Into the Breeches! - Study Guide - Trinity Repertory Company
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Study Guide Into the Breeches! By George Brant
Cover: Front, Phyllis
Kay, and Janice Duclos
from the production of
Into the Breeches! 01
Table of contents
THEATRE AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE..................................................................02
USING THIS STUDY GUIDE IN YOUR CLASSROOM......................................03
TITLE PAGE........................................................................................................04
UNIT ONE: BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ABOUT GEORGE BRANT..................................................................................05
A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE BRANT...................................................06
INTO THE BREECHES! CHARACTERS AND SETTING.................................08
PLOT SYNOPSIS................................................................................................09
MAJOR THEMES...............................................................................................10
TALK OF THE TIME: VOCABULARY IN 1940s...............................................11
RHODE ISLAND IN WORLD WAR II.................................................................12
WE CAN DO IT : WOMEN IN WARTIME...........................................................13
BIG BREECHES TO FILL...................................................................................15
UNIT TWO: ENTERING THE TEXT
EXERCISE ONE: TRADITIONAL ROLES.........................................................17
EXERCISE TWO: WALK LIKE A...
EXERCISE THREE: LETTERS TO A CHARACTER.........................................18
EXERCISE FOUR: OTHERING
EXERCISE FIVE: THE LINGER EFFECT
EXERCISE SIX: READ-ALOUD MONOLOGUES + DIALOGUES...................19
MORE PLAYS BY GEORGE BRANT.................................................................21
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................22
Support for Trinity Rep’s education programs comes from: Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and General Assembly of Rhode
Island; The Norman and Rosalie Fain Family Foundation; Shakespeare in American Communities, a program of the National
Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest; The Yawkey Foundations; Hasbro Children’s Fund; McAdams Charitable
Foundation; Otto H. York Foundation; Textron Inc.; Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon Charities for Children; National Grid; Phyllis Kimball
Johnstone & H. Earl Kimball Foundation; Mary Dexter Chafee Fund; Southwest Airlines; Victoria Irene Ball Fund for Arts Education;
Pell Fund for Education; Many Individual Donors; and gifts to Trinity Rep’s Annual Fund.
Prepared by Trinity Rep’s Education Department, Fatima Faris, and Gillian Gurganus. Designed by Priscilla Parisa.
ATTENTION!!
Theater Audience Etiquette
& Discussion
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND GO OVER WITH YOUR CLASSES BEFORE THE SHOW 02
TEACHERS:
Speaking to your students about theater
etiquette is ESSENTIAL. Students should
be aware that this is a live performance
and that they should not talk during
the show. If you do nothing else to
prepare your students to see the play,
please take some time to talk to them
about theater etiquette in an effort to
help the students better appreciate
their experience. It will enhance their
enjoyment of the show and allow
other audience members to enjoy the
experience. The questions below can
help guide the discussions. Thank you for From top left to right: Anne Scurria, Janice Duclos, Phyllis Kay, Meghan Leathers, and Rachael Warren from the
your help and enjoy the show! production of Into the Breeches!
ETIQUETTE:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS BEFORE SEEING THE SHOW AT TRINITY REP
What is the role of the audience in a
What are the differences between live theater and cinema? (Two dimensional vs.
live performance? How is it different
three dimensional; larger than life on the screen vs. life-size; recorded vs. live, etc.)
from seeing a film? Why can’t you chew
Discuss the nature of film as mass produced, versus the one-time only nature of live
gum or eat popcorn at a live theater
performances. Talk about original artworks versus posters. Which do they feel is more
performance? Why can’t you talk?
valuable? Why?
What can happen in live theater that
cannot happen in cinema? Reiterate
Observation #1: When you get into the theater, look around. What do you see? Observe
that students may not chew gum, eat,
the lighting instruments around the room and on the ceiling. Look at the set. Does it
or talk during the performance. Please
look realistic or abstract? Try to guess how the set will be used during the show.
make sure all cell phones and pagers
are turned off. Recording devices and
Observation #2: Discuss the elements that go into producing a live performance: The
cameras are strictly prohibited. If there is
lights, set, props, costumes, and stage direction. All the people involved in the “behind
a disturbance, they will be asked to leave
the scenes” elements of the theater are working backstage as the play unfolds before
and the class will not be invited back to
the students’ eyes. Tell them to be aware of this as they watch the show. Observe the
the theater. Students may not leave the
lighting cues. How do special effects work? How do the actors change costumes so
building during intermission.
fast?
