Jeeves in Bloom - Taproot Theatre Company

Taproot Student Mats, Show 3
Study Guide-Jeeves in Bloom
Jeeves in Bloom
A D A
F
R O M
T H E
Feb 27th, 2013
Jeeves in Bloom
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Apr 2nd, 2013
Apr 24th, 2013
The Whipping
Man
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D
B Y
S T O R I E
M A
S
R G A R E
O F
P .
G .
R A
T H E
W O D E
R
H O U S E
Madeline Basset is staying as a guest with
Bertie’s aunt and uncle, Dahlia and
Thomas Travers at Brinkley Court.
Time Period: Late June, 1931
Location: The gardens at Brinkley Court, England
Bertie Wooster is a wealthy, goodnatured young man living in London.
He’s not too bright, but that’s alright
because his faithful servant Jeeves is a
genius who can always be depended on
to pull his master out of scrapes.
May 21st, 2013
Bach at Leipzig
1
Bertie’s friend Augustus “Gussie” FinkNottle is a scientist who spends most of
his time studying newts. Gussie arrives
at Bertie’s flat in London seeking help
because he’s fallen in love with a girl but
is too shy to speak to her. It just so
happens that the female in question,
About the Author
P.G. Wodehouse
2
Main Characters
Tracking the Clever Servant
Start with the Romans
3
Tracking the Clever Servant
Travel through Europe
4-5
Tracking the Clever Servant
in Jeeves in Bloom
6
Now You Try It
7
Behind the Scenes
8
I N S I D E T H I S
I S S U E :
Plot Synopsis
T
PLOT SUMMARY
STUDENT
MATINEES
COMING
SOON!

P T E
Bertie Wooster:
Jeeves:
Augustus Fink-Nottle:
Dahlia Travers:
Thomas Travers:
Madeline Basset:
Anatole:
Bertie and Jeeves decide to bring Gussie
with them to stay at Brinkley Court,
hoping to help him declare his love to
Madeline. But the residents of Brinkley
Court have troubles of their own. Aunt
Dahlia is in need of money and has come
with a brilliant plan that involves Bertie
stealing her jewels so that she can collect
the insurance money. Uncle Thomas is
paranoid about thieves and prowls the
house at night with a loaded shot-gun.
The excitable French chef Anatole is
convinced that someone is out to steal his
secret recipes. And all of Bertie’s efforts to
bring Madeline and Gussie together are
back-firing. It looks like Madeline’s falling
in love with Bertie instead. What a mess!
Can Jeeves come up with a plan to save
the day?
A society man, not too bright but good-hearted
Bertie’s valet
Bertie’s friend, a newt-expert
Bertie’s aunt who resides at Brinkley Court
Bertie’s uncle who also resides at Brinkley Court
Thomas’ niece, staying as a guest at Brinkley Court
Chef at Brinkley Court, a very excitable Frenchman
P a g e
2
J e e v e s
i n
B l o o m
About the Author
P. G . W o d e h o u s e
Sir P. G. Wodehouse 1881-1975 (pronounced Wood-House) is an
English playwright and author who created the fictional characters
Bertie Wooster and Reginald Jeeves, starring in such works as The
Inimitable Jeeves (1923), Carry On Jeeves (1925),and Right Ho Jeeves
(1934). Wooster is the amiable and naive man-of-leisure, while
Jeeves, a quintessential British gentleman-older and wiser-is friend
and valet to him. Their tales usually involve Wooster getting into
some sort of "scrape" with a woman, an Aunt, or the Law. Jeeves
always comes to the rescue in his inimitably modest, no-nonsense
style. The duo became popular literary icons--embodying the dry
acerbic wit and humor of the English--and have gone on to inspire
numerous adaptations for television, stage, and the screen. Wodehouse is a master of parody and prose. He also worked as theatre
critic, and collaborated on a number of musical comedies and their
lyrics including Cole Porter's Anything Goes (1934).
Pelham "Plum" Grenville Wodehouse was born on October 15, 1881 in Guildford, Surrey, England.
