Pre-Show Preparation, Questions for Discussion, and Activities

  1. The Crash, the Vaudeville Stage, and Child Stars:  Contextualizing Herringbone.  The story of Herringbone utilizes both situationally and metaphorically the socio-political and economic milieu of the Great Crash and the Great Depression, and incorporates vaudeville as both a detail of setting and an element of theatrical style.  Although one needn’t have any familiarity with any of these contextual constituents to understand and enjoy Herringbone, their inclusion as foundational ingredients allows for interesting (and in some cases curiously or surprisingly intriguing) avenues for student investigatory research.  Topics for study might include those listed in the “Vaudeville Variety” and “Well-Known Vaudevillians” sidebars found in this audience guide or the following additional subjects:

    • Causes of the Great Depression
      • The Gold Standard
      • Stock Market Crash of 1929
      • Banking panics
      • Smoot-Hawley Tarriff Act
    • Effects of the Great Depression in America
    • Herbert Hoover’s response
    • Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response
    • Tony Pastor
    • Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward F. Albee
    • Black Americans in Vaudeville and TOBA
    • Burlesque
    • The Duncan Sisters
    • The Cherry Sisters
    • Regurgitators Hadji Ali and Stevie Starr
    • Leopoldo Fregoli and protean acts
    • Baby Rose Marie
    • The Three Keatons
    • The Gerry Society/NYSPCC
    • Jackie Coogan and the Coogan Bill/Act

Have your students choose and teach one another about one of the above or group topics via oral and/or illustrated (i.e., posters or PowerPoint) reports.  Following the presentations, ask your students to reflect upon their research process and discoveries.

  1. Going Solo on the American Stage:  An Exploration of One-Person Shows.  To prepare your students for Herringbone and deepen their level of understanding and appreciation of the one-person show tradition, familiarize them with a variety of solo performances pieces that they can view (and perhaps read), analyze, and discuss.  First, utilize the brief article “A ‘Cast of One’:  The History, Art, and Nature of the One-Person Show” found in this audience guide as a jumping -off point for your group exploration.  Then, compare and contrast two or three of the following plays (most titles are available both in print and on VHS and/or DVD; a few may be available at your local library):

    The Belle of Amherst, William Luce
    Mark Twain Tonight!, Hal Holbrook
    Swimming to Cambodia, Spaulding Gray
    Monster in a Box, Spaulding Gray
    Fires in the Mirror, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Anna Deavere Smith
    Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, Anna Deavere Smith
    Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Elaine Stritch (includes adult content /language)
    The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Jane Wagner
    (Direct from Broadway:) Whoopi Goldberg, Whoopi Goldberg

    • Following each individual viewing:
      • Have students journal (free write) a personal response to the work of art.
      • Then ask them to journal about what they noticed about the work or where they found meaning (e.g. ask them to indicate what they found stimulating, surprising, evocative, memorable, touching, challenging, compelling, delightful, different, unique, or meaningful).
      • Ask them to share their thoughts in an open discussion.
    • Continuing the discussion:
      • Ask your students to identify the mode and form of each one-person show they view.
      • Ask them if their viewing of the work of art gave them any insights into the pleasures and challenges of the one-person show form.
      • Have students consider if the story of the play is suited only to a solo performance format.  In other words, could they conceive of the play’s story in a more conventionally dramatic or theatrically expanded form (e.g., telling the story through the interaction of multiple characters, utilizing several actors to tell the story, using dialogue instead of monologue)?  How would a different format change the theatrical experience for both actor and audience?
      • If students have the opportunity to view more than a single one-person show, ask them to compare and contrast the plays, the performers and performance styles.

  2. A Theater Reviewer Prepares.  A theater critic or reviewer is essentially a “professional audience member,” whose job is to report the news, in detail, of a play’s production and performance through active and descriptive language for a target audience of readers (e.g., their peers, their community, or those interested in the arts). To prepare your students to write an accurate, insightful and compelling theater review following their attendance at Herringbone prime them for the task by discussing the three basic elements of a theatrical review:  reportage, analysis and judgment.

    • Reportage is concerned with the basic information of the production, or the journalist’s “four w’s” (i.e., who, what, where, when), as well as the elements of production, which include the text, setting, costumes, lighting, sound, acting and directing (see the Theater Reviewer’s Checklist).  When reporting upon these observable phenomena of production, the reviewer’s approach should be factual, descriptive and objective; any reference to quality or effectiveness should be reserved for the analysis section of the review.

    • With analysis the theater reviewer segues into the realm of the subjective and attempts to interpret the artistic choices made by the director and designers and the effectiveness not of these choices; specific moments, ideas and images from the production are considered in the analysis. Judgment involves the reviewer’s opinion as to whether the director’s and designers’ intentions were realized, and if their collaborative, artistic endeavor was ultimately a worthwhile one.  Theater reviewers always back up their opinions with reasons, evidence and details. 

    Remind your students that the goal of a theater reviewer is “to see accurately, describe fully, think clearly, and then (and only then) to judge fairly the merits of the work” (Thaiss and Davis, Writing for the Theatre, 1999).  Proper analytical preparation before the show and active listening and viewing during will result in the effective writing and crafting of their reviews.

  3. Check It Out:  Herringbone on the McCarter Blog.  Either as a class or individually, have your students access McCarter's web site to investigate news and information about Herringbone and its production process on McCarter Theatre Blog.  To access Herringbone related postings, go directly to http://www.mccarter.org/blog/index.php and select “Herringbone” under “Categories” on the left side of the web page.  The blog has been designed to connect McCarter Theatre and its staff (production, literary, artistic, education, etc.) with subscribers, students, educators and anyone interested in reading and writing about theater, and it provides an up-to-the-minute forum for news and information on McCarter plays in pre-production, rehearsal, and performance.  Post a comment or pose a question based on either previous bloggers' entries or on your own pre-show preparatory studies.