Actors in a live performance are very attuned to the audience and are interested in the
students’ reactions to the play. Ask the students to write letters to the actors about
the characters they played and to ask questions of the actors. Send these letters to:
Trinity Repertory Company, c/o Education, 201 Washington St., Providence, RI 02903
or email to: education@trinityrep.com.
Using this
Study
Guide 03
in your
Classroom
A Letter from School
Partnerships Manager Matt Tibbs
Left, Rachael Warren, and Phyllis Kay from the production of Into the Breeches!
Welcome to Trinity Rep and the 51st Trinity Rep’s Project Discovery student matinees help high
season of Project Discovery! The school students in the following common core areas (for more
education staff at Trinity Rep had a lot information on the National Core Arts Standards, visit http://
of fun preparing this study guide, and nationalartsstandards.org/):
hope that the activities included will • Initiate and participate effectively in a ranges of
help you incorporate the play into your collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
academic study. It is also structured to teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics,
help you to introduce performance into texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing
your classroom through the following their own clearly and persuasively (CCS.ELA-LITERACY.
elements: SL.9-10.1)
• Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple
• Community Building in Your or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a
Classroom text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot
• Inspiration and Background on the or develop the theme (CCSS. RL.9-10.3)
Artist • Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they
• Entering and Comprehending Text are used in the text, including figurative and connotative
• Creating Text for Performance meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word
• Performing in Your Class choices on meaning and tone (CCSS.RL.9-10.44)
• Reflecting on Your Performance • Investigate how cultural perspectives, community ideas,
and personal beliefs impact a drama/theater work (TH:
Cn10.1.I.)
• Analyze and compare artistic choices developed from
personal experiences in multiple drama/ theater works
(TH: Re8.1.I.)
• Respond to what is seen, felt, and heard in a drama/
theater work to develop criteria for artistic choices (TH:
Re7.1.I.)
• Evaluate and analyze problems and situations in a drama/
theater work from an audience perspective (TH: Re9.1.I)
Enjoy the show!
Matt Tibbs, School Partnerships Manager
04
About
George 05
Brant
George Brant was born in Park Ridge, His scripts have been awarded a Lucille
Illinois. He received his MFA in Writing Lortel Award, an Edgerton Foundation
from the Michener Center for Writers at New Play Award, the David Mark Cohen
the University of Texas at Austin and is a National Playwriting Award from the
member of the Dramatists Guild. Brant’s Kennedy Center, the Smith Prize, the
work has been produced internationally Keene Prize for Literature, an NNPN
by such companies as the Public Theater, Rolling World Premiere, a Scotsman
Trinity Repertory Company, The Atlantic Fringe First Award, an Off-West End
Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Theatre Award for Best Production, a
The Alley Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory, Theatre Netto Festival Prize, a Creative
City Theatre, Gate Theatre of London, Workforce Fellowship, an Austin Critic’s
Page 73, Studio Theatre, Unicorn Circle Best New Play Award and three
Theatre, Traverse Theatre, Borderlands Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence
Theater, SF Playhouse, American Blues Awards.
Theatre, Dobama Theatre, Red Stitch,
Theatre 4, Premiere Stages, Trustus He has received writing fellowships
Theatre, Elemental Theatre Collective, from the James A. Michener Center
Balagan Theatre, the Drama League, for Writers, the McCarter Theatre
the Disney Channel, Factory Theatre, Sallie B. Goodman Artist’s Retreat,
StreetSigns Theatre Company, and zeppo the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi
theater company, among others. Resident Artists Program, the Hermitage
Artists’ Retreat and the Blue Mountain
Center as well as commissions from the
Metropolitan Opera, Trinity Repertory
Company, Cleveland Play House,
Dobama Theatre and Theatre 4.
Brant’s work is published by Samuel
French, Oberon Books, Fisher Verlage
and Smith & Kraus.
A conversation with
George Brant 06
Gillian Gurganus: What is the biggest GG: How is Into the Breeches! relevant to
challenge being commissioned to do a audiences in 2018?
world premiere?
