Harriet Jacobs - The Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Harriet Jacobs - The Kansas City Repertory Theatre
Harriet Jacobs - The Kansas City Repertory Theatre
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ISSUE<br />
09 STUDENT MATINEE SERIES LEARNING GUIDE<br />
NOVEMBER<br />
2010
From top: <strong>The</strong> cast of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>; Nambi Kelley (<strong>Harriet</strong>)<br />
and Cheryl Lynn Bruce (Grandma); Cheryl Lynn Bruce<br />
(Grandma) and Phillip James Brannon (Tom/Ensemble).<br />
Photos: Bob Compton Photography.
Photo: Michael McClure<br />
Dear Friends,<br />
A LETTER FROM THE<br />
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR<br />
Welcome to our production of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, a new play based on one of the most<br />
historically significant autobiographies ever published.<br />
I first encountered <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in college, and still<br />
remember how her powerful book rendered the history of slavery into something potent,<br />
felt and personal. Her personal account of the totalitarian system of control that subjected<br />
millions to untold suffering over hundreds of years changed the world by telling the truth.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is one of the great figures in American history, and she helped change the<br />
world by daring to tell her story.<br />
Many generations later, my dear friend Lydia Diamond has created a new play that brings<br />
fresh theatrical life to <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ story. In collaboration with one of my favorite directors,<br />
Jessica <strong>The</strong>bus, and a truly brilliant acting ensemble and team of designers, we share a<br />
compelling, powerful vision of the triumph of the human spirit against unimaginable<br />
oppression and adversity.<br />
I am so proud to introduce this beautiful, harrowing new play to <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> audiences, and<br />
I am grateful to this wonderful company of artists for sharing their work with us.<br />
My very best,<br />
Eric Rosen<br />
Artistic Director<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 3
THE PLAY<br />
THE CHARACTERS<br />
Note: All roles are portrayed by African-American actors.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong><br />
We meet <strong>Harriet</strong>, a slave on the Norcom plantation in Edenton, NC, when she is 15 years old. She possesses<br />
an intelligence and centeredness beyond her years. <strong>The</strong>se traits are equally attributable to the strength<br />
that surely any slave must have had to endure, and a personal wisdom and acuity passed down from<br />
insightful parents and grandparents. <strong>Harriet</strong> has a social savvyness, a dexterity that serves her well both<br />
with her family, peers, and slave-owners. She is very educated, and slips easily between a more casual slave<br />
vernacular of the time to the formal language used in her writing, and when addressing the audience. She<br />
is not “putting this on” or “talking proper,” she is an adept and unconscious “code-switcher.” She is pretty,<br />
but does not embrace nor consciously exploit her looks; in her setting they are more often a liability than a<br />
blessing and she is aware of this.<br />
Grandma<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s strong-willed, well-liked, free grandmother.<br />
Mary<br />
A house servant and field hand, Mary has fewer of <strong>Harriet</strong>’s social and language graces. She is in awe of,<br />
and dangerously jealous of, <strong>Harriet</strong>.<br />
Tom<br />
A field slave. Handsome, strong, good natured, and charismatic. He loves <strong>Harriet</strong>.<br />
Master Norcom<br />
<strong>The</strong> White Master. <strong>The</strong> town doctor, he carries himself with a confident swagger. He fancies himself a<br />
Godly, family man.<br />
Mistress Norcom<br />
<strong>The</strong> White Mistress. Once beautiful and carefree, she is a victim of her environment. She is hateful toward<br />
her female slaves and wary of her husband. She has born a child every year since her marriage at 17.<br />
Samuel Treadwell Sawyer<br />
A white lawyer from a prestigious family. He is intrigued by <strong>Harriet</strong>’s intellect and physically attracted to<br />
her.<br />
Daniel<br />
A field slave.<br />
Joseph and Louisa<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s children.<br />
Cast members also play a variety of ensemble roles.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 4
THE PLAY<br />
THE STORY<br />
Setting: A crawl space measuring nine feet long, seven feet wide and three feet high and other<br />
locales in Edenton, North Carolina.<br />
Time Period: 1827-1832<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
“I found my voice... so that my voice might find its way into the world….”<br />
- <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong><br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is inspired by the true story of <strong>Harriet</strong> Ann <strong>Jacobs</strong>, who wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave<br />
Girl (1861), one of the first open discussions about the abuses endured by slave women. Playwright Lydia<br />
Diamond’s adaptation weaves other slave narratives and spirituals into <strong>Harriet</strong>’s story, resulting in a<br />
powerful testament of personal resilience and an unflinching look at the female slave experience.<br />
We meet <strong>Harriet</strong> in the tiny confines of the crawl space above her Grandmother’s house where she has<br />
found refuge. As the play begins, she appeals to the audience, “I must explain. If you would understand.<br />
Please. I try to understand myself. This reality that has brought me to, this reality. I try to make sense of it,<br />
and so I ask that you try as well.”<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s life is different from many in her situation. She is educated, having been taught to read and write<br />
by a former mistress, and has never been physically harmed. As a house slave, her station in life is<br />
seemingly more comfortable than other slaves, like her friend Mary, who must also work in the field. And,<br />
she is fortunate to have access to her well-liked Grandmother, a freed slave, who passes down her wisdom<br />
and personal strength.<br />
But <strong>Harriet</strong> knows that, as a slave, her body is not her own. For years, starting at age 12, she has fended off<br />
the sexual advances of her master, Dr. Norcom, enduring his constant harassment along with the tirades of<br />
his jealous wife. For protection, she begins a relationship with a white, unmarried lawyer, Samuel Treadwell<br />
Sawyer, hoping this liaison will end her torment. Instead, Norcom continues to pursue her even after she<br />
bears Sawyer two children. When Norcom threatens to sell her children, <strong>Harriet</strong> plans her escape.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s story is, ultimately, one of survival and triumph. Though enslaved, she finds her voice, leaving us<br />
the legacy of her journey from slavery to freedom.<br />
<strong>The</strong> run time for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is approximately two hours, including intermission.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 5
THE PLAY<br />
THE AUTHOR<br />
HARRIET ANN JACOBS, 1813–1897<br />
Slave, freedom fighter, abolitionist, reformer and author,<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> Ann <strong>Jacobs</strong> is best remembered today primarily<br />
for a single published work, her autobiographical<br />
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861).<br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong> was born February 11, 1813, in the port town of<br />
Edenton, North Carolina to biracial parents, Elijah and<br />
Delilah <strong>Jacobs</strong>. <strong>The</strong> family also included her brother,<br />
John. Following the death of her mother, six-year-old<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> was sent to live with Margaret Horniblow, her<br />
mother’s mistress, who welcomed the girl into the home<br />
and taught her to read and write. Just a few years later,<br />
when <strong>Harriet</strong> was twelve, Margaret died. <strong>Harriet</strong> had<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
hoped to be emancipated, but instead was bequeathed<br />
to the woman’s three year-old niece, Mary Matilda, the<br />
daughter of Dr. James Norcom. Moving with her brother<br />
into the Norcom household, <strong>Harriet</strong> began years of<br />
fending off the sexual advances of the doctor and the<br />
jealous tirades of his wife.<br />
As a young woman of sixteen, <strong>Jacobs</strong> fell in love with a<br />
free black carpenter, but Dr. Norcom refused to let them<br />
marry, preferring to pursue her for himself. Rebelling<br />
against the eventual certainty that she would be forced<br />
to submit to Norcom’s sexual demands, <strong>Jacobs</strong><br />
encouraged a relationship with Samuel Treadwell<br />
Sawyer, a young, unmarried, white lawyer and future<br />
U.S. Congressman. Together, they had two children, a<br />
son, Joseph, born in 1829 and a daughter, Louisa<br />
Matilda, born in 1833.<br />
Angered by <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ continued rejection, Norcom turned<br />
down Sawyer’s requests to purchase <strong>Jacobs</strong> and their<br />
children and instead sent her to a plantation owned by<br />
his son. After learning that her children would also work<br />
there as plantation slaves, <strong>Jacobs</strong> planned her escape,<br />
thinking that if she left, her children would be allowed to<br />
remain with her grandmother and avoid the brutalities of<br />
slavery. Initially, her plan backfired and the children and<br />
her brother were jailed until Sawyer arranged to buy<br />
them and send the children to live with their greatgrandmother<br />
in Edenton.<br />
In 1835, knowing that she needed to escape but lacking<br />
the means to do so, <strong>Jacobs</strong> hid at first in a swamp, and<br />
then sought shelter in her grandmother’s home. In her<br />
tiny attic refuge that measured only nine feet by seven<br />
feet and was just three feet at the highest point, <strong>Jacobs</strong><br />
suffered sensory deprivation and frostbite. But, through<br />
a tiny hole in the roof, she was able to watch and hear<br />
her children playing in the yard below.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 6
THE PLAY<br />
THE AUTHOR - CONTINUED<br />
Mother and daughter were secretly and briefly<br />
reunited in 1840, and Louisa Matilda was eventually<br />
taken to her cousin’s home in Brooklyn. Freedom for<br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong> came on June 10, 1842, when she and her son<br />
Joseph boarded a ship that would take them to<br />
Philadelphia, and eventually to New York.<br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong> made a new life in New York, at first working as<br />
a nursemaid and then attending the Young Ladies<br />
Domestic Seminary School. By 1849, she had joined<br />
her brother in Rochester, where they established the<br />
Anti-Slavery Reading Room and became actively<br />
involved in the anti-slavery movement, meeting<br />
Quaker Amy Post and her husband Isaac, both staunch<br />
abolitionists, Frederick Douglass and other prominent<br />
figures of the day.<br />
Although she was now living and working in the North<br />
and openly involved in the abolitionist movement,<br />
liberty for <strong>Jacobs</strong> was still elusive. When the 1850<br />
Fugitive Slave Law was passed, <strong>Jacobs</strong> was forced to<br />
flee Rochester to avoid recapture by Norcom’s<br />
daughter, Mary Matilda, who wanted her returned.<br />
Finally, in 1852, her employer and anti-slavery<br />
sympathizer, Mrs. Cornelia Willis, contracted the<br />
Colonization Society to buy the freedom of <strong>Jacobs</strong> and<br />
her children. Her oppressors were paid $300, and, at<br />
last, <strong>Jacobs</strong> and her children were free.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
Dr. James Norcom posted this reward for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> after she ran away<br />
from his son’s plantation.<br />
Now legally a free woman, <strong>Jacobs</strong> was encouraged by<br />
Amy Post to tell her story and, in 1853, she began<br />
writing Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Early<br />
attempts to publish the book failed, but <strong>Jacobs</strong><br />
persisted. With financial backing from friends, the book<br />
was printed in 1861, under the pseudonym Linda Brent.<br />
<strong>The</strong> British edition, <strong>The</strong> Deeper Wrong, was published<br />
the following year.<br />
Throughout the 1860s, <strong>Jacobs</strong> traveled extensively to<br />
speak out against slavery. Wherever she went, she used<br />
her influence to improve the lives of runaway slaves and<br />
poor free blacks, and she never relented in the battle to<br />
establish fair wages, land ownership and schools for<br />
blacks. Believing that education could provide a way out<br />
of poverty, <strong>Jacobs</strong> and her daughter Louisa opened the<br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong> Free School in Alexandria, Virginia, on<br />
January 11, 1864.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 7
THE PLAY<br />
THE AUTHOR - CONTINUED<br />
Late in the 1860s, <strong>Jacobs</strong> operated a boarding house<br />
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and two subsequent<br />
boarding houses in Washington, DC. Little is known of<br />
her life beyond that, except that by 1888 she was ill<br />
and having trouble finding work. After dedicating<br />
most of her life to the principles of freedom and<br />
dignity, <strong>Jacobs</strong> died largely unknown on March 7,<br />
1897. She was buried next to her brother in Mount<br />
Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, where her headstone<br />
reads, “Patient in tribulation, fervent in spirit serving<br />
the Lord.”<br />
Despite documentation, the authenticity of <strong>Jacobs</strong> as<br />
the author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl<br />
was widely questioned. <strong>The</strong> book was never reprinted<br />
in her lifetime and it remained obscure until the<br />
Civil Rights and Women’s Movements of the 1960s<br />
and 1970s. Extensive archival work by Jean Fagan<br />
Yellin led to an authoritative edition being published<br />
by Harvard University Press in 1987, which firmly<br />
established <strong>Jacobs</strong> as the author of Incidents in the<br />
Life of a Slave Girl and returned her work to the<br />
American literary canon.<br />
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl has now become<br />
part of university curricula and has been translated<br />
into several languages. Once again, the extraordinary<br />
story of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is inspiring people worldwide.<br />
Lara Mann<br />
Communications Intern<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 8
THE AUTHOR<br />
HARRIET JACOBS -TIME LINE<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> Ann <strong>Jacobs</strong> is born in Edenton, N.C. to Delilah and<br />
Elijah <strong>Jacobs</strong>.<br />
John S. <strong>Jacobs</strong>, <strong>Harriet</strong>’s brother, is born.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s mother dies. At age six, <strong>Harriet</strong> goes to live with her<br />
mother’s white mistress, Margaret Horniblow, in Edenton.<br />
Through Miss Horniblow’s tutelage, <strong>Harriet</strong> learns how to<br />
read and write.<br />
Margaret Horniblow dies. <strong>Harriet</strong> is bequeathed to the woman’s three<br />
year-old niece, Mary Matilda Norcom. <strong>Harriet</strong> and her brother John<br />
move into the house of Dr. James Norcom. Over the years,<br />
Dr. Norcom’s unwanted sexual advances and his wife’s vindictive<br />
jealousy torment <strong>Harriet</strong>.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s father dies.<br />
When Dr. Norcom forbids <strong>Harriet</strong> to marry a free black carpenter, she<br />
enters into a liaison with Samuel Treadwell Sawyer. <strong>Harriet</strong> is expelled<br />
from the Norcom house and goes to live with her freed grandmother,<br />
Molly Horniblow. Joseph, <strong>Harriet</strong>’s son by Samuel Treadwell Sawyer,<br />
is born.<br />
Louisa Matilda, <strong>Harriet</strong>’s daughter by Samuel Treadwell Sawyer,<br />
is born.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> is sent to the Norcom plantation several miles outside of<br />
Edenton, N.C. In June, when she learns her children will soon<br />
arrive to be “broken in,” <strong>Harriet</strong> runs away. She conceals herself<br />
in a small attic above a storeroom of her grandmother’s home.<br />
Her brother John and her two children are jailed until September<br />
and then sold to a trader acting for Samuel Treadwell Sawyer.<br />
<strong>The</strong> children go to live with <strong>Harriet</strong>’s grandmother in Edenton.<br />
John goes to Sawyer’s plantation outside Edenton.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
Dr. Norcom's house in Edenton, North Carolina.<br />
Dr. James Norcom, Sr.<br />
This historical marker is located on North Broad<br />
Street in Edenton. It was originally erected in<br />
1987.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 9
THE AUTHOR<br />
HARRIET JACOBS TIMELINE - CONTINUED<br />
Samuel Treadwell Sawyer is elected to Congress. He leaves for<br />
Washington, D.C., taking <strong>Harriet</strong>’s brother, John, with him.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s brother, John, runs away from Samuel Treadwell<br />
Sawyer.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s daughter, Louisa Matilda, is reunited with her mother<br />
before leaving for Washington, D.C. with Sawyer, his wife and<br />
their baby. After five months there, she is taken to her cousin’s<br />
home in Brooklyn, N.Y.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> and her son Joseph board a ship that takes them to<br />
Philadelphia, and eventually to New York.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> joins her brother in Rochester, NY, where they<br />
establish the Anti-Slavery Reading Room and become<br />
actively involved in the anti-slavery movement.<br />
Northern friends purchase <strong>Harriet</strong> and emancipate her.<br />
Molly Horniblow dies in Edenton, N.C.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> begins writing her book.<br />
In Boston, <strong>Harriet</strong> self-publishes her book, Incidents in the<br />
Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, using the pseudonym Linda<br />
Brent. <strong>The</strong> British edition follows the next year.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> performs relief work among freedmen in Washington,<br />
D.C., Alexandria, VA, and Savannah, GA. During this time period,<br />
she and Louisa Matilda open a school in Alexandria, VA and<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> runs a boarding home in Cambridge, MA.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> dies and is buried next to her brother in Mount Auburn<br />
Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.<br />
This timeline is based on information provided in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,<br />
Written by Herself, by <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> Timeline, http://xroads.virginia.edu.<br />
Title page of the 1861 publication<br />
of Incidents in the Life of a Slave<br />
Girl by <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong>’s home in Cambridge, MA.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ gravestone in Mt. Auburn<br />
Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 10
THE PLAY<br />
THE PLAYWRIGHT<br />
Lydia R. Diamond<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
Lydia R. Diamond is an award-winning playwright whose works have<br />
been seen across the country. Her plays include: Stick Fly (2010 LA<br />
Drama Critics Circle Award–Playwriting and Best Production, 2010 LA<br />
Garland Award–Playwriting, 2008 Susan S. Blackburn Finalist, 2006<br />
Black <strong>The</strong>atre Alliance Award–Best Play); Voyeurs de Venus (2006<br />
Joseph Jefferson Award–Best New Work, 2006 BTAA–Best Writing);<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bluest Eye (2006 Black Arts Alliance Image Award–Best New Play,<br />
2008 AATE Distinguished Play Award); <strong>The</strong> Gift Horse (<strong>The</strong>odore Ward<br />
Prize, Kesselring Prize 2nd Place); <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> (2010 Elliot Norton<br />
nomination–Best Play); and Lizzie Stranton.<br />
Ms. Diamond was a 2007 TCG/NEA Playwright in Residence at<br />
Steppenwolf, a 2006-07 Huntington Playwright Fellow and a 2009 NEA/<br />
Arena Stage New Play Development Grant Finalist. She is a TCG board<br />
member, a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists and on the<br />
faculty at Boston University.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> was commissioned, and its world premiere presented by,<br />
Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company in Chicago, IL. In addition to <strong>Harriet</strong>’s<br />
story, Ms. Diamond also incorporates spirituals and the narratives of<br />
other slaves into the play. In conjunction with the world premiere of<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> at Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre company, Ms. Diamond was<br />
asked about the significance of these additions.<br />
LYDIA DIAMOND: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is actually one long slave narrative. <strong>The</strong> addition of other<br />
narratives is a means for providing the audience with context for <strong>Harriet</strong>’s story. <strong>The</strong>y paint a picture of the reality she<br />
is living in and the atrocities she is pleading with the audience to understand. <strong>The</strong> narratives also present characters<br />
with a fortitude and ingenuity… a sense of survival and more agency than slaves are typically depicted with.<br />
<strong>The</strong> spirituals are another piece of the fabric of the reality of slavery. <strong>The</strong>y’re haunting and beautiful and they served<br />
so many different purposes. Spirituals were used as a means of communication—outlining escape routes in the<br />
lyrics—and as preservation of a spiritual identity. In the play, they function to move the action along with their<br />
rhythm and, again, provide context for <strong>Harriet</strong>’s story.<br />
Lydia Diamond’s comments originally appeared in the <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> Discussion Guide, prepared by Steppenwolf for Young<br />
Adults. <strong>The</strong>y are reprinted here courtesy of Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 11
THE PRODUCTION<br />
NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR<br />
Jessica <strong>The</strong>bus, who holds a Ph.D. in Performance<br />
Studies from Northwestern University, is an Associate<br />
Artist at Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company. She has<br />
What does <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> ask of us? We have all traveled to this room, to devote ourselves to her<br />
story. What would she have us do? Nambi [Kelley, who plays the title role of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>] and I were<br />
talking in the car yesterday and she said, “You just have to acknowledge the ancestors.” So I brought<br />
flowers to our room this morning as my own acknowledgement to the ancestors. I’ll keep flowers in the<br />
room every day we work—anyone is free to add to them in any way, and we will tell this story to honor<br />
those that lived it. How to tell it is our work together.<br />
We have in our hands, Lydia Diamond’s wonderful adaptation of <strong>Harriet</strong>’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave<br />
Girl. I am thrilled to be working with Lydia. We come out of the same program at Northwestern<br />
University, and so we both love literary adaptation, direct address and theatrical transformations. We<br />
love expressive moments that are not literal, tableaus and physical storytelling. We like putting intimately<br />
acted, deeply felt scenes against a tableau of movement and image. This combination of theatrical modes<br />
will be part of our task here. <strong>The</strong> story needs reality and intimacy as well as lyrical power.<br />
But as it happens, Lydia and I also have something else in common. We both suffer from vertigo -<br />
dizziness and lack of equilibrium that comes and goes with no explanation. I have sometimes had it when<br />
in rehearsal and, in one memorable instance, had to hold onto the edge of a table in order to stand and<br />
speak to the cast. Lydia tells me that she suffers from it when she works on <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> in particular.<br />
When she told me this, it did not surprise me. In a way, her story is one of dizziness for me as well.<br />
It is part of my job to imagine the attic. It was about nine feet long, seven feet wide and three feet high; it<br />
admitted no light until <strong>Harriet</strong> drilled a tiny hole. It was stifling in the summer and frigid in winter, with<br />
rodents and stinging insects. She could not stand up, and when she rolled over she bumped her head on<br />
the roof. She lived there seven years.<br />
When I imagine this, I can almost be made dizzy by the sickness and brutality of what led to that attic. I<br />
try to protect myself with my love of beauty and poetic image, but it is a struggle. How do we approach<br />
the vertigo we feel when confronted with the stories of slavery? Perhaps we reach for something to<br />
steady us, or a way to shut it out. We might tell ourselves, awful as it is, we have heard this before, we’ve<br />
seen these images in books, movies, the theater, conversations, passed down stories.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
directed extensively in Chicago and across the country.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> marks her directing debut with the Rep.<br />
Ms. <strong>The</strong>bus read the following notes on the production<br />
to the cast and staff members on the first day<br />
of rehearsal.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 12
THE PRODUCTION<br />
NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR - CONTINUED<br />
And we here have such luxury—I can imagine and evoke<br />
that attic poetically; I don’t have to spend seven years<br />
there. But we are foolish if we think the pain, shame,<br />
and confusion does not affect us as we move through<br />
this story. It may not be Lydia’s vertigo for everyone, but<br />
it can affect the body and the spirit as we live with it, live<br />
next to it, let it speak through us. And I am foolish if I<br />
think it does not affect me differently, as a white woman,<br />
who does my job from behind a table instead of up on<br />
the stage living it.<br />
It can be difficult to feel the solidity<br />
of the ground beneath us to stand<br />
firmly in this story. Where do we<br />
find a place of steadiness from<br />
which to speak? And be heard by<br />
the particular audience we will<br />
have at each performance? For<br />
that feeling of vertigo is not our<br />
final destination, as it was<br />
not <strong>Harriet</strong>’s.<br />
Toni Morrison speaks of reluctance<br />
in reference to her novel<br />
Beloved: “I had this terrible<br />
reluctance about dwelling on<br />
[slavery]…I was overwhelmed by how long it was.<br />
Suddenly the time -- 300 years -- began to drown me. I<br />
[tried] to make [slavery] a personal experience. <strong>The</strong> book<br />
[Beloved] was not about the institution -- Slavery with a<br />
capital S. It was about these anonymous people called<br />
