STUDY GUIDE 2007 A PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON RESOURCE FOR THE CLASSROOM CONTAINING ONTARIO CURRICULUM SUPPORT MATERIALS

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This study guide for Summer and Smoke contains background information for the play, suggested themes and topics for discussion, and curriculum- TABLE OF CONTENTS based lessons that are designed by educators and theatre professionals. Summer and Smoke is recom- mended for students in grade 9 and higher. The Players/Synopsis………………………….3

The Story ………………………………….….4 The lessons and themes for discussion are organized Who’s Who in the Play…...……………….…...5 in modules that can be used independently or inter- dependently according to the class level and time The Playwright………………………………6-7 availability. Director’s Notes………………………………8

Designer’s Notes………………………………9 THIS GUIDE WAS WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY ROD CHRISTENSEN, JOANNA FALCK, DEBRA MCLAUCH- Production History…………………………...10 LAN, AND AMANDA TRIPP. ADDITIONAL MATERIALS The World of the Play…………………….11-17 WERE PROVIDED BY PETER HARTWELL, CHRISTINA PODDUBIUK AND NEIL MUNRO. Did You Know? ……………………….…….18

Additional Sources…………………………...19 COVER: DAVID JANSEN AND NICOLE UNDERHAY PHOTO: BY SHIN SUGINO

Classroom Applications fâÅÅxÜ tÇw fÅÉ~x Before Attending the Play………………...20-26 After Attending the Play…………………..27-32 Running time: 2hrs approx. Glossary of Theatre Terms…………………..33 including one intermission Response Sheet……………………………....34 Previews June 23, 2007 Opens July 6, 2007

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Dusty/Vernon…………………………………………………………...KAWA ADA Dr Buchanan…………………………………………………...GUY BANNERMAN Rosa Gonzales………………………………………NICOLA CORREIA-DAMUDE Mrs Winemiller……………………………………………………...SHARRY FLETT Kramer………………………………………………………...JONATHAN GOULD Reverend Winemiller…………………………………………………...PETER HUTT Rosemary……………………………………………………….MELANIE JANZEN Nellie Ewell…………………………………………………...CHILINA KENNEDY John Buchanan……………………………………………………..JEFF MEADOWS Gonzales………………………………………………………...MICHEAL QUERIN Mrs Bassett………………………………………………….BRIGITTE ROBINSON Roger…………………………………………………………………...JAY TURVEY Alma Winemiller…………………………..………………….NICOLE UNDERHAY

Directed by NEIL MUNRO Set Designed by PETER HARTWELL Costumes Designed by CHRISTINA PODDUBIUK Lighting Designed by ALAN BRODIE Original Music by MARC DESORMEAUX

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Summer and Smoke is Tennessee Williams at his most passionate. The setting is turn-of-the-century Mississippi where Alma, the daughter of a small-town minister and mentally unstable mother, har- bours a life-long infatuation with her restless and self-indulgent neighbour, John. Alma and John’s struggle between body and soul, anarchy and order, love and lust leads to profound changes in both their lives. A true American masterpiece, Summer and Smoke is a bittersweet exploration of love and longing with unforgettable characters that break our hearts even as they touch our souls.

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It’s a warm July evening in Glorious Hill, Mississippi and ALMA: Love is what you bring to it. Some Tennessee Williams’ classic play introduces us to another people just bring their bodies. But there unforgettable character in Alma Winemiller. With a cata- are some people, there are some women, logue of over 80 plays, Williams is considered one of the John – who can bring their hearts to it, also – who can bring their souls to it! most prominent playwrights of the 20th century and Sum- mer and Smoke has been called one of his five greats. In Alma begins behaving with uncharacteristic affection to- his memoirs, Williams allowed himself this rare observa- wards John, and he responds by attempting to seduce tion about one of his own characters, “Miss Alma Wine- her. Alma, unprepared for John’s sexual advances, flees miller may very well be the best female portrait I have from him and John returns to the arms of Rosa Gonza- drawn in a play. She simply seemed to exist somewhere les. in my being and it was no effort to put her on paper. ” Williams describes her in the stage directions: John throws a rowdy engagement party for himself and Rosa at the home of his father, Dr Buchanan Senior. Alma had an adult quality as a child and now, in her middle twen- Alma, feeling slighted and wanting to save John from ties, there is something prematurely spinsterish about her: an exces- making a tragic mistake, informs his father of the im- sive propriety and self-consciousness is apparent in her nervous moral goings-on in his home. This is an act of revenge laughter, her voice and gestures belong to years of church entertain- with tragic consequences. When John’s father returns ments… People her own age regard her as rather quaintly and hu- home to put an end to the party; an argument breaks out morously affected… Her true nature is still hidden even from her- and Gonzales kills him. self. The events of this night prove to be transformational for Her life has not been an easy one – she has had to care both John and Alma. Alma withdraws and secludes her- for her mother and help her father the Reverend, assist- self in the rectory, while John leaves his wild ways behind ing him with his many social and community duties. This and proceeds to distinguish himself by carrying on with life seems to have left her cold and unsettled, yearning his father’s work at a nearby fever clinic. for something more but unsure of what that might be - until John Buchanan Jr returns. A childhood friend, the Months later, Alma emerges from seclusion ready to young doctor returns to his hometown to practice with forge a relationship with John that is both physical and his father and suddenly, Alma’s relationship with the man spiritual; no longer afraid of her sexuality. However, she has been seeing, the well-meaning but meek Roger, John has also changed. He has come to recognize the no longer seems satisfactory to her. She wants more but value of a mental and spiritual connection in a relation- fears what lies inside of her. ship, and no longer wants a physical relationship with Alma. He refuses Alma’s advances and is engaged to We are told that Alma, in Spanish, means soul but for marry Nellie Ewell, one of Alma’s former music students. John the physical side of love is what he needs and so he turns to Rosa Gonzales, the daughter of the owner of Alma heads to the fountain at the centre of town where Moon River Casino, to satisfy him. But he continues to she meets a travelling salesman. The play concludes with return to Alma as he spirals downward into corruption Alma arranging a rendezvous with the travelling salesman and despair and she continues to remind him that a good at the Moon Lake Casino. life is worth living – comically, she brings him to one of her “literary” meetings full of gossip and petty fights and he abruptly exits to return to his life of ill-repute.

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Reverend Winemiller is the town’s Mrs Winemiller is the wife of Reverend Episcopal minister. He assumes his Winemiller and is cared for by her daughter, role and responsibilities with his family Alma. She is psychologically unbalanced and church very seriously. He wants to and finds a variety of opportunities to act maintain his good reputation and repu- inappropriately in social situations. table status in Glorious Hill.

Alma Winemiller is a noted singer and music teacher in town. She is the shy, fearful, and somewhat eccentric daughter of Reverend and Mrs Winemiller. Alma is a young lady who adheres to her strict moral and religious beliefs. She has held a longtime infatuation with her neighbour, John Buchanan, and feels it necessary to save him from his debaucherous lifestyle. She feels she can see through John’s wild ways and believes he possesses a beautiful soul within.

Dr John Buchanan is the town’s physician. He is a well trusted pro- fessional and values accountability and the proper sense of duty. He disapproves of his son’s carousing.

John Buchanan has just completed his medical degree in bacte- riology from the reputable Johns Hopkins University. His lifestyle Papa Gonzales is of Latin- is the opposite to his father’s. John Jr. is a thrill-seeker and im- American descent and the proud merses himself in the physical companionship of many women. father of Rosa Gonzales. He John is intrigued by Alma's fastidious manners and sees the inter- manages and owns the Moon nal struggle between her spiritual ideals and her passionate spirit. Lake Casino, the local nightclub.

Nellie Ewell is a former voice student Rosa Gonzales is a dancer at Moon of Alma’s. When she returns to Glori- Lake Casino and is the daughter of ous Hill from boarding school, Nellie Papa Gonzales. Rosa becomes romanti- and John are engaged to be married. cally involved with John Buchanan.