GB: Even though the play does take
George Brant: One thing that’s kind of place in the ‘40s, I do think that it holds
different about Trinity Rep is that they a mirror up to today in many ways,
have the resident acting company, so actually kind of increasingly with recent
that was kind of the only condition I was events, with more of a focus on women
given in writing the commission, that I and their struggles in various industries.
write it for the acting company. There It’s been interesting to see how the play
was no subject matter proposed, it was is taking on more relevance as time
just an idea that you write for the actors. goes on because it is very much about a
The challenge was knowing the actors, group of women, in this case who have
as well as figuring out a story that would never had the opportunity to act on
show all of their strengths and that stage before, but it’s the very fact that
they’d have fun with. the men are away for the war that allows
the women to take on roles that they’ve
never had before, and not just roles
in the theatre, but really roles in their
lives that they’ve never had. One of the
characters in the play has never acted
before because her husband never really
approved of it, but now he’s gone, so she
feels like she can take a chance on it.
The character Maggie, was the assistant
director for 26 years, and this is finally
her chance to actually direct a show. It’s
really about all the characters awakening
to new possibilities in their lives and
opening up to those possibilities and
running with them. It’s very much about
women of this time, but unfortunately,
things haven’t changed all that
drastically since then, so I think it does
carry a lot of relevance and also just the
simple fact that we are technically still
at war as a country, even though most
of us are able to carry about as if that’s
not the case. This is very much a play
where the presence of war is being felt
and I think the contrast, to me, is almost
very interesting in that this was a time
A Conversation with
George Brant 07
period where everybody really pulled together as a country and called to an end, but apparently this guy
everybody knew we were at war and everyone knew someone didn’t get the memo—so there was still
who was fighting overseas and the whole country really rallied this submarine hanging around Rhode
together, whether it was scrap metal drives or rationing of Island. So Rhode Island did get involved
food. The whole country was in that war and I think it’s good in direct combat. It’s been compelling
to be reminded of that nowadays when it seems like a small hearing about things like jewelry
percentage of our countrymen are fighting these wars for us, companies that switched over to making
and the rest of us are told to just go shopping and carry about metals for the army uniforms and it’s
our lives. been really cool to find out about that. I
lived in Providence for about eight years,
GG: In this show, Maggie tells Ellsworth about “the linger so I still think of it as one of my homes,
effect.” What do you hope lingers with these audiences who and it’s been really cool to learn more
come to Into the Breeches!? about it and what part it played in the
war.
GB: With any play you hope that your characters will linger
afterwards and will hang in the audience’s memories, but in GG: What are you most excited for
this case, this play ends on a note where they’re about to do overall in this process?
the play and I think that might create a bit of the linger effect
because we know that something happens right after the play GB: I think to see the play realized. It
ends. The play ends with a beginning, so I think in that vein was commissioned a few years ago and
it will linger for an audience. There’s a certain tragic air to the we’ve had several workshops of it and
end of the play, I mean if you know the history of things, as far it’s been really exciting to see it get up
as women in the workforce in this time, they were all first told, on its feet just this last week. You can
“Don’t get a job, stay at home as women, this is all men’s work” kind of get used to just reading a play
and when the men all went away, suddenly the women were out loud, sitting around a table. It’s been
encouraged to work in the factories and to support the troops great to finally see it realized and it’s
in that way, but once the men came back, the women were all going to be really exciting once we get
fired and lost their jobs. So it’s a time of flowering that I think into the actual theater space. We’re in
this play shows, but for those of us who know the history, we a rehearsal space as of right now and
know this flowering comes to an end in a few years. So I think once we get into the actual theatre and
there’s also some tragic lingering in that effect. see this huge set that’s getting ready for
us and all those things—it’s going to be
GG: What made you want to place this story in Providence? really fun.
GB: Well, I knew I was commissioned by Trinity Rep specifically,
but it’s been really interesting doing the research because I did
not know how involved Rhode Island was in the war effort. It’s
been really interesting to find out that around coastal Rhode
Island people were really worried that it might get attacked
and that Narragansett was blacking out its windows at night,
being worried about airstrikes. I believe that the last German
submarine of the war was here in Rhode Island. The war was
Into the Breeches!