slaves. What they do to keep on, how they make a life,<br />
what they're willing to risk, however long it lasts, in order<br />
to relate to one another -- that was incredible to<br />
me.” Morrison, with her unquestionable genius and<br />
clarity, goes right into the heart of real people and gives<br />
them voices.<br />
And we have real people here, and we must listen for<br />
their voices. <strong>Harriet</strong> says she found her voice in that<br />
attic. Years later, she composed Incidents in the Life of a<br />
Slave Girl, pursued its publication through a newspaper<br />
and three separate publishers, and then traveled widely<br />
promoting the book and its abolitionist cause.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
And so, <strong>Harriet</strong>’s is both the story of endurance, and the<br />
endurance of story. From the attic emerged her voice,<br />
and from her voice emerged her true experience, and it is<br />
still challenging and clear. She told her readers, in North<br />
America and in England, “If you want to be fully<br />
convinced of the abominations of slavery, go on a<br />
southern plantation, and call yourself a Negro trader.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n there will be no concealment; and you will see and<br />
hear things that will seem to you impossible among<br />
human beings with immortal souls.”<br />
Our task, as I see it, is to tell the<br />
story with the clarity and energy of<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>. With her humor,<br />
with her intellect and consciousness,<br />
the helplessness of righteous anger<br />
and self-pity is unnecessary. She says<br />
to us, “I need you out there to<br />
understand exactly what this was<br />
like, so that you can see it clearly.<br />
And think about it.”<br />
I believe that clear sight can save us<br />
from the fog of vertigo.<br />
People endure, stories endure, and<br />
therefore they have hope of transformation. This<br />
transformation moves me as I come to this room and this<br />
task. We use our voices to survive the vision of the attic,<br />
and together to cross to firmer ground from which to<br />
speak the truth. To speak, like <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> did, to<br />
those who don’t know the story, and need to hear it. To<br />
those who aren’t willing to remember the story, and<br />
need to hear it again. And those who think they know it,<br />
and need to hear it afresh.<br />
Thank you for joining Lydia and me in this process.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 13
THE PRODUCTION<br />
DESIGN ELEMENTS<br />
SET DESIGN<br />
Collette Pollard, Set Designer<br />
Collette Pollard returns to the Rep after having<br />
designed the set for the Rep’s 2009 production of<br />
<strong>The</strong> Glass Menagerie. Collette, who received her<br />
MFA in scenic design from Northwestern University,<br />
also designed the set for Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
Company’s world premiere production of <strong>Harriet</strong><br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong> in 2008. She recently spoke to us about her<br />
inspiration for the set and how the design has<br />
evolved for the Rep’s production.<br />
Like the last set you designed for the Rep, <strong>The</strong> Glass<br />
Menagerie, <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is a memory play. How<br />
did you evoke this feeling of memory in the<br />
set design?<br />
Memory is evoked in two specific ways in this<br />
production of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>. <strong>Harriet</strong>'s memory of<br />
hiding in the attic for seven years--only able to see<br />
the outside world through the cracks in the wood-- is<br />
reflected in the set design through the use of narrow<br />
openings in the upstage wall. <strong>The</strong>se give us a sense<br />
of seeing glimpses into her memory of cotton fields,<br />
field workers, and watching her children grow and<br />
play. <strong>The</strong> other way in which memory is addressed is<br />
by not having anything real or tangible in the interior<br />
scenes. For example, we don't see the interior of<br />
Grandmother's kitchen or the Master's<br />
house. Instead, we listen to <strong>Harriet</strong> describe her<br />
memory of the space, and the ensemble helps set<br />
the world of the play through movement and song.<br />
Where did you draw your inspiration from for<br />
the set?<br />
I was inspired not only by the original architecture of<br />
the actual attic in which <strong>Harriet</strong> hid, but also by what<br />
it physically means to have freedom. In researching<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, I came across an installation by artist<br />
Ellen Driscoll called <strong>The</strong> Loophole of Retreat.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
This piece, although quite different from the scenic<br />
design, inspired the idea of representing the seven<br />
years of <strong>Harriet</strong>’s hiding with seven window-like<br />
openings in the upstage wall. <strong>The</strong> idea to use all wood<br />
boards came from our research on the homes, schools<br />
and places of work of those who were enslaved. <strong>The</strong><br />
color was inspired by the yellowing of a page in a book<br />
and a piece by Ronald Lockett, named Pregnant Lady,<br />
that the costume designer, Jeremy Floyd, brought in<br />
during our research process.<br />
How has the design evolved since your design for the<br />
Steppenwolf production?<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> scenic design is quite<br />
different from the design at Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre.<br />
At Steppenwolf, we dealt with memory by having the<br />
entire space open with all the props and furniture<br />
stored along the theatre walls. We evoked the trapped<br />
feeling in the design, not only her literal hiding, but also<br />
the traps that all the characters find themselves in. We<br />
realized the architecture of Grandmother's house and<br />
the big house with a cage-like structure indicating the<br />
bones of the house. All the props were real to help<br />
transform the space by the ensemble. We were also<br />
interested in the cage-like qualities of the boning used<br />
in period clothing to distinguish the white people in the<br />
play. Three windows hung in the space giving us<br />
moments of memory and, unlike seeing this<br />
production's expansive landscapes through narrow<br />
slots, we only saw the sky contained in the three<br />
windows.<br />
At KC Rep, the architecture of Copaken Stage, as well<br />
as director Jessica <strong>The</strong>bus' point of view on memory<br />
and interest in seeing the writing on the walls, frees us<br />
from creating a real structure for Grandmother's house<br />
and the big house. We are more interested in<br />
illustrating the coffin-like attic where <strong>Harriet</strong> felt more<br />
free in hiding than when she was enslaved. <strong>The</strong> script<br />
also went through changes allowing us to show the<br />
outcome of her surviving and culminating with her<br />
publishing her story.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 14
THE PRODUCTION<br />
SET DESIGN - CONTINUED<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
Notice the triangular opening that represents the crawl space where <strong>Harriet</strong> goes<br />
into hiding. <strong>The</strong> type above the model indicates text which will be projected. Note<br />
the use of color.<br />
Images of the set model courtesy of Collette Pollard.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 15
THE PRODUCTION<br />
SET DESIGN - CONTINUED<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
Images of the set model courtesy of Collette Pollard. Check out more of Collette’s work at www.collettepollard.com.<br />
For more information on the work that inspired Collette Pollard’s set design for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, please visit the following<br />
sites:<br />
Ellen Driscoll, Artist<br />
www.ellendriscoll.net<br />
Click here for an audio and video podcast about her installation, <strong>The</strong> Loophole of Retreat: https://www.nyhistory.org/<br />
web/default.php?section=whats_new&page=tour.tab3<br />
Ronald Lockett, Artist<br />
http://collections.thebrogan.org/code/emuseum.asp?<br />
emu_action=searchrequest&moduleid=2&profile=people¤trecord=1&searchdesc=Ronald%<br />
20Lockett&style=single&rawsearch=constituentid/,/is/,/23/,/false/,/true<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 16
THE PRODUCTION<br />
DESIGN ELEMENTS<br />
COSTUME DESIGN<br />
Jeremy W. Floyd, Costume Designer<br />
Jeremy W. Floyd is making his KC Rep debut as<br />
costume designer for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>. Jeremy, who<br />
received his MFA from Northwestern University,<br />
recently spoke to us about the design process for this<br />
production.<br />
Where did you draw your inspiration from for your<br />
costume design for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>?<br />
Though many artists and works were used as visual<br />
inspiration, two artists, John Biggers and Paul Jones,<br />
provided the major starting point for the design. <strong>The</strong>ir<br />
work, though very different visually, speaks on a level<br />
of visual simplicity with elegant line and uniform<br />
color, while expressing the sorrow and beauty of a life<br />
confined by others, whether that be through slavery<br />
or society. <strong>The</strong>se artists were supplemented with<br />
various other works of art from the 19th and 20th<br />
century as well as photography and portraiture of the<br />
time.<br />
What influenced your color palette? How did you use<br />
color, pattern, texture and layers to differentiate<br />
between characters of different races?<br />
<strong>The</strong> color palette of the world of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> was<br />
inspired by the natural colors of the environment,<br />
both in a geographical and stage sense. Colors were<br />
heightened on the ensemble base-clothing to allow<br />
the characters to stand out of the world as well as to<br />
feel like they are part of it. <strong>The</strong> desire was to create a<br />
simple silhouette that was a conglomeration of the<br />
slave clothing from the mid-19th century without<br />
denoting any specific time, giving the cast members<br />
the ability to assume various roles throughout the<br />
many years the story takes place. This simple<br />
silhouette was created using almost entirely linen for<br />
its dense drape, creating the illusion of weight while<br />
still possessing a light, springy quality for the stylized<br />
movement and choreography.<br />
Costume sketches courtesy of Jeremy W. Floyd.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 17
THE PRODUCTION<br />
COSTUME DESIGN - CONTINUED<br />
Visual texture was created on the relatively smooth linen<br />
with floral prints. <strong>The</strong>se floral designs evoke the feeling of<br />
handwritten words on a page. <strong>The</strong>y serve as <strong>Harriet</strong>'s<br />
memories locked in the fabric of the clothes and recreate<br />
her memories so the audience can understand her life as<br />
well as the lives of others.<br />
While the foundation of every actor is of the world, the<br />
roles of the "White People" are visually created by the<br />
addition of white over-layers. <strong>The</strong>se white "shells" are<br />
void of the texture and freedom of movement found in the<br />
base clothes, therefore visually binding the "White People"<br />
in a world where they should be the "free."<br />
Could you tell us a bit about the design process for this<br />
production?<br />
<strong>The</strong> best word to describe the process for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is<br />
"collaborative." <strong>The</strong> design team met many times to<br />
discuss the play on, not only a visual level, but a<br />
dramaturgical level as well, to develop a unified world<br />
that best told the story. <strong>The</strong> world of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> was<br />
created through the exchange of images, information, and<br />
ideas.<br />
For more information on the work that inspired Jeremy Floyd’s<br />
costume design for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, please visit the following<br />
sites:<br />
John Biggers<br />
http://atlantis.coe.uh.edu/biggers/bio1.htm<br />
Paul Jones<br />
http://www.udel.edu/museums/jones/jones-pages05/<br />
about1.html<br />
Costume sketches courtesy of Jeremy W. Floyd.<br />
To see more of Jeremy’s work, please go to:<br />
www.jeremywfloyd.com.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 18
THE PRODUCTION<br />
DESIGN ELEMENTS<br />
LIGHTING DESIGN | J.R. LEDERLE<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
J.R. Lederle is making his KC Rep debut as lighting designer for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>. His recent credits include Late<br />
(Piven <strong>The</strong>atre Workshop); Our Town (Lookingglass <strong>The</strong>atre Company); Eurydice (Victory Gardens <strong>The</strong>ater); Pulp<br />
(About Face <strong>The</strong>atre); A Life, Grey Gardens, Better Late, Retreat From Moscow, Lady (Northlight <strong>The</strong>atre); Night<br />
And Day, <strong>The</strong> Island, Old Times, Fiction, Aren't We All, An Immigrant Class (Remy Bumppo <strong>The</strong>atre Company);<br />
Bus Stop, <strong>The</strong> Turn of the Screw (which won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Lighting Design), <strong>The</strong> Lion In Winter<br />
(Writer's <strong>The</strong>atre); Morning's At Seven (Drury Lane <strong>The</strong>atre); Goldbrick, Scribblings from Abroad, Missing<br />
Meemaw and others (in collaboration with Stephan Mazurek); Sonia Flew, <strong>The</strong> Unmentionables, Love-Lies-<br />
Bleeding (also at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.), When <strong>The</strong> Messenger is<br />
