PLAY GUIDE 2017 2018 About ATC …………………………………………………………………………………..… 1 Introduction to the Play ………………………………………………………………………... 2 Meet the Playwright ……………………………..…………………………………………….. 3 Meet the Director: Interview with Marsha Mason …………………………………………………. 3 Meet the Characters ……………………………………………….……………………..…… 5 Evolution of a Genre: Romantic Comedy…………………………………………………………. 6 The History of “Dating” …………….…………………..…………………….………………… 8 Glossary ……………………………………………………………………………………… 10 Discussion Questions and Activities …………………………………………………………….. 12 Chapter Two Play Guide by Katherine Monberg, with contributions from ATC Learning & Education staff. SUPPORT FOR ATC’S LEARNING & EDUCATION PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN PROVIDED APS Rosemont Copper Arizona Commission on the Arts Stonewall Foundation Bank of America Foundation Target Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona The Boeing Company City of Glendale The Donald Pitt Family Foundation Community Foundation for Southern Arizona The Johnson Family Foundation, Inc. Cox Charities The Lovell Foundation Downtown Tucson Partnership The Marshall Foundation Enterprise Holdings Foundation The Maurice and Meta Gross Foundation Ford Motor Company Fund The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation The Stocker Foundation JPMorgan Chase The WIlliam L. and Ruth T. Pendleton Memorial Fund John and Helen Murphy Foundation Tucson Medical Center National Endowment for the Arts Tucson Pima Arts Council Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Wells Fargo PICOR Charitable Foundation ABOUT ATC Under new leadership, and now celebrating its 51st season, Arizona Theatre Company boasts the largest subscriber base of any performing arts organization in Arizona, with more than 130,000 people each year attending performances at the historic Temple of Music and Art in Tucson, and the elegant Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. Each season of carefully selected productions reflects the rich variety of world drama – from classic to contemporary plays, from musicals to new works – as audiences enjoy a rich emotional experience that can only be captured through the power of live theatre. Touching lives through the power of theatre, ATC is the preeminent professional theatre in the state of Arizona. Under the direction of Artistic Director David Ivers in partnership with Managing Director Billy Russo, ATC operates in two cities – unlike any other League of Resident Theatres (LORT) company in the country. ATC shares the passion of the theatre through a wide array of outreach programs, educational opportunities, access initiatives, and community events. Through the schools and summer programs, ATC focuses on teaching Arizona’s youth about literacy, cultural development, performing arts, specialty techniques used onstage, and opens their minds to the creative power of dramatic literature. With approximately 450 Learning & Education activities annually, ATC reaches far beyond the metropolitan areas of Tucson and Phoenix, enriching the theatre learning experience for current and future audiences. Mr. Ivers and Mr. Russo continue to work on strategic planning, creative thinking, and adventurous programming all aimed at serving the current mission: To inspire, engage and entertain - one moment, one production and one audience at a time. The Temple of Music and Art, the home of ATC shows in downtown The Herberger Theater Center, ATC’s performance venue in downtown Tucson. Phoenix. 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY Chapter Two By Neil Simon Directed by Marsha Mason Love always deserves another chapter. Neil Simon is widely regarded as one of the most successful and performed playwrights in the world. Chapter Two is his semi-autobiographical comedy about recently widowed writer George Schneider, who is introduced by his press agent brother to soap opera actress Jennie Malone. Both are trying to come to terms with starting from scratch, and through their friends – who are determined to see the two happy again – the pair meet and begin a whirlwind romance. The play was written as a tribute to Marsha Mason, Mr. Simon’s second wife, who also received an Academy Award nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for playing the lead role in the film. Ms. Mason, who wowed Arizona audiences with her direction of last season’s Show art by Esser Design. An Act of God, returns to ATC to direct this comedy filled with truth and wisdom. MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter, is generally considered to be one of the greatest writers that American comedy has ever seen. Simon was born in July, 1927 to Jewish parents in The Bronx, New York. His father, Irving Simon, earned his living as a garment salesman while his mother, Mamie, worked mostly as a homemaker. Simon grew up in the midst of the Great Depression, financial hardships and his parents’ marital strife providing an unstable living environment: his father would often leave the family