Character and Setting 08
MAGGIE DALTON CELESTE
The director, plays FIELDING
The Chorus, in her The diva, plays
50s Henry Fifth and
Fourth, in her 50s
ELLSWORTH WINIFRED SNOW
SNOW The city socialite,
The Board plays Falstaff, in
President of the her 50s
Oberon Play
House, in his 60s
STUART LASKER IDA GREEN
The stage The African-
manager, plays American
Mistress Quickly, costume designer,
in his 40s plays Hotspur, in
her 30s
JUNE BENNETT GRACE
The ingenue, RICHARDS
plays the Kates, in A newcomer to
her early 20s town, plays Henry
Fourth and Fifth,
in her 30s
SETTING
Fall of 1942 in Providence, R.I.
09
Clockwise from top
left: Stephen Berenson,
Rachael Warren,
Plot Synopsis
Lynnette Freeman,
Janice Duclos, Anne
Scurria, and Meghan
Leathers from the
production of Into the
Breeches!
It’s 1942 and the Oberon Theater, known for its Shakespearean productions, has lost
its men to the war efforts. The company’s diva Celeste claims she is “an unwatered
flower” withering away without the laughter, tears, and applause of her audience.
But Maggie, the director’s wife, has other ideas. With her husband’s blessing, she
sets out to move forward with their originally planned production of The Henriad—a
combination of Henry IV and Henry V—with all the parts being played by the women of
the company.
Initially skeptical, Celeste soon signs on—thrilled at the notion of taking on juicy new
roles. The board president, Ellsworth Snow, is harder to convince. He is concerned
about the audience—half of them are away at war and the ones who are left aren’t
in the mood for entertainment. He is concerned for the future of their theater—an
untested director and women pretending to be men will certainly tarnish the esteemed
organization’s reputation for years. Maggie counters that this play’s themes of
patriotism, sacrifice and victory are just what the audience needs. Ellsworth remains
unconvinced—until his beloved wife—the timid and inexperienced Winifred expresses
an interest in being in the cast.
The auditions however, are sparsely attended with only two new cast members, June
and Grace, on board. With the assistance of Ida, who handles costumes, and stage
manager Stuart, Maggie begins rehearsals with the small and enthusiastic, though
novice, cast. As they make their way through rehearsals, they gain a few unexpected
cast members but lose—and eventually regain—their star over “artistic differences.”
The women make their way through rehearsals, incorporating clever tips to help their
strides become more masculine, and finding ways to make dear Winifred funny. All
the while, they miss their husbands and long for word from the front. Other injustices
of the outside world—most notably, blatant racism—also make their way into the lives
of the cast.
The cast pushes forward—finding strength in each other and their common goal.
Together they find the courage to go boldly “into the breeches!”Major Themes 10 Below are three major themes taken from the play: Responsibility From the outset of the play, Maggie makes it clear that it is the duty of the Oberon Play House to continue with their quest to deliver theater to their community, despite the fact that most of the men in their community are out and participating in the war effort. This sense of responsibility comes up time and time again in regards to the Oberon’s role as a staple of Providence, as well as the people’s duty to their country and loved ones overseas during the wartime. Equality During the war, women did not have as many rights as men did. While the men were away, women really had the opportunity to step up and take on positions in various industries that were generally not welcoming. The same is said for the women in Providence in this play. While Maggie is presenting her push for an all female cast to Ellsworth Snow (the theater’s board president) as an equalizer, she realizes throughout the journey that having an all female cast is just the tiniest step in creating equality in their community. Throughout the play, we see questions arise regarding pay and the visibility and openness of black and gay Americans in the workspace. Patriotism Each of the characters is affected somehow by the events going on in the country and world at the time. Into the Breeches takes place in the fall of 1942, when the United States has recently joined the war. Time and time again, the characters relate their actions to how they are helping the troops and/or Americans on the Homefront. June is very vocal on how she is helping the troops, while Maggie’s efforts are more rooted in making the women, children, and men that have stayed behind feel like they should not put their lives on hold because the Clockwise from top left: Stephen Berenson, Anne Scurria, Janice Duclos, Rachael war is going on. Others’ patriotism come into question multiple Warren, and Meghan Leathers from the production of Into the Breeches! times throughout the play, demonstrating theater importance of being a patriot during wartime in even the smallest of ways.