Hot (also at 59 E. 59 <strong>The</strong>atres in New York), Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, Orson's Shadow, <strong>The</strong>atrical Essays,<br />
Tavern Story, Pacific, Fall to Earth, Wendell Greene, <strong>The</strong> House of Lily, We All Went Down to Amsterdam, First<br />
Look <strong>Repertory</strong> 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 (Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company); To Kill a Mockingbird, <strong>The</strong> House<br />
on Mango Street, <strong>The</strong> Bluest Eye (also at New Victory <strong>The</strong>ater in New York), <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, <strong>The</strong> Water Engine<br />
(also at <strong>The</strong>ater on the Lake in Chicago), A Tale of Two Cities, Winesburg, Ohio, Division Street and Whispering<br />
<strong>City</strong> (Steppenwolf for Young Adults). His international credits include A Life, Grey Gardens, and Better Late at<br />
the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland. Additional lighting design credits include Steppenwolf Traffic Series for seven<br />
years and five Steppenwolf performances in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Mr. Lederle has served as head of the<br />
Lighting Department at Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company since 1995.<br />
SOUND DESIGN | ANDRE PLUESS<br />
Andre Pluess serves as Composer/Sound Designer for <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>. Recent KC Rep credits include <strong>The</strong><br />
Arabian Nights and Metamorphoses, both with Ben Sussman. <strong>The</strong>ir Broadway credits include I Am My Own<br />
Wife and Metamorphoses. <strong>The</strong>ir regional credits include after the quake, Blue Door, Honour, Metamorphoses,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Secret in the Wings (Berkeley Rep) and they have also designed at numerous other regional theatres.<br />
Recent projects include 33 Variations, <strong>The</strong> Passion Play Trilogy (Arena Stage); BFE (Long Wharf and Playwrights<br />
Horizons); <strong>The</strong> Clean House (Yale Rep); Lady Windermere’s Fan (Williamstown <strong>The</strong>atre Festival). <strong>The</strong>ir artistic<br />
affiliations include associate artists (About Face <strong>The</strong>atre); resident artists (Court <strong>The</strong>atre); artistic associates<br />
(Lookingglass <strong>The</strong>atre); resident designers (Victory Gardens). Mr. Pluess and Mr. Sussman have won 11<br />
Jefferson Awards and Citations, an L.A. Ovation Award, a Drama Critics Circle Award and a Lucille Lortel<br />
nomination for composition and sound design.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 19
THE PRODUCTION<br />
SPOTLIGHT ON AN ACTOR - NAMBI KELLEY<br />
Nambi Kelley, who plays the title role of<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, is an award-winning actress<br />
and playwright. In addition, she has worked<br />
nationally and internationally as a recording<br />
artist including books on tape, animation, and<br />
musical CDs. Nambi received her BFA from<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre School at DePaul University in<br />
Chicago and is a MFA candidate at Goddard<br />
College in Vermont.<br />
In 2008, Nambi originated the role of <strong>Harriet</strong><br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong> in the world premiere production at<br />
Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company. She recently<br />
spoke to us about the challenges of the role<br />
and what she hopes young people will take<br />
from the production.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
You originated the role of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> at<br />
Steppenwolf <strong>The</strong>atre Company. Have there<br />
been any differences as to how you<br />
approached the role this time?<br />
This time around I didn't have to do as much<br />
dramaturgical research because the research<br />
was already part of me. In this process, I was<br />
able to approach the role more like an actor<br />
who is just picking up a regular script as<br />
opposed to a historical character.<br />
Are there any particular challenges in playing<br />
the role of <strong>Harriet</strong>?<br />
<strong>The</strong> biggest challenge for me is playing <strong>Harriet</strong><br />
in different times of her life and only having<br />
moments to switch between those ages. One<br />
moment I can be <strong>Harriet</strong> at the end of her life<br />
and the next moment I can be her as a young<br />
teenager. That is the most challenging.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 20
THE PRODUCTION<br />
SPOTLIGHT ON AN ACTOR - CONTINUED<br />
Have you found that you share any similarities<br />
with your character?<br />
I believe <strong>Harriet</strong> is the me I want to be as I get<br />
older. She is resilient, strong, and is dedicated<br />
to making sure her story makes it to the future.<br />
If anything, I aspire to cultivate the parts of me<br />
that are like her but can be enhanced.<br />
What have you learned from <strong>Harriet</strong>? What<br />
can she teach us?<br />
I learned so much from <strong>Harriet</strong> the first time I<br />
portrayed her and I learn even more from her<br />
everyday as I become reacquainted with her. As<br />
I mentioned, her resilience and tenacity are<br />
what I draw from her. What we should draw<br />
from her as an audience are those things, and<br />
also her commitment to telling the truth and<br />
recording history.<br />
What would you like young people to take<br />
away from this production?<br />
Young people should take away the history. It’s<br />
a very important and relevant part of history<br />
that still affects the world we live in. Young<br />
people need to understand how these things<br />
helped create the fabric of our country.<br />
Besides being an actress you are also a<br />
playwright. Could you share some advice for<br />
young people who want to work in theatre?<br />
Be fearless. Trust yourself and trust that the<br />
right path for you will unfold as it should.<br />
Nambi Kelley during a rehearsal for the Rep’s<br />
production of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>.<br />
For more about Nambi Kelley, please visit:<br />
www.nambikelley.com.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 21
THE PRODUCTION<br />
SPOTLIGHT ON REP STAFF - THAYLIA SMITH<br />
Thaylia Smith, who celebrated her 29th<br />
anniversary with the Rep in January 2010,<br />
serves as the organization’s Design/<br />
Publications Specialist. Thaylia recently took<br />
time out of her busy schedule to speak to us<br />
about her position, her favorite Rep shows<br />
through the years, and her life outside<br />
of work.<br />
What does your position entail?<br />
I am responsible for designing and/or laying<br />
out a wide variety of print materials for the<br />
Rep. This could mean anything from creating<br />
advertisements for insertion into magazines<br />
and newspapers, to designing art for t-shirts<br />
and sweatshirts, to making banners to be<br />
hung on the outside of our performance<br />
spaces, to helping put together programs for<br />
each production the Rep produces.<br />
How did you make your way to the Rep?<br />
I began working part-time as a secretary/<br />
receptionist at the University of Missouri-<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> when I was a junior in high school<br />
as part of my high school’s Cooperative<br />
Education (COE) program. I worked at the<br />
Urban Youth Program, the Student Learning<br />
Center, the Personnel Office, and the UMKC<br />
School of Medicine before I was hired as the<br />
Executive Staff Assistant to the late James D.<br />
Costin, the Rep’s co-founder, in 1981. I have<br />
the distinct honor of having been at the Rep<br />
during the tenure of each of its four artistic<br />
directors: Dr. Patricia McIlrath, George<br />
Keathley, Peter Altman, and our current<br />
fearless, adventurous leader, Eric Rosen.<br />
What has been your favorite Rep production<br />
and which production are you most looking<br />
forward to this season?<br />
I am honored to have attended many<br />
wonderful productions at the Rep over the<br />
years, so it would be impossible for me to<br />
choose just one. So, I will tell you one play<br />
from each artistic director’s reign that I<br />
enjoyed seeing.<br />
Thaylia Smith<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
During Dr. McIlrath’s directorship, I think I<br />
most enjoyed the Rep’s 1983 production of<br />
<strong>The</strong> Life and Times of Nicholas Nickelby. It was<br />
a magnificent telling of Charles Dickens’<br />
classic Victorian novel, and in order to tell the<br />
whole story, Nickelby was presented over two<br />
consecutive days!<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were many great shows during Mr.<br />
Keathley’s era, too, but I think two of my<br />
most memorable ones were the 1992<br />
production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar &<br />
Grill, which chronicled the life of singer Billie<br />
Holiday, and <strong>The</strong> Gospel at Colonus, which the<br />
Rep co-produced with the St. Louis Black<br />
<strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre in 1998. Colonus was a<br />
recounting of the famous Greek play as a<br />
gospel-themed musical and featured some of<br />
the most beautiful and powerful voices that<br />
have ever graced the Rep’s mainstage.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 22
THE PRODUCTION<br />
SPOTLIGHT ON REP STAFF - CONTINUED<br />
I think my favorite show when Peter Altman was artistic<br />
director was the Rep’s rockin’ 2007 production of Love,<br />
Janis. A really great show about the life of Janis Joplin, it<br />
was the inaugural production at the Rep’s new downtown<br />
performance space, Copaken Stage. Love, Janis featured a<br />
fabulous back-up band made up of local musicians, and<br />
the two ladies who sang Janis’s songs were both<br />
outstanding, to boot.<br />
And finally, choosing a<br />
favorite Eric Rosen<br />
production is a somewhat<br />
daunting task, as every<br />
production that we’ve<br />
put on since he became<br />
our artistic director has<br />
featured something<br />
outstanding and<br />
memorable in it. While I<br />
count Clay and Venice in<br />
my top five Rosen<br />
favorites, the 2009<br />
staging of his play,<br />
Winesburg, Ohio, is the<br />
one that has most deeply<br />
touched my heart to<br />
date. <strong>The</strong> music was<br />
hauntingly beautiful, and<br />
I understood the feelings<br />
of, and sympathized with, many of the characters. I went<br />
to see it five times and would go five more if it was still on<br />
our stage!<br />
As to what show I’m looking forward to in the current<br />
season, I would have to say the current production of<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, as her story is part of my history as a black<br />
woman. I am also excited about Cabaret.<br />
What got you interested in working in the theatre?<br />
I was drawn to the Rep as a possible place of employment<br />
because I had been to see a couple of their productions<br />
and was impressed with what I saw. I also had never<br />
worked for a professional theatre before, and thought that<br />
being employed there could provide a lot of diverse<br />
experiences. I certainly wasn’t wrong about that!<br />
What advice do you have for young people interested in a<br />
career as a graphic designer?<br />
I would tell potential designers that, in my opinion, you are<br />
about to enter one of the most exciting and interesting<br />
professions there is to be had! If you like a lot of variety in<br />
your job, love working with technology, and want to be<br />
paid for unleashing your creative urges, this is the career<br />
for you. I would also tell them that a thorough knowledge<br />
of the major software packages used in this industry is<br />
imperative to your<br />
success. <strong>The</strong>refore,<br />
taking classes at<br />
institutions with<br />
reputable design<br />
programs is definitely<br />
a must.<br />
What keeps you busy<br />
outside of work?<br />
I love listening to live<br />
music at local venues,<br />
dancing, visiting art<br />
galleries and museums,<br />
and being outdoors. My<br />
major hobby for over<br />
25 years has been<br />
raising (not breeding)<br />
and showing purebred<br />
dogs at American<br />
Kennel Club and International All-Breed Canine Association<br />
shows all over the country. I share my life with an Alaskan<br />
Malamute, AKC & International Champion Totempoles N<br />
Sharaden’s Sam-I-Am (Sam, for short), who has six Best In<br />
Show wins to date, and a Samoyed, International<br />
Champion Silversage Cosmic Quiver (Austin, for short),<br />
who has placed in Working Group competitions.<br />
Thaylia and her Samoyed, International Champion Silversage Cosmic Quiver (Austin, for short),<br />
at a recent competition.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 23
BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE<br />
PRE-SHOW DISCUSSION<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rep’s production of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is based on <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.<br />
You may want to read it as a class. (<strong>The</strong> text of the book can be found digitally here: http://<br />
docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/jacobs.html.) Use the following prompts as conversation<br />
starters with your students prior to attending the performance.<br />
1. What is the role of the audience in a theatrical production?<br />
2. What might be the challenges in bringing <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ story to the stage?<br />
3. What are your expectations of seeing <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> at the Rep? Make predictions about the set, costumes, sound<br />
and lighting.<br />
