Study Guide: Students & Educators
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A T L A N T I C T STUDY GUIDE: STUDENTS & EDUcatorS H EA TE R COMPANY Director of Education Education Associate Education Coordinator HEATHER BAIRD TYLER EASTER FRAN TARR Posterity written and directed by Study Guide designed by DOUG WRIGHT CECILE ORESTE A T L A N T I C T TABLE OF CONTENTS H EA TE R COMPANY SECTION 1: THE PLAY Synopsis, Characters, Setting, Themes SECTION 2: CAST & CREATIVE Director & Cast Bios SECTION 3: YOUR STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE Theater Vocabulary, Posterity Vocabulary, Research and Background: Henrik Ibsen, The History of Historical Drama, Relating Themes To Our Own Lives, Webbing & Discussion Triggers SECTION 4: YOUR STUDENTS AS ACTORS Theater Warm Up Game: Reading A Scene, Reading A Scene For Understanding, Practical Aesthetics Sheets SECTION 5: YOUR STUDENTS AS ARTISTS Why This Word?, Critical Thinking Activity, Common Core & DOE Theater Blueprint SECTION 6: THE ATLANTIC LEGACY Atlantic Theater Company, Atlantic Acting School A portrayal of Ibsen from a publication in 1898 #POSTERITYATC I 2 A T L A N T I C T SECTION 1: THE play H EA TE R COMPANY SYNOPSIS Norway’s most celebrated sculptor is commissioned to create the last official portrait of her most famous writer, but Henrik Ibsen proves to be an irascible, contentious sitter, as the two men wage war over his legacy and his likeness. Will a vulnerable artist and literary icon be able to define the nature of artistic success and the fear of being forgotten? CHARACTERS GUSTAV VIGELAND A sculptor, 30s-40s. Ferociously driven and passionate about his work, sometimes at the expense of gentler niceties. Beneath his bravado lurks a crippling insecurity. GRETA BERGSTRØM A housemaid in her 70’s. While she boasts a maternal streak, she has been alive for a great many years and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. ANFINN BECK An apprentice in his early 20’s. His youth, virility and cockiness make him the immediate envy of men whose best years are already past. SOPHUS LARPENT A patron of the arts, 50s-60s. He’s good-natured but occasionally officious, with a highly strung temperament and slight nervous condition. HENRIK IBSEN The great Norwegian playwright in his 70’s. Irascible and contentious with a formidable intellect, surprising vain streak, and hidden reserves of compassion. SETTING Time: 1901 Location: The capitol city of Kristiana (now known as Oslo) in Norway. The sculpture studio of Gustav Vigeland and Henrik Ibsen’s apartment. THEMES Immortality, Integrity, Legacy, Accountability, Vision Ibsen, 1899 #POSTERITYATC I 3 A T L A N T I C T SECTION 2: CAST & creatiVE H EA TE R COMPANY DOUG WRIGHT (Playwright & Director) Broadway: Books for the musicals Hands On a Hardbody (Dra- ma Desk nomination), The Little Mermaid and Grey Gardens (Tony® and Drama Desk Nominations). The play I Am My Own Wife (Pulitzer, Tony Award®, Drama Desk, GLAAD Me- dia Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award). Earlier in his career, Mr. Wright won an Obie Award for out- standing achievement in playwriting for Quills. He went on to write the screenplay adaptation, making his motion pic- ture debut. The film was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review and nominated for three Academy Awards®. His screenplay was nominated for a Golden Globe Award®, and received the Paul Selvin Award from the Writer’s Guild of America. For director Rob Marshall, Doug wrote the tele- vision special “Tony Bennett: An American Classic,” which received seven Emmy Awards®. Directing credits include Strindberg’s Creditors (Best Production, San Diego Critics Association) and acting work includes the filmsTwo Lovers and Little Manhattan, as well as two episodes of “Law & Or- der: Criminal Intent.” For career achievement, Mr. Wright is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writer’s Guild of Ameri- ca, East, the Screen Actors Guild and the Society of Stage Di- rectors and Choreographers. Currently, he serves on the board of the New York Theater Workshop. He lives in New York with his partner, singer/songwriter David Clement. Posterity Writer and Director Doug Wright #POSTERITYATC I 4 A T L A N T I C T SECTION 2: CAST & creatiVE H EA TE R COMPANY HAMISH LINKLATER (Gustav Vigeland) Theater: Broadway: Seminar. The Public Theater: Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors (Drama Desk nomination), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter’s Tale, Twelfth Night (Drama Desk nomination), Hamlet, The Square and Love’s Fire; Classic Stage: The School for Lies (Obie, Lortel, Outer Critics Circle nominations); Playwrights Horizons: The Busy World Is Hushed (Drama League nomination), Recent Tragic Events. His play The Vandal, was produced by The Flea and shown on PBS as part of the series “Theater Close-Up.” Film and television credits include: When I Live My Life Over Again, Ithaca (both upcoming), 42, The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, Lola Versus, Battleship, The