SHOW GUIDE April 24 to May 15, 2020 Hilberry Theatre Inside Dear Educators THE PLAY Synopsis, Characters, Setting 2 Wayne State University is proud to produce plays for young people’s The Play 3 enjoyment and to actively explore the beauty, diversity, complexity and challenges of the world around them through the dramatic THE CREATORS arts. We wish to support the development of their creative voice, The Playwright 4 imagination, and understanding of drama and its role in our global society. CURRICULUM SUPPORT Activities presented assist in achieving the Michigan Common Core State Standards (MI-CCSS) This play guide is designed to be a tool in helping you prepare Speaking and Listening 5/6 your students for our performance as well as extend the production Writing 6/7 experience back into the classroom. History/Social Studies 7 Differentiated Learning Activities 8/9 Activities presented assist in achieving the Michigan Common Core State Standards (MI-CCSS). THE THEATRE Location and Seating 10 Your comments and suggestions about this guide, presentation First Time Visitor’s Guide 11 and/or programming are welcome. Email [email protected]. MORE TO SEE 12 Your Students’ Role You may wish to have a discussion with your students before attending the play. Remind your students that they have an important role to play at the performance being the audience. It is because of the audience that the theatre exists. It will be their energy and response that will directly affect the actors onstage. Young audiences should be reminded that live theatre is not like watching TV, a movie or DVD; the actors cannot pause or be rewound, there are no commercial breaks for running to the bathroom, the volume cannot be turned up to hear better if someone other than the actors are talking. Encourage your students to listen and watch the play. They can laugh and cheer for their favorite characters. At the end of the play, applause is appropriate and is the opportunity for your students to thank the actors while the actors are thanking you for the role you played as the audience. Theatre and Dance at Wayne SHOW GUIDE Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance Copyright 2018 College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY DRAMATURG Taylor Benjamin GRAPHIC DESIGN Thomas Karr BOX OFFICE Hilberry Theatre, 4743 Cass Ave., Detroit, MI 48202 313-577-2972 ADMINISTRATION 4841 Cass Ave., Ste. 3206, Detroit, MI 48202 313-577-3508 All rights reserved. With the exception of classroom use by teachers and MARKETING 4841 Cass Ave., Ste. 3206, Detroit, MI 48202 313-577-3010 individual personal use, no part of this Show Guide may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval John Wolf, Chair and Executive Producer system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Some materials published herein are written especially for our Guide. Others are reprinted by permission of their publishers. theatreanddanceatwayne.com | theatreanddance.wayne.edu The Play Synopsis Characters After a decade-long hiatus from the stage, an actress (She) is set to make SHE: The Last Kiss A woman in her mid-forties. her comeback in the 1930s melodrama as doomed heroine Plays the role of Ada Wilcox. Ada Wilcox. Despite having the support of her husband and her daugh- ter, her world turns upside down when she find that the role of her HE: character’s ex-lover will be played by none other than her own ex-lover. A man in his mid-forties. Plays the role of Johnny Lowell. Forced in to close proximity with He - and his lips - the lines between She and her character begin to blur. On top of their attraction to each other, ADRIAN SCHWALBACH: She and He must also contend with a myriad of theatrical challenges, in- A director. cluding a broken ankle, a slippery script, a director who implores them to KEVIN: “trust your instincts,” and an understudy who’s kisses don’t leave much The reader. to be desired. Plays the understudy, the doctor and the butler Art imitates Life. Life imitates Art. But as art and life begin to separate, ANGELA: the characters look at each other with newly clear eyes - an act that An actress in her mid-twenties radically changes their conceptions of themselves, their desires and their Plays the Maid (Act 1) and Angela (Act 2) relationships. AN ACTRESS: An actress in her mid-twenties. Plays Millicent (Act 1) and Laurie (Act 2) Stage Kiss captures Sarah Ruhl’s singular voice. It is a charming tale about what happens when lovers share a stage kiss—or when actors THE HUSBAND share a real one. SHOW GUIDE • 2 The Play and Playwrights Horizons Reviews Jessica Hecht and Daniel Jenkins in the original production at Playwrights Horizons in 2014 Stage Kiss enjoyed it’s world premiere at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, in 2011, before making its New York City debut at Playwrights Horizons in 2014 under the direction of Rebecca Taichman. “CRITIC’S PICK. Suffused with warmth and humor. Sarah Ruhl frothily whips together romantic comedy and backstage farce in this lively comedy about a pair of actors... who find life and art mixing together when they rekindle an old romance during rehearsals for a play.” — New York Times “FOUR STARS. Sarah Ruhl delivers a brilliant comedy that aims for big laughs and hits its target. Funny: There’s nothing like it.” — New York Post “At once a knowing send-up of the hazy half-truths of stage naturalism and a goofy meditation on the nature of desire and sexual fantasy, [Stage Kiss] manages to be both wholly original and instantly recognizable to the audience. As a satire of theatre and theatricals, it’s right up there with Neil Simon’s ‘The Sunshine Boys.’’- The New Yorker “There’s not one but two plays-within-a-play in Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss, a highly meta-theatrical, fundamentally enjoyable, slightly slight, not-so-romantic comedy pondering the complexity of onstage osculation.” — Variety “Stage Kiss is part parody, part inside-baseball valentine to theater, part falling-down silly physical comedy about love.” — Newsday “The gorgeously articulate author of The Clean House and Eurydice is in top form with this delightful piece” — Theatremania SHOW GUIDE • 3 The Creator - Sarah Ruhl Sarah Ruhl is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at the Lyceum by Lincoln Center Theater, off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, and at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country and have also been produced internationally, and translated into over twelve languages. Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. She has received the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright award, the Susan Smith Blackburn award, the Whiting award, the Lily Award, a PEN award for mid-career playwrights, and the MacArthur “genius” award. Her book of essays 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write was published by Faber and Faber. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family. SHOW GUIDE • 4 Curriculum Support SPEAKING AND LISTENING Sarah Ruhl’s [Sharing of any writing project orally in class will also fit under the Speaking and Listening plays include: (SL) Standard] The Clean House CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1, 2.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and How to Transcend a Happy Marriage text with peers and adults in small and larger groups. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 8.1, [9-10.1, 11-12.1] For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in small groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade level topics and text, building on others; ideas Scenes From Court Life and expressing their own clearly [and persuasively]. Dead Man’s Cell Phone CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1, [2.4] Describe people, places, things and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feel- Dear Elizabeth ings clearly [audibly in coherent sentences]. Demeter In The City CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.4, [4.4, 5.4] Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount and experience with appropriate facts and Eurydice relevant, descriptive details [to support main idea or theme] speaking clearly at an under- standable pace. In The Next Room (or the vibrator CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.4, 7.4, 8.4 play) Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details: appropriate eye contact, Late, a Cowboy Song adequate volume and clear pronunciation. Melancholy Play CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4, 11-12.4 Present information, findings, and supportive evidence, conveying a clear and distinct Melancholy Play: a chamber perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing musical perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience and range of formal and informal task. The Oldest Boy CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.6, 7.6, 8.6, 9-10.6, 11-12.6 Adapt speech to a variety of context and task, demonstrating command of formal English Orlando when indicated or appropriate. (adapted from the original by Virginia Woolf) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9, 2.9, 3.9, (5.9, 6.9) Passion Play Compare and contrast the adventures and experience of characters in stories.