4. Playwright Lydia Diamond chose to incorporate spirituals into the play. Why do you think she made this choice?<br />
What do you think music will bring to the story?<br />
5. Won’t you ring, Old Hammer? and Oh, Mary Don’t You Weep are two of the spirituals included in <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>.<br />
Research them on the web and listen to the various versions of the songs. What images and emotions do they<br />
evoke?<br />
6. In her Director’s Notes, Jessica <strong>The</strong>bus writes, “I brought flowers to our room this morning as my own<br />
acknowledgement to the ancestors. I’ll keep flowers in the room every day we work—anyone is free to add to<br />
them in any way, and we will tell this story to honor those that lived it.” What are some other ways we can honor<br />
our ancestors?<br />
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of telling stories through theatre rather than through books, film or<br />
other media?<br />
8. What other stories about slavery are you familiar with? How do you think these stories will compare with <strong>Harriet</strong><br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong>?<br />
9. Compare Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. How are they similar? How are they different?<br />
<strong>The</strong> full text of Uncle Tom’s Cabin can be found here: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/STOWE/stowe.html.<br />
10. How were enslaved people able to maintain aspects of their culture within the confines of slavery?<br />
11. What is the role of records, memoirs, and artifacts in preserving history? What is the role of theater?<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 24
PRE OR POST-SHOW ACTIVITY<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rep’s production of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> is based on <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.<br />
Below is an excerpt. (<strong>The</strong> full text of the book can be found digitally here:<br />
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/jacobs.html.)<br />
Literary Value<br />
Read the selection aloud and discuss. Ask students to find imagery, alliteration, metaphor and other literary techniques.<br />
Discuss how <strong>Harriet</strong>’s storytelling affects the reader.<br />
Vocabulary<br />
Identify unknown words and define them. Discuss how the “new” words clarify <strong>Harriet</strong>’s narrative.<br />
Personal Response<br />
Isolate images and draw, paint or sculpt a visual art piece reflecting images or thoughts in <strong>Harriet</strong>’s narrative or students’<br />
responses to the words.<br />
How does this section of source material influence your ideas about what the performance may look or sound like?<br />
If you have seen the play, how were <strong>Harriet</strong>’s thoughts and observations reflected in the performance?<br />
XXIII. STILL IN PRISON.<br />
When spring returned, and I took in the little patch of green the aperture commanded, I<br />
asked myself how many more summers and winters I must be condemned to spend thus.<br />
I longed to draw in a plentiful draught of fresh air, to stretch my cramped limbs, to have<br />
room to stand erect, to feel the earth under my feet again. My relatives were constantly<br />
on the lookout for a chance of escape; but none offered that seemed practicable, and<br />
even tolerably safe. <strong>The</strong> hot summer came again, and made the turpentine drop from the<br />
thin roof over my head.<br />
During the long nights, I was restless for want of air, and I had no room to toss and turn.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was but one compensation; the atmosphere was so stifled that even mosquitos<br />
would not condescend to buzz in it. With all my detestation of Dr. Flint, I could hardly<br />
wish him a worse punishment, either in this world or that which is to come, than to<br />
suffer what I suffered in one single summer. Yet the laws allowed him to be out in the<br />
free air, while I, guiltless of crime, was pent up in here, as the only means of avoiding the<br />
cruelties the laws allowed him to inflict upon me! I don't know what kept life within me.<br />
Again and again, I thought I should die before long; but I saw the leaves of another<br />
autumn whirl through the air, and felt the touch of another winter. In summer the most<br />
terrible thunder storms were acceptable, for the rain came through the roof, and I rolled<br />
up my bed that it might cool the hot boards under it. Later in the season, storms sometimes<br />
wet my clothes through and through, and that was not comfortable when the air<br />
grew chilly. Moderate storms I could keep out by filling the chinks with oakum.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 25
PRE OR POST-SHOW ACTIVITY - CONTINUED<br />
But uncomfortable as my situation was, I had glimpses of things out of doors, which made<br />
me thankful for my wretched hiding-place. One day I saw a slave pass our gate, muttering,<br />
"It's his own, and he can kill it if he will." My grandmother told me that woman's history. Her<br />
mistress had that day seen her baby for the first time, and in the lineaments of its fair face<br />
she saw a likeness to her husband. She turned the bondwoman and her child out of doors,<br />
and forbade her ever to return. <strong>The</strong> slave went to her master, and told him what had<br />
happened. He promised to talk with her mistress, and make it all right. <strong>The</strong> next day she and<br />
her baby were sold to a Georgia trader.<br />
Another time I saw a woman rush wildly by, pursued by two men. She was a slave, the wet<br />
nurse of her mistress's children. For some trifling offence her mistress ordered her to be<br />
stripped and whipped. To escape the degradation and the torture, she rushed to the river,<br />
jumped in, and ended her wrongs in death.<br />
Senator Brown, of Mississippi, could not be ignorant of many such facts as these, for they are<br />
of frequent occurrence in every Southern State. Yet he stood up in the Congress of the<br />
United States, and declared that slavery was "a great moral, social, and political blessing; a<br />
blessing to the master, and a blessing to the slave!"<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
I suffered much more during the second winter than I did during the first. My limbs were<br />
benumbed by inaction, and the cold filled them with cramp. I had a very painful sensation of<br />
coldness in my head; even my face and tongue stiffened, and I lost the power of speech. Of<br />
course it was impossible, under the circumstances, to summon any physician. My brother<br />
William came and did all he could for me. Uncle Phillip also watched tenderly over me; and<br />
poor grandmother crept up and down to inquire whether there were any signs of returning<br />
life. I was restored to consciousness by the dashing of cold water in my face, and found<br />
myself leaning against my brother's arm, while he bent over me with streaming eyes. He<br />
afterwards told me he thought I was dying, for I had been in an unconscious state sixteen<br />
hours. I next became delirious, and was in great danger of betraying myself and my friends.<br />
To prevent this, they stupefied me with drugs. I remained in bed six weeks, weary in body<br />
and sick at heart. How to get medical advice was the question. William finally went to a<br />
Thompsonian doctor, and described himself as having all my pains and aches. He returned<br />
with herbs, roots, and ointment. He was especially charged to rub on the ointment by a fire;<br />
but how could a fire be made in my little den? Charcoal in a furnace was tried, but there was<br />
no outlet for the gas, and it nearly cost me my life. Afterwards coals, already kindled, were<br />
brought up in an iron pan, and placed on bricks. I was so weak, and it was so long since I had<br />
enjoyed the warmth of a fire, that those few coals actually made me weep. I think the<br />
medicines did me some good; but my recovery was very slow. Dark thoughts passed through<br />
my mind as I lay there day after day. I tried to be thankful for my little cell, dismal as it was,<br />
and even to love it, as part of the price I had paid for the redemption of my children.<br />
Sometimes I thought God was a compassionate Father, who would forgive my sins for the<br />
sake of my sufferings. At other times, it seemed to me there was no justice or mercy in the<br />
divine government. I asked why the curse of slavery was permitted to exist, and why I had<br />
been so persecuted and wronged from youth upward. <strong>The</strong>se things took the shape of<br />
mystery, which is to this day not so clear to my soul as I trust it will be<br />
hereafter.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 26
PRE OR POST-SHOW ACTIVITY - CONTINUED<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
In the midst of my illness, grandmother broke down under the weight of anxiety and toil. <strong>The</strong><br />
idea of losing her, who had always been my best friend and a mother to my children, was the<br />
sorest trial I had yet had. O, how earnestly I prayed that she might recover! How hard it<br />
seemed, that I could not tend upon her, who had so long and so tenderly watched over me!<br />
One day the screams of a child nerved me with strength to crawl to my peeping-hole, and I<br />
saw my son covered with blood. A fierce dog, usually kept chained, had seized and bitten<br />
him. A doctor was sent for, and I heard the groans and screams of my child while the wounds<br />
were being sewed up. O, what torture to a mother's heart, to listen to this and be unable to<br />
go to him!<br />
But childhood is like a day in spring, alternately shower and sunshine. Before night Benny<br />
was bright and lively, threatening the destruction of the dog; and great was his delight when<br />
the doctor told him the next day that the dog had bitten another boy and been shot. Benny<br />
recovered from his wounds; but it was long before he could walk.<br />
When my grandmother's illness became known, many ladies, who were her customers,<br />
called to bring her some little comforts, and to inquire whether she had every thing she<br />
wanted. Aunt Nancy one night asked permission to watch with her sick mother, and Mrs.<br />
Flint replied, "I don't see any need of your going. I can't spare you." But when she found<br />
other ladies in the neighborhood were so attentive, not wishing to be outdone in Christian<br />
charity, she also sallied forth, in magnificent condescension, and stood by the bedside of her<br />
who had loved her in her infancy, and who had been repaid by such grievous wrongs. She<br />
seemed surprised to find her so ill, and scolded uncle Phillip for not sending for Dr. Flint. She<br />
herself sent for him immediately, and he came. Secure as I was in my retreat, I should have<br />
been terrified if I had known he was so near me. He pronounced my grandmother in a very<br />
critical situation, and said if her attending physician wished it, he would visit her. Nobody<br />
wished to have him coming to the house at all hours, and we were not disposed to give him a<br />
chance to make out a long bill.<br />
As Mrs. Flint went out, Sally told her the reason Benny was lame was, that a dog had bitten<br />
him. "I'm glad of it," she replied. "I wish he had killed him. It would be good news to send to<br />
his mother. Her day will come. <strong>The</strong> dogs will grab her yet." With these Christian words she<br />
and her husband departed, and, to my great satisfaction, returned no more.<br />
I heard from uncle Phillip, with feelings of unspeakable joy and gratitude, that the crisis was<br />
passed and grandmother would live. I could now say from my heart, "God is merciful. He has<br />
spared me the anguish of feeling that I caused her death."<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 27
PRE OR POST-SHOW ACTIVITY - CONTINUED<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
APPENDIX<br />
This narrative contains some incidents so extraordinary, that, doubtless, many persons, under<br />
whose eyes it may chance to fall, will be ready to believe that it is colored highly, to serve a<br />
special purpose. But, however it may be regarded by the incredulous, I know that it is full of<br />
living truths. I have been well acquainted with the author from my boyhood. <strong>The</strong><br />
circumstances recounted in her history are perfectly familiar to me. I knew of her treatment<br />
from her master; of the imprisonment of her children; of their sale and redemption; of her<br />
seven years' concealment; and of her subsequent escape to the North. I am now a resident of<br />
Boston, and am a living witness to the truth of this interesting narrative.<br />
-GEORGE W. LOWTHER, 1861<br />
This testimony by George Lowther (1822-1898), a prominent African-American citizen of<br />
Boston, was included in the 1861 publication of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. One of<br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong>' Northern anti-slavery activist friends, Lowther had grown up in Edenton, North<br />
Carolina. He was emancipated as a young man and moved to Massachusetts, where he was<br />
elected to the State House of Representatives in 1878.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 28
BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE<br />
PRE-SHOW ACTIVITY - KEY CONCEPTS<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
EVALUATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Research and discuss the topics listed below using a graphic<br />
organizer. Put the key concept in the middle of the circle and list students’ ideas in the area<br />
coming out from the main circle. You will need to use a separate organizer for each topic. Use<br />
available resources to research additional information. You may also want to refer to the<br />
timeline of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ life (p. 9-10) and determine the key US and world events that<br />
occurred during <strong>Harriet</strong>’s lifetime.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 29