Talk of the Time:
Vocabulary in 1940s 11
“Tread the boards”
To appear on stage as an actor. This idiom uses boards in the sense of “a theatrical
stage,” a usage dating from the mid-1700s. It dates from the mid-1800s but was
preceded by the idiom tread the stage, first recorded in 1691.
Footlights
in theatre, a row of lights set at floor level at the front of a stage, used to provide
a part of the general illumination and to soften the heavy shadows produced by
overhead lighting.
“Long in the tooth”
Rather old. Originates from horse’s teeth; unlike humans’, horse’s teeth continue to
grow with age. They also wear down with use, but the changes in the characteristics
of the teeth over time make it possible to make a rough estimate of a horse’s age by
World War II knitting patterns, ca. 1943
examining them.
Courtesy Paula Becker
Victory socks
As during World War I, the need for socks was paramount. Cold, wet, sore feet were the
enemy as surely as German or Japanese troops. The push was knitting for “The Boys,”
the men on active duty.
The Allies
The big four Allied powers of World War II were England (Great Britain, the United
Kingdom), the United States of America, the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R., Russia), and
France.
Victory Roll
A hairstyle that became popular in the 1940’s. Making such hairstyle means creating
large and voluminous curls either on top of your head or around the face. The rolls got
their name from an aerobatic maneuver used during World War II.
Victory RollRhode Island in
World War II 12
Rhode Island played an integral part of the war effort
throughout the four years. Check out the ways the smallest
state in the country made a big impact!
Rhode Island was home to the largest naval base in the
northeast at Quonset Point.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stationed
listening posts around the country. The most effective one
in Chopmist Hill, Scituate, Rhode Island, was sensitive to
transmissions and helped pick up on German communication.
Women and children helped out by manufacturing warships
and military equipment in Newport and Aquidneck Island.
95 men from Block Island joined the war effort as military men.
Though Rhode Island’s coast defenses were tested several
times throughout the war, they were never actually fired against
any enemy vessels.
Below is a map of the WWII observation posts around Block
Island, RI.
Discussion Question:
Which of the above facts surprised you the most about Rhode
Island during WWII? Why?
Above: Rachael Warren
from the production of
Into the Breeches!We Can Do It:
Women in Wartime 13
During World War II, some 350,000 Congress instituted the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, later
women served in the U.S. Armed Forces, upgraded to the Women’s Army Corps, which had full military
both at home and abroad. They included status. Its members, known as WACs, worked in more than
the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, who 200 non-combatant jobs stateside and in every theater of the
on March 10, 2010, were awarded the war. By 1945, there were more than 100,000 WACs and 6,000
prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. female officers. In the Navy, members of Women Accepted for
Meanwhile, widespread male enlistment Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) held the same status
left gaping holes in the industrial labor as naval reservists and provided support stateside. The Coast
force. Between 1940 and 1945, the Guard and Marine Corps soon followed suit, though in smaller
female percentage of the U.S. workforce numbers.
While women worked in a variety of positions previously
closed to them, the aviation industry saw the greatest
increase in female workers. More than 310,000 women
worked in the U.S. aircraft industry in 1943, representing
65 percent of the industry’s total workforce (compared
to just 1 percent in the pre-war years). The munitions
industry also heavily recruited women workers, as
represented by the U.S. government’s “Rosie the Riveter”
propaganda campaign. Based in small part on a real-life
munitions worker, but primarily a fictitious character, the
strong, bandanna-clad Rosie became one of the most
successful recruitment tools in American history, and the
most iconic image of working women during World War II.
In movies, newspapers, posters, photographs, articles and
even a Norman Rockwell-painted Saturday Evening Post
increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 cover, the Rosie the Riveter campaign stressed the patriotic
percent, and by 1945 nearly one out need for women to enter the workforce—and they did, in huge
of every four married women worked numbers. Though women were crucial to the war effort, their
outside the home. pay continued to lag far behind their male counterparts: Female
workers rarely earned more than 50 percent of male wages.
In addition to factory work and other
home front jobs, some 350,000 women —from American Women in World War II.
joined the Armed Services, serving
at home and abroad. At the urging
of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and
women’s groups, and impressed by
the British use of women in service,
General George Marshall supported the
idea of introducing a women’s service
branch into the Army. In May 1942,14
“EVERYONE’S GOT TO KNIT THEIR BIT”
In Into the Breeches!, June and the other ladies knit socks for their loved ones and the
other soldiers fighting overseas.
