War of the Worlds

More documents

Recommendations

Info

inside about the performance stagepage materials & additional resources about the performance 2 how to use this guide 2 stagepage materials & additional resources 3-11 war of the worlds by H.G. Wells adapted by howard koch thursday-friday, September 17-18 10am colwell playhouse approximately 60 minutes ILINOIS LEARNING STANDARDS Grades: 7-12 English Language Arts Fine Arts Social Science Social/Environmental Learning campaign for young audiences Monsignor Edward J. Duncan Phyllis and Kyle Robeson JSM Development WCIA 3 youth series programming Dorothy Buzzard Karen Grano Lisa and William Libman Sybil and Louis Mervis Prudence and Bernard Spodek Champaign West Rotary about l.a. theatre works L.A. Theatre Works (LATW ), America’s premier radio theatre company for the past two decades, broadcasts its productions on NPR, XM Satellite Radio, the BBC, CBC, Voice of America, and many other national and international stations. This innovative group provides millions of listeners with the finest dramatic literature from Eugene O’Neill, David Henry Hwang, Athol Fugard, Wendy Wasserstein, Neil Simon, David Mamet, Charlayne Woodard, Arthur Miller, and numerous other contemporary playwrights and authors of the classics. The LATW has toured major cities throughout the United States with its theatre-style performances that allow audiences to deeply connect to this stillburgeoning genre in a setting ripe for spontaneity and animated with live sound effects. The LATW ’s Audio Theatre Collection includes more than 400 works from theatre standards to edgy new pieces and is available in over 8,000 libraries. These sophisticated performances feature fine actors such as Paul Giamatti, Kate Burton, Patrick Stewart, and Laura Linney in productions with high-quality sound. More than 2,000 high schools nationwide use the LATW ’s recordings and study guides to teach language, literature, history, and civics through the Alive & Aloud educational program. For more information on the LATW , visit: http://www.latw.org. about the author The English author Herbert George Wells is sometimes credited as the “Father of Science Fiction” for works such as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. In addition to his more than 100 publications, he’s recognized for his contributions as a historian, socialist, pacifist, futurist, and educator. Some people even view him as a prophet since his 1898 novel The War of the Worlds foreshadowed advanced technology, world wars, the nuclear age, and combat strategies including aerial bombing, tank warfare, and chemical weapons—and he would live to see all of these by the time he died in 1946. His increasing skepticism about the nature of humanity and his unfulfilled visions of utopian society led him toward the end of his life to cast a human future as dark and pessimistic and his human characters as ruled more by instinct than by intellect. Adaptations of his science fiction for the screen continue into the present, with The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996 featuring Marlon Brando as Dr. Moreau, The Time Machine in 2002, and the 2005 box office hit War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg and staring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. For more information on Wells, head to: http://bit.ly/ThlyM. war of the worlds The students’ StagePage says: “At 8:50pm, a huge, flaming object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm in the neighborhood of Grovers Mill, New Jersey, 22 miles from Trenton.” Imagine if you heard these words coming from your television or car radio. Minutes later, you’re informed that it’s not a meteorite at all but a large metal cylinder that’s emitting an eerie hum. And a mysterious scraping sound rises from deep within. Next a reporter breaks in with these stunning exclamations: “The top is beginning to rotate like a screw! The thing must be hollow!” This live radio play conveys gripping suspense, fluttering panic, and sensational developments as eyewitness accounts of a Mars invasion flood in. Sobering reflections on present-day environmental damage, military conflicts, and advancing technology take equal billing with the breakneck pace, the agility of the actors, and the awe-inspiring soundscape in this drama that allows your own imagination to carry you away. and discuss how the same scenes would look if the characters were acting out their scripts while they were filming a movie instead of performing a radio play. You may need to prompt them to notice that while the characters are being radio performers, they’re relying on their voices rather than their bodies and facial expressions to portray the action and convey their emotions. Because of these characters’ approach to this type of material, you could ask students to speculate about what the actors in the radio drama adaptation of War of the Worlds might do that would differ from what the actors did on the screen in the 2005 Steven Spielberg-directed film. Your students won’t see the actors making full-bodied dramatic movements, as they obviously would in a typical play or movie, so they’ll need to be prepared to key into their active listening skills. It might be useful for them to hear part of a radio play in advance or even to listen to a chapter from an audio book in class. You could ask them to pay special attention to the tones, pitches, and emotions that the human voice can convey. In addition to enhancing