for months at a time. In his youth Simon often sought out movie theatres as places of refuge, which sparked his inspiration to venture into writing comedy. After high school, Simon joined the Army Air Force Reserve and was sent to Colorado, where he was assigned to Lowry Air Force Base and attended the University of Playwright Neil Simon. Denver in 1945. During his years in the Reserve he began his writing career as 3 a sports editor; after his discharge he worked in the mailroom at the Warner Brothers offices in Manhattan before teaming up with his brother, Danny, as writers for radio and television scripts. Those first scripts led to bigger and better jobs, including writing for The Phil Rivers Show and Sid Ceasar’s Your Show of Shows in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, Simon began writing his own plays, the first of which was titled Come Blow Your Horn (1961) and ran on Broadway for 678 performances. He followed his initial success with two more successful plays: Barefoot in the Park (1963) and The Odd Couple (1965). The Odd Couple won Simon his first Tony Award, and catapulted him to immediate prominence as one of the most popular Broadway writers of his time. Throughout his career he wrote more than 30 plays and over 20 screenplays, several of which were adapted for the screen from his own stage plays. His comedy came to encompass many styles of humor including romantic comedy, dramatic comedy, and farce, and in 1983 he became the only living playwright to have a Broadway theatre named after him. Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers was awarded the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and his critical reception began to shift: he was no longer regarded as simply a writer of comedy, but as a writer of great depth as well. The primary themes of his work center around “the silent majority” and their experiences, and focus on characters that are ordinary and imperfect, but good at heart. The key component of Simon’s works is his brilliant humor, both verbal and situational, that weaves a story of depth together with comedic appeal and laughter. Neil Simon has received more Tony Award nominations than any other writer in history, winning three of seventeen nominations: Best Author for The Odd Couple in 1965, Best Play for Biloxi Blues in 1985 and Lost in Yonkers in 1991, as well as a special Tony Award for contribution to theatre in 1975. Street front and indoor views of Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre. 4 Plays by Neil Simon: • Come Blow Your Horn • The Sunshine Boys • Rumors (1988) (1961) (1972) • Lost in Yonkers (1991) • • Little Me (1962) The Good Doctor • Jake's Women (1992) • (1973) Barefoot in the Park • The Goodbye Girl (1993) (1963) • God's Favorite (1974) • Laughter on the 23rd Floor • • The Odd Couple (1965) California Suite (1976) (1993) • • Sweet Charity (1966) Chapter Two (1977) • London Suite (1995) • • The Star-Spangled Girl They're Playing Our • Proposals (1997) (1966) Song (1979) • The Dinner Party (2000) • Plaza Suite (1968) • I Ought to Be in • 45 Seconds from Broadway • Pictures (1980) Promises, Promises (2001) (1968) • Fools (1981) • Rose's Dilemma (2003) • The Last of the Red Hot • Brighton Beach • Lovers (1969) Memoirs (1983) Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple (2004) • The Gingerbread Lady • Biloxi Blues (1985) (1970) • The Female Odd • The Prisoner of Second Couple (1986) Avenue (1971) • Broadway Bound (1986) MEET THE DIRECTOR: INTERVIEW WITH MARSHA MASON Director Marsha Mason answered some questions about Chapter Two and her return to ATC, after directing An Act of God from ATC’s 50th Anniversary Season last year. Q: What drew you to theatre? A: It’s hard to say…the first memory I have is as a freshman in high school, where I played a Jack-in-the-Box at a school production. When I popped out, the first few rows of little kids went OHHHHHH! and I was hooked. I remember playing and imagining myself as a nun or some kind of made-up character 5 Director Marsha Mason. when I was a little girl. What has kept me entranced and intrigued about theatre is the magical relationship that the actor has with their fellow actors and the audience. I love the adventure of finding myself in another character altogether and just being that character for the length of time of the play. Another big part of why I do it is to help people experience their emotions and inner thoughts. Q: What brought you back to ATC? A: I had a wonderful experience directing An Act of God last year. David Ira Goldstein and his entire staff were – and are – so supportive, positive, and helpful. The creative staff of the theatre was wonderful to work with, and it is so much fun to have the opportunity to work with everyone again. David Ivers has also been terrific, and I look forward to meeting him. Q: Chapter Two has been a big part of your life: It’s based in part on your relationship with Neil Simon, you starred in the film, and now you’re directing it for the stage.