Before Pearl Harbor, Americans had already been knitting and preparing care
packages of food and clothes called “Bundles for Britain” to help besieged Londoners.
Other efforts and committees—American-French War Relief, Finnish Relief, Polish
Women’s Relief Committee, and A Bit For Belgium—soon followed. And American
troops had been steadily increasing in number since Germany invaded Poland
on September 1, 1939.
Many of the earliest knitters for World War II had knit for Victory as children or
young adults during World War I. Knitting was for them a natural and immediate
response to war. “The men hardly have time to grab their guns before their
wives and sweethearts grab their needles and yarn,” claimed Time on July 21,
1940. Knitting provided warmth and comfort for the soldier and therapeutic
distraction for the knitter.
Although knitting was only one of many ways civilians
participated in the Home Front, it was pervasive and
emblematic of what General Dwight Eisenhower would
later call “the friendly hand of this nation, reaching across
the sea to sustain its fighting men” (Eisenhower address to
Congress, June 18, 1945). Factory work, childcare, nursing the
sick: all had stretches of down time. On the bus going to work
the assembly line at the Boeing Co. or at the Pacific Car factory,
in the mid-day hours between all-night nursing shifts, in the
evening listening to war news on the radio, idle hands were
turned to service as Americans once again knit for victory.
—adapted from Knitting for Victory—World War II.
Right: Life cover on knitting, November 24, 1941Big Breeches to Fill 15
01 02
03 04 05
1. Glenn Close played the title role in 5. Peter Pan, a male character, is
Albert Nobbs, a man who was born actually almost exclusively played
a woman, but crossdresses in order by a woman. The most recent
to lead a better life in Ireland. woman to step into the role of the
2. Kathryn Hunter (Harry Potter young boy is Allison Williams (Girls,
and the Order of the Phoenix) Get Out).
is well known for stepping into 6. Katharine Hepburn played Sylvia, a
roles traditionally held by men. woman who must disguise herself
Her credits include King Richard as a young man in order to better
(Richard III), Mr. Ido (The Bee), provide for her family in Sylvia
the Fool (King Lear), and Puck (A Scarlett. The role of “Sylvester” that
Midsummer Night’s Dream). Sylvia plays is her breech role.
3. Tilda Swinton plays a man who 7. Maxine Peake has played the title
is portraying a woman in Orlando role in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
(1992) based on the novel by 8. Hilary Swank played Brandon Teena,
Virginia Wolf a young transgender man in Boys
4. Cate Blanchett stepped into the Don’t Cry.
breeches for her role as Bob Dylan
in I’m Not There (2007).16
06
07 08Unit Two:
Entering 17
the Text
EXERCISE ONE: WHAT’S IN A ROLE?
In small groups, have each individual
note which gender they would
traditionally expect in that position off
the top of their head. Afterwards, have
the small groups discuss their answers
and the reasons for them From left to right: Phyllis Kay, Lynnette Freeman, Janice Duclos, and Stephen
• Caretaker Berenson from the production of Into the Breeches!
• Doctor
• Nurse EXERCISE TWO: WALK LIKE A…
• Actor In your classroom, discuss the difference between “high status” and “low status”. It
• Lab technician may mean social status, but not necessarily. A king can be of low status and a beggar
• Stay at home parent of high status. It’s to do with inner confidence, how you feel about yourself and your
• Clothes maker place in the world around you. Status can change according to the situation they find
• Teacher themselves in. Status is at the core of nearly all drama.
• Computer programmer
• Photographer a) Tell students to walk around the room with “high” status. Have them notice how
• Model they hold their head, their spine, how their clothes feel, how their feet move, how they
• Construction worker breathe, whether they move quickly or slowly, evenly, or with jerks. Now have them
walk with low status. Afterwards, discuss (briefly) what they noticed about high and
Discussion Questions: low status.
Why did you assign the genders to these
roles? b) Have students choose either high or low status and walk around the room. When
they cross someone’s path, they should acknowledge, with a gesture or a sound,
What did you discover about the or both, the other person, according to their status. Have them repeat the exercise,
expectations you and your small group reversing their status.
have for traditional (fe)male roles?
