study guide.
Transcription
study guide.
Study Guide prepared by Catherine Bush Barter Playwright-in-Residence Winter Wheat Book & lyrics by Catherine Bush, Music by Ben Mackel *Especially for Grades 7-12 Barter Theatre Stage II – fall, 2016 (NOTE: standards listed below are for seeing a performance of the play, and completing the study guide.) Virginia SOLs History – USII.1, USII.4, USII.5, VUS.8, VUS.9, CE2, CE3 Music – 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, MIB.19, MIB.20, MIB.21, MII.18, MII.19, MII.20, MIAD.18, MIAD.19, MIAD.20, HG.6, HG.7, HG.8, HG.9, HG.10 English – 7.1, 7.4, 7.7, 7.9, 8.2, 8.4, 8.7, 8.9, 9.1, 9.3, 9.6, 9.8, 10.1, 10.3, 10.6, 10.8, 11.1, 11.3, 11.6, 11.8, 12.1, 12.3, 12.4, 12.6 Theatre Arts – 7.6, 7.20, 7.21, 8.5, 8.18, 8.22, TI.10, TI.11, TI.13, TI.17, TII.9, TII.12, TII.15, TII.17, TIII.11, TIII.12, TIV.12, TIV.13 Tennessee/North Carolina Common Core Standards English Language Arts – Writing: 7.1, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 8.1, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 9-10.1, 9-10.7, 9-10.8, 910.9, 11-12.1, 11-12.7, 11-12.8, 11-12.9 Tennessee State Standards History – 8.49, US.3, US.18, US.29, GC.47 Music 6-8 – 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2 Music 9-12 – 7.2, 8.2 Theatre 6-8 – 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2 Theatre 9-12 – 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2 North Carolina Essential Standards History – 7.C&G.1, 8.H.2, 8.H.3, 8.G.1, 8.C&G.1, 8.C&G.2, 8.C.1, AH2.H.2, AH2.H.4, AH2.H.5, 12.H.1 Music – 7.MR.1, 8.MR.1, B.MR.1, B.CR.1, I.MR.1, I.CR.1, P.MR.1, P.CR.1, A.MR.1, A.CR.1 Theatre Arts – 7.A.1, 8.A.1, 8.CU.2, B.A.1, B.CU.2, I.A.1, I.CU.2, P.A.1, A.A.1, A.AE.1 Setting Various locations in and around Niota, TN and the state capitol in Nashville. November, 1919 to October, 1920. Characters Samuel Abbott – an illiterate tenant farmer. Ruth Abbott – his eighteen-year old daughter; loves the land Harry Burn – a twenty-three year old state congressman from Niota, Tennessee Febb Burn – Harry’s mother, the owner of Hathburn, a farm in Niota Jack Burn – Harry’s younger brother; runs Hathburn Carrie Chapman Catt – leader of the National American Woman Suffrage Assoc. Mary Hay – Catt’s lieutenant. Josephine Anderson Pearson – President of the Southern Women’s Rejection League Coleman Weber – a local Niota farmer Buford Hash – a local Niota farmer Forrest – owner of the local hardware store in Niota Representative Seth Walker – Speaker of the House, Tennessee General Assembly Representative Joseph Hanover – pro-Suffrage supporter, Shelby County; Jewish Representative James Galbraith – anti-Suffrage, Meigs County Representative Wesley Tucker – pro-Suffrage, Unicoi County L&N Official – representative of the L&N Railroad Note: Cast Size and Doubling of Actors In this production, some of the actors will be playing more than one role. Doubling of actors requires distinction between characters. In this production, characters will be distinguished by costume, voice and other physical character traits. Vocabulary Words tenant farmer representative constituent obligation editorial Bolshevist suffragist ratification amendment debate legislature politician expenditure intolerable peril agitator acquiesce quarantine illiterate destiny supremacy Prohibition referendum ornery ruination obliterate indigenous aspiration unpalatable bequest Synopsis “We are sowing winter wheat, which the coming spring will see sprout and which other hands than ours will reap and enjoy.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton Niota, Tennessee November, 1919. Ruth Abbott, the daughter of an illiterate tenant farmer, is being hired out as a house worker to Febb Burn, the owner of Hathburn, a nearby mansion. Ruth begs her father, Samuel, to let her stay home; she loves working the land and fears she doesn’t have the manners or skills necessary to work in a “fancy” house. Samuel explains that the Waterbarger farm, where they tenant, is going to be sold soon and their only hope of survival is to buy their own land – and the money Ruth will make working for Miss Febb will allow them to do so. Ruth tries to protest further, but Samuel sends her on her way. At Hathburn, Febb’s son Harry – a state congressman – has just discovered that Febb has been scrapbooking about the ratification of the 19th Amendment (women’s right to vote). Harry is surprised; his mother has never expressed an interest in politics before. In order to become law, the Nineteenth Amendment would need to be ratified by 36 states. Harry is convinced that Tennessee would never even consider ratification and advises Febb to stay away from the suffrage debate. Harry’s younger brother Jack, who runs the family farm, enters with Ruth in tow, but before Jack can introduce her, Harry pulls him into an argument. Eventually Ruth is forced to introduce herself. Febb is charmed by Ruth and takes her under her wing Meanwhile, in Knoxville, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt prepares to make a speech when her lieutenant, Mary Hay, enters and tries to stop her. Mary warns