DOCUMENT RESUME ED 442 171 CS 510 360 AUTHOR Jennings, Caleen Sinnette TITLE "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black." Cue Sheet for Students. INSTITUTION John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 1996-00-00 NOTE 10p.; Additional funding provided by The Kennedy Center Corporate Fund and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. AVAILABLE FROM http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/cuesheet/theater.html. PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom - Learner (051) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Audiences; Black Culture; Black History; Black Leadership; Class Activities; Cultural Activities; Elementary Secondary Education; Playwriting; Production Techniques; *Theater Arts; United States History IDENTIFIERS *Drama in Education; *Hansberry (Lorraine) ABSTRACT This performance guide is designed for teachers to use with students before and after a performance of "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black." The guide, called a "Cuesheet," contains seven activity sheets for use in class, addressing:(1) To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (a theatrical collage based upon the life and work of the African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry, featuring scenes from her most famous plays, as well as excerpts from her speeches and letters);(2) Lorraine Hansberry: Her Life and Legacy (offering biographical material about Hansberry's life and work);(3) The World of Lorraine Hansberry (looking at important people who influenced Hansberry, and at historical, economic, and social changes that took place during her lifetime and that she was part of); and (4) Before and After the Play (presenting ideas for discussion topics and class activities before and after attending the play). Resources for further exploration are listed. (SR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black." Cue Sheet for Students. by Ca leen Sinnette Jennings U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 P. foi'-'Students p WELCOME TCL*;COESHEET, one of a series of performance guides published by the in Education Department of the John F. Kennedy Center for the 4 Per-forming Arts, Washington,t D.C. This Cuesheet is designed to be used by teachers and 't students; before and after 008110 attending a performance of .-, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black. Students and teachers may read Cuesheet together. Small groups of students-'may use - le14gigAIDIN Cuesheet for collaborative tt? activities, and share their work with the_class. What's in Cuesheet? To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, pages 2-3 Lorraine Hansberry: Her Life and Legacy, pages 4-5 The World of Lorraine Hansberry, pages 6-7 Before and After the Play, page 8 111111111111111011-, . The,Kennedy Center. To Be Yetang, Gift and Black A Theatrical Collage To Be Young, Gifted, and Blackis a theatrical Writer Jim Vogel used both the book and play collage based upon the life and work of the script ofTo Be Young, Gifted, and Blackto African American playwright Lorraine create this adaptation. He notes: COLLAGEan artistic Hansberry. Troupe NY will present this hour- combination of varying "We have a cart of five instead of eight, In long adaptation featuring scenes from and different pieces to cutting the show down to one hour, I -try be Hansberry's most famous plays, as well as create a whole true to Hansberry's viewpoint and her rhythm. excerpts from her speeches and letters. composition The most striking thing about her was her Rather than having one actor play Hansberry, humanity. She was generous, courageous, and each actor in the multi-racial cast of five will outspoken. I want the audience to leave with her speak as Hansberry and play multiple roles. yoke ringing in their ears," Scene from the film A Raisin in the Sun, 1960. Pictured are (L. R) Ruby Dee, Claudia k MacNeil, Diana Sands, and Sidney Poitier. s*. .1! r*Irst .9* BEST COPYAVAILABLE LI Director Saundra McClain says her goal is to McClain says she wanted white and black, keep the spirit of Hansberry alive in young male and female actors to get a chance to per- viewers: form Hansberry's words: "The same things Hansberry protected are going on "Her work speaks to African Americans and all today. I want students to see her as a writerfor human beings. She cared so much about black today. She fulfilled her dreams in a short lifetime. people, but in another real sense, color didn't I want students to be inspired by the fact that matter to her at all, People mattered." she didn't let anything hold her back," PiecesThat Create The Whole Robert Nemiroff, Hansberry's former hus- The Drinking Gourd band and executor of her literary estate, was (commissioned 1959)Characters:Hannibal, the primary person responsible for the origi- Sarah, Zeb Dudley, Hiram