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g{x cÄtçãÜ|z{à gxÇÇxááxx j|ÄÄ|tÅá ;DLDD@ DLKF< school newspaper – they published his short stories and poems and at fourteen, an entire page of the school yearbook was dedicated to his poem, “Demon Smoke” – about the effects of air pollution. At seven- teen he travelled with his grandfather throughout Europe and published travel articles for his high school newspaper. But he was still painfully shy. One story about Williams’ shyness is his graduation – he had bought a class ring and been fitted for a tuxedo for Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – Febru- the prom but when his mother arrived for the cere- ary 25, 1983), better known by the pen name Tennes- mony, he was not there. They found him at the down- see Williams, was born in the small town of Columbus, town public library. Mississippi. His family lived with his mother’s parents and his grandfather was the local Episcopal rector. His Williams attended the University of Missouri-Columbia father, Cornelius (also called CC) was a traveling shoe where his fraternity brothers named him “Tennessee” salesman and his mother, Edwina, enjoyed the social for his rich southern drawl. At nineteen he wrote his prestige of being the daughter of the town’s rector. first play, Beauty is the Word, which won 6th honourable “Tom” was the middle child – he had an older brother, mention in a campus contest. He continued writing Dakin, who his father apparently favoured, and a plays, took his first playwriting course, and he read younger sister named Rose. He and his sister were very plays by August Strindberg and Eugene O’Neill. See- close – both were shy, quiet children who didn’t fare ing plays like Ibsen’s and becoming involved in well under their father’s loud and boisterous nature a radical theatre group called “The Mummers” also and their mother’s scolding. influenced his writing. The Mummers were producing Irwin Shaw’s anti-war play Bury the Dead and the direc- The family moved to St Louis, Missouri when Williams tor needed a ‘curtain raiser’ or a short play to be pre- was seven. The move from a small country town to a sented before the main presentation. The Mummers large city was a difficult one for the entire family. Ac- contacted Williams and his relationship with them be- cording to Williams, it was in St Louis that he first gan. Williams said, about their work, “Dynamism was learned that there were rich and poor – and that he and what The Mummers had. They never put on a show his family were poor. They could not attend the that didn’t deliver a punch to the solar plexus… and it wealthy private schools and Williams later said about made a difference to the lives of the spectators that public school, “That name, public school, kept stab- they had seen that show.” His schooling was inter- bing at my guts until I wanted, as old as I was, to sit rupted when his father forced him to withdraw from down and cry.” He was so miserable in St Louis that college and work at the International Shoe Company. when he was ten, he was sent back to live with his There he worked with a young man named Stanley grandparents for a year. This year back in Mississippi Kowalski who would later resurface as a character in A may have been the beginning of Williams’ romantic Streetcar Named Desire. view of the South – a place he saw as his own “lost Eden”.

Williams began writing at the age of thirteen for the

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In 1938, he graduated from the University of Iowa. Williams said that in his plays he was “creating imagi- He moved to New Orleans and he was awarded a nary worlds into which I can retreat from the real $1,000 Rockefeller Writing Grant, and a year later, Bat- world because… I’ve never made any kind of adjust- tle of Angels was produced in Boston. In 1944, very early ment to the real world.” in Williams’ career, he wrote , which many consider to be his best play. It had a very suc- cessful run in Chicago and a year later it played on Broadway. The play tells the story of Tom, his disabled sister, Laura, and their controlling mother Amanda who tries to make a match between Laura and the gen- tleman caller. Many people believe that Tennessee used his own family relationships as inspiration for the play. His mother, who is often compared to the controlling Amanda, allowed doctors to perform a frontal lobot- omy on Tennessee’s sister Rose, who had been diag- nosed as schizophrenic. This greatly disturbed Williams who cared for Rose throughout much of her adult life. Elia Kazan (who directed many of Williams’ greatest Tennessee Williams’ first home in Mississippi successes) said of Williams: “Everything in his life is in his plays, and everything in his plays is in his life.” The Glass Menagerie won the New York Drama Critics’ Cir- W|w lÉâ ^ÇÉãR cle Award for best play of the season. Tom (Tennessee) Williams Williams followed up his first major critical success received his first typewriter with several other Broadway hits including such plays as a gift from his mother on as (1947), Summer and Smoke his 11th birthday. She had (1948), A Rose Tattoo (1951), and (1953). hoped that it would help He received his first Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for A Street- him with his school work. car Named Desire, and reached an even larger world- That typewriter, he said wide audience in 1950 and 1951 when The Glass Menag- “immediately became my erie and A Streetcar Named Desire were made into major place of retreat, my cave, my refuge” from a turbulent motion pictures. Later plays which were also made into and unhappy home life. motion pictures include (for As for Tom’s academic performance, he was a com- which he earned a second Pulitzer Prize in 1955), Or- pletely unremarkable student, never demonstrating pheus Descending (1957), and Night of the Iguana (1961). even a trace of his future brilliance in his schoolwork. Williams won his fourth and final Drama Critics’ At age 16, Tom won 3rd prize in an essay writing con- Award for Night of the Iguana, representing a high point test and had his first story published in Smart Set in his career. He continued to write plays with varying magazine, answering the question Can a Good Wife Be a degrees of success until his death in 1983. Good Sport? His prize? $5.

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W|ÜxvàÉÜËá aÉàxá Director Neil munro talks about directing Summer and smoke

Q: What’s your vision for this play? which saves them from falling into the abyss of emotional self-indulgence and spiritual hysteria. A: The play takes place in the fraught and overly sen- When he takes the poetic pulse of a character, it sitive mind of a young woman who slowly finds shows us a little bit of ourselves in that character, herself moving into spinsterhood. Alma’s character our own vulnerabilities, foibles, cruelties and (the virginal spinster) and John (the out of control needs. The need for love is Williams’ main theme sensualist) are essentially the two parts of William’s in everything he ever wrote – our need for it, our existential coin. If the two could be brought into yearning for it, and how difficult it is to live with it harmony one with the other, a genuine, beautiful when we finally got it. human being would emerge. This of course, will not be the case. As both characters wind up over- Q: What do you want us to tell people about your compensating for their faults, they miss the possi- work on this play? Any particular challenges bilities of a rich relationship between them. you foresee and your ideas for overcoming them? Q: In your mind, who would you suggest as the ideal audience for your production? A: The challenge of the piece is to bring together this delicate balance between the inner poetic nature of A: It’s a mature piece, and requires a little existential the characters and the brutalities of normal, every- hand-holding from the audience. But basically it is day life that seem to conspire against tenderness a love story, unrequited, so one has to be mature and a surrender to love. enough to want to delve into the sadness, and in a sense celebrate it, as one of the qualities that unfor- tunately, seems to go into the make-up of being a

human being.

Q: Have you ever directed this playwright’s work before? If so, when and where?

A: Several years ago I did a co-production of The Glass Menagerie, with the National Arts Centre and the Mirvishes, which starred Kiefer Sutherland and his mom Shirley Douglas. The Shaw’s Cameron Porte- ous did the set. Menagerie is closest to Summer and Smoke, in that it goes gently into the disarray of character without all the violence that his later plays are famous for. Neil Munro, Director Q: What do you find most interesting about this playwright? About this play?

A: Williams is essentially a poet, and in his best plays, he brings his poetic vision to the stories he tells,

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fxà Wxá|zÇxÜËá aÉàxá by peter Hartwell

Q: Are there any influences that helped shape your design?

A: Knowing that Neil was to direct Summer and Smoke influenced the design and approach profoundly. Stage directions are almost certain to be relegated to a minor status when working on a piece like this with Neil. His main request was that the design be spiritual. Not an easy note but concrete enough to start to open up options other than those in the stage directions.

Q: What do you find most interesting about the story and/or your design for Summer and Smoke?

A: Neil sees the play as happening inside Alma’s head. The design needs to feel as flexible as dreams can be. Spaces overlap and the angel is not static. The furniture (e.g. benches) could be pews, park benches, etc. Their number and flexibility allow for a multitude of options for Neil and hopefully make the performers more prominent than the setting.

