STUDY GUIDE OCTOBER 2–25, 2014 THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY This guide compiled by Jennifer McKinnon for Royal MTC, September 2014. Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre Presents By Katie Forgette Director – James MacDonald Set and Costume Design – Brian Perchaluk Lighting Design – Scott Henderson Sound Design – John Bent Jr. Fight Director – Jacqueline Loewen Dialect Coach – Shannon Vickers Stage Manager – Chris Pearce Assistant Stage Manager – Jessica Freundl Apprentice Director – Rachel Smith Design Apprentice – Darryl Audette Apprentice Stage Manager – Linsey Callaghan Apprentice Lighting Designer – Ksenia Broda Milian THE CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Mrs. Lillie Langtry – Sharon Bajer Mrs. McGlynn / Mrs. Irma Tory – Sarah Constible John Smythe / Abdul Karim – Aidan deSalaiz Professor Moriarty – Gil Garratt Sherlock Holmes – Jay Hindle Oscar Wilde – Ryan James Miller Dr. Watson – Carson Natrass 1 THEATRE ETIQUETTE “The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.” – Arthur Miller Arrive Early: Latecomers may not be admitted to a performance. Please ensure you arrive with enough time to find your seat before the performance starts. Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices: Please TURN OFF your cell phones/iPods/gaming systems/cameras. We have seen an increase in texting, surfing, and gaming during performances, which is very distracting for the performers and other audience members. The use of cameras and recording devices is strictly prohibited. Talking During the Performance: You can be heard (even when whispering!) by the actors onstage and the audience around you. Disruptive patrons will be removed from the theatre. Please wait to share your thoughts and opinions with others until after the performance. Food/Drinks: Food and hot drinks are not allowed in the theatre. Where there is an intermission, concessions may be open for purchase of snacks and drinks. There is complimentary water in the lobby. Dress: There is no dress code at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, but we respectfully request that patrons refrain from wearing hats in the theatre. We also strive to be a scent-free environment, and thank all patrons for their cooperation. Leaving During the Performance: If an audience member leaves the theatre during a performance, they will be readmitted at the discretion of our Front of House staff. Should they be readmitted, they will not be ushered back to their original seat, but placed in a vacant seat at the back of the auditorium. Being Asked to Leave: The theatre staff has, and will exercise, the right to ask any member of the audience to leave the performance if that person is being disruptive. Inappropriate and disruptive behaviour includes, but is not limited to: talking; using electronic devices, cameras, laser pointers, or other light- or sound-emitting devices; and/or deliberately interfering with an actor or the performance (tripping, throwing items on or near the stage, etc.). Talkbacks: All Tuesday evening performances and final matinees at MTC feature a talkback with members of the cast following the show. While watching the performance, make a mental note of questions to ask the actors. Questions can be about the story, the interpretation, life in the theatre, etc. Enjoy the show: Laugh, applaud, cheer and respond to the performance appropriately. Make sure to thank all the artists for their hard work with applause during the curtain call. 2 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Playwright and actor Katie Forgette hails from Seattle, and lives with her husband and two cats. Other plays by Forgette include: The O’Connor Girls (2004), Cindy Rella (2007), A Facility for Living (formerly titled Assisted Living) (2013), and Everybody’s a Critic (2010). The following excerpt comes from Adam Szymkowicz’s July 2014 interview with Katie Forgette: Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person. A: As a kid, I was in love with old movies. I was particularly fond of prison movies. At about this time, my mother operated a daycare center out of our home. (This was in addition to taking care of her own 9 children and caring for her invalid mother who lived with us.) In the summer months I was her helper-- that is, whenever she could rouse me from sleep or a television coma. She would ask me to, "Do something with the children!" So, I'd round them up and take them into the backyard and cheerfully inform them, "We're going to play a game called Detention School--and I'm going to play the part of the Head Matron!" Among my brothers' many derelict British sport cars, I had the kids (ages 5 to 10) sit in two rows and I would inform them of their crimes--grand theft auto, armed bank robbery--and then tell them that they were to atone for their sins by being very quiet and, most importantly, obeying the rules. (The kids seemed quite taken with the idea that they were juvenile delinquents and had rap sheets.) As part of their punishment, I would read aloud from the Encyclopedia Britannica--with a pop quiz to follow. We would go on contemplative nature walks, their heads bowed and hands folded in front of them. All responses to my questions were to begin: "Salami, bologna, we love you with all our hearts!" And, of course, part of their rehabilitation was mandatory participation in the Detention School's theatre program. All plays having been written by--you got it--the Head Matron. Our productions were hindered by the fact that some of the actors had not yet learned to read. Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be? A: Well, it would certainly be nice to see more produced plays written by women. But that's become such a worn-out lament, you know? The statistics just don't seem to be budging much. I heard an interesting comment from an artistic director at a children's theater once. She said, "Little girls will sit through stories about little boys; but little boys will not sit through stories about little girls." 3 Q: What kind of theater excites you? A: The kind of theater that makes me forget everything else. Arthur Miller said, "The job of the artist is to remind people of what they have chosen to forget.” But it's my feeling that the job of the artist is also to help people forget—temporarily—what haunts them. Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out? A: Be careful not to seek too many opinions about your work. Two or three readers are plenty--choose wisely. Smart, theater-savvy folks--preferably people who read lots of plays. And even then, don't take any one comment too much to heart. It's all a crap shoot and nobody really knows anything for certain. One thing you can control is how much you write. The more plays you finish, the better you get. Once you've got a draft, take a break, maybe a few days or weeks, then re-read, re-write, re-peat. Be patient. As my mother used to say: "God's delays are not God's denials." Personally, I'm pinning my hopes on being discovered posthumously. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND The character of famed detective Sherlock Holmes was first created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, and appeared in four novels and five volumes of short stories over the next forty years. Now that copyright has expired, those works can be downloaded for free through Project Gutenberg (US). Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1856. His mother was well educated, and would often invent stories for her son, which may well have sparked his talent for writing. In his biography, Doyle is quoted as saying, “In my early childhood, as far as I can remember anything at all, the vivid stories she would tell me stand out so clearly that they obscure the real facts of my life.” His father, on the other hand, was an alcoholic with little education and few accomplishments. Conan Doyle studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and there, according to some, found his inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes in his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell. Conan Doyle practiced medicine until finding success as a writer. He published several novels on spiritualism, but none saw the same success as his detective stories. He even killed off Sherlock in order to focus more on other projects, but later brought him back to life in The Adventure of the Empty House. While never a distant memory, Sherlock Holmes has re-emerged in the public interest in several Hollywood films including Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), as well as British and American television series: Sherlock (2010 – 2016); Elementary (2012 – 2014). 4 Visit biography.com for a video of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle describing his mentor Dr. Bell as well as more information on the character of Sherlock Holmes. http://www.biography.com/people/arthur-conan-doyle- 9278600/videos/sherlock-holmes-the-original-holmes-2080092977 CHARACTERS Characters from the Holmes universe Mrs. Lillie Langtry: Known as the most beautiful woman of her time, she was the subject of Sherlock Holmes: This famed detective is several poems and paintings. She was also known for his amazing deductive reasoning rumoured to have had an affair with the Prince ability. His brutal honesty can sometimes hurt of Wales. him socially, however. Dr. Watson: Sherlock’s right hand man. In this play, Watson is enamoured with Lillie Langtry, despite the fact that he’s engaged to be married.