their powers of observation, focusing on the actors’ speech and nuances of expression will increase their knowledge about the functions of literary techniques such as character development, plot, setting, and theme. For more detailed information on radio dramas and the Golden Age of radio, consult the Encyclopedia of Radio Communications (New York: Routledge, 2003). This work (also available in an electronic edition that can be accessed through the Urbana Free Library) edited by Christopher Sterling and Michael Keith and produced in association with the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago covers the history of radio dramas, the personalities linked to the genre, illustrations from behind the scenes, and the evolution of the field. The museum itself is home to 5,000 radio programs, and its online archives can be searched (after free registration) to find the individual programs your students would be interested in hearing: http://www.museum.tv. You may also want to check out some of the original broadcasts by the Mercury Theatre on the Air: http://www.mercurytheatre.info. Sirius Satellite Radio offers a free online trial to its catalog of shows from this period, like The Shadow: http://bit.ly/fwa3D. printed by 2 how to use this guide The suggested activities are designed for grades 7-12 but can easily be modified and adapted for your classroom and the differing abilities of your students. Please feel free to photocopy the materials in this guide for classroom use. We have included a StagePage folder for each student attending the performance. If you find that you need additional materials, simply call the Engagement Office at Krannert Center (217.333.9727), and we’ll get them out to you as quickly as possible. StagePage activities and materials in this Teacher’s Guide have been written with the state goals for learning in mind. These activities help students reach one or more of the goals in the arts and other curricular areas. While the performance experience itself is a primary way for students to achieve the state goals in the arts, both pre- and post performance activities in the classroom can significantly enrich a student’s encounter with this production. Even if you’ve never had an opportunity to be in the audience during a live radio theatre performance, the genre might not be as new to you as you may think. Perhaps you’ve seen the 2006 movie A Prairie Home Companion featuring Tommy Lee Jones, Garrison Keillor, Lindsay Lohan, John C. Reilly, and Meryl Streep or maybe you remember the radio play scene in the 1973 movie The Way We Were featuring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Watching these films will give you a glimmer of what will happen during this production of War of the Worlds when you’ll feel the energy of the performers, sense the spontaneous moments, and let your imagination get caught up in the amazing coordination of the actors, movements, and sounds. For a slightly different flavor, try the web sites for the BBC, which continues to produce original radio dramas on its Radio 3, Radio 4, and Radio 7 stations: http://bit.ly/fSWek http://bit.ly/fp1Dr http://bit.ly/1UduQa. Your students are probably most accustomed to the natural action of filmed drama and listening intently to talk radio, so it may be helpful for them to be prepared for this different performance experience. Maybe they’d enjoy watching a scene from A Prairie Home Companion or seeing Katie and her friends put on their show in The Way We Were. Afterward, you could let them dissect these vignettes 3
all things change The students’ StagePage says: In his lifetime, H.G. Wells was renowned more for his politics than for his writing. A staunch socialist, he believed that eventually all nations would unite in a world state that could end divisions between countries and ethnicities, allow science to flourish, and end every religion and democracy. Because he believed that people should achieve success through their own merits rather than through favoritism or privileges of birth, he wanted only those with adequate intellect and awareness of social and political issues to make world decisions. In fact, after the rise of totalitarianism under Lenin, Marx, and Stalin and the bloodshed of two world wars, he became so pessimistic about humanity that he envisioned its annihilation as a positive step. With his worldview, it’s easy to see why Wells would turn to science fiction in The Time Machine, The Invisible Man (not to be confused with Ralph Ellison’s novel with a similar title), and The Island of Doctor Moreau. When War of the Worlds was written in 1898, the Victorian era was awash in imperialism, repression, earnestness, and tremendous scientific progress. The Industrial Age had moved much of the Western economy away from agrarian life to one based on trade and manufacturing. It was a time for booming cities, the rise of the middle class into a vibrant and economically powerful group, questions about women’s roles, segregation, efforts to reform social institutions, and war. It was the period of Freud, Darwin, and Swan Lake. The Spanish- American War was surging while steam-powered model airplanes and gliders were being flown. The bubonic plague was killing thousands each year in China and India. It was the time of Dracula and Oscar Wilde’s release from prison for “gross indecency” with men and his descent into ill health and death. Marie Curie and Pierre Curie announced the discovery of radium and El service began in