Sweet, and nal version ofTo Be Young, Gifted, and Tommy. This drama written for television Black.He states: looks at the institution of slavery: the To Be Young, Gifted, relationships between master and slave, and Black also ",,.the words, experiences, characters, and cre freedom and bondage. includes a monologue ationc..,are her own. But it is also an adaptation, from Sean O'Casey's a portrait rendered through The perspective of The Sign in Sidney Juno and the Paycock. another's eyes. And Therefore it takes a some Brustein's Window(premiered 0"Casey (1880-1964) what novel form: biography and autobiography, 1964)Characters:Iris, Sidney. Set in New was a famous Irish part fact, part fiction, an act of creation and York City's Greenwich Village, the play looks playwright born in recreation utilizing firstperson materials as at how much an individual can sacrifice poverty and self- well as...autobiographical projections of herself his/her personal, social, and political ideals. educated. His plays in her characters," All the Dark and Beautiful deal with the violent The first production of the play opened in Warrrors(Unfinished, unpublished struggle for Irish novel)Character: New York City in January 1969. Nemiroff felt Candace. The young independence and strongly that Lorraine Hansberry's Voice student Candace, is based on Hansberry and feature realistic came through clearly in her characters. The her experienCes with African students at the settings and colorful following synopses identify the characters University of Wisconsin. characters and speech. and scenes shown inTo Be Young, Gifted, Of What Use Are Flowers? and Black: (completed in 1962) This play was conceived A Raisin in the Sun as a fantasy fot television about the (premiered 1959)Characters:Mama, Walter, aftermath of nuclear war. Beheatha, and Rtith Younger, and Lindner. Les Blancs(written in 1963) This is a The Younger family struggles to make its play about leaders for African independence. dreams come true despite the despair,, danger, - , r ter; and frustration of life in the Chicago, gheito. Toussaint(u ished) This;play is Lindner represents the forces of racism. out the HaitianCeVolutionaryleader. 5 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Lorraineensberry: Her Lifend Le acy Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago in of the day who influenced her. Her father's 1930. Her father was a well-respected busi- sudden death shortly before Lorraine's 16th nessman, landlord, and inventor. He was also birthday left her even more isolated. When it a political activist with considerable knowl- was time for college, Hansberry selected the edge of law. His shrewd business investments University of Wisconsin. enabled his family to live comfortably even While at Wisconsin, Hansberry attended during the Great Depression. THE GREAT Juno and The Paycock,Sean O'Casey's drama DEPRESSION began on Hansberry's mother was a Ward about a lower middle class Irish family. October 29, 1929, Councilwoman and accountant. She was col- Hansberry identified strongly with this play, when the stock market lege educated, something rare for African- its truthful family portrait, its universal crashed. Great American women of that time. Both parents human issues, and its laughter and tears. She numbers of American instilled in their daughter a fierce sense of got more involved in theater, studying plays workers lost their pride and dignity in herself and her race. and set design and "...sort of hanging around savings and jobs. This They valued education and taught their chil- little acting groups...." economic crisis lasted dren to strive for the best. through the 1930s. Her political activism grew as she was As the youngest of four children, with a elected campus chairperson of the Young considerable age gap between herself and her Progressives of America. Outside of the siblings, Lorraine was often left out of activi- classroom she read about the independence ties. She learned to observe from a distance movements in Africa. Although she had and amuse herself. In school, she experienced learned much about life and had been stimu- an even greater degree of separation from her lated by much in the environment, by the end classmates because her family was better off of her sophomore year, Hansberry's academic financially than most of her schoolmates' performance was disappointing. She moved families. In fact, at the age of five, her class- to New York City in 1950. mates beat her up for wearing a brand new In New York, Hansberry began classes at white rabbit fur coat to school. The guts, the New School for Social Research. She determination, and compassion she displayed became the youngest member of the staff of in later years was evidenced in her early the monthly magazineFreedom,published by years, since she befriended the students who singer and social activist Paul Robeson.