After living with his parents in Hong Kong for a time, young Plum was sent back to England to
attend boarding school. In 1894 he entered Dulwich College, graduating in 1900. For the next two
years he was employed with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in London, but soon realized he
had little interest in the banking world and started to write. He would now spend much time
between England and the United States. While in New York, he obtained his first position as
journalist. While writing for various magazines, he also started to collaborate on musicals. Also
while in New York, in 1914 Wodehouse married Ethel née Newton.
A few years later the Wodehouses settled in Le Touquet, France. During World War II they were
interned by the Germans for just under a year; Wodehouse later spoke of his experience in radio
broadcasts from Berlin to his fans in America. This caused a furore at the British Broadcasting
Corporation, his books to be removed from shelves, and many false accusations to be landed
against him including treason and collaborating with the Nazis.
Back in America and away from the controversy, Wodehouse continued to write and collaborate on
plays. He and Ethel settled on Long Island in New York State. In 1955, he became a US citizen and
continued his prodigious output of stories and novels. After years of being blocked by the British
Foreign Office for his war time radio broadcasts and ensuing controversy, and mere weeks before
his death, in 1975 Wodehouse was Knighted Commander of the Order of the British Empire by
Queen Elizabeth II.
Sir P. G. Wodehouse died
on February 14, 1975.
Biography written by C. D. Merriman for Jalic Inc. Copyright Jalic Inc. 2008. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.online-literature.com/pg-wodehouse/
S t u d y
G u i d e - J e eve s
i n
B l o o m
P a g e
Tracking the Clever
S e rva n t i n ~ p l a u t u s
When Wodehouse created his Jeeves and Wooster characters in the 1930’s he was drawing on a
long establish comedic tradition. The motif of the “clever servant” is one of the longest running
jokes in history! To trace it through history we have to go all the way back to the Romans.
Titus Maccius Plautus (254 BC - 184 BC, born at Sassina, Umbria) was a comic
playwright in the time of the Roman Republic. The years of his life are uncertain, but his plays were first produced between about 205 BC and 184 BC.
Twenty-one plays survive. Plautus' comedies, which are among the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature, are mostly adaptations of Greek models
for a Roman audience. His most typical character is the clever slave who manipulates his master, reversing the master-slave dynamic expected of such relationships in the Roman world. http://www.crystalinks.com/plautus.html
Found One! The clever servant in Plautus’ Pseudolus
http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/comedy/pseudolus.htm
The Roman playwright Plautus addresses the issues of class consciousness and status in his works.
This is clear throughout his play, Pseudolus. Pseudolus is the main character of the play, and, as a
slave, represents a low social status in Roman society. He is cunning and is against authority, even
his own master. For all that he is a trickster, Pseudolus does not manipulate the upper classes for his
own advancement. He does it to help others, although often twisting his plans to benefit himself at
the same time. Plautus uses Pseudolus as a means of creating a comic hero whose worth is not
based on his status and class in society. Plautus was attempting to show his audience that human
worth is not based merely on wealth and social position. Pseudolus is not of a powerful status, but
his intelligence and kindness to those he loves makes him a great and essentially good character.
For Example
Calidorus is the son of Pseudolus' master, and he is a lovesick and naïve young man. Calidorus
represents the higher class, which should put him in a position of power, but he defers his problems
to Pseudolus, becoming dependent on the slave. He even lets Pseudolus boss him around:
CALID: I'm tortured!
PSEUD: Toughen up!
CALID: I can't.
PSEUD: Well, force yourself!
CALID: How can I?
PSEUD: Try to control your emotions, man! / Concentrate on constructive thoughts; / When things go
wrong, don't pander to passion . . . CALID: Pseudolus, let me be silly. Please!
PSEUD: I'll let you, if you let me leave.
CALID: Wait! Wait! I'll be just the way you want me.
Think About It
Read Act I, Scene I of Pseudolus by Plautus. How is the relationship between Pseudolus and Calidorus
similar to that between Jeeves and Bertie Wooster? How is it different?
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P a g e
4
J e e v e s
i n
B l o o m
Tracking the Clever
S e rva n t i n ~ M o l i e r e
The French playwright Molière (1622-1673) whose real
name was Jean Baptiste Poquelin, composed 12 of the most
durable and penetratingly satirical full-length comedies of
all time, some in rhyming verse, some in prose, as well as
six shorter farces and comedies.
