for longtime collaborator Joseph Chaikin. Chaikin was suffering from the effects of a severe stroke and the two different voices in the piece served as a sort of therapy for him during his recovery. One voice is clear and articulate, while the other mirrors the slurred and broken speech that were the result of Chaikin’s stroke.

33 HAWK MOON was Shepard’s first published work, was first released in 1973, and then was republished, along with his other work MOTEL CHRONICLES, in 1985 by Faber and Faber. It is a collection of over fifty short stories, monologues and poems and is an effective and illuminating demonstration of Shepard’s unique and original voice in the early part of his career.

CRUISING PARADISE includes 40 short pieces, from fully formed stories to dialogues to short sketches to excerpts from his diary. Spanning a broad range of topics and tones, the pieces all are written in the unmistakable voice of Shepard.

Quote by Shepard:

One-Act Form, Audiences, and the Cultural Machine: “Because of the time we’re living in, the attention span of people watching a work has changed. It’s no longer possible for an audience to sit alertly through Long Day’s Journey into Night, even though it’s a great play... But to me, it’s more interesting to condense time into something that’s full and yet short enough so that people will be with it, can stay with it, in a certain way. Beckett, for instance, has shortened and condensed everything down to its most essential parts, which I think is amazing. And still, Beckett's plays are considered great works _ which has probably never happened before _ that a man can write a five-minute piece which is considered a great play. Before, the attitude always was that you had to write fourteen-act operas...” -Interviewed by Irene Oppenheim and Victor Fascío, Village Voice, 27 Oct. 1975, p. 82

Classroom Activity #2: Statues (20-25 min)

DIRECTIONS: - Clear a space in the center of the room if one does not already exist. - Break students up into groups of three (If your class does not divide evenly into 3’s, have the extra students work in pairs and one student will “sculpt” twice.) - In each group, have students decide who is A, B and C.

ROUND ONE: - Explain that student A is going to be the sculptor and the other two students are the clay. (Stress that clay has no opinion and is easily shaped by the sculptor.) - The sculptor will have three modes by which to mold the clay: 1) They can describe what they want the clay to do 2) They can demonstrate themselves what they want the clay to do or 3) They can physically move the clay with their own hands (encourage students to ask permission before physically engaging with other students: “Is it OK if I touch you?”)

34 For Teachers: Remind the clay that while they cannot argue, they will have a turn to be sculptors and that sculptors should remember that revenge is swift and sweet!

- “A” students come to the teacher and get a small slip of paper with a phrase on it (list of phrases are @ the back of this lesson plan - Phrases for Classroom Exercise #1). - Give them approximately 30 seconds to sculpt the other two students into a statue whose title is the phrase on their piece of paper. (They are not to share this title with the “clay”!) - The statue should be static.

For Teachers: 30 seconds is approximate. Give students the time they need while continuing to remind them they have a deadline. Give them a ten second warning and then when everyone seems close to done, countdown the final five seconds.

- Going around the room, have the sculptors introduce their statue: “Hello, my name is ______and this is my statue ______”. (Encourage students to speak with confidence and ownership.)

ROUND TWO: - Repeat the exercise with student B as the sculptor. - On this round the sculptor can only demonstrate to the clay, or physically mold the clay. They are not allowed to speak. -Again, allow the sculptors to present their statues to the rest of the class.

ROUND THREE: - Repeat the exercise one final time with student C as the sculptor. - This time the sculptor must physically mold the clay and cannot speak or demonstrate. - Additionally on this round, once the statue is finished, the sculptor should direct the statue in how to share its own name. (Ex: Both A&B speak at once, or the phrase is split between the two.) - Have the statues share their own names, introduced by their sculptor: “Hi my name is ______and this is my statue-” “Statue Name”.

WRAP UP: Once you have finished all three rounds of the exercise, you may wish to have students share any impressions they have about Sam Shepard based on the statues they saw and created. You may also wish to have them reflect about their experience of the exercise, what they found challenging and what they enjoyed.

35 Classroom Exercise #3: Staging A Monologue (20 min)

DIRECTIONS: - Break students up into either four or six groups of equal numbers (whichever is more practical for your classroom size.) -Give each group a letter: A-D or F. - Distribute the except from WAR IN HEAVEN (found at the end of this lesson plan:Excerpt for Classroom Exercise #2). - Explain that each group needs to: 1) Create a series of tableaux (or statues) to tell the story of their section 2) Decide how they are going to deliver the text that goes with it. Rules About the Tableaux: Everyone has to be in every tableaux. Every student must speak at least once. Unlike the previous exercise, these tableaux can have motion and should flow from one to the next. Each group should choose three to five tableaux for their section.