Note: all of the examples so far should be done fairly rapidly, i.e., no more than a few
Discuss in your group what it might look minutes of walking for each status.
like to have the opposite gender in each
of these work roles. Is it hard to picture? c) Divide students into groups of four. Give them each a status from 1 to 4, 4 being
very high status (not the 4 of the previous ex., which was fairly low) and 1 low status.
Why is that? It is important that only each student knows his or her status. Have them improvise
a scene (give them a specific location and reason for being in the scene, and let them
figure out the rest). Afterwards, have the rest of the class guess who had what status.
Ask the improvisers how their experience was.18
EXERCISE THREE: LETTERS TO A EXERCISE FOUR: OTHERING What have your real-life interactions
CHARACTER Have your students discuss gender, what been like with this other group? Have
The first part of the following activity it means in the context of the play, and you ever felt you were the target of
gives students the opportunity to in the context of the world they know. discrimination by them or by some
interact with the characters and plot Broaden the discussion to include non- other group because of the group with
points of the story. The second half of gender othering, which happens all the which you associate yourself? (If the
this activity allows students to get inside time but does not get as much attention. presentation is taking the form of a
the character’s head and understand the Have each student think of a group that scene, it might be easier to answer this
story from his or her perspective. they consider themselves to be a part question in the post-scene discussion.)
of. The students may choose any sort
1. Have your students choose a of group except for gender. The more EXERCISE FIVE: THE LINGER EFFECT
character from the play and, using unique the choice, the better – they Read the following prompt to students
any of the following prompts, write may consider themselves to be jocks, or while they are in small groups.
a letter to that character: What vegetarians, or introverts, or believers in In Into the Breeches!, Maggie tells
advice would you give the character the flying spaghetti monster – anything Ellsworth about “the linger effect.” She
at this point in the story? What is they want. describes it as “a well-documented fact
something important that you want that a play can leave a glow that lasts
this character to know right now? Have them prepare a presentation for days, weeks, sometimes a lifetime.”
Tell this character about an event in (either a short oral presentation, a This effect is brought up again and again
the story that hasn’t happened yet. written piece to be read to the class, throughout the play. In your groups, think
2. Once everyone has finished, collect or even a short scene with another about a time where a play, movie, book,
the letters and redistribute them to one of the students) that answers the TV show, or any other work of art has
other students in the class. following: stuck with you well after experiencing
3. Now, each student must imagine it. Share this experience with your small
that they are the character that the What are some of the characteristics group.
letter is addressed to, and respond that define your group? Why do you
to it from his or her perspective. consider yourself to be a part of it? Discussion Questions
4. Optional performance opportunity: What is a group that you would consider Did it make you feel differently than you
your students could also write to be “opposite” yours? had before? How so?
their responses in the form of a
monologue and perform them for How would you feel if members of this What aspect of the piece do you think
the class. opposite group were to be assigned to made it linger with you?
5. Afterwards, take a moment to work on a project with you? Sit at your
debrief with your students: which lunch table? Move into your house? Did you revisit this book or movie
part of the activity did they like the multiple times?
best?
Did you find yourself recommending this
piece of art to others?19
EXERCISE SIX: READ ALOUD MONOLOGUES + DIALOGUES ACT ONE, SCENE SIX
ACT ONE, SCENE SIX MAGGIE
GRACE AS HENRY IV Stuart, we need you running the show.
But wherefore do I tell these news to thee? STUART
Why, Henry, do I tell thee of my foes, I can do both! I’ll stay in costume, run the lights, pop in for a
Which art my nearest and dearest enemy? scene, pop back in time for a cue.
Thou that art like enough, through vassal fear, WINIFRED
Base inclination, and the start of spleen, Hooray!
To fight against me under Hotspur’s pay, MAGGIE
To dog his heels and curtsy at his frowns, Well, I suppose -
To show how much thou art degenerate. JUNE
(Celeste reads, a lyrical Gielgud-y approach.) No! (Silence.) This has been bugging me ever since I - I’m sorry,
you’re a hoot, Stuart, you are, but I refuse to act with a - talk
CELESTE AS HENRY V about a Mr. Exception!
Do not think so. You shall not find it so. MAGGIE
And God forgive them that so much have swayed June?
