Post-Show Questions for Discussion and Activities

Note to Educators:  Use the following assignments, questions and activities to have students evaluate their experience of the performance of Mrs. Packard, as well as to encourage their own intellectual, imaginative and artistic projects through further exploration of the play in production

  1. “Come Let Us Reason Together”: Questions and Discussion Points For Mrs. Packard. 

    • Ask students to brainstorm a list of themes explored in Emily Mann’s Mrs. Packard.  These might include:  a woman’s struggle for personal liberty; personal transformation in the midst of trial; the battle for gender equality over traditional, institutionalized gender bias;  the human and civil rights of the mentally ill; the responsibility of the powerful or able to protect, aid, and comfort the innocent, weak, and afflicted; speaking truth to power; morality in conflict with religious tolerance/acceptance.  Ask students to identify moments from the play in which each theme is explored.  Ask students if they can personally identify with any of these themes or any of the characters in Mrs. Packard.  Have them explain their responses.

    • Ask students if there is someone close to them who holds a belief with which they strongly disagree.  Have they been able to openly address and discuss this conflict of ideas?  What was the nature and outcome of the discussion?

    •   Emily Mann chose to tell the story of Mrs. Packard by flashing back and forth between Elizabeth’s trial and the events of her confinement at Jacksonville Insane Asylum as they unfold.  Ask students to consider why Mann made this choice.

    • Ultimately, Elizabeth Packard chooses to stay true to her principles, which keeps her from physically being with her children.  Why does she do this? Was Packard a good mother?  Ask your students to explain their responses.

    • At one point in the story of the play, Elizabeth Packard compares herself to the African-American slaves the abolitionists were working to free at that time.  Is hers a fair comparison?  Why or why not? 

    • Ask your students if the story of Mrs. Packard has any contemporary resonance.  Can they think of any situations in the world today that echo Elizabeth Packard’s plight?
  2.   Discussing Mrs. Packard as a Theatrical Experience. 
    Following their attendance at the performance of Mrs. Packard, ask your students to reflect on the questions below.  (You might choose to have them answer each individually or you could divide students into groups for round-table discussions.  Have them consider each question, record their answers and then share their responses with the rest of the class.)

Questions to Ask Your Students About the Play in Production

a)   What was your overall reaction to Mrs. Packard?  Did you find the production compelling?  Stimulating?  Intriguing?  Challenging?  Memorable?  Confusing?  Evocative?  Unique?  Delightful?  Meaningful? Explain your reactions.

b)   Did experiencing the play heighten your awareness or understanding of the play’s themes?  [e.g., a woman’s struggle for personal liberty; personal transformation in the midst of trial; the battle for gender equality over traditional, institutionalized gender bias;  the human and civil rights of the mentally ill; the powerful’s or able’s responsibility to protect and succor the innocent, weak, and afflicted; speaking truth to power; morality in conflict with religious tolerance/acceptance] What themes were made most apparent in performance? Explain your responses.

c)   Do you think that the pace and tempo of the production was effective and appropriate? Explain your opinion.

Questions to Ask Your Students About the Characters

a)   Did you personally identify with any of the characters in the play?  Who?  Why?

b)   What qualities were revealed by the action and speech of the characters?  Explain your ideas.

c)   Did any characters develop or undergo a transformation during the course of the play?  Who?  How?  Why?

d)   In what ways did the characters reveal the themes of the play?  Explain your responses.

Questions to Ask Your Students About the Style and Design of the Production
a)   Was there a moment in the play that was so compelling or intriguing that it remains with you in your mind’s eye?  Can you write a vivid description of that moment?  As you write your description, pretend that you are writing about the moment for someone who was unable to experience the performance.

b)   Did the style and design elements of the production enhance the performance?  Did anything specifically stand out to you?  Explain your reaction.

c)   Did the style and design elements work together to create a unified production?  Were there any elements that distracted from the action of the play?  Which?  Why?

d)   How did the production style and design reflect the themes of the play? 

e)   What mood or atmosphere did the lighting design establish or achieve?  Explain your experience.

f)    How did the sound design enhance your overall experience?  Explain your response.

g)  Did the design of the costumes and makeup serve to illuminate the characters, themes, and style of the play?  How?

  1. I Am Writing You On Behalf of Mrs. Elizabeth Packard…Have your students choose a character who holds some sort of power or authority in the world of Mrs. Packard, such as Theophilus Packard, Dr. McFarland, The Judge, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jacksonville Insane Asylum—or they might even get creative with authorities who don’t actually appear in the play, for example the editor of The Kankakee Daily Journal, the Kankakee County Chief of Police, the church council of the Manteno Presbyterian Church where Rev. Theophilus Packard was a minister, etc.—and ask them to write a letter to this authority in support of Elizabeth Packard. 

    Each student should also choose a persona for themselves from whose perspective they will write their letter. They should imagine not only particulars about their character, but also the nature of their character’s relationship to Elizabeth Packard, and the formality and decorum of the nineteenth-century correspondence/epistle writing.  Letters should be persuasive and can address any aspect of Mrs. Packard’s suppression and/or confinement, her religious convictions, or  her cause for mental institution reform and the rights of patients. 

    Students’ letters may be read aloud for the class and discussed for the merits of their argument, attention to detail and imagination and originality of their authors.

  2. Reproof:  n. an Act or Expression of Criticism or Censure.  In Mrs. Packard, Elizabeth Packard is compelled by her conscience, morality and sense of responsibility to criticize Dr. McFarland for his complicity in the unjust and inhumane treatment of the patients at the Jacksonville Insane Asylum; she addresses him via written reproof.  Ask students to reflect upon their own situations and experience, and consider whether or not they are affiliated with an institution (e.g., school; national, state, or local government, community group, place of worship, workplace, etc.)  in which those in authority are unaware of or deliberately ignoring instances of injustice, bias, peril or inhumanity.  Ask them to write a one-page reproof which seriously addresses the problem and seeks to offer solutions to improve the situation or redress all wrongs.  If appropriate, students may volunteer their reproofs to be read aloud to the class and discussed.


  3. Mrs. Packard:  Reviewing the World Premiere.  Have your students take on the role of theater critic by having them write a review of McCarter Theatre’s world premiere production of Emily Mann’s Mrs. Packard.  A theater critic or reviewer is essentially a “professional audience member,” whose job is to provide reportage 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).  Critics/reviewers provide analysis of the theatrical event to provide clearer understanding of the artistic ambitions and intentions of a play and its production; reviewers often ask themselves, “What is the playwright and this production attempting to do?”  And, finally, the critic offers personal judgment as to whether the artistic intentions of a production were achieved, effective, and worthwhile.  [See “Pre-Show Preparation, Questions for Discussion, and Activities,” Imaginative, Artistic and Compositional Activities, Question #2, for information on how to prepare students for effective theatre reviewing.] 

    Things to consider before writing:

  • Theater critics/reviewers always back up their opinions with reasons, evidence, and details. 
  • The elements of production that can be discussed in a theatrical review are the play text or script (and its themes, plot, characters, etc.), scenic elements, costumes, lighting, sound, music, acting and direction (i.e., how all of these elements are put together).  [See the Theater Reviewer’s Checklist.]

·          Educators are encouraged to provide their students with sample theater reviews from a variety of newspapers.