Educators Introduction

Welcome to the McCarter Audience Guide educator materials for Mrs. Warren’s Profession. This guide has been assembled to complement both your students’ theater-going experience and your class curriculum by offering a variety of interesting and edifying activities for both pre-show and post-performance instruction and enjoyment.

This production of George Bernard Shaw’s controversial masterpiece affords opportunities for enrichment in history and social studies, language arts, theater and visual art. Students can explore the themes presented by the playwright in his own era and consider them intellectually and personally in relation to their own lives and time; investigate Shaw’s biography and chart his development not only as a dramatist, but also as one of the great social and political critics of his time; examine the role and process of the costumer designer and research late Victorian fashion via a costume rendering/design project; consider the dramatic artistry of the playwright through the experience of scene study, preparation, and presentation; and ponder the work of the theatrical adaptor by updating a nineteenth-century scene for a twenty-first–century audience. Teachers can also link their classroom directly with McCarter Theatre via the McCarter Theatre Blog (www.mccarter.org/blog) and utilize it for pre- and post-show educational assignments.

Our student audiences are often our favorite audiences at McCarter, and we encourage you and your students to join us for a lively conversation with director Emily Mann and her talented cast after the performance. Our visiting artists are always impressed with the preparation and thoughtfulness of McCarter’s young audiences, and the post-performance discussion offers a unique opportunity for students to engage intellectually with professional theater practitioners. We look forward to seeing all of you for a wonderful and exciting discussion about Mrs. Warren’s Profession.