Carrie that the audience is filled with anti-suffrage protesters and that the South is not a safe for suffragists. Carrie ignores her and gives her speech anyway. Afterwards, she is approached by Josephine Anderson Pearson, President of the Southern Woman’s Rejection League, an organization opposed to woman suffrage. Pearson warns Carrie that she and her kind are not welcome in Tennessee and warns her to leave and never come back. Instead of feeling threatened, Carrie is more determined than ever to win her cause. She and Mary begin telegraphing governors in states that have not yet debated the issue, insisting they call special sessions. Synopsis (cont.) The scene shifts to Niota a few months later. It is winter. The men gathered in Forrest’s Hardware Store are astounded the latest delivery – an indoor flush toilet. As they discuss the changing times, Jack enters to pick up the toilet, which he ordered for Hathburn. One of the men, Buford Hash, despises Jack’s progressive views, and accuses him of being a Bolshevist. This leads to an argument on woman suffrage, with the men wondering which way Harry would vote, should it ever come to that. Forrest breaks up the fight, and Samuel enters. He introduces himself to Jack and tells him a rumor floating about town that Jack is going to buy the Waterbarger farm. Samuel expresses interest in buying twenty acres of the property. Jack agrees to consider it. Back at Hathburn, Ruth notices the Febb’s scrapbook and asks her about the clippings. Febb explains about the suffrage movement, its founders and what the right to vote would mean to women. Febb offers to lend Ruth her scrapbook, but Ruth tells her she can’t read. When pressed further, Ruth admits that her father is illiterate as well, but that her mother, Naomi – who died when Ruth was young – used to read to her from the Bible’s Book of Ruth. Febb recalls the moment she learned to read; how she was certain that someday she would change the world. Ruth asks her if she ever did; Febb admits that she has not and that it is too late for her. But it is not too late for Ruth; Febb begins to teach Ruth how to read. March, 1920. Spring is in the air, but at suffragist headquarters in New York City, Mary Hay has no time to stop and smell the roses. Not only has Josephine Pearson been vilifying Carrie in the press, but state governors have been refusing to call the special sessions necessary to debate ratification. They have only 34 states, and the Presidential election is looming in November. Carrie arrives with news – Washington has ratified! But the celebration is short-lived as the two suffragists realize they have few options from which to choose the 36thstate. When Carrie suggests the possibility of Tennessee, Mary explains a technicality in their law that prohibits a debate – a technicality that might be overturned by an upcoming Supreme Court decision. Carrie remains hopeful that the winds of spring will blow good news their way. Synopsis (cont.) Meanwhile, back at Hathburn, Ruth is outside, watching Jack plow the fields with his new tractor, when Harry enters. Harry notices Ruth’s reverence for the land, and she explains how thrilling it is to watch something you’ve planted grow and ripen and be harvested. The conversation turns to Febb and how she’s teaching Ruth all about the woman suffrage movement. This worries Harry, and when Jack comes to talk to him, Harry shows him Febb’s scrapbook, which has even more suffrage articles added to it. Harry wants to run for reelection in the fall, and he considers his mother’s pro-suffrage leanings a liability. Jack explains that his mother’s activity is merely an attempt to fill the hole caused by her young daughter’s death. Jack also points out that Ruth has brought some happiness back to Febb’s life. June 1920. In New York, Mary brings Carrie word that the Supreme Court’s decision has gone their way, and they may now petition Governor Al Roberts of Tennessee to call a special session. Back in Niota, Ruth finds her mother’s Bible and, for the first time, is able to read it. Samuel walks in on her and is furious. He rips the Bible from her hands and demands to know who taught her to read. When Ruth admits that it was Febb, Samuel forbids her from ever seeing Febb again. Instead, she will stay home and help him harvest the winter wheat. Ruth is devastated. Meanwhile, at suffrage headquarters, Carrie Catt finally gets the news she has waited for: Governor Albert Roberts has called a special session of Tennessee’s General Assembly to debate ratification of the 19th Amendment. One week later. Ruth is helping her father harvest the winter wheat when Jack enters. He has been sent by Febb to discover the real reason for Ruth’s absence. Before Ruth can explain, Samuel shows up. Jack realizes that Ruth is being kept against her will and offers Samuel the use of his tractor if he will allow Ruth to return to Hathburn. Samuel is not convinced; Jack finally offers to sell the piece of land Samuel wants for a reasonable price if he will let Ruth return. Samuel agrees, but only if Febb will board Ruth as well. Jack agrees and leaves. Samuel