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE: REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
TOPICS FOR THOUGHT: Use the following prompts as conversation starters with your students<br />
after attending <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> at the Rep. Following the discussion, you may want to have your<br />
students write a review of the production. We’d love to hear from them! Reviews can be<br />
emailed to Melinda McCrary, Director of Education, at mccrarym@kcrep.org.<br />
THE PLAY<br />
1. What are the major themes of the play?<br />
2. Why do you think playwright Lydia Diamond had <strong>Harriet</strong> talk directly to the audience?<br />
3. Why do you think the playwright chose to have an all-black cast? How did that affect your viewing of the<br />
performance?<br />
4. What did the inclusion of spirituals bring to the performance?<br />
5. <strong>The</strong> script does not shy away from some of the more disturbing aspects of slavery. Do you think this production<br />
is suitable for all ages? Why or why not?<br />
6. Why is <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ story important?<br />
DESIGN ELEMENTS & PRODUCTION CHOICES<br />
1. Review the predictions you made about the set, costumes, lighting and sound. Were the design elements what<br />
you expected? Why or why not?<br />
2. How was memory evoked in the production?<br />
3. Tyrone Aiken, Executive Director of <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> Friends of Alvin Ailey, choreographed the movement sections of<br />
the piece. How did this contribute to the production?<br />
4. How were costumes utilized to differentiate between characters of different races?<br />
THE CHARACTERS<br />
1. In the play <strong>Harriet</strong> says, “I believe there are two kinds of mean mistresses….<strong>The</strong>re are those mistresses who now<br />
that this thing…..this way we live, slavery, is evil and wrong and so lash out because they must convince<br />
themselves that we are animals that they might sleep at night, and hold their heads up in church on Sunday<br />
morning….And then there are those mistresses who would treat their own meanly, and so certainly would have<br />
no regard for us. An’ all of them, steady gettin’ treated mean by they own men.”<br />
Discuss what she means. Do you agree or disagree with her description?<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 30
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE: REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION - CONTINUED<br />
THE CHARACTERS - continued<br />
2. Why did <strong>Harriet</strong> not tell her Grandma that she had taken up with Sawyer?<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
3. Why does <strong>Harriet</strong> choose to have a relationship with Sawyer? Did she have a choice? What would you have<br />
done?<br />
4. Why do you think Dr. Norcom never forced himself upon <strong>Harriet</strong>?<br />
5. Why do you think Dr. Norcom continued to pursue <strong>Harriet</strong>?<br />
6. Samuel Treadwell Sawyer was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1837. Do you think he helped<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> enough? Why or why not? What might have prevented him from helping her? Do you think Sawyer<br />
truly loved <strong>Harriet</strong>?<br />
7. How is <strong>Harriet</strong>’s Grandmother a source of strength for her? Who is a source of strength for you in your life?<br />
Write about that person.<br />
8. How does <strong>Harriet</strong> show her love for her children?<br />
9. How does <strong>Harriet</strong> take control of her own destiny?<br />
10. When do you think <strong>Harriet</strong> became free?<br />
11. In what ways do you personally identify with <strong>Harriet</strong>?<br />
REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
1. What impact did this production have on your beliefs about slavery? Did it contradict any of your previously<br />
held beliefs?<br />
2. What effect did the Nat Turner Rebellion have on African-American’s lives, both free and slave?<br />
3. During the time period of the play (1827-1832), slavery was law and those aiding slaves in escape or even failing<br />
to disclose a slave’s whereabouts could be jailed and put on trial. When does moral law take precedence over<br />
legislative law? Can you think of any contemporary situations where this might apply?<br />
4. <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> was a light skinned African-American. In fact, she and her children could pass for white. Explain<br />
how this might complicate her situation. What is the role of skin color and how does it influence our perceptions<br />
of race?<br />
5. What impact did slavery have on American culture and history?<br />
6. How did slavery negatively impact the lives, not just of slaves, but of slave owners, their wives and their<br />
children?<br />
7. What does <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> teach us about the female slave experience?<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 31
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE: REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
POST-SHOW ACTIVITY<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
LISTEN AND RESOND: As a class, listen to the following story from NPR, Professor Sheds Light<br />
on <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>' path to freedom, which can be accessed here: http://www.npr.org/<br />
templates/story/story.php?storyId=17897134. Have students respond to the questions below<br />
and share with the group.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> hid in a crawl space measuring nine feet long, seven feet wide and three feet high. Measure this out in your class<br />
room. Imagine what it must have been like to be confined in that space for seven years. What does this reveal about her<br />
character?<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Why do you think <strong>Harriet</strong> made the choices she did? Do they make sense to you?<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Are people defined by the choices they make? Why or why not?<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Describe a situation where you felt powerless. How did you find your voice and regain your power?<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
What does freedom mean to you?<br />
__________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
What sacrifices would you make to be free?<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 32
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE: REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
POST-SHOW ACTIVITY<br />
St. Louis, MO<br />
1928-<br />
Poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian,<br />
filmmaker, and civil rights activist.<br />
St. Louis, MO<br />
1906-1975<br />
Entertainer and activist<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong>, MO<br />
1911-2003<br />
Journalist and activist<br />
Topeka, KS<br />
1917-2000<br />
Poet and activist<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong>, KS<br />
1895-1974<br />
Singer and music critic<br />
First African-American woman to earn a master's degree in music.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> eventually fled Edenton, NC and became an activist for the abolitionist cause.<br />
Below are some notable African-American women with ties to our region. Research more<br />
about them and prepare a summary of their lives and accomplishments. Make sure to add to<br />
this list with more notable women that you find. Write a monologue or scene from the point of<br />
view of one of these women. You are adapting history into theatre.<br />
Maya Angelou.<br />
Photo: www.mayaangelou.com.<br />
Lucile Bluford.<br />
Photo: State Historical Site of Missouri.<br />
Nora Holt.<br />
Photo: Carl Van Vecten.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 33
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE: REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
POST-SHOW ACTIVITY- CONTINUED<br />
Coffeyville, KS<br />
1895-1992<br />
Singer, actress, choral director, author, and poet.<br />
First African-American woman to win international distinction as a director of a<br />
professional choral group.<br />
Topeka, KS<br />
1897-1950<br />
Lawyer<br />
First African-American woman admitted to the <strong>Kansas</strong> bar.<br />
St. Louis, MO<br />
1869-1957<br />
Entrepreneur and a pioneer in the African-American beauty and cosmetic business.<br />
Wichita, KS<br />
1895-1952<br />
Actor<br />
First African-American to both win an Oscar and attend the Oscar ceremonies.<br />
St. Louis, MO<br />
1815-1876<br />
Co-plaintiff in Dred Scott v. Sanford 1857.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
Lutie Lytle.<br />
Photo: <strong>Kansas</strong> State Historical Society.<br />
Annie Turbo Malone.<br />
Photo: www.blackpast.org.<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> Robinson Scott.<br />
Photo: National Park Service.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 34
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE: REFLECT & CONNECT<br />
POST-SHOW ACTIVITY<br />
PICTURE BOOKS:<br />
Hopkinson, Deborah. Under the Quilt of Night. Illus. by James E. Ransome. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers,<br />
2001.<br />
Levine, Ellen. Henry’s Freedom Box. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. New York: Scholastic Press, 2007.<br />
Miller, William. Frederick Douglass: <strong>The</strong> Last Day of Slavery. Illus. by Cedric Lucas. New York: Lee & Low, 1995.<br />
Rappaport, Doreen. Freedom River. Illus. by Bryan Collier. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2000.<br />
Schroeder, Alan. Minty: A Story of <strong>Harriet</strong> Tubman. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1996.<br />
Walter, Mildred Pitts. Alec’s Primer. Illus. by Larry Johnson. Middlebury, VT: Vermont Folklife Center, 2004.<br />
Wright, Courtni Crump. Journey to Freedom: A Story of the Underground Railroad. Illus. by Gershom Griffith. New York:<br />
Holiday House, 1994.<br />
NOVELS & HISTORICAL FICTION:<br />
Brenaman, Miriam. Evvy’s Civil War. New York: Putnam, 2002.<br />
Copper, Afua. My Name Is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom. Kids Can Press, 2009.<br />
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. New York: Scholastic, 2007.<br />
Draper, Sharon. Copper Sun. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006.<br />
Hansen, Joyce. <strong>The</strong> Captive. New York: Scholastic, 1994.<br />
Lyons, M. E. Letters from a Slave Girl: <strong>The</strong> Story of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>. New York: Scribner, 1992.<br />
Myers, Walter Dean. Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom. Puffin, 2001.<br />
Patterson, Katherine. Jip: His Story. Puffin, 1998.<br />
Paulsen, Gary. Nightjohn. New York: Delacorte Press, 1993.<br />
Paulsen, Gary. Sarny: A Life Remembered. Delacourt Press, 1995.<br />
Rinaldi, Ann. <strong>The</strong> Ever-After Bird. Orlando: Harcourt, 2007.<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
RELATED READING: Have students create a picture book about <strong>Harriet</strong>’s life for younger<br />
children. A list of selected picture books that can serve as inspiration are listed below. Or,<br />
form literature circles and discuss one of the novels for adolescents about slavery and the<br />
African-American experience.<br />
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FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION<br />
HARRIET JACOBS<br />
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010<br />
BOOKS:<br />
<strong>Jacobs</strong>, <strong>Harriet</strong>. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Restored Version Complete and Unabridged. CreateSpace, 2009.<br />
Originally published in 1861 by <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, using the pen name Linda Brent, Incidents is considered a work of feminist<br />
literature. On one level it chronicles the experiences of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> and the mistreatment she had to endure under the<br />
institution of slavery. It then goes further to examine the abuse and mistreatment of slave women as a national issue.<br />
Yellin, J. F. <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>: A Life. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004.<br />
A biography of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>, which includes historical and rare family photographs. It chronicles her life from slavery to<br />
activism.<br />
Yellin, J. F. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> Family Papers. University of North Carolina Press, 2008.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se letters and papers written by, for, and about <strong>Jacobs</strong> and her activist brother and daughter provide for the thousands<br />
of readers of Incidents access to the rich historical context of <strong>Jacobs</strong>'s struggles against slavery, racism, and sexism beyond<br />
what she reveals in her pseudonymous narrative.<br />
WEBSITES:<br />
www.harrietjacobs.org<br />
This website sheds light on who <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> was, outlines the social and political climate of her lifetime, and introduces<br />
present-day sites that help to interpret her memorable story.<br />
www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html<br />
PBS special: Africans in America. America’s journey through slavery is presented in four parts. For each era, there is a<br />
historical narrative, a resource bank of images, documents, stories, biographies, commentaries, and a teacher’s guide for<br />
using the content of the web site and television series in U.S. history courses. You can find <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> at www.pbs.org/<br />
wgbh/aia/part4/4p2923.html.<br />
www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/gender/spotlight.html<br />
A website on the slave experience.<br />