- Give students approximately five minutes to figure out and rehearse their presentation.

For Teachers: Give students minute markers. Once you get down to about two minutes, encourage the groups to begin to rehearse it physically - stop discussing, actually try it!

- Once the groups are ready, gather students into a large circle in alphabetical order by group. Beginning with group A, go around the circle, presenting the full monologue excerpt

For Teachers: If the presentations are a little clunky and messy, feel free to do it twice through, providing some constructive suggestions about volume and trusting themselves between the first and second rounds.

Upon completing the presentation of the monologue, use the following questions either as class discussion questions or as writing assignments for homework.

[Discussion/Reflection Questions:]

1) What struck you about the different presentations? What was surprising? What was engaging/caught your interest?

2) What do they think this monologue is about?

3) Was this experience fun/challenging/uncomfortable/exciting? Why?

Common Core Standards Addressed: Reading: Literary: -9-10: Standards 2, 4, 5 -11-12: Standards 2, 4, 5

36 Phrases for Classroom Exercise #1: For Teachers: All of these phrases are taken from the five pieces the students will be seeing in the tour performance.You will want to print these out and cut them into strips before the class period begins

All the domains were shattered War in Heaven Statue

Something’s changing in me, somethings diminishing. War in Heaven Statue

Flowers sprang up behind me. Warn in Heaven Statue

Music surrounded me on all sides. War in Heaven Statue

I can’t live without you imagining me. War in Heaven Statue

I died the day I was born. War in Heaven Statue

Your mind races like an engine. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

37 I watch the curse wash away. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

I’m clean again. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

Notice the way the moonbeam shining on the water chases you. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

Like evil sisters in disguise. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

I don’t walk into occupied rooms. Hail From Nowhere Statue

His heart was going now. Hail From Nowhere Statue

The water confused him. Hail From Nowhere Statue

Daylight was mocking him. Hail From Nowhere Statue

38 She just took it into her head to wander off. Hail From Nowhere Statue

Then everything accumulated and descended with a vengeance. Hail From Nowhere Statue

He gasped like a child thrown into icy water.... Hail From Nowhere Statue

It’s just a disguise. Just Space Statue

Money clanking in a poker game. Rhythm Statue

The rhythms of a rabbit scratching his chin. Rhythm Statue

This wasn’t necessarily a sign of anger. Hail From Nowhere Statue

39 A tiny helpless ship caught at the edge of a hurricane. Hail From Nowhere Statue

Not reconciled and reunited. Hail From Nowhere Statue

A two headed beast. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

The feather speaks! Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

I drive and drive like being chased. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

Visions of wrecked stars. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

Pluck a long plume for luck. Curse of the Raven’s Black Feather Statue

40 Every second I stay I weaken. War in Heaven Statue

I have a partner, the partner is me. War in Heaven Statue

Earth is too tiny, too small. War in Heaven Statue

There was absolutely no sign of a soul. War in Heaven Statue

41 Excerpt for Classroom Exercise #2: WAR IN HEAVEN (ANGEL’S MONOLOGUE)

GROUP A: I died the day I was born and became an Angel on that day since then there are no days there is no time I am here by mistake

GROUP B: I’m not sure now how it happened

I crashed I know I crashed in these streets I came down

I don’t know what went wrong

GROUP C: I was part of something I remember being a member I was moving I had certain orders a mission

I had a small battalion Principalities Dominions

GROUP D: I’m not sure now how I fit where I fit exactly

I know there those above me and those 42 below but I’m not sure now where I fit Group E so many things now so many earth earth just a little part just so much so tiny

Group F you can never catch so many air sometimes earth so small tiny so much more ever more more more and more

- “THE WAR IN HEAVEN” (ANGEL’S MONOLOGUE), Taken from Joseph Chaikin & Sam Shepard: Letters and Texts 1972-1984, Copyright Barry Daniels, Joseph Chaikin and Sam Shepard, 1989

43 Lesson 5: Reflecting on the Performance

Includes: - Quote from the playwright: On Emotion and Myth - In Class Writing Prompts: The experience of the tour performance. - Final Classroom Exercise: Creating an Ensemble Performance Piece