Future, Groove, Fantastic Four. JOHN NOBLE (Henrik Ibsen) John Noble was Artistic Director of the Stage Company of South Australia for 10 years. He directed David Williamson’s Sons of Cain on London’s West End and acted in an award winning production of Rob George’s Errol Flynn’s Great Big Adventure Book For Boys at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Other highlights of his stage career include producing over 70 new Australian plays, 240 performances of Ron Blair’s one man play The Christian Brothers, and directing the enormously successful Percy and Rose by Rob George for the 1982 Adelaide Festival of Arts and subsequent National tour. In Australia, he had guest roles on many television series and was a semi-regular for five years on “All Saints.” DALE SOULES (Greta Bergstrom) Broadway: Hair (debut), Dude, The Magic Show (co-starring magician Doug Henning and introducing Stephen Schwartz’s songs “Lion Tamer” and “West End Avenue”), Whose Life Is It Anyway, The Crucible (with Laura Linney and Liam Neeson, Richard Eyre-Dir.), Grey Gardens (Michael Greif-Dir.) and most recently creating the role of “Janice” in Hands On A Hardbody (Neil Pepe-Dir.).Off-Broadway: Marsha Norman’s Getting Out; For Atlantic: The Water Engine (Karen Kohlhass-Dir.), The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite (William H. Macy –Dir) and Blithe Spirit (David Pittu-Dir.); New Jerusalem, Lotta, The Unknown (NYSF/Public Theatre), Maid, Gather At The River, (Lincoln Center Theatre), Pericles (Red Bull Theatre). HENRY STRAM (Sophus Larpent) Broadway: The Elephant Man, Inherit The Wind, The Crucible, Titanic. First National Tour: Spring Awakening. Recent Off-Broadway: Fly By Night (Playwrights Horizons); Antony and Cleopatra (Public Theater/RSC); The Cradle Will Rock (Encores Off-Center); Charles Ives Take Me Home (Rattlestick); Septimus and Clarissa (Ripetime); The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (NYTW/The Acting Company); See What I Wanna See (Public Theater). Film: Woody Allen Summer Project 2014, Angelica, Cradle Will Rock, The Grey Zone. Television: “Smash,” “White Collar,” “Law & Order.” Graduate of Juilliard and recipient of an OBIE for Sustained Excellence. MICKEY THEIS (Anfinn Beck) Professional credits include The Fatal Eggs (ATA) and Hamlet (Yale Rep), as well as workshops and readings with The Sundance Institute Theater Lab, Page 73 and New Dramatists. He is a recent graduate of The Yale School of Drama, where his credits include Peter Pan, As You Like It, The Visit, Cloud Nine, and Vieux Carré. He is a proud recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Endowment Fund Scholarship and the Oliver Thorndike Award in Acting. Also a songwriter, he recently recorded his first full-length album,Range Songs. www.mickeytheis.com #POSTERITYATC I 5 A T L A N T I C T SECTION 3: YOUR STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE H EA TE R COMPANY “Plays should tell simple, honest stories.” - David Mamet, American playwright & noted actor, William H. Macy, founders of Atlantic Theater Company The following activities will assist your students in understanding the intentions of the playwright in telling a simple story. TEACHER OBJECTIVE To introduce students to the characters, setting, and story of Posterity. STUDENT GOAL To understand that actors, working together, will simply and truthfully create the story of the play. A photograph of Vigeland’s bust of Ibsen #POSTERITYATC I 6 A T L A N T I C T theater VOCABUlary H EA TE R COMPANY Action The events that move along the story of the play TEACHER OBJECTIVE and which influence the characters within the play. To be able to discuss theater through a common, shared vocabulary. Characters Individuals the audience learns about from their actions and reactions. STUDENT GOAL To understand that the most effective way to discuss Ensemble A group of performers working together to theater and new ideas is through a shared vocabulary. create a complete production. Dialogue The exchange of speech between two characters which reveals the feelings of the character as well as the story of the play. Monologue A speech by one actor on stage which is intended to reveal the inner thoughts of the character the actor plays. Character Arc The change produced in a character by the events and other characters in the play. Musical Theater A twentieth century creation where writers and musicians collaborate to create a play which features song, dance and drama. Mood The overall feeling the play evokes. Costume The clothes, boots, etc., worn by the actors based on their character. Prop Objects used by an actor to enhance their character. For example, wine glasses at a bar for drinks. Set The constructed environment of a play within which the action takes place. Sound Noises and music used in the play. Posterity Rehearsal (Photo: Ahron R. Foster) #POSTERITYATC I 7 A T L A N T I C T POSTERITY VOCABUlary H EA TE R COMPANY Pièce de Résistance The prize item in a collection, group, or series; the climax or most impressive part of an event, display, etc.