accuses Ruth of being just like her mother. Ruth discovers that her mother did not die – instead, Naomi ran off with another man. Samuel claims that his inability to read was the reason she left. He tells Ruth that she needs to stay gone, like her mother. Ruth asks for Naomi’s Bible – Samuel tells her she can have it when she’s earned enough money to buy that land. Synopsis (cont.) Nashville, July 1920. Josephine Pearson gives a speech outlining the reasons for her anti-suffrage views. She is determined to preserve the values of southern womanhood at all costs. Hathburn, August, 1920. Harry is preparing for his journey to Nashville where he will take his place in the General Assembly for the vote on ratification. Febb finds him reading telegrams and letters from his constituents, all expressing anti-suffrage views and demanding that he vote accordingly. Febb listens as Harry tries to figure out how to serve best; should he follow his conscience or the desires of his constituents? Harry wishes that his father was alive so he could ask his advice. Jack enters and tells Harry it’s time to leave for the station. Nashville, TN August, 1920. Pro and anti-suffrage forces fight for votes from the congressman. A red rose worn in a congressman’s lapel signifies a “Nay” vote – a yellow rose, a “Yay” vote. Harry enters the scene. The two sides fight for him. In the end, he is determined to do the bidding of his constituents and takes a red rose. Back at Hathburn, Ruth discovers Febb reading a newspaper and muttering angrily. Harry has not given any interviews in support of suffrage and Febb is beside herself. Ruth encourages Febb to write to Harry and give him her opinion. When Febb protests that a mother never interferes in her grown children’s life; Ruth reminds her of her dream to change the world – and now she has the chance. Febb decides to do it and writes a letter to Harry in Nashville – which he receives it the day of the vote. As the roll is called, Harry makes the most important decision of his life – and votes in favor. The Nineteenth Amendment is ratified! The scene shifts back to Hathburn, that October. Harry brings his mother the last rose from the garden – a congratulations of sorts, for Febb has just registered to vote. Jack enters and tells Febb that Ruth is leaving – she’s earned enough money to buy the land her father wants and she’s going to help him farm it. Febb confronts Ruth, who explains that she longs to reconcile with her father and that she misses the land. But she promises Febb that she won’t quit reading and learning. Febb gives her the scrapbook as a parting gift. Ruth goes home, but when she tries to give Samuel the money, he won’t take it. His loneliness has softened him, and he suggests that she buy the land and he will help her work it. When Ruth insists that they buy it together, Samuel reminds her that he would be unable to sign the deed, because he can’t read or write. Ruth offers to teach him, using Febb’s scrapbook as a guide. As the lights fade, we see Ruth and her father sitting side-by-side as Ruth repeats Febb’s lessons Biography of the Playwright – Catherine Bush Catherine Bush has been Barter Theatre’s playwrightin-residence since 2007. Her produced plays include: The Other Side of the Mountain, The Quiltmaker, Comin’ Up A Storm, Wooden Snowflakes, Tradin’ Paint, Where Trouble Sleeps, Walking Across Egypt, I’ll Never Be Hungry Again (book & lyrics), The Three Musketeers, The Frankenstein Summer, unhINGEd, The Executioner’s Sons, The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig, and Just a Kiss, which was a finalist for the 2007 Steinberg Award presented by the American Theatre Critics Association. Plays for Young Audiences: Cry Wolf!, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, My Imaginary Pirate, The Call of the Wild, The Princess and the Pea, Aesop’s Fables, The Red Badge of Courage. Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mother Goose: The Musical, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Jingle All the Way, Old Turtle and the Broken Truth, Antigone, Robin Hood, and Great Expectations. www.catherinebushplays.com Biography of Composer – Ben Mackel Ben Mackel was a resident actor at Barter Theatre for 8 years. During that time he composed music for several shows including Billy Goat Gruff the Musical, Elves and The Shoe Maker, and Of Mice and Men, which toured nationally. Aside from acting at other regional theatres, Ben tours and records with the harmony driven string band, The Blue Eyed Bettys. As the band, they recently cocomposed and acted in The Tourist Trap, a folksy musical with puppets at Peppercorn Children’s Theatre. For more information and tour dates, go to theblueeyedbettys.com A Brief History Barter Theatre was founded during the Great Depression by Robert Porterfield, an enterprising young actor. He and his fellow actors found themselves out of work and hungry in New York City. Porterfield contrasted that to the abundance of food, but lack of live theatre, around his home region in Southwest Virginia. He returned to Washington County with an extraordinary