2016 Teacher Toolkit - Montana Shakespeare in the Parks

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ll the West’s a Stage, a production of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks’ MONTANA SHAKES!
program, highlights the magical world of the fairies from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream in an interactive and imaginative performance.
Augustus Babylon and Mary Sweetgrace, our plucky traveling players, are joined by the
mysterious and mischievous Johnny Dropbottom – and a few other companions – to pull
brave young audience members into Queen Titania and King Oberon’s fairy court.
By acting out the figurative language of Shakespeare’s original play, audience members
help Augustus, Mary, and Johnny bring to life the play-within-the-play: the story of
Pyramus and Thisbe.
T he Characters
MILES DUFFEY
as Augustus Babylon
STEPHANIE CHAVARA
as Mary Sweetgrace
MT SHAKES! ALL THE WEST’S A STAGE • TEACHER’S GUIDE
BRETT GARRETT
as Johnny Dropbottom
WWW.SHAKESPEAREINTHEPARKS.ORG
Synopsis
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream scene with Bottom
and the fairies painted by John Anster Fitzgerald
A
ll the West’s a Stage features scenes and
characters from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, one of his most enduring comedies.
There are three main storylines that intertwine in
the original play: the love triangle(s) between Hermia
and Lysander and Helena and Demetrius, four
young Athenians; the dispute between Titania and
Oberon, queen and king of the fairies; and the playwithin-the-play being rehearsed for performance
before the newly-wed Duke of Athens. Our play
takes the intersection of the latter two storylines as
its focus.
When the play opens, Titania and Oberon are
locked in a dispute over a boy whom Titania has
adopted. Oberon instructs his servant Puck to spell
Titania with a magic flower so that she will fall in
love with the first creature she sees upon awakening.
As luck would have it, the first creature Titania see
upon awakening is a donkey-headed Bottom who was
also enchanted by Puck while rehearsing the play
“Pyramus and Thisbe.”
Eventually, Oberon decides that all good sports
must come to an end. He breaks the spell on Titania
and reconciles with his queen; Bottom is returned
to his human form in time to perform his play for
the Duke. At the close of the play, fairies perform
their blessings and Puck delivers a tender epilogue
soliloquy.
MT SHAKES! ALL THE WEST’S A STAGE • TEACHER’S GUIDE
T heatre
E tiquette
oing to see a play is a very different experience
from going to the movies. During live theatre,
the audience is as important a part of the experience
as the actors. Here are some tips for young audience
members that will help make the experience great.
Live response is great! A live performance is like a
conversation between the actors and the audience.
The more the audience responds (appropriately), the
more the actors get excited about telling the story.
The actors can see and hear you. If an audience
member is not paying attention and chatting with a
friend instead, the actors know it. Theatre actors have
only one chance with each audience to communicate
clearly, so it is their job to ‘check in’ with the audience
and make sure they’re understanding. If you’re not
paying attention, the actors will know it.
Teachers should lead the way. Teachers, we are
performing for you as well as the students. Sitting
among students and experiencing the play with them
can help to enhance their experiences as well as your
own. Remember, besides learning about Shakespeare,
we are trying to educate students on how to see and
enjoy live theatre. Please, lead the way, and let us
know if you enjoyed the performance, too!
WWW.SHAKESPEAREINTHEPARKS.ORG
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n Shakespeare’s plays, students will hear some unfamiliar words. If you have time, review some of
these terms with your students before the play. We will also take time during the performance to
define some of these words and phrases.
Dote – to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually
Doth – do
Forsworn – (Forswear) to give up or abandon
Hobgoblin/Puck – a mischievous creature
Knavery – trickery
Lavishing – to expend or give in great amounts
Loathe – to feel disgust or intense aversion for;
Methinks – “it seems to me..”
Perchance – perhaps; maybe; possibly
Promontory – a point of high land that juts out into a
large body of water, a cliff
Rash – acting too hastily or without consideration
Historic
illustration
of Bottom.
Tarry – stay; wait
Thee/thou – you
Thy – your
Wanton – without regard
for what is right, just, humane, etc.
Stanley Tucci as Puck in the 1999 film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
MT SHAKES! ALL THE WEST’S A STAGE • TEACHER’S GUIDE
WWW.SHAKESPEAREINTHEPARKS.ORG
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STEPHANIE CHAVARA (MARY SWEETGRACE)
is thrilled to be returning to Montana
for the MTShakes! tour after
having toured with the Merchant
of Venice this past fall. Stephanie
currently lives in Chicago, recent credits there
include Charles Ives Take Me Home at Strawdog
Theatre, Genius at Profiles, Brighton Beach Memoirs
at Fox Valley Rep, Motion at Signal Ensemble,
and Mourning Becomes Electra at Remy Bumppo.