Classroom Exercise #1: Written Reflection (20-25 min)

DIRECTIONS: -Read the following quote to your students. - Lead a short discussion about whether or not they feel anything about the performance achieved “mythic emotions” as described by Shepard. -Introduce prompts for individual written reflection. ***Alternatively, you may wish to go directly to the written reflection.***

Quote by Shepard:

On Emotion and Myth: “In writing a play you can snare emotions that aren’t just personal emotions, not just catharsis, not just psychological emotions that you’re getting off your chest, but emotions and feelings that are connected with everybody. Hopefully. It’s not true all the time; sometimes it’s nothing but self-indulgence. But if you work hard enough toward being true to what you intuitively feel is going down in the play, you might be able to catch that kind of thing. So that you suddenly hook up with feelings that are on a very broad scale…Then it starts to move in a direction we all know, regardless of where we come from or why….Those, to me, are mythic emotions.” - Interviewed by Amy Lippman Dialogue, Apr. 198, pg. 58

Writing Prompts:

- What does “mythic emotions” mean to you? Did you witness or experience such emotions during the performance?

- In thinking about the performance of the five short pieces by Shepard, what struck you? Did anything about the performance disappoint you? Did anything about the performance impress and move you? Give some specific examples.

- What devices or stylistic choices did the production use to tell the different stories? Did you think these choices were effective? Why or why not?

44 - Had you ever seen a play like this production before? Did it change your perception of what theatre is and can be? Did you feel like it was theatre or some other kind of performance?

Classroom Activity #2: Putting It All Together (20 min)

DIRECTIONS: - Divide students into small groups of three to five students. - Distribute copies of one or all of the excerpts that follow this lesson plan (Excerpts for Classroom Activity #2).

***For Teachers: Each of the pieces come from Shepard’s HAWK MOON. If the students are given multiple pieces, each group should select the one they would like to dramatize.***

- Spend 10-15 minutes creating a way to present the piece to the rest of the class. - Each group gets up and presents their original performance piece. - Ideally students memorize the text and present their work without scripts in hand.

The goal is for students draw on the work they have done in all of the previous lessons as well as anything they learned from watching the production, and put it all together into an original performance piece.

Classroom Activity #3: Final Thoughts and Discussion (5-10 min)

DIRECTIONS: - Lead a discussion about students’ impressions or thoughts regarding the presentations they have just seen and performed. - Discuss the students’ overall impressions of Sam Shepard, of theatre and of their experience performing and watching his work.

Common Core Standards Addressed:

Reading: Literary: -9-10: Standards 1, 2, 5, 10 -11-12: Standards 1, 2, 5, (7), 10

Writing: - 9-10: Standards 1, 2, 4, 7 - 11-12: Standards 1, 2, 4, 7

45 Excerpts for Classroom Activity #2:

All Excerpts From HAWK MOON by Sam Shepard, (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1973)

Heaven’s Fist: Far shooting star Scar branded night Car light snakes a trail On earth Far far heaven’s head Opens up its bony skull Shows a flash of secret sight Then fast the fist slams shut (pg. 24)

Long Tall Sally Cool and weary Tongue tied down Back strapped to a wind mill Round and round Long Tall Sally In the alley Caught and taken For a witch (pg. 25)

Spirit Spirit With a wet nose Lump on the neck Sits in corners of my room Says not to fear Breaks the windows to breathe Then leaves Like that (pg. 26)

Stranger I keep waking up in whoever’s Body I was last with Who’s this Arms like a Viking Rolled bull muscles Hair down to here I’m enough of a stranger as it is (pg. 27)

Shark Move The way a shark can’t stop moving or he’ll die That’s you on the floor Sleep swimming on your back Spitting out your teeth Sliding like a puck I can’t do nothin’ for you ‘less you stand up What you need is pocket full of crickets To bring you back to earth (pg. 67)

Power I can remember racing with my father The difference in our size and strength The power in his legs The quickness in mine It almost killed him but he won And afterwards I heard him puke behind the shed That night I went to bed And dreamed of power in a train (pg. 70)

Clean Green Seventy-five fathoms Down Six feet to the fathom Six miles Out Drunk to a rip tide Snared by a rock rope Dragged to the deep blue Bottom Bones unseen Just the clean green table top Waiting for the pool shark To come play fish (pg. 79)