Q: What do you want audience members to know about your design?

A: The design is not symbolic. It is a frame that allows a rectory, doctor's office, park and arbor to exist. All locations happen without designating one stage area for one particular place. I don’t know if Wil- liams would approve but with the Royal George Theatre’s dimensions, Williams’ requirements would look ludicrously cramped. We’ve tried to open it up.

Set design by Peter Hartwell Costume design for Rosa Gonzales and Dr. Buchanan by Christina Poddubiuk

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Summer and Smoke premiered on July 11, 1947 in Margo Summer and Smoke is the first play by Tennessee Jones’ inaugural Theatre ‘47 season in Dallas, Texas. It Williams to be produced at the Shaw Festival. opened on Broadway, again under Jones’ direction, at “The apparent failure of a play sends me the Music Box Theater on October 6, 1948. Summer back to my typewriter that very night, be- and Smoke arrived on Broadway close on the heels of A fore the reviews are out. I am more com- Streetcar Named Desire, thus inviting comparisons of pelled to get back to work than if I had a Summer and Smoke to what is arguably Williams’ greatest success.” (Tennessee Williams) work. In contrast to the phenomenal success of Street- car, Summer and Smoke ran for only 102 performances. \y tà y|Üáà çÉâ wÉÇËà áâvvxxw‹ Director José Quintero’s Circle-in-the-Square produc- tion in April, 1952 featured as Alma. Williams was dissatisfied with the original script for This production did much to restore the play’s reputa- Summer and Smoke. In 1964, he re-wrote it and re- tion. Geraldine Page also went on to star (with Laur- named it The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. This revision ence Harvey) in the movie version released in 1961. A retained the same characters and setting, but Williams Broadway revival by the Roundabout Theatre Com- thought it was “… a substantially different play from pany opened on September 5, 1996, directed by David Summer and Smoke, and I prefer it. It is less conven- Warren, but ran for only 53 performances. tional and melodramatic.” He had hoped that its pub- lication would lead to its production and confirm his The British premiere of Summer and Smoke opened at feeling that it was a better work. The Eccentricities of a the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, on November 11, Nightingale would have to wait until 1976 for its Broad- 1951, directed by (who also directed way debut. It too had a short run. the 1961 movie). A revival directed by Adrian Noble opened at the , London, on October and . 18, 2006 for a short run. W|w lÉâ ^ÇÉãR The Canadian premiere was a production at the Jupiter Summer and Smoke was originally entitled A Chart of Anat- Theatre, Toronto, that ran in March, 1953. omy when Williams began writing it in 1945. In 1970, American composer Lee Hoiby wrote an opera version of Summer and Smoke. The opera pre- miered at the St. Paul Opera Association on June 19, TÇw à{x ÇÉÅ|Çxxá tÜx‹ 1971. It was declared “the finest American opera to The 1961 film version of Summer and Smoke received 4 date” by Harriet Johnson of the New York Post. Academy Award nominations. Television movie versions of Summer and Smoke and Geraldine Page received a Best Actress nomination for her The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (a revised version of portrayal of Alma. Summer and Smoke) were also made. Summer and Smoke Una Merkel was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in (1972) starred , David Hedison and Barry the role of Mrs Winemiller. Morse. The television version of The Eccentricities of a The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction – Set Nightingale aired in 1976, and starred Decoration, Color and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

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g{x jÉÜÄw Éy à{x cÄtçM `tÇÇxÜá 9 Xà|Öâxààx X-treme Etiquette Etiquette is a system of rules that dictate how people should interact with one another. Life in Mississippi in the early 1900s was full of such rules of behaviour. Southern social etiquette involved an extremely complex system of manners that upheld the values of the day, such as order and stability; offering hospitality to guests; refinement and delicacy; diction and poise. Observance, or non-observance, of the minute details and rules of etiquette indicated one’s class and level of con- sideration for others. The rules of etiquette demanded conformity to certain norms of behaviour in order to get along in society. Crudeness and disregard for the rules of etiquette could be the cause of social ostracism. Heightened forms of politeness and courtesy were the everyday, external signs of a person’s moral virtue. Manners and social graces, such as prefixing “Miss” or “Master” to others’ first names in ordinary conversation, the correct posture and gait, the way a lady held a wrist-fan or a tea cup, the way a gentleman bowed, and the colors of one’s dress were all measurements of a person’s moral virtue and quality of life. Social life centered around the front parlour, the school, and the church hall. There were strict rules for interaction in each of these settings. Many Mississippi writers, including Tennessee Williams, described the power and influence of Southern-Victorian morality in their writing. The life that Williams described was like the life he knew, one of prudery and extreme attention to the details of life. gÉ {xÄÑ |ÄÄâáàÜtàx à{x ÜâÄxá Éy xà|Öâxààx Éy à{x ÑxÜ|Éw‹ When visiting friends, it was fashionable for people to leave their card at the front door or parlour, even if the per- son they were visiting was home. Calling cards were used as a reminder about who had visited recently and de- served a visit in turn. The card alone would be sufficient; however, sometimes a short, personal message was added. A card is never carried by a caller into the drawing-room and presented to the hostess. The majority of calls between women are exchanged on their appointed days at home, and then the cards are usually left by the caller on the tray in the hall as she passes through on her way to the drawing-room. If the call is the first she has paid that season in that house, she puts into the tray one card of her own and two of her husband’s. Thereafter, during the season, she need not again leave her own card, if her subsequent calls are made on the friend’s day at home. She still leaves two of her husband’s cards, however, if her call is made in return for any entertainment to which she has been asked and if her hostess is a married woman. If her hostess’s unmarried daughters receive with their mother the caller need not leave any cards for them, even though they are in society. She would, however, leave one of her own cards on retiring from the house, if she found a married daughter or a friend receiving with the hostess. (Encyclopedia of Etiquette, 1911)

MRS. EPWORTH GREY

MISS MARY ELOISE GREY

FRIDAYS SOUTH OAK STREET

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g{x jÉÜÄw Éy à{x cÄtçM `tÇÇxÜá 9 Xà|Öâxààx _tw|xá tÇw ZxÇàÄxÅxÇ‹ UÉã|Çz The rules for interaction between men and women were still more complex. The following excerpts out- It is the woman’s privilege to bow line the rules of behaviour for ladies and gentlemen first when meeting men acquaint- who meet in public, and are taken from the Encyclopedia ances. In doing this, she bends her of Etiquette (1911). head slightly, looks directly at the person recognized, according him, VÉÇäxÜátà|ÉÇá |Ç à{x fàÜxxà at the same time, a slight smile or an amiable glance… A young When a man meets a feminine acquaintance in the lady takes the initiative when she street and is desirous of speaking with her, he lifts his Costume design for hat and, coming to her side, walks beside her. If he Alma Winemiller by meets in the street a gentleman Christina Poddubiuk meets a woman friend walking alone, or accompanied with whom she may have gone in by a woman to whom he is at once introduced or whom to dinner or with whom she may have danced several times he already knows, he is privileged to ask permission to at a ball. She always bows to him, though no further ac- accompany the lady to her destination. quaintance may ever after exist between them. Too many

women have the mistaken impression that manifestly to refuse all recognition is the proper method by which to end Consider John and Alma’s behaviour when they an undesirable acquaintance or to administer a rebuke for meet as adults in Summer and Smoke (excerpted discourteous treatment received. It is perfectly easy, when below) in light of the manners of the day. desired, to acknowledge a salutation with such dignity and brevity of glance as plainly to indicate that one’s wish is to hold the person from whom the salutation is received to the merest bowing acquaintance; and when the desire is to close [John laughs by the fountain. Alma moves an acquaintance entirely, one need only look away as the her parasol so that it shields her face from him. She leans back closing her undesirable person approaches and keep the eyes persis- eyes. John notices a firecracker by the tently, but not ostentatiously, averted or downcast until he is fountain. He leans over negligently to by. This is in most cases quite as effective and in every way pick it up. He grins and lights it and much better than to give an insolent and deliberate stare in tosses it toward Alma’s bench. When it goes off she springs up with a shocked answer to a bow and smile. cry, letting the parasol drop.] ...Under no circumstances can a gentleman refuse to JOHN: [jumping up as if outraged] Hey! return a woman’s bow. Having the initiative in this mat- Hey, you! [He looks off to the right]. Alma sinks back weakly on the bench. John ter, she may bow or not as she pleases, but once clearly re- solicitously advances.] Are you all fused a salutation by a woman acquaintance, the man so right? treated should thereafter, by refusing to look her way, de- prive her of an opportunity for a repetition of the discour- tesy. 12