proposition: bartering produce from the farms and gardens of the area to gain admission to see a play. Barter Theatre opened its doors on June 10, 1933 proclaiming, “With vegetables you cannot sell, you can buy a good laugh.” The price of admission was 40 cents or the equivalent in produce, the concept of trading “ham for Hamlet” caught on quickly. At the end of the first season, the Barter Company cleared $4.35 in cash, two barrels of jelly and enjoyed a collective weight gain of over 300 pounds. Playwrights including Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder accepted Virginia ham as payment for royalties. An exception was George Bernard Shaw, a vegetarian, who bartered the rights to his plays for spinach. Today, Barter Theatre has a reputation as a theatre where many actors performed before going on to achieve fame and fortune. The most recognized of these alumni include Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, Larry Linville and Frances Fisher. The list also included James Burrows, creator of Cheers, Barry Corbin, and the late Jim Varney Robert Porterfield passed away in 1971. His successor, Rex Partington, had been at Barter in the 1950s as an actor and in the 1970s as stage manager. Rex returned as chief administrator from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. In March 2006, he passed away. Richard Rose was named the producing artistic director in October 1992. In that time, attendance has grown from 42,000 annual patrons to more than 163,000 annual patrons. Significant capital improvements have also been made. Including maintenance to both theatres, and in 2006, the addition of The Barter Café at Stage II and dramatic improvements to Porterfield Square. Barter represents three distinct venues of live theatre: Barter Theatre Main Stage, Barter Theatre Stage II and The Barter Players. Barter Theatre, with over 500 seats, features traditional theatre in a luxurious setting. Barter Stage II, across the street from Barter Main Stage and beyond Porterfield Square, offers seating for 167 around a thrust stage in an intimate setting and is perfect for more adventurous productions. The Barter Players is a talented ensemble of actors, producing plays for young audiences throughout the year. History is always in the making at Barter Theatre, building on legends of the past; Barter looks forward to the challenge of growth in the future. Word Search Find the following words in the puzzle below: winter wheat, Ruth Abbott, Harry Burn, Miss Febb, tractor, tenant farmer, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Catt, ratification, amendment, Josephine Pearson, Niota, Hathburn, Nashville, War of the Roses, Mary Garrett Hay, The Book of Ruth, Tennessee, illiterate, suffrage, Barter Theatre B B E F S S I M N B J H M Z F J R A T I F I C A T I O N Y Z O T E R T A E H T R E T R A B S S E T E C O K J J Y F E P U E E H N A E K N I A O G G V P P S N T A E S U S A N B A N T H O N Y U N H S Z F H R R R N I R C A T R T W E C K F F U R N E O A S N F F R N X X F B U E H F T R H E O A E N Y U H B P T Y E C R V M K R T E S T Y E F T S K A I I D O M N T A R A O Q H A E R E L N O E I H R R R P N A Z N T C L E B R W A S A U H G Y T Q X A E M E E H O W I L L I T E R A T E A H H N T T O B B A H T U R T G T T L True and False Write T if the statement is True and F if the statement is False. 1. ____ Febb Burn was the owner of Hathburn. 2. ____ The Tennessee state capitol is located in Niota. 3. ____ Suffrage refers to the right to bear arms. 4. ____ The title of this play comes from a quote by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 5. ____ Harry Burn was a congressman in the Tennessee General Assembly. 6. ____ 34 states were needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. 7. ____ Josephine Pearson was in favor of women getting the vote. 8. ____ Ben Mackel composed the music for Winter Wheat. 9. ____ Mary Garret Hay was Susan B. Anthony’s lieutenant. 10. ____ Hathburn is located in Nashville, Tennessee. 11. ____ The Eighteenth Amendment grants women the right to vote. 12. ____ Febb wrote a letter to Harry encouraging him to vote for ratification. 13. ____ The battle for votes was referred to as “The War of the Roses.” 14. ____ Harry Burn voted in favor of ratification. 15. ____ At the end of the play, Ruth decided to stay with Febb. Questions/Activities 1. This story is set in 1919-1920, just after the end of WWI. Why did the United State enter the war? What impact did the war have on this country and its people? How had the world changed by war’s end? What were the latest technologies? The woman suffrage movement was seventy-two years old - why do you think the time was ripe for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment? Discuss. In 1920, Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis wrote a song entitled How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm. Using the internet, research the lyrics of this song. How do they fit in with the theme of this play? Discuss. 