Pre-Show Preparation, Questions for Discussion, and Activities

Note to Educators: Use the following assignments, questions, and activities to introduce your students to Fetch Clay, Make Man and its intellectual and artistic origins, context, and themes, as well as to engage their imaginations and creativity before they see the production.

  1. Images of Ali and Stepin Fetchit.  Playwright Will Power became inspired to write the play Fetch Clay, Make Man after seeing a photograph of the young, newly crowned heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali with older, disgraced film actor and comedian Stepin Fetchit.  Power was taught in his youth that these two black icons represented “The Greatest” and the “greatest embarrassment,” respectively, of black American culture, and so he marveled at the image of them together and wondered what it was that brought the two men together.  Fetch Clay, Make Man is Power’s fictionalized account of this unexplored, never chronicled relationship.

To give your students a sense of the contrasting historical images and personas of Muhammad Ali and Stepin Fetchit before they see Fetch Clay, Make Man, have them view the video clips of the two men below.

  1. Shaping Identities/Images for Ourselves:  Public vs. Private. At the heart of playwright Will Power’s exploration of the unlikely friendship between Muhammad Ali and Stepin Fetchit are the issues of identity and image in relation to one’s public and private self/persona.  How we identify ourselves and how we shape (or try to shape) our own self-image are of special significance to the conflicts at the center of Fetch Clay, Make Man.  Ask your students to consider their own public and private identities/images and those of others by responding to the questions below. 

    For public discussion (have students share their answers to these questions in a large class discussion or smaller discussion groups)

    • What are the reasons why some people present a public face or personality (i.e., how they want to be seen) that is different from their private face or personality (i.e., who they really are)?  Do all people do this?  What are the advantages of such duality?  What are the challenges/detriments?
    • Have you ever been surprised, astonished or disappointed by a public figure who projected one identity or image, but then later revealed a very different persona?  Explain the circumstances and your reaction.

For private reflection (ask students to reflect on these questions in writing)

  • Do you think you are the same person on the inside that you project to the outside world?  Explain your answer.
  • What three words would you use to describe your public self or persona (i.e., choose three words to describe yourself as you think other people see you)?
  • What three words would you use to describe your private self or persona (i.e., choose three words to describe yourself as you see you)?
  • Have you ever tried to change your identity or reshape your image?  Or do you know some who has?  If so, why was this identity change or image reshaping undertaken?  Was it successful?  Explain your answers
  1. In Context:  The Lives and Times of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali and Lincoln Perry/Stepin Fetchit.  To prepare your students for Fetch Clay, Make Man and to deepen their level of understanding of and appreciation for  the play’s central characters, their associates, and historical contexts, have students research, either in groups or individually, the following topics:
  • Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali
    • birth – 1963  
    • 1964 – 1970
    • 1971 – 1980
    • 1981 – present
  • Jack Johnson
  • Sonny Liston
  • Sonji Clay
  • The Nation of Islam
  • Elijah Muhammad
  • NAACP
  • Black Power Movement
  • Malcolm  X
  • Herbert Muhammad
  • Lincoln Perry/Stepin Fetchit
  • TOBA
  • Bert Williams
  • William Fox (1879-1952)
  • The Chicago Defender
  • “Uncle Tom” and “Sambo”

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