www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm<br />
Provides background knowledge about the origins of modern definitions of race and clarifies common misconceptions<br />
about race.<br />
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/slavery/index.html<br />
Discovery Education’s guide to understanding slavery. Includes teacher tips and resources.<br />
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/IncidentsSlaveGirlTG.pdf<br />
A teacher’s guide to the Signet Classics edition of <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.<br />
MEDIA:<br />
Professor Sheds Light on <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong>' path to freedom<br />
Dr. Yellin interviewed by Michel Martin on the NPR show "Tell Me More."<br />
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17897134<br />
Voices from the Days of Slavery<br />
Library of Congress American Memory Project (includes audio recordings as well as transcripts) http://memory.loc.gov/<br />
ammem/collections/voices/<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 36
STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> meets the following state and national standards:<br />
KANSAS<br />
Reading<br />
1.3 <strong>The</strong> student expands vocabulary.<br />
1.4 <strong>The</strong> student comprehends a variety of texts (narrative, expository, technical, and persuasive).<br />
Literature<br />
2.1 <strong>The</strong> student uses literary concepts to interpret and respond to text.<br />
2.1 <strong>The</strong> student understands the significance of literature and its contributions to various cultures.<br />
Civics/Government<br />
1.1 <strong>The</strong> student understands the rule of law as it applies to individuals; family; school; local, state and national<br />
governments.<br />
1.2 <strong>The</strong> student understands the shared ideals and diversity of American society and political culture.<br />
Economics<br />
2.1 <strong>The</strong> student understands how limited resources require choices.<br />
2.3 <strong>The</strong> student analyzes how different incentives, economic systems and their institutions, and local, national, and<br />
International interdependence affect people.<br />
3.4 <strong>The</strong> student understands how economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of<br />
human populations, interdependence, cooperation, and conflict.<br />
3.5 <strong>The</strong> student understands the effects of interactions between human and physical systems.<br />
US History<br />
5.1 <strong>The</strong> student uses a working knowledge and understanding of individuals, groups, ideas, developments, and turning<br />
points in the era of the emergence of the modern United States (1890-1930).<br />
5.5 <strong>The</strong> student engages in historical thinking skills.<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre/Drama<br />
1.1 <strong>The</strong> student knows the basic elements of a story.<br />
5.1 <strong>The</strong> student evaluates and reflects on the characteristics and merits of dramatic content and theatrical forms in<br />
their work and that of others.<br />
5.2 <strong>The</strong> student identifies and reflects upon personal meanings and emotional responses to performances and applies<br />
ideas to self and society.<br />
5.3 <strong>The</strong> student recognizes the contextual aspects of performances from various cultures, times, and places.<br />
5.4 <strong>The</strong> student demonstrates responsible audience etiquette.<br />
6.1 <strong>The</strong> student integrates theatre with other arts, disciplines, and the community.<br />
Listening, Viewing Speaking<br />
1 Learners will participate effectively as listeners in formal and informal groups.<br />
2 Learners will demonstrate skills in viewing for a variety of purposes.<br />
3 Learners speak effectively for a variety of audiences, purposes, occasions, and contexts.<br />
4 <strong>The</strong> communicator will retrieve information from a variety of appropriate sources.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 37
STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS<br />
<strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> meets the following state and national standards:<br />
MISSOURI<br />
GOAL 1: Students in Missouri public schools will acquire the knowledge and skills to gather, analyze and apply information<br />
and ideas.<br />
5 comprehend and evaluate written, visual and oral presentations and works.<br />
9 identify, analyze and compare the institutions, traditions and art forms of past and present societies.<br />
GOAL 2: Students in Missouri public schools will acquire the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively within and<br />
beyond the classroom.<br />
3 exchange information, questions and ideas while recognizing the perspectives of others.<br />
4 present perceptions and ideas regarding works of the arts, humanities and sciences.<br />
Communication Arts: In Communication Arts, students in Missouri public schools will acquire a solid foundation which<br />
Includes knowledge of and proficiency in:<br />
2 reading and evaluating fiction, poetry and drama<br />
3 reading and evaluating nonfiction works and material (such as biographies, newspapers, technical manuals)<br />
5 comprehending and evaluating the content and artistic aspects of oral and visual presentations (such as<br />
story-telling, debates, lectures, multi-media productions).<br />
6 participating in formal and informal presentations and discussions of issues and ideas.<br />
7 identifying and evaluating relationships between language and culture.<br />
Fine Arts: In Fine Arts, students in Missouri public schools will acquire a solid foundation which includes knowledge of:<br />
1 process and techniques for the production, exhibition or performance of one or more of the visual or performed<br />
arts.<br />
2 the principles and elements of different art forms.<br />
3 the vocabulary to explain perceptions about and evaluations of works in dance, music, theater and visual arts.<br />
4 interrelationships of visual and performing arts and the relationships of the arts to other disciplines.<br />
5 visual and performing arts in historical and cultural contexts.<br />
Social Studies: In Social Studies, students in Missouri public schools will acquire a solid foundation which includes knowledge<br />
of:<br />
2 continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the United States and the world<br />
3 principles and processes of governance systems<br />
4 economic concepts (including productivity and the market system) and principles (including the laws of supply and<br />
demand)<br />
5 the major elements of geographical study and analysis (such as location, place, movement, regions) and their<br />
relationships to changes in society and environment<br />
6 relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions.<br />
NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR ARTS EDUCATION<br />
6 Comparing and integrating art forms by analyzing traditional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and new art forms.<br />
7 Analyzing, critiquing, and constructing meanings from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic<br />
media productions.<br />
8 Understanding context by analyzing the role of theatre, film, television, and electronic media in the past and the<br />
present.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 38
STUDENT MATINEE INFORMATION<br />
TIPS FOR YOUR VISIT | COPAKEN STAGE<br />
We want you to enjoy your time at the theatre, so here are some<br />
tips to make your experience at the Rep successful. Please take a<br />
moment to review these pages prior to attending the performance.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre’s Copaken Stage is located at 13 th and Walnut, inside the<br />
H&R Block Building, downtown. (<strong>The</strong> exact address is: One H&R Block Way, <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong>,<br />
MO 64105.) It is best if your bus approaches the H&R Block Building heading west on<br />
13 th Street, which is a one way street. We will have police and <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong>atre staff members at this entrance to help make the loading and unloading of buses go as smoothly as possible.<br />
Please arrive at the theatre between 9:30-9:45am. Performances begin promptly at 10:00am. We don’t want you to miss<br />
anything!<br />
When you arrive at the theatre, please stay on your buses! A staff member will greet your bus and let you know how to<br />
proceed.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is no bus parking at the H&R Block Building. We are aware of the following bus parking options:<br />
Buses may be able to find street parking around Barney Allis Plaza—No charge.<br />
Kemper Arena Lot B—No charge.<br />
14th & Wyandotte—Approximately $20 per bus, cash only.<br />
If you have an emergency after 9:00am on the day you are scheduled for performance, please call Amy Tonyes, Education<br />
Associate, on her personal cell phone at 816-204-1807. This is the best way to reach a staff person on performance days.<br />
Please also ensure that Amy has your cell phone number prior to your visit in case of emergency! Latecomers will be<br />
seated at the discretion of House Management staff.<br />
<strong>The</strong> performance will last approximately two hours, including intermission.<br />
<strong>The</strong> use of cameras and other recording devices is a violation of the actors’ contracts. We ask that you refrain from taking<br />
photos or videos during the production. However, you are welcome to take photos of students in the lobby or in the<br />
theatre before the performance begins. It is also important to remember that electronic and recording devices should not<br />
be brought inside the theatre. This includes pen lights, hand-held games, virtual pets, cell phones, mp3 players, pagers,<br />
ipods and bright or noisy jewelry.<br />
<strong>The</strong> use of cell phones (including text messaging), cameras or any other recording device is not allowed in the theater at<br />
any time! All cell phones should be completely turned off and put away during the performance. Cell phones left on<br />
“vibrate” give off a glow that can distract actors and audience members.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 39
STUDENT MATINEE INFORMATION CONTINUED<br />
Restrooms are located at the west end of the lobby. <strong>The</strong> best time to use the restroom is before the show or during<br />
intermission. Once the show starts, we request that audience members do not leave their seats. Water fountains are<br />
located near the restrooms.<br />
No. <strong>The</strong>re is no food, drinks or gum allowed in the theatre during the performance.<br />
Sack lunches can be stored by the House Management staff until after the performance. <strong>The</strong>y cannot be consumed in the<br />
lobby before or during the production.<br />
Snacks will be sold at intermission but can not be taken into the theatre. Please alert students to this policy so that they<br />
will not buy more than they can enjoy during intermission. Please let your students know to bring one dollar bills if they<br />
would like to purchase concessions. This will insure the line moves swiftly.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are several restaurants near the theatre downtown. If you are planning to eat at a downtown restaurant, it is<br />
advised that you contact them prior to your visit so that they can plan accordingly.<br />
We require a minimum of two weeks notice in order to accommodate your student’s needs. This includes<br />
accommodations for students who use wheelchairs as well as for students with hearing or vision impairments. Please note<br />
that tickets for para-professionals should be included in your ticket count. Everyone entering the theatre will need a ticket.<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre seating is assigned and based on sequence in which reservations and payments are received, talkback attendance,<br />
disability considerations, and group size.<br />
We ask that the teacher/chaperones sit among their students in various areas in order to encourage positive behavior.<br />
We ask that there be one adult seated between every ten students. You will be seated in the order you are standing in line<br />
to enter the theatre; please ensure your chaperones are spaced accordingly. Actors appreciate audience response that is<br />
appropriate to the play. By no means does the Rep want to discourage laughter or applause during a performance.<br />
However, talking, whispering, shouting or any inappropriate responses which are disruptive to the actors or to the rest of<br />
the audience is not tolerated. If behavior problems arise, we ask that a teacher or chaperone accompany the student to<br />
the theatre lobby and remain with the student until the end of the play.<br />
Please note that <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre shall be under no liability for failure of the group to attend in the event<br />
that such failure is caused by, or due to, inclement weather, interruption or delay of transportation services, or any other<br />
similar or dissimilar cause beyond the control of the company. Due to the nature of live theater, performances may be<br />
cancelled without notice. Should this occur, the Education Department will make every effort to notify you and will<br />
attempt to move your group into another student matinee performance whenever possible. Once final payment has been<br />
received, per the Rep's ticket policy, we are unable to refund payment made for reservations.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 40
STUDENT MATINEE INFORMATION CONTINUED<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a 20-minute Q. & A. discussion with the actors following the performance. If your group needs to leave after the<br />
play, we understand, and need to know beforehand. However, we encourage you to stay for this unique learning<br />
experience.<br />
Yes! Each person planning to see the play will need a ticket to give the ushers in order to enter the theatre. This includes<br />