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“All work is autobiographical if it is se- TÜà \Å|àtàxá _|yx rious. Everything a writer produces is Many of the characters that populate Williams’ works sort of his inner history, transposed into are drawn from his own life experience. The world of another time.” (Tennessee Williams) Summer and Smoke is inhabited by misfits and outcasts: many ailments, and his struggle with depression, he characters coping with isolation, loneliness and loss; would later become addicted to prescription drugs and individuals whose needs are at odds with their circum- alcohol. stances, and those who are unable to reconcile the Alma also bears an undeniable resemblance to Wil- flesh and the spirit. liams’ sister Rose, who was an extremely fragile indi- Glorious Hill, the small Mississippi town where Summer vidual and had tremendous difficulty coping with the and Smoke takes place, is like a version of the town of stresses of daily life. Like Alma, Rose became hysterical Clarksdale where Tom (Tennessee) Williams grew up. at minor setbacks. Before Rose was 30, she was diag- Like Alma, Williams was raised in an Episcopal rec- nosed with schizophrenia, confined to an institution tory, where his grandfather, the Reverend Walter Da- and later lobotomized. kin, was pastor at St George’s Church. Alma, John, and Tennessee Williams all found them- Lyon, Mississippi, where the fictional Dr John Bu- selves on the fringes of society. From a young age, chanan Sr spends much of his time at the fever clinic, Williams felt he was on the outside of the crowd. He is actually a small town in Mississippi, near Tom’s boy- was a small town Southern boy, transplanted to a big hood home of Clarksdale. Malaria, influenza and yel- city, where he and his accent were not the norm. He low fever were very real threats at the time the play is was painfully shy and taunted by his peers for being a set. Young Tom used to accompany his grandfather, ‘sissy’. Even at home, Tom was taunted by his father the Rev Dakin, on his trips to visit the lonely and the for his lack of athleticism and his preference for books sick outside of Clarksdale. and the world of imagination.

The character of Alma Winemiller could be viewed as Given Williams’ religious upbringing, and the sexual a composite of several of Williams’ family members. mores of his era, being a gay man likely reinforced his Like Tom’s mother, Edwina Dakin, Alma was raised in sense of separation from the norm of society. Alma, as the rectory. Williams knew well the responsibilities of an eligible but unmarried woman, would have also be- a clergyman’s wife, having watched his grandmother longed to a minority group, defying society’s expecta- devote herself to parish, school, community groups tions of marriage for a woman her age. John Buchanan and offering music lessons as well. Williams claimed also defied the conventional expectations of behaviour that Alma, his favourite character, was a self-portrait - for a doctor. For a man in a very respectable position, “She seemed to be somewhere in my being.” Her frus- he was unable to earn society’s respect due to the asso- tration and her hypochondria mirrored Williams’ own ciations he kept and his conduct in his personal life. (both complained of ‘palpitations’). Due to Williams’ Williams’ father, Cornelius Coffin Williams, like John ALMA: I need one...Why? Because I nearly died of heart failure in your automo- Buchanan Jr., was a drinker, a gambler and a woman- bile...Please give me back my tablets. izer. Edwina was embarrassed, angry and sometimes JOHN: You want to turn into a dope fiend taking this stuff? I said take one when afraid of Cornelius’ behaviour. you need one. 13

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Tennessee Williams wrote in the Southern Gothic style, a g{x fÉâà{xÜÇ ZÉà{|v sub-genre of the Gothic style. In Gothic literature, the supernatural, mental illness, irony, and the grotesque are used to guide the story’s ZÉà{|v _|àxÜtàâÜx plot and create suspense and fear. The Southern Gothic uses many of these same elements, but as a Gothic literature derives its means of revealing the cultural character of the Ameri- name from its similarities to can South, rather than to create suspense. medieval Gothic cathedrals. Gothic architecture is Southern Gothic literature usually tells the stories of recognizable by its unreserved those who are ostracized or oppressed by traditional style and ornamentation. The Southern culture (e.g. African-Americans, women, and vaulting arches and spires of Chartres Cathedral, France homosexuals). Gothic cathedrals reach to the sky as if trying to grasp the heavens, and the cathe- The Southern Gothic author tends to avoid perpetuat- drals are decorated with wild carvings that portray hu- ing stereotypes about the South, such as the demure manity in conflict with supernatural forces such as de- Southern belle or the chivalrous gentleman. Instead, the mons, angels, gargoyles, and monsters. The architec- writer takes a classic Gothic archetype, such as the ture suggests that the human condition is one of divi- damsel in distress, and places her in the context of the sion between a finite, physical identity and the terrifying South in order to make a point about Southern society. and mysterious forces of the infinite. The Gothic aes- The author gives this stock character a more modern thetic also represents an ambition to transcend earthly and realistic twist. The damsel in distress might be trans- human limitations and reach the divine. formed into a reclusive spinster; the chivalrous gentleman may be turned into a white-suited doctor with a weak- Like Gothic architecture, Gothic literature focuses on ness for the drink and questionable intentions. themes of immorality, the struggle between good and evil, and the existence of the inexplicable in humanity Tennessee Williams described the Southern Gothic as and the universe. The Gothic views the human condi- a style that captured "an intuition of an underlying tion as a paradox, a dilemma of duality. These themes dreadfulness in modern experience." are explored in classic Gothic novel such as Franken- stein by Mary Shelley and Dracula by Bram Stoker. Alma: Have you ever seen, or looked at a YtÅÉâá xåtÅÑÄxá Éy à{x fÉâà{xÜÇ ZÉà{|v picture, of a Gothic cathedral? How every- thing reaches up, how everything seems to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) be straining for something out of the reach of stone — or human — fingers? The Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (1948) vaulted ceilings and all the delicate and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) spires — all reaching up to something be- yond attainment! To me — well, that is the Other notable writers in the Southern Gothic tradi- secret, the principle back of existence — tion include William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, the everlasting struggle and aspiration Eudora Welty, and Truman Capote. for more than our human limits...

14

g{x jÉÜÄw Éy à{x cÄtçM fv|xÇvx 9 `xw|v|Çx gâÜÇ@Éy@à{x@VxÇàâÜç `xw|v|ÇxM Looking back on the his- tory of Western medicine, g{x `|Çw äá g{x UÉwç there is no doubt that tre-

mendous advancements John: Your name is Alma and Alma is Span- have been made using this ish for soul. Sometime I’d like to show you a chart of the human anatomy that I approach. have in the office. It shows what our in- sides are like, and maybe you can show me It is now widely believed where the beautiful soul is located on the that there is a significant chart. interrelation and interac- Body vs mind; science vs religion; doctor’s son vs tion between the mind and preacher’s daughter: The central problem of Summer body. It is considered and Smoke is that Alma and John subscribe to funda- common knowledge that stress, for example, can have mentally different worldviews. The Buchanans, a fam- a profound effect on one’s health, leading to ulcers and ily of doctors, are in the business of tending to bodies headaches, etc. These physical symptoms can, in turn, and the Winemillers, a religious family, are in the busi- cause psychological and emotional distress. ness of nurturing souls. John Buchanan, being a man of science, is concerned with objective reality, things that are physical and measurable, and with the pleas- ures of the body, whereas Alma is preoccupied with matters of the mind and soul. Although they are drawn to one another, they cannot seem to reconcile their ideas about flesh and spirit.