Moliere was also the leading French comic actor, stage director, and dramatic theoretician of the 17th century. In a
theatrical period (the early baroque) dominated by the formal neoclassical tragedies, Molière affirmed the
potency of comedy as a serious, flexible art form. The
strongest influence on Molière's theater came from the Italian commedia dell'arte troupes -- with their stock
characters and situations -- that he encountered during his
travels as a young man. The zanni (comic servants) are among the many stock characters from the
commedia dell’arte tradition that often appear in Moliere’s plots. Zannis are usually clever servants
who are often called upon to help get their masters/mistresses out of trouble.
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Theatre/Moliere/moliere.shtml
Found One! The clever servant in Moliere’s Tartuffe
In Moliere’s Tartuffe, the master of the house, Orgon, is being hoaxed by a clever con-man who
poses as a religious teacher. Orgon plans to force his daughter, Mariane to marry Tartuffe. Dorine,
the servant girl, speaks up for Mariane and tries to give her mistress the courage to resist Orgon.
DORINE:
Well, have you lost your tongue, girl? Must I play your part and say the lines you ought to say?
Faced with a fate so hideous and absurd, can you not utter one dissenting word?
MARIANE: What good would it do? A father’s power is great.
DORINE:
Resist him now, or it will be too late.
MARIANE: But…
DORINE:
Tell him one cannot love at a father’s whim; that you shall marry for yourself, not him;
That since it’s you who are to be the bride, it’s you, not he, who must be satisfied;
And that if his Tartuffe is so sublime, he’s free to marry him at any time.
MARIANE: I’ve bowed so long to Father’s strict control, I couldn’t oppose him now, to save my soul.
DORINE:
Come, come, Mariane. Do listen to reason, won’t you?
Think About It
Read Act 1, Scenes 2 and 3 of Moliere’s Tartuffe. How is the help that Dorine offers Mariane different
from the advice that Pseudolus offers his master? How are the two scenes similar?
S t u d y
G u i d e - J e eve s
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B l o o m
I n s i d e
P a g e
S t o r y
H e a d l i n e
Tracking the Clever
S e rva n t i n ~ S h a k e s p e a r e
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Found One!
The clever servant in Shakespeare’s King Lear
S t o r y
H e a d l i n e
Shakespeare’s “wise fools” differ slightly from the clever servants in Moliere and Platus. Rather
than using their cleverness to come up with tricks and strategies that solve their master’s problems,
Shakespearian fools more often use their wits to tell their masters when they are making foolish
decisions. Like the traditional clever servants, fools are not in awe of prestige and power. They
have the courage to speak the truth to powerful people. For example, when King Lear gives up his
crown and divides his lands between his two daughters, the king’s Fool has no hesitation in
criticizing his master’s plan.
FOOL:
Dost thou know the difference, my boy,
between a bitter fool and a sweet fool?
KING LEAR:
No, lad; teach me.
FOOL:
That lord that counsell'd thee
To give away thy land,
Come place him here by me,
Do thou for him stand:
The sweet and bitter fool
Will presently appear;
The one in motley here,
The other found out there.
KING LEAR:
Dost thou call me fool, boy?
FOOL:
All thy other titles thou hast given away;
that thou wast born with.
Think About It
Read Act 1 of King Lear (particularly Scene III). Who is the wiser character, King Lear or the Fool? Why do
you think King Lear tolerates criticism from his Fool when he won’t tolerate it from anyone else?
5
P a g e
6
J e e v e s
i n
B l o o m
T r ack in g t h e C le v er Servan t
In “Jeeves in Bloom”
Now that we’ve followed the clever servant motif through some historical plays, let’s look at
one of the best clever servants: Jeeves in our play Jeeves in Bloom. In the scene below
Gussie Fink-Nottle and Bertie Wooster are trying to figure out a way for Gussie (who is very
shy) to win the love of Madeline Bassett. Both young men turn to Jeeves for help.
BERTIE:
The fact is, Jeeves, we do find ourselves in a bit of a—we’re caught on the pointy end of
the—dash it, Jeeves, what’s that thing one is always finding oneself on the horns of?