all students, chaperones, para-professionals and drivers. If your bus driver will be attending the performance, please<br />
remember to give them their ticket prior to entering the theatre.<br />
Extra tickets will not be available on the day of performance. If you need to increase your seat count prior to the<br />
performance day, please contact Amy Tonyes, Education Associate, at 816-235-2707 or tonyesal@kcrep.org, and she can<br />
let you know if additional seats are available for purchase.<br />
If your group is arriving in cars, please note that parking is NOT available at the H&R Block garage. Parking is available at<br />
the Main Street parking garage located at 13th & Main. <strong>The</strong>re may be a fee for parking.<br />
Dress for the weather. You may wear dress clothes in order to make the theatre field trip a special one, but it is not<br />
required. Please be advised that, at times, it may be chilly in the theatre.<br />
After your visit, take time to discuss and reflect with your students and tell us about your experiences. We can share your<br />
feedback with the artists and funders who make these productions possible. Please send your letters to: Melinda McCrary,<br />
Director of Education, <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre, 4825 Troost, #209, <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong>, MO 64110 or mccrarym@kcrep.org.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 41
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH—REP ON THE ROAD<br />
Rep on the Road<br />
Our team of teaching artists will visit your school each day for one week leading your<br />
students in the discovery of classic and contemporary plays through the process of<br />
rehearsal and performance. <strong>The</strong> team can teach all day for numerous classes in various<br />
disciplines or for an abbreviated day of fewer classes.<br />
For students approaching these texts for the first or repeated times, Rep on the Road<br />
introduces and immerses young scholars and performers in the process and skills used to<br />
make the words and the literary terms they study in class come to life. This workshop is an<br />
ideal way to enliven and enhance a Literature, Arts, Speech, English, History, or Drama<br />
class. We can customize the program content based on what you are exploring in any class<br />
or discipline or you can choose from the texts we have prepared. Daily schedules<br />
correspond to teachers’ schedules within each school—whether on block or regular<br />
schedule (including daily planning time).<br />
NOTE: Each residency is custom designed with educators to meet students’ needs on a<br />
school-specific basis and includes 1-2 advance planning sessions.<br />
Location: Your school<br />
Grades: 6-8, 9-12<br />
Availability: Fall and Winter semesters<br />
Fee: Fee varies with schedule. Call for more information!<br />
Opportunities: Mix and Match from these workshops or choose one.<br />
Shakespeare in the Wings: King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello,<br />
Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. American Masterworks: <strong>The</strong> Crucible, <strong>The</strong> Glass<br />
Menagerie, Death of a Salesman, To Kill A Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Raisin in the Sun,<br />
Our Town. Discoveries and Techniques: Acting Techniques, Improvisation, Audition Skills,<br />
Musical <strong>The</strong>atre, Technical <strong>The</strong>atre, and Arts Marketing.<br />
To book<br />
REP ON THE ROAD<br />
contact Melinda McCrary,<br />
Director of Education &<br />
Community Programs, at<br />
816-235-5708 or<br />
mccrarym@kcrep.org<br />
Schlagle H.S. students participate<br />
during a Rep on the Road arts<br />
education residency.<br />
Photo: Charles Stonewall.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 42
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH—POST SHOW DISCUSSION<br />
In Class Post-Show Discussion<br />
Let the learning continue after the curtain goes down. We are offering you the opportunity<br />
to have a member of the Education staff lead a post-show discussion in your classroom after<br />
attending a student matinee performance at the Rep. This guided discussion will enable<br />
students to delve deeper into the context and themes of the play, giving them a chance for<br />
their thoughts and opinions to be heard. Engaging and collaborative, this discussion<br />
encourages students to utilize higher levels of thinking to connect the central issues in the<br />
play to their own lives.<br />
Location: Your school<br />
Availability: All season, as scheduled, after attending a student matinee performance.<br />
Length: 45 minutes<br />
Maximum number of students: 40<br />
Fee: $1 per student.<br />
To book an In Class<br />
Post-Show Discussion<br />
contact Melinda McCrary,<br />
Director of Education &<br />
Community Programs, at<br />
816-235-5708 or<br />
mccrarym@kcrep.org<br />
Students from Wyandotte H.S. participate<br />
during an arts education residency.<br />
Photo: David Riffel.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 43
KANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE 2010-2011 STUDENT MATINEE SCHEDULE<br />
A CHRISTMAS CAROL<br />
By Charles Dickens<br />
Adapted by Barbara Field<br />
Directed by Kyle Hatley<br />
A Christmas Carol is produced in partnership with the UMKC<br />
Department of <strong>The</strong>atre and with the generous support of the<br />
Hall Family Foundation.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong>'s favorite holiday tradition is back!<br />
We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of our<br />
original production of Charles Dickens’<br />
A Christmas Carol. Adapted from the classic<br />
novel, this play has thrilled thousands of area<br />
students as they travel with Ebenezer Scrooge<br />
on his journey from bitter, lonely miser to warmhearted,<br />
generous citizen of the world. Refreshed<br />
and refurbished, the Rep's production will have all<br />
of our favorite moments as well as some<br />
captivating surprises. Our student matinees sell<br />
quickly so reserve seats for your students - the<br />
next generation of theatre-goers - today!<br />
Friday, November 19<br />
Tuesday, November 23<br />
Tuesday, November 30<br />
Wednesday, December 1<br />
Thursday, December 2<br />
Tuesday, December 7<br />
Wednesday, December 8<br />
Thursday, December 9<br />
Tuesday, December 14<br />
Wednesday, December 15<br />
Thursday, December 16<br />
Performances begin at 10:30 am.<br />
Located at Spencer <strong>The</strong>atre.<br />
<strong>The</strong>mes and Topics: British literature; Victorian<br />
society and culture; an individual’s responsibility to<br />
society; generosity and celebration; personal<br />
growth and discovery; compassion and<br />
redemption; literature adapted for the stage.<br />
Standards: Missouri-1.5, 1.9; 2.3, 2.4; CA 2, 5-7; FA 1-5; SS 2-6. <strong>Kansas</strong> - Reading 1.3, 1.4; Literature 2.1; <strong>The</strong>atre Drama -<br />
1.1, 5.1-5.4, 6.1; Economics - 2.1, 2.3, 3.4, 3.5; World History - 6.2, 6.5. National - 6,7,8.<br />
For Tickets or Information Contact Amy Tonyes at 816-235-2707 or tonyesal@kcrep.org<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 44
KANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE 2010-2011 STUDENT MATINEE SCHEDULE<br />
CABARET<br />
Book by Joe Masteroff<br />
Music by John Kander<br />
Lyrics by Fred Ebb<br />
Directed by Eric Rosen<br />
March 18 - April 10, 2011<br />
Student Matinee –Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 10:00 am.<br />
Located at Spencer <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
$10 per student ticket with one complimentary chaperone ticket per 10 students.<br />
Recommended for High School and up.<br />
1931 Berlin, and the fragile Weimar Republic is being torn apart by radical politics on the<br />
right and left. But inside the Cabaret, the world is alive with seedy glamour and a kind of<br />
freedom never known before -- for now. A young, broke American finds himself entangled<br />
by the dreams of the unforgettable Sally Bowles, who initiates him to the pleasures -- and<br />
dangers -- of the Cabaret.<br />
One of the great musicals of the last century is brought to passionate, vibrant, imaginative<br />
life by Artistic Director Eric Rosen (Venice, A Christmas Story, <strong>The</strong> Musical!, Winesburg, Ohio) -- and pays homage to <strong>Kansas</strong><br />
<strong>City</strong> native and legend John Kander, who, along with Fred Ebb, created one of the most wondrous and powerful theatrical<br />
scores ever.<br />
<strong>The</strong>mes and Topics: Literature adapted for the stage; political and socio-economic culture of 1930s Germany; the rise of the<br />
Nazi party; varying kinds of love and relationships; societal changes; illusion and escapism, identity, rites of passage,<br />
intolerance vs. acceptance.<br />
Standards: Missouri-1.5, 1.9; 2.3, 2.4; CA 2, 5-7; FA 1-5; SS 2-6. <strong>Kansas</strong> - Reading 1.3, 1.4; Literature 2.1; <strong>The</strong>atre Drama -<br />
1.1, 5.1-5.4, 6.1; Economics - 2.1, 2.3, 3.4, 3.5; World History - 6.3, 6.5. National - 6,7,8.<br />
PEER GYNT<br />
Written by Henrik Ibsen<br />
Adapted and directed by David Schweizer<br />
April 22 - May 22, 2011<br />
Student Matinee –Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 10:00 am.<br />
Located at Copaken Stage<br />
$10 per student ticket with one complimentary chaperone ticket per 10 students.<br />
Recommended for High School and up.<br />
Get ready for a wild, hilarious and surreal adventure in this brilliant adaptation of Ibsen’s<br />
legendary verse play. Based on a Norwegian folk tale with forty characters and five acts,<br />
one of Ibsen’s most influential and famous plays is almost never staged. But now, world<br />
renowned director David Schweizer takes this “impossible to produce” play, a handful of<br />
actors and turns it into an innovative comic adventure that will delight student audiences.<br />
“Wild and funny.” – Los Angeles Times<br />
<strong>The</strong>mes and Topics: Norwegian literature and folk tales; poetic fantasy; myths and fables;<br />
social and economic history of 19th century Norway; morality; identity, personal growth<br />
and self-discovery; maturity; avoidance vs. responsibility; the transformative power of love; classic literature adapted to the<br />
stage and presented in a new way.<br />
Standards: Missouri-1.5, 1.9; 2.3, 2.4; CA 2, 5-7; FA 1-5; SS 6. <strong>Kansas</strong> - Reading 1.3, 1.4; Literature 2.1; <strong>The</strong>atre Drama - 1.1,<br />
5.1-5.4, 6.1. National - 6,7,8.<br />
For Tickets or Information Contact Amy Tonyes at 816-235-2707 or tonyesal@kcrep.org<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 45
UMKC is a great place to get to start a new adventure and open your mind to<br />
knowledge, diverse people and outstanding experiences. So what makes UMKC<br />
worth looking at?<br />
Over 120 degree programs including Art, Business, Biology, Education,<br />
Engineering, Medicine, Music, Nursing, Pharmacy, Spanish, <strong>The</strong>ater and many<br />
more.<br />
Personal attention from faculty and staff. Average class size is 24 students and<br />
there is a 14:1 student to faculty ratio.<br />
Affordable! UMKC has great scholarships ranging from $250 to full paid<br />
expenses per year based on academic performance and leadership.<br />
Great location! Based in the heart of the city of <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong>, opportunities for<br />
internships, jobs, community service are at a student’s fingertips.<br />
Find your fit at UMKC. <strong>The</strong>re are over 300 student organizations for students<br />
ranging from academics, religion, multicultural, intramurals and more.<br />
Check us out!<br />
For more information, contact<br />
UMKC Office of Admissions<br />
admit@umkc.edu<br />
816-235-UMKC<br />
www.umkcgetalife.com<br />
UP CLOSE:<br />
Our Education Partner<br />
UMKC<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
is the professional theatre in<br />
residence at UMKC.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 46
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre’s arts education : programs receive generous support<br />
from the following:<br />
This program is presented in part by the <strong>Kansas</strong> Arts<br />
Commission, a state agency, and the National<br />
Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which<br />
believes that a great nation deserves great art.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ArtsKC Fund<br />
Arvin Gottlieb Charitable Foundation<br />
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of <strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong><br />
Citi Cards<br />
Curry Family Foundation<br />
Francis Family Foundation<br />
General Mills Foundation<br />
Hall Family Foundation<br />
Hallmark Corporate Foundation<br />
Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation<br />
Oppenstein Brothers Foundation<br />
Truman Heartland Community Foundation<br />
William Randolph Hearst Foundation<br />
CONTACT US:<br />
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the<br />
Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. Also, this project is<br />
supported in part by an award from the National Endowment<br />
for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great<br />
art.<br />
Special Thanks to:<br />
Elizabeth Higbee, Lara Mann, Nambi Kelley,<br />
Jessica <strong>The</strong>bus, Rebecca Stevens, Jeremy<br />
Floyd, Collette Pollard, and Hallie Gordon.<br />
We invite you to email any comments, questions or ideas about <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> and/or this Learning Guide to<br />
Melinda McCrary, Director of Education at: mccrarym@kcrep.org, 816-235-5708 or Amy Tonyes,<br />
Education Associate at: tonyesal@kcrep.org, 816-235-2707.<br />
<strong>Kansas</strong> <strong>City</strong> <strong>Repertory</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre: <strong>Harriet</strong> <strong>Jacobs</strong> | 47