Traditional Western medicine adopts the view that sickness of the body is a purely physical problem and can be treated by understanding the body alone, with- out considering the role of personality, the mind or the Alma: I’ve looked through a tele- soul. Advances in medical technology, such as the mi- scope, but never a microscope. What do you - see? croscope, the stethoscope and refined surgical tech- niques provided objective proof that the human being John: A - universe, Miss Alma was a collection of cells, tissues and organs. As such, Alma: What kind of a universe? the business of healing seemed to have little to do with John: Pretty much the same kind that the realm of the mind and spirit; thoughts and emo- you saw through the lens of a tele- tions. The discovery of bacteria and antibiotics further scope – a mysterious one… reinforced the notion that states of the mind had little Alma: Oh, yes… or no influence on physical health. Curing illness be- John: Part anarchy – and part order! came a matter of science and technology. Physicians came to examine and study the physical aspects of the Alma: The footprints of God! human being, treating symptoms using drugs and sur- John: But not God. gery. 15

g{x jÉÜÄw Éy à{x cÄtçM fv|xÇvx 9 `xw|v|Çx

g{tàËá WÉvàÉÜ ]É{Ç Uâv{tÇtÇ ]âÇ|ÉÜAAA ...We are left in the hands of the genera- tions which, having heard of microbes sud- Dr John Buchanan Junior’s credentials would have denly concluded that the whole art of been very impressive in 1916. With a medical degree healing could be summed up in the formula: from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland Find the microbe and kill it.” G.B. Shaw and specialization in Bacteriology, he would have been one of the best trained physicians in the United States, The development of antibiotics in the 1940s offered working in a very important field of cutting edge medi- physicians a powerful tool against bacterial infections cine. John Hopkins University was considered the best that has saved the lives of millions of people. medical school in the country and a leader in modern American medical education. g{ÜÉâz{ à{x Å|vÜÉávÉÑx UtvàxÜ|ÉÄÉzç The existence of micro- organisms was suspected long Bacteria are living before it could be proven, since things, neither plant bacteria were too small to be nor animal. They are seen with the naked eye. The small, single-celled invention of the microscope (in organisms. 1664) exposed this miniscule E. coli: A common bacteria that causes world, allowing humans to ‘see Bacteriology is the illness, viewed through a microscope. Optical microscope, 1915 the unseen’ for the first time. study of bacteria, The microscope has been diseases caused by bacteria, and the utilization of bac- linked to microbiology ever since. teria to solve specific problems. By peering through the microscope, early scientists, or Bacteria that cause disease are called pathogenic bacteria. natural philosophers, were able to observe and identify Understanding how bacteria make us ill has led to a bet- cells and tiny organisms or "wee animacules" as they were ter understanding of ways of treating and preventing first named. disease. In the world of the play, Dr Buchanan Senior focuses much of his time on the fever epidemic in the nearby ZxÜÅ à{xÉÜç town of Lyon. It would be safe to assume that John Junior’s medical training in Bacteriology enhanced his The discoveries of early scientists in microbiology (in father’s work and aided in finding a cure for the epi- the 1600s) would not be followed up on for 200 years. demic. Malaria, influenza, and yellow fever were very In the late 19th century more powerful microscopes real health threats during the time that Summer and were developed and scientists returned to the study of Smoke is set. microorganisms, which led to the Germ Theory of dis- ease. The Germ Theory proposed that microorganisms might be the cause of some or all disease. This postulation formed the foundation of modern W|w lÉâ ^ÇÉãR medicine and is considered the single most important contribution to the practice of modern medical While living in Clarksdale in 1916, the young Tom science! Williams contracted a life threatening case of diphthe- ria, a bacterial infection of the nose and throat, which As soon as it was realized that microbes cause illness, left him temporarily unable to use his legs. the search was on for ways to kill or to prevent them from causing disease. This realization led to modern treatment of infectious disease and the development of vaccines. 16

g{x jÉÜÄw Éy à{x cÄtçM fv|xÇvx 9 `xw|v|Çx YxÅtÄx {çáàxÜ|t _ÉuÉàÉÅçM fâÜzxÜç Éy à{x fÉâÄ Female hysteria was a common diagnosis in the Victo- Williams’ sister, Rose, may have rian era for a wide variety of symptoms displayed by served as the template for the sensi- women including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, tive and nervous character of Alma shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite and just Winemiller. Rose, who was shy and plain causing trouble. withdrawn as a teenager, exhibited increasingly disturbing behaviour over time and was Female hysteria was considered a medical condition eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Williams caused by disturbances of the uterus, hystera in Greek. family were told about a new neurosurgical procedure, The term hysteria was coined by Hippocrates, who called a leucotomy or prefrontal lobotomy, that they had thought hysteria was caused by the uterus wandering hoped would cure Rose’s illness. Rose would be one of around the body in search of children. The term hysteria the first patients to undergo the procedure. was commonly used in the mid-19th century to de- scribe what is known today as sexual dissatisfaction. The lobotomy involved opening the skull and severing the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain. The purpose of the procedure was to calm Rose and put an end to her hysterics, fits and fantasies. The surgery John: You’re swallowing air, Miss was unsuccessful and after the operation, Rose became Alma...It’s a little trick that hysterical dependent upon regular care, which was often pro- vided by Tennessee himself. women get into...That isn’t serious in it- self but it’s a symptom of something that Tens of thousands of lobotomies were performed in is. Shall I tell you frankly?...what I the U.S. during the 1940s. The New York Times re- think you have is a Doppelganger! ported on a housewife who received the first ‘icepick lobotomy’ and was cured of her violent tendencies, dubbing the lobotomy as "Surgery of the Soul.” In the 1950s, antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs were introduced as a means of treating mental illness, and evidence began to suggest that the lobotomy was WÉÑÑxÄztÇzxÜ an ethically objectionable procedure, capable of caus- ing irreversible negative effects on the personalities A doppelganger is not really a medical and emotional lives of patients. It is practiced only condition. It is a literary device. The very rarely today. doppelganger is a double, a shadow self or alternate identity, usually employed in literature to symbolize opposing forces in human nature. Perhaps the most famous literary example of a doppelganger can be found in the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in which Dr Jekyll and his evil double Mr Rose and Tennessee Williams Hyde are contrasted in order to illustrate the duality YtÅÉâá ÄÉuÉàÉÅ|xáM of human nature. Jekyll and Hyde represent the bat- Rose Williams, sister of Tennessee Williams tle between the rational, intellectual self (Jekyll) and Rosemary Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy the irrational, bestial self (Hyde). The doppelganger is Frances Farmer, actress often seen haunting and threatening the rational psy- Ken Kesey's famed fictional character, Randle che of its victim. Mc McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

17

W|w lÉâ ^ÇÉãR

You Know You’re a Celebrated Playwright When...

1.Festivals have been created in honour of your life and work 2. The U.S. postal service creates a stamp in your honour

The Williams Festival in New Orleans features a contest of Stanleys yelling for their Stellas a la A Streetcar Named Desire.

3. Canadian playwright, Daniel MacIvor writes a play about you (opening at the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre in October 2007): A Snapshot of Genius – Inspired by a potentially true story about two days in the last year of the life of the American playwright Tennessee Williams

4. You have been honoured with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame for your contribution to culture in the United States. Other inductees include: Maya Angelou, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, T.S. Eliot, and Joseph Pulitzer (whose greatest legacy is the Pulitzer Prize)

6. You also win 4 Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play 5. You The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, write a play and it wins a Tony 7. You win 2 Pulitzer Award Prizes

8. Your childhood home has been designated a National Literary Landmark, and there is a plaque on the front lawn that says so

AND

9. The same thing can be said about the last home you lived in – as well as a few of the places you lived in between.

18

Tww|à|ÉÇtÄ fÉâÜvxá

Gould, Jean. Modern American Playwrights. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1966.

Holst, Emily. Encyclopedia of Etiquette. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1911.