2. One of the reasons President Woodrow Wilson wanted the Nineteenth Amendment ratified was so that women could vote for his proposed League of Nations. What was the League of Nations? What became of it? Was it a successful endeavor? Discuss. 3. Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment met a great deal of resistance from the southern states. Why? How did racism and the prevailing Jim Crow laws play into the South’s determination to prevent woman suffrage? Discuss. 4. The women of this country suffered many trials and tribulations in their effort to secure the right to vote. Why is it important that the citizens of the Unites States vote at every level – local, state, and federal? Discuss. 5. Josephine Anderson Pearson was vehemently opposed to voting rights for women. What reason could a women have for disenfranchising herself? Discuss. 6. The title of this play – Winter Wheat – was taken from a quote by suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton: “We are sowing winter wheat, which the coming spring will see sprout and which other hands than ours will reap and enjoy.” What was Stanton referring to? How is the metaphor of planting, growing, and harvesting used throughout this play? Who is Ruth in the Bible? Discuss. 7. Winter Wheat is a musical. How does the music in this play help tell the story? What can music in a play accomplish that straight dialogue cannot? What criteria should be used in critiquing music? Using the criteria you learned in your music education classes, write a critique of the music in Winter Wheat. 8. Have you ever considered the relationship between music and theatrical storytelling? What careers exist for musicians/composers in the world of theatre? Discuss. TRY IT YOURSELF! One of the hottest shown on Broadway right now is Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop tribute to Alexander Hamilton, creator of America’s banking system. Pick a specific moment in history (i.e. the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock) and write a song about it, in any style you prefer. Present it to your class. Were your classmates able to identify the moment correctly? DEBATE! 9. Divide the class into two groups – one pro woman suffrage and the other against. Working as a group, the students should gather and organize evidence to support their position. Then, using a debate format, each group will present its evidence clearly and convincingly, address counterclaims, and support and defend its ideas. 10. Winter Wheat is a work of fiction based on actual events. Although Ruth and her father Samuel were created from the playwright’s imagination, several other characters actually existed and played a major role in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment: Carrie Chapman Catt, Josephine Pearson, Phoebe “Febb” Burn, Harry Burn, and Representative Joseph Hanover Carrie Chapman Catt Harry Burn Josephine Pearson Phoebe “Febb” Burn Joseph Hanover Pick one of these characters and research their lives. How do they compare to their characters as portrayed in Winter Wheat? How do their relationships to each other compare? How does knowledge of the history surrounding this time period make the play more accessible? Discuss how the various subjects studied in school often overlap. 11. Using pictures from magazines or newspapers, construct a collage representing one of the characters from Winter Wheat. Display the collages around the room and see if the other students are able to match the collage to the character. Write it! Select your favorite character from the play, pick an important day in their life that influences this play then write a journal entry about that day as that character. For example, you might pick the character of Josephine Pearson and write about the day Tennessee voted to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, or you might pick the character of Jack and write about the day you first used the new tractor. Be as specific as possible and write as that character would. Write a critique of Barter Theatre’s production of Winter Wheat Be sure to include what you liked, didn’t like and what you would have done differently. Comedy vs. Tragedy comedy: a dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict. tragedy: A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. Given these definitions, would you categorize Winter Wheat as a comedy or a tragedy? Cite three samples from the play to support your position. Does a character’s point-of-view influence your findings? Discuss. Extra Credit - PERSUADE ME! As Febb Burn, write a paper persuading Josephine Pearson to support woman suffrage. Suggested Further Reading The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage by Carol Lynn Yellin & Janann Sherman Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment by Eleanor Clift A Look at the Nineteenth Amendment: Women Win the Right to Vote by Helen Koutras Bozonelis One Woman, One Vote: Rediscovering the Women's Suffrage Movement by Marjorie Spruill Wheeler New Women of the New South: The Leaders of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the Southern States by Marjorie Spruill Wheeler Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World by Penny Colman