Student Matinee Series Learning Guide - The Kansas City Repertory ...

it may be, you have to be willing to face it and to go there eight shows a week. There's a heavy cost to doing
that. A physical, emotional and spiritual cost. But anyone who steps into the role of Simon will have to "bring it"
each and every night. Because if he doesn't he won't make it past the first scene. If an actor doesn't come correct,
this play will swallow him whole and the audience will turn their backs in shame. I know I would.
What have you learned from The Whipping Man?
Okay, I'm not going to give you the standard "what have I learned" answer here. The many socio-political lessons
to be gleaned from this play kinda speak for themselves. We're all created equal. Don't oppress thy brother. War
is bad and man is a cruel animal etc., etc. But beyond all that... Kansas City's a jazz town. It's so appropriate that
we should be doing this play here. Because what I've learned from working on The Whipping Man is that you
have to be a jazz musician to do this play. In fact, you have to be a GREAT jazz musician to do this
play! Anything less and you'll fail miserably. The levels of humanity run so deep in The Whipping Man, and the
questions of morality, spirituality, right and wrong, race, religion, war and peace are so deftly framed within its
pages, that you have to be ready to make some music to be able to bring all that together. But you can't just
"play" the notes that are written on the page. Jazz musicians don't do that. Jazz men (and women) are always
searching. They're trying to find new rhythms and deeper meanings to each musical phrase. They wanna know
how to take this tune and make it newer tomorrow than it was the night before. And that's what I'm trying to do
as Simon in The Whipping Man. I'm searching for a deeper meaning to each line, and trying to find a way to say
it anew every night, while at the same time staying true to the framework of the play itself. The Whipping Man
forces you to search inside yourself. It's inescapable. Because there truly is a treasure buried deep within the soul
of this play. And the only way to reach it, find it and ultimately hold onto it is to search deep inside yourself; to
be willing to play some jazz each night so that you can find a richer meaning to the story and give the audience a
more profound, and yes, to a great extent, more painful connection to the journey that's unfolding before
them. That might seem like a lot to go through just to do a simple play. But honestly, any actor who isn't willing
to go on that search each night in The Whipping Man probably shouldn't be in this play to begin with.
What would you like young people to take away from this production?
Know our history. OUR history. White, black, red, yellow, brown or pink polka dot. It's our history and it's
worth knowing. It's sweeping and nuanced. It's filled with lots of tears and lots of pain. But also filled with joy
and triumph. I'd like for everyone, young people especially, to realize that the one who talks loudest or wears the
prettiest clothes or even has the most power, isn't always (if ever), when the moment of crisis comes, the strongest
or the most brave. I'd like for them to realize that we're all a by-product of the bravery and sacrifices of our
ancestors. They were by far a stronger people than we. They had to be. But we can honor their legacies by
knowing the paths they forged that allowed us all to walk through. Hard times happen. They've happened before
and they will again. The Whipping Man tells of the spirit of man, to be able to rise above the struggles and sit
down together at a table and celebrate the life that we've been given. I'd like young people to be able to see past
the scars that we will all suffer at some point in our lives, and keep their eyes on the prize; whatever that prize
may be for them personally. If Simon, a former slave who couldn't read or write, who probably had never been
ten miles away from his Master's front door ever in his life, if he could summon the courage to go off into the
dark of night in search of his dream (to find his wife and child) without a cent in his pocket at a time when
animals in the barnyard were held in higher regard than a person of color… if he can walk out the door and go
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