JEEVES:
A dilemma, sir?
BERTIE:
That’s it! The plan calls for words of molten passion, but the Newt King here, is unable
to utter a peep!
JEEVES:
One is irresistibly reminded of Mr. Bergerac, sir.
GUSSIE:
Who?
BERTIE:
Hush, Gussie. Look at Jeeves. I know that look. He’s about to spring a corker! Time for
mere mortals to focus on the fellow with the bulging brain. Go on, Jeeves.
JEEVES:
I was referring to Mr. Cyrano de Bergerac, sir.
BERTIE:
...Chap with the nose?
JEEVES:
Yes, sir.
BERTIE:
Go on.
JEEVES:
In Mr. Rostand’s play, Mr. Bergerac comes to the aid of a friend who is rendered
inarticulate by the presence of his lady love….Under the cover of night, Mr. Bergerac
speaks from shadow. The lady sees only his friend and believes it is his voice that she
hears.
GUSSIE:
Wait! Are you saying that Bertie would talk—
BERTIE:
—and Madeline will believe it’s Gussie? Oh, Jeeves, you’ve outdone yourself!
Think About It
Compare the character of Jeeves to that of Pseudolus or Dorine or the Fool in King Lear. How is
Jeeves similar to these other servants? How is his relationship with his master different from theirs?
Notice that in three out of the four of the plays that we’ve looked at so far the problems are about love
and marriage. Why do you think that is?
S t u d y
G u i d e - J e eve s
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B l o o m
P a g e
N OW YO U T RY I T
The master/servant relationship is less common in American culture. This means that American
comedians and writers have found different ways to interpret the “clever servant.” In our modern comedy we often find “underdog” characters who aren’t supposed to be in charge but who
are actually smarter than the people around them. For example, kids who are smarter than their
parents, pets who are smarter than humans or employees who are smarter than their bosses.
Think About It
How are the cartoon characters above similar to the “clever servants” that we’ve been reading about in
Plautus, Moliere, Shakespeare and Wodehouse. How has the comedy changed over time? Can you think
of other examples of books, comics, television shows, or movies that use versions of the “clever servant”
comedy motif?
7
Behind The
Scenes
Glorified laundress? Not quite. ~A glimpse at the life of a dresser.
Have you ever looked at a program and wondered what a “dresser “did?
Courtney Kessler, dresser for Jeeves in Bloom, explains all:
As a dresser, I work similarly to an Assistant Stage Manager, but instead of managing the set, props and
special effects, I manage the costumes, their maintenance and quick changes.
I am typically one of the first technicians to show up before curtain (at least two hours before) in order to
allow enough prep time. Before every show, I perform any necessary repairs to costume pieces (torn seams,
popped buttons, falling hems, etc.) and then steam or iron every costume so that it looks its best. Once the
actors arrive, I assist them as needed with putting on their costumes and wigs.
During the show, I am either helping actors who play multiple characters change costume in the dressing
rooms or, more often than not, I am backstage running quick changes. This typically involves an actor
stripping down to a base layer (undershirt or camisole, slip, petticoat, etc) and putting on an entirely new
costume (often including a change of wig, facial hair and/or glasses) as fast as possible.
During Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol, when Pam Nolte exited the stage as The Ghost of
Christmas Past only to return as Mrs. Hudson a moment later— that was me getting her out of one costume
and into the next in record time (our fastest time for that change was 40 seconds from exit to entrance!).
After the show, I have the ever so glamorous job of laundry—it's not that bad if you don't mind laundry.
I don't. Can't really afford to in my line of work!
My favorite part of my job is the relationships I build with my fellow techies and my actors. There is a lot of
trust that must be earned when you work with people in such an intimate fashion. I need my actors to be very
comfortable around me and I work very hard to take care of them to ensure trust is there. The jokes and antics
that stem from such a tight relationship are what I look forward to every night. Well, that and the adrenaline
rush that comes from running a 45 second quick change!
My least favorite part: Stinky, sweaty laundry, of course. Yuck!
Jeeves
Bertie Wooster
Madeline Bassett
Gussie Fink-Nottle