In addition, she has worked with The Goodman,
TimeLine, Jackalope, American Blues Theatre,
Dog + Pony, and Collaboraction. She is also a
teacher, director, and writer and has worked with
Adventure Stage, Writers Theatre, Arts For All,
Actors Training Center of Wilmette and 2nd Story.
She holds an MFA from The Theatre School at
DePaul, and has worked abroad with the Rhodopi
International Theatre Laboratory in Bulgaria.
MILES DUFFEY (AUGUSTUS BABYLON)
is absolutely thrilled to be
coming back to Montana
for the MTShakes! tour.
He was last seen in this
past fall’s Shakespeare in the Schools
production of The Merchant of Venice.
He has performed in years past in the
plays Macbeth and The Two Gentleman
of Verona. He was also in the Montana
Shakespeare in the Parks production
of The Merchant of Venice in 2011. Just
last winter he toured to schools in Idaho
performing The Comedy of Errors for the
Idaho Shakespeare Festival. He is a
Minneapolis based actor and cannot wait
to see the mountains of Montana again!
MT SHAKES! ALL THE WEST’S A STAGE • TEACHER’S GUIDE
BRETT GARRETT (JOHNNY DROPBOTTOM) is
thrilled to be returning to Montana
for the MTShakes! program. His
recent credits include A Midsummer
Night’s Dream and Henry V
(Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Hamlet and Comedy
of Errors (Houston Shakespeare Theatre), Richard
III and Comedy of Errors (Notre Dame Shakespeare
Festival), Hamlet (Muse of Fire), Importance of
Being Earnest (Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre),
Macbeth, Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream and Two Knoble Kinsmen (Oklahoma
Shakespeare in the Parks), as well as Pride and
Prejudice and A Christmas Carol (Oklahoma City
Children’s Theatre). Brett graduated with a BFA in
acting from Oklahoma City University. He would
like to thank Kevin for this amazing opportunity
and his family and friends for all of their love and
support.
Mark Douglas MacIntyre (Director) After
completing his university studies in Theatre
Arts, Mr. MacIntyre began his professional
acting career in 1974 working variously as an
actor, playwright and director in a number of
regional theatres in the West and Midwest, including Montana
Shakespeare in the Parks. In 1977, he was approached by the
Music Director of the Spokane Symphony and offered the
opportunity to create and perform a touring educational concert
for symphony orchestra. This program proved so singularly
successful that it soon led to invitations from other orchestras.
With his creative partner, Maggie Petersen, Mr. MacIntyre
formed the Magic Circle Mime Company in 1978 and since
that time they have created and performed concert programs
with orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Asia
and in Europe. Mr. MacIntyre has created and led workshops
in theatre and music for numerous public and private schools,
youth orchestras, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
and in 2010 for the U.S. Army School of Music.
WWW.SHAKESPEAREINTHEPARKS.ORG
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A Midsummer
in the Arts
ince its first printing in 1600, A Midsummer Night’s Dream has captured the imagination of countless artists
and performers across a variety of genres and mediums. Here is just a short list of some of the many other
works of art that Shakespeare’s play has inspired over the years:
• The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell, a masque or semi-opera adapted from Shakespeare’s play
• Concert overture and incidental music composed by Felix Mendelssohn in for a performance of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream in 1827 (which gave us the famous “Wedding March” still used as a recessional in weddings today as well as
the “Dance of the Clowns”).
• An opera by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, first performed in 1960
• George Balanchine’s first full-length ballet was A Midsummer
Night’s Dream; it premiered in 1962 and used Mendelssohn’s
music
• Dozens of films reference or have adapted the original play,
including the 1999 Michael Hoffman film starring Kevin Kline as
Bottom and Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania and, most recently, a 2015
Lucasfilm animated feature called Strange Magic.
George Balanchine’s ballet version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The 1999 film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring
Michelle Pheiffer as Titania and Kevin Kline as Bottom.
MT SHAKES! ALL THE WEST’S A STAGE • TEACHER’S GUIDE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream inspired
the recent animated film Strange Magic.
WWW.SHAKESPEAREINTHEPARKS.ORG