Leavitt, Richard E., Ed. The World of Tennessee Williams. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1978.

Spoto, Donald. The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1985.

Web Resources

For information on Gothic Literature and motifs: http://www.olemiss.edu/courses/engl390/390intro.html

Gothic architecture: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/architecture/gothic.org travel.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/travel/escapes/01ahead.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics% 2FPeople%2FW... - 23 Apr 2007

Microscopes: http://ar.utmb.edu/areas/informresources/collections/blocker/Microscopes/exhibit.asp

History of Bacteriology and Microbiology http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/main1.shtml http://www.theguardians.com/Microbiology/ http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook/index.php?module=Book&func=displayarticle&art_id=24

Literary Landmarks: http://www.folusa.org/outreach/literary-landmarks.php

Female Hysteria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria

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Classroom Applications

The following pages suggest questions and activities students might explore BEFORE attending Summer and Smoke.

Activities relate to Ministry of Education expectations for Drama and Dance at the junior, intermediate and senior levels. To obtain Ontario Curriculum documents, visit www.edu.gov.on.ca

Theme 1:

IMAGES AND ASSOCIATIONS ACTIVITY

In Summer and Smoke, playwright Tennessee Williams defines character, sharpens conflict, and heightens mood by the clever use of set pieces, props, repeated words, and weather. The Word Association Activities below focus attention on recurring images in the play.

Word Association: Tableau Activity

• In small groups, have students brainstorm images associated with the words “angel” and “fountain”.

• For each of the two words, the groups next create a tableau that distills and communicates their ideas.

• As a class, discuss similarities and differences among the tableaux presented for each word.

• As a class, create a word list of images and associations suggested by the tableaux.

Word Association: Movement Activity

• In small groups, have students brainstorm images associated with the words “summer”, “fire”, “wind”, and “smoke”.

• For each of these words, the groups next create a sequence of movements that distills and communicates their ideas.

• As a class, discuss similarities and differences among the movement sequences presented for each word.

• As a class, create a word list of images and associations suggested by the movement sequences.

Word Association: Staging Problem

• Back in their groups, students brainstorm solutions to the following problem: You are directing a play that makes several references to (a) an extremely hot summer, and (b) unusually windy weather. In what ways will you communicate the notions of high temperature and wind to an audience?

• Compare your suggestions to the methods used in the Shaw Festival 2007 production of Summer and Smoke.

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Theme 2: TRANSFORMATIONS AND OPPOSITES

Exploring Stereotypes

In groups of three, select one of the following character descriptions to work with: ACTIVITY

The Minister Your character is a Protestant minister in a small town. Several years ago, as a university student, you won a very prestigious scholarship. Presently, your family includes your invalid wife and an unmarried daughter in her 20s. Your daughter is an accomplished singer who gives lessons in your house. You spend every Saturday night preparing Sun- day morning’s sermon. When needed, you regularly conduct prayers at the bedside of ill and dying community mem- bers.

The Minister’s Daughter Your character is a minister’s daughter in a small town. In your 20s, you live at home with your mother and father. Because of your mother’s chronic illness, you are responsible for household duties. You are an accomplished singer who performs at weddings and various community events. You also give singing lessons in your house, and organize regular meetings for people interested in the arts. Aside from your music, you have no employment. Your responsi- bilities at home take up most of your time.

The Physician Your character is a highly dedicated general practitioner in a small town. You worked for several years before marry- ing and having a son. With your office attached to your house, you are available to patients at all hours of the day and night. When the need arises, you travel to work in locations that are suffering from epidemics. Your son, now in his 20s, has also become a doctor. He is already highly praised as a skilled researcher of bacterial infections.

After selecting a character to focus on, complete the following activities: 1. In your group, discuss stereotypes associated with your character description. 2. Imagine that your group works for a company called Hallmark Holiday Greeting Cards. Using yourselves as human figures, create an ideal stereotyped portrait of your character’s family to be used as a winter holi- day greeting. 3. Suggest possible underlying problems or conflicts that might upset the stereotypes suggested by the family descriptions. 4. Again using yourselves as human figures, create a portrait that focuses on the family problems. This is the “invisible” portrait that contradicts the stereotype by adding the subtext of underlying conflict. 5. Return to the ideal stereotyped portrait created for the Hallmark Holiday Greeting Cards Company. Ad- just the portrait to include awareness of the family problems or conflicts. This is the “real” family portrait that blends the stereotype with its opposite. 6. Show all three versions of the portraits to the class. Discuss how the subtext of family conflict transforms the idealized stereotype.

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DISCUSSION “You and I Move in Different Circles”

• As a class, identify different cliques or opposing groups that students in your school identify with.

• In your school, do students tend to socialize only with people from their own clique or group? Why or why not?

• Is it possible for people of different groups or cliques to develop strong friendships or become romanti- cally involved? Why or why not?

• What movies, plays, and television shows are based on people of different backgrounds or social circles trying to connect? ACTIVITY

In Summer and Smoke, two young adults with very different social interests and friends are attracted to each other. The play includes scenes where each one visits a setting commonly frequented by the other one. This exercise invites students, in groups of 3 or 4, to create similar scenes based on their own social ex- periences. In your group:

• Select two different cliques or groups that people in your school belong to.

• Select 2 people in your group to play Character A and Character B. The other group member(s) will play different friends of these characters.

• Imagine that Character A and Character B each belong to a different clique or group in your school. How might they meet, start talking to each other, and decide to go out somewhere together?

• Improvise the conversation that leads Character A to visit Character B’s normal territory.

• Improvise what happens when Character A visits Character B’s territory. (Remember to include other group member(s) as friend(s) of Character B).

• Reversing the circumstances, repeat the improvisations. This time, Character B will visit Character A’s territory.

• Present your scenes to the class.

• Contrast the outcomes of various scenes presented. What circumstances allowed positive outcomes to occur? What circumstances resulted in negative outcomes?

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Theme 3:

SILENCE AND SPACE

“The Enormous Silence”

A main character in Summer and Smoke describes the “enormous silence” that sometimes falls in conversa- tion. Silence, as well as physical space between characters, can be used on stage to communicate a range of relationships, as the following exercises explore.

ACTIVITY

In pairs, create a 30-second depiction of the following scenarios. Use the space between characters to help indicate their relationship. For each scenario, include a maximum of three lines of dialogue for each character. The remainder of the scene should be silent.

Scenario 1 Two strangers are standing in line to buy movie tickets. Without realizing it, one of them drops something. The other one picks it up and returns it.

Scenario 2 An engaged couple window-shop for wedding rings.

Scenario 3 A doctor takes a patient’s pulse and checks his/her heart with a stethoscope.

ACTIVITY

On the following pages are three brief excerpts from Summer and Smoke. Based on the information provided for each one, decide: (a) where silences should be incorporated into the dialogue; (b) how space can be used to help communicate the relationship between characters. Rehearse and present the excerpts to the class. Then discuss the effectiveness of class decisions about the use of silence and space. What do you learn about Alma from her interactions with three different male charac- ters?

23

ACTIVITY (continued) Alma and John

Alma and John are young adults who grew up as next-door neighbors. John has been away at school, while Alma has stayed home to work for her father. John, confident around women, has unexpectedly returned home. Alma, nervous and shy, has been in love with John since childhood, but has never been able to ex- press her feelings to him. Their chance meeting takes place by a park bench during the July 4 Independence Day (USA) celebrations.

Alma: You’re – home for the summer? [John gives an affirmative grunt.] Summer is not the pleasantest time to renew an acquaintance with Glorious Hill – is it? [John gives an indefinite grunt. Alma laughs nervously.] The Gulf wind has failed us this year, disappointed us dreadfully this year. We used to be able to rely on the Gulf wind to cool nights off for us, but this summer has been an exceptional season.

John: Are you – worried about something?

Alma: That firecracker was a shock.

John: You should be over that shock by now.

Alma: I don’t get over shocks easily.

John: I see you don’t.