Your Majesty’s good thoughts away from me! JUNE
I will redeem all this on Hotspur’s head Every man I know is Over There.
And in the closing of some glorious day STUART
Be bold to tell you that I am your son, Well, that’s certainly direct.
When I will wear a garment of all blood JUNE
And stain my favors in a bloody mask, Max enlisted the second after Pearl Harbor, but you...a year
Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it. later and you’re sitting in here staring at a stop-watch.
IDA
GRACE AS HENRY IV Stuart’s no coward!
A hundred thousand rebels die in this! JUNE
Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein. Then why is he here?
MAGGIE
Now June, you’d be hard pressed to find a more patriotic -
STUART
No, Maggie. You have every right to know, June. I can assure all
of you ladies that I have tried to enlist on numerous occasions,
at various recruitment stations. They told me I was too short,
so I wore shoes with lifts. They told me I was a swish, so I lied
about that and I can assure you that that was not an action I
took lightly. But in the end, my heart betrayed me. Arrhythmia.
No matter how I try to hide it, I’m just an irregular fella. You can
listen if you like.
(June is embarrassed.)
JUNE
Jeepers. No thanks.
STUART
Anyone else? Believe me, I know where I should be.20
ACT TWO, SCENE FIVE
IDA AS HOTSPUR
I can no longer brook thy vanities!
(The fight begins, fiercely. Winifred cheers Grace on, no longer
Groucho, but a full-bearded, humorous style all her own.)
WINIFRED AS FALSTAFF
Well said, Hal! To it, Hal! Nay, you shall find no boy’s play
here, I can tell you!
STUART
And you lunge...and parry...that’s it Ida, good!...And parry, and
lunge and then Grace, you faint, and then attack, and - !
(Grace and Ida battle on, ending with the Prince victorious and
Hotspur mortally stabbed.)
IDA AS HOTSPUR
O Harry, thou hast robbed me of my youth!
I better brook the loss of brittle life
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh.
But thoughts, the slaves of life, and life, time’s fool,
And time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,
But that the earthy and cold hand of death
Lies on my tongue. No, Percy, thou art dust,
And food for -
(He dies.)
GRACE AS HENRY V
For worms, brave Percy. Fare thee well, great heart!
Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;
But now two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough.
(Grace goes to a bad place. Ida comes back to life, holds Grace’s
hand.)
Above: Lynnette
Freeman from the
production of Into the
Breeches!More Plays by George Brant 21
Marie and Rosetta (2016)
Good on Paper (2015)
Grounded (2012)
The Mourners’ Bench (2012)
Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile (2012)
Grizzly Mama (2011)
Any Other Name (2009)
Elephant’s Graveyard (2007)
Lower left, Stephen
Berenson, and
Lynnette Freeman
from the production of
Into the Breeches!22 BIBLIOGRAPHY “25 Vintage Victory Rolls From 1940’s Any Woman Can Copy.” Hairstyle Camp, 22 June 2016, hairstylecamp.com/1940s-vintage-victory-rolls/. “The Allies.” Allies, www.worldwar2history.info/war/Allies.html. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Footlights.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Mar. 2011, www.britannica.com/art/footlights. History.com Staff. “American Women in World War II.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world- war-ii. “HistoryLink.org.” Knitting for Victory - World War II, www.historylink.org/File/5722. Martin, Gary. “‘Long in the Tooth’ - the Meaning and Origin of This Phrase.” Phrasefinder, www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/long-in-the-tooth.html. “Tread the boards.” The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. 2003, 1997. The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust 14 Jan. 2018 Wallin, Brian, and James Varnum. “[FEATURE ARTICLE] Rhode Island Enters World War II: The Aftermath Of Pearl Harbor And Block Island’s Defiant Response - Varnum Continentals.” Varnum Continentals, 2018, http://varnumcontinentals.org/2016/12/ feature-article-rhode-island-enters-world-war-ii-the-aftermath-of-pearl-harbor-and- block-islands-defiant-response/. “World War II Rhode Island with a focus on Aquidneck Island.” Boston.Com, 2018, https://www.boston.com/event/world-war-ii-rhode-island-with-a-focus-on- aquidneck-island-6352285. “Women in Male Roles - ATG Blog.” Atgtickets.Com, 2018, http://www.atgtickets. com/blog/women-in-male-roles/.
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