Alma: You’re planning to stay and take over some of your father’s medical practice?

John: I haven’t made up my mind about anything yet.

Alma: I hope so – we all hope so.

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ACTIVITY (continued)

Alma and Roger

Alma has been seeing a young man named Roger, although she isn’t seriously attracted to him. Visiting Alma’s house on a Saturday night, Roger is showing her an old photograph album of his mother’s travels. They are seated on a couch.

Roger: And this is Ceylon, The Pearl of the Orient.

Alma: And who is this fat young lady?

Roger: That is mother in a hunting costume.

Alma: The hunting costume makes her figure seem bulky. What was she hunting?

Roger: Heaven knows what she was hunting. But she found Papa.

Alma: Oh, she met your father on her tour of the Orient.

Roger: Yes. He was returning from India with dysentery and they met on the boat.

Alma: [distastefully] Oh.

Roger: And here she is on top of a ruined temple.

Alma: How did she get up there?

Roger: Climbed up, I suppose.

Alma: What an active woman.

Roger: Oh, yes, active – is no word for it. Here she is on an elephant’s back in Burma.

Alma: Ah, yes.

Roger: You’re looking at it upside down!

Doorbell rings.

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ACTIVITY (continued)

Alma and Mr Winemiller (Alma’s father)

Alma’s father, a minister, is at home preparing his sermon. Alma doesn’t want him to know the identity of a young man who might be calling on her at any moment. She is waiting impatiently, knowing her father will disapprove when the caller arrives.

Alma: What time is it, Father? [Mr. Winemiller continues writing. She raises her voice.] What time is it, Father?

Mr W.: Five to eight. I’m working on my sermon.

Alma: Why don’t you work in the study?

Mr W.: The study is suffocating. Are you expecting a caller?

Alma: Not really expecting. There’s just a chance of it.

Mr W: Who are you expecting?

Alma: I said I wasn’t expecting anyone. There’s just a possibility.

Mr W: Roger? I thought this was his evening with his mother.

Alma: Yes, it is his evening with his mother.

Mr W: Then who is coming here, Alma?

Alma: I might as well tell you who might call, so that if he calls there will be no unpleasantness about it. John Buchanan said he might call.

Mr W: You can’t be serious.

Alma: Well, I am.

Mr W: That young man might come here?

Alma: He asked me if he might and I said yes, but now it’s after eight so it doesn’t look like he’s coming.

Mr W: If he does come here, you will go upstairs to your room and I will receive him.

Alma: If he does come, I’ll do no such thing, Father.

Mr W: You must be out of your mind.

26

The following pages suggest questions and activities students might explore

AFTER attending Summer and Smoke

Theme 1: IMAGES AND ASSOCIATIONS

ACTIVITY Fill in the blanks: Recurring Objects and Dialogue Playwright Tennessee Williams uses repetition very effectively in Summer and Smoke. Fill in the blanks below and then discuss how each example of repetition contributes to the play. In the play’s early flashback to John and Alma’s childhood, John rejects the gift of a ______that Alma left on his desk at school. Near the end of the play, Nellie gives Alma a ______as a gift from herself and John.

When John first invites Alma to go riding in his car, he asks her to wear a ______. When we first meet Rosa Gonzales, she is wearing a ______. Alma’s mother shoplifts a ______. Near the end of the play, when Alms kisses John and offers herself to him, she is wearing a ______.

When Mrs Winemiller’s theft is discovered in Act I, Alma tells her to work on a ______while Alma prepares for her club meeting. Mrs Winemiller yells out, ______. In Act II, when Mrs Bassett announces that John is planning to marry Rosa Gonzales, Alma reacts by working on a ______and yelling out ______.

When Alma describes the “enormous silence” she has felt with the young men she’s dated, she also men- tions her nervous habit of ______her ______. Later in the play, when Alma has suf- fered an emotional breakdown, her father angrily orders her to stop ______her ______.

Nellie’s mother earned a bad reputation by regularly going to the ______to pick up ______who passed through town. At the end of the play, Alma picks up a ______in the park, with the sound of a ______in the background.

Answer Key for teachers: 1. handkerchief 2. hat with a plume on it 3. picture puzzle; The pieces don’t fit. 4. twisting her ring 5. train station; traveling salesmen; salesman; train.

27

The Problem of Stereotypes DISCUSSION

Written in 1948, Summer and Smoke provides an example of racial stereotyping in its portrayal of Rosa Gonzales and her father. What images of Latinos does the play project? Is this kind of stereotyping appropriate for a 2007 audience? Why or why not? Is it important for student audiences to recognize the presence of racial stereotyping in a play, movie, or television show? Why or why not?

The Symbolic Use of Objects

Tennessee Williams’ careful use of objects heightens the image of each main character in Summer and Smoke. Identify objects associated with Alma, John, Mrs Winemiller, Rosa, Papa Gonzales, and Nellie. What aspects of their character do these objects symbolize?

Theme 2: TRANSFORMATIONS AND OPPOSITES ACTIVITY

Excerpts from Summer and Smoke demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating contrasts and opposites in the analysis and performance of monologues. Select a monologue from those provided in the boxes on the fol- lowing page. Prepare your monologue performance by answering the questions below.

1. In a sentence or two, summarize the main message or content of the monologue.

2. Identify the character’s range of feeling or emotion throughout the monologue.

3. Each of the monologues selected for this activity is emotionally charged. When performing a monologue of high emotional intensity, it is important to exercise control. One way of exercising control is to investigate how contrasts can be used in terms of: (a) volume of speech (sometimes loud, sometimes soft, mostly medium) (b) tempo of speech (sometimes fast, sometimes slow, mostly medium speed) (c) emotional range (sometimes calm and composed, sometimes struggling to maintain composure, an sometimes very emotional). Make notes in your monologue to indicate when you will use these examples of contrast. 4. When performing your monologue, it is important to create the illusion of “the first and only time”. This means that your character must appear to be speaking thoughts that are occurring naturally, in the moment, and not memo- rized in advance. One way of creating this illusion is to include pauses in your monologue. Pauses give the impres- sion that a character is thinking before speaking, choosing words carefully, and/or controlling emotions before ex- pressing an idea. Make notes on your monologue to indicate the appropriate use of pauses. 5. Practice your monologue on your own until it is familiar to you.

6. Practice with a partner, coaching each other on the use of contrasts and pauses.

7. Perform your monologues for the class.

8. Comment on your classmates’ monologues by completing the assessment sheet provided on the following page.

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Peer Assessment Sheet: Monologue Work

Performer’s Name: ______

Character Name: ______

For the monologue presented, describe the character’s use of: volume

tempo

emotional range

pauses

Identify the major strengths of the monologue.

Suggest one or two areas for improvement.

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Monologue for Alma (spoken to John) I’m afraid you and I travel in different circles. If I wished to be as outspoken as you, which is sometimes just an excuse for being rude – I might say that I have yet to see you in the company of a – well – respect- able young woman. You’ve heard unfavorable talk about me in your circle of acquaintances and I’ve heard equally unpleasant things about you in mine. And the pity of it is that you are preparing to be a doctor. Most of us have no choice but to lead useless lives. But you have a a chance to serve humanity! And what do you do about it? You drive your car at a reckless pace from one disorderly roadhouse to another, con- ducting yourself like some overgrown schoolboy who wants to be known as the wildest man in town! And

Monologue for Alma (spoken to her mother) If I ever hear you tell someone that I’m in love with John Buchanan again, if you ever dare to repeat such a thing in my presence or anybody else’s – then it will be the last straw! You understand me? Yes, you un- derstand me. You act like a child, but you have the devil in you. And God will punish you – yes, I’ll punish you too. I’ll take your cigarettes away from you and give you no more. I’ll give you no ice cream either. Because I’m tired of your malice. Yes, I’m tired of your malice and your self-indulgence. People wonder why I’m tied down here. They pity me – they think of me as an old maid already! In spite of I’m young.

Monologue for Rosa (spoken to John) I grew up in a one room house with a dirt floor, and all of us had to sleep in that one room, five Mexicans and three geese and a little game-cock named Pepe! Pepe was a good fighter! That’s how Papa began to make money, winning bets on Pepe. We all slept in one room. And in the night, I would hear the love- making. Papa would grunt like a pig to show his passion. I thought to myself, how dirty it was, love- making, and how dirty it was to be Mexicans and all have to sleep in one room with a dirt floor and not smell good because there was no bathtub.

Monologue for Mr Winemiller (spoken to Alma) Alma! Why don’t you get dressed? It hurts me to see you sitting around like this, day in and day out, like an invalid when there is nothing particularly wrong with you. I can’t read your mind. You may have had some kind of disappointment, but you must not make that an excuse for acting as if the world had come to an end. I want you to either get dressed or stay in your room. At night you get dressed. Don’t you? Yes, I heard you slipping out of the house at two in the morning. And that wasn’t the first time. What am I going to tell people who ask about you? Are you going to stay like this indefinitely? Stop twisting that ring! Whenever I look at you, you’re twisting that ring. Give it to me. I’m going to take that ring off your finger!

Monologue for John (spoken to Rosa) Dance, Rosa. Tomorrow we leave here together. I have the tickets. We’ll go tomorrow and live off fat payments from your father. Not long ago the whole idea would have disgusted me, but not now. Did any- one ever slide downhill as fast as I have this summer? Like a greased pig. And yet every evening I put on a clean white suit. I have a dozen. Six in the closet and six in the wash. And there isn’t a sign of depravity in my face. And yet all summer I’ve sat around here like this, remembering the last night, anticipating the next one! Dance, Rosa. Why won’t you dance? What’s the matter Rosa? Why won’t you go on dancing? Why does your father want me for a son-in-law? Why do you want me?

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ACTIVITY The Reversal of Opposites

According to Neil Munro, director of the Shaw Festival’s 2007 production of Summer and Smoke, the play is a love story between two young people who seem like opposite sides of a coin. By the end of the play, however, they reverse roles in an attempt to address their own weaknesses. As director Munro says, “As both charac- ters wind up overcompensating for their faults, they miss the possibilities of a rich relationship between them.” Analyze the similarities and differences between Alma and John by completing the following “thinking map”.

Alma John

Winemiller common qualities Buchanan

unique qualities unique qualities

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Theme 3: SILENCE AND SPACE

ACTIVITY Writing in Role: I’ve Got a Secret

Director Neil Munro views the search for love as a major theme of Summer and Smoke. In the play, several fac- tors create psychological silence and space between characters, making the quest for love difficult to achieve. The presence of secrets is one relationship obstacle that characters face.

• Select one character from the following: Alma, John, Roger, Rosa, Nellie.

• In role as the character you’ve selected, write a letter to another character in the play, revealing true feelings or thoughts that you have found difficult to express in person.

• Do you think the outcome of the play would have been different if characters were always able to speak their secret thoughts?

DISCUSSION Is True Love Possible?

Summer and Smoke reveals various examples of unsuccessful love relationships and no examples of lasting true love. Older adults in the play are either widowed or trapped in an unsatisfactory marriage. Younger adults seek happiness in relationships that generally don’t work out. Analyze the play’s approach to love by discuss- ing the questions below:

• What factors create obstacles for the following relationships: Alma and Roger, John and Rosa, Alma and John?

• Do you think that Alma and John were truly in love? Why or why not?

• Do you think that John and Nellie have found true love at the end of the play? Why or why not?

• Does the play offer any advice for finding and keeping true love?

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A GLOSSARY OF SELECT TERMS & CAREERS IN THE THEATRE

BLOCKING: The actor’s movement on stage is known as DESIGNER: The people who work with the director to decide “blocking”. The Stage Manager writes the blocking notation into the what the production will look like. Designers must choose the col- Prompt Script. our, shape and texture of everything you see on the stage. There are several areas that need to have designers: costumes, set, lighting and COSTUME: Anything that an actor wears on stage is referred to as sometimes sound. The designers work very closely with the director a costume. The Wardrobe department (the department responsible to create the environment in which the play will take place. for creating costumes) provides clothes, shoes, hats, and any personal accessories such as umbrellas, purses and eyeglasses. FLYMAN: The person responsible for the manipulation of the scenery which is in the fly gallery (the space above the stage). The DROP: A drop is a large piece of painted canvas that is “flown in” scenery is manipulated by ropes attached to a counterweight system. by the flyman (see FLYMAN). MILLINER: The person who makes the hats which the actors GREEN ROOM: The green room, usually near the entrance to the wear on stage. stage, is where the actors and crew sit while waiting for their turn to go on stage. One possible explanation of how the green room got its PROPS BUYER: The person who buys items that will be used or name is that actors used to wait for their entrances at the back of the adapted to become props. Props buyers also purchase the raw mate- theatre in an area where the scenery was stored. Perhaps the scenery rial used to build props. was green, or the name “scene room” evolved into “green room”. SCENIC ARTIST: The people who are responsible for painting ORCHESTRA PIT: The orchestra pit is the place where the musi- and decorating the surfaces of the set. Some of the techniques they cians perform during a musical. Usually the orchestra pit is between use include: wood graining, stenciling, marbling and brickwork. They the front row of the audience and the stage. also paint the drops and scrims that are flown in.

PROPS: A property or “prop” is anything that the audience sees STAGE CARPENTER: The person who ensures that every- that is not worn by an actor and is not a structural part of the set. thing runs smoothly on stage during a performance. The stage car- Some examples are: tables, chairs, couches, carpets, pictures, lamps, penter and stage crew are responsible for changing the sets between weapons, food eaten during a play, dishes, cutlery, briefcases, books, scenes and acts. newspapers, pens, telephones, curtains and anything else you can imagine. STAGE MANAGER: The person who makes sure that all rehears- als and performances run smoothly. During a performance the stage PROSCENIUM: A term describing the physical characteristics of a manager also makes sure that all of the technical elements (e.g. lights, theatre. A proscenium theatre is one in which the audience and the sound, curtains flying in and out) happen at exactly the right time. actors are separated by a picture-frame opening that the audience looks through to see the actors, (e.g. Shaw Festival’s mainstage and TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: The person who is responsible for Royal George Theatres). Surrounding this opening is the PROSCE- coordinating all of the technical elements of a production. Technical NIUM ARCH. If there is an acting area on the audience side of the directors work with the people who build the sets, props, costumes, proscenium arch, it is referred to as the APRON. wigs and special effects to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

SCRIM: A scrim is a piece of gauze that is painted and used as part HEAD OF WARDROBE: Responsible for the day-to-day running of the scenery. When a scrim is lit from in front it is opaque, you of the wardrobe department and for unifying all aspects of produc- cannot see through it. When a scrim is lit from behind it is transpar- tion. For example, the head of wardrobe oversees the budget, tailor- ent, you can see through it. This allows for many different visual ing (including the cutters, first-hands, seamstresses, dyers, etc.), ac- effects to be created by the lighting and set designers. cessories, and millinery.

THRUST STAGE: A thrust stage is a stage that is surrounded on HEAD OF WIGS: The person who makes, styles, applies and main- three sides by the audience, (e.g. Shaw Festival’s Court House Thea- tains all of the wigs and facials for production. They are responsible tre). for implementing the designers’ wishes and ensuring that continuity is maintained throughout the course of the run. The department is DIRECTOR: The person who guides the actors during the re- also responsible for setting, shaping and maintaining the acting com- hearsal period as they stage the play. The director is responsible for pany’s own hair while on contract. presenting a unified vision of the play to the audience.

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Summer and Smoke STUDY GUIDE RESPONSE SHEET

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Running Time YES ______NO ______

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Director's Notes YES ______NO ______

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Production History YES ______NO ______

The World of the Play: Manners & Etiquette YES ______NO ______

The World of the Play: Fact vs. Fiction YES______NO______

The World of the Play: Literary Styles YES______NO______

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