Chicago. The British Empire stretched to encompass nearly one-fifth of the world’s lands and nearly one-quarter of its population. The Boston Marathon was run for the first time and the first uniform bankruptcy laws were established in the United States. Cracker Jack, Birkenstock sandals, and Jell-O were introduced. For some people in the West, this time of dynamic change and increased technology had ushered in a society of wealth, serenity, and security that set aside a reliance on the natural world. For others, this time had brought poverty, fear, and destruction that irreparably damaged the natural world. Which view is dominant in War of the Worlds? Which view is dominant in your mind about today’s world? A free electronic version of the novel The War of the Worlds is available for download from Project Gutenberg: http://bit.ly/1ChHZA. 4 H.G.Wells Local Connection The University of Illinois’ Rare Book and Manuscript Library is home to the original manuscript of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. The collection includes the handwritten version, the first typeset copy with annotations, and correspondence about the text. The Rare Book and Manuscript Library is located at 346 Main Library at 1408 West Gregory Drive in Urbana, Illinois. For additional information, call 217.333.3777 or visit: http://bit.ly/3sPyS2. Study guides and lesson plans for The War of the Worlds and other works by H.G. Wells can be found at: http://bit.ly/j4Szt. Classroom Activity Idea As a class project, students could compare values in the Victorian period with those of modern society. A tangible way to make this comparison is through an examination of Sears and Roebuck catalogs from the 19th and early 20th centuries and current Sears catalogs or Sears.com. A class discussion regarding the transformations that the Industrial Revolution introduced as outlined in the students’ StagePage is a great way to start. Students will need to have a firm grasp on the basic innovations of the Industrial Revolution, including merchandising and the standardization of products. Have the class focus on mainstream products (like laundry equipment or grocery items), clothing and style, advertising methods, and target audiences. Direct students to describe Victorian-era values and give examples from the catalogs for their points. Ask the students: • What Victorian values are still prevalent in society today? • How did mass production affect society in the Victorian era? • How did those changes lead to the values we hold today? • How do marketing techniques in the two eras differ? • What are the positive and negative long-term effects of the technology introduced during the Industrial Revolution? • What are the positive and negative long-term effects of the technology-driven society we have today? Vintage Sears and Roebuck catalogs can be located by consulting with a librarian at The Urbana Free Library or a reference librarian at the circulation desk at the University of Illinois Main Library. “radio thriller panics nation” The students’ StagePage says: This actual headline from the Bismarck Tribune conveys only an inkling of the events that transpired around Halloween in 1938. Orson Welles—best known for his masterpiece film Citizen Kane—directed and narrated the Mercury Theatre on the Air in an adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds that was broadcast on the evening of October 30. Although this radio play began with the usual introduction of the theatre series and although listeners would have known Welles’ name and distinctive bass voice from other radio productions (he was the voice of The Shadow, an extremely popular vigilante who would also star in comics, television shows, and films), apparently not everyone understood what they were about to hear. The play began simply enough with Welles reading directly from the introduction of the novel, and then a series of news bulletins interrupted what appeared to be live music being played at several locations around the country. As the fictionalized reports from the field began increasing in frequency and as the tension mounted, listeners were lured more deeply into the story. Welles and his actors and technicians at the studio inserted sound effects and introduced new characters as though the actions were occurring in real time— and yet they also interrupted the broadcast several times to identify the program as part of the Mercury Theatre series. Nevertheless, the New York police and the New Jersey State Police received so many panicked calls that they issued bulletins announcing that the “news story” was fictional. Dozens of people rushed into police stations to ask for instructions on where to evacuate to safety from the invaders. Some even fled into the streets or nearby parks in an attempt to escape the danger—and with their most precious belongings in hand. The New York Times received 875 calls, and the phone lines were as snarled as the roads when families in New Jersey and New York tried to drive away from the Martians. A few people even grabbed gas masks as they waited for the inevitable encroachment of the alien attackers. Once the word that this was only a fictional program became widespread, this panic turned to outrage, and that outrage soon led to more action. The newly established Federal Communications Commission, which still maintains oversight of what is broadcast on the radio and on television, received more than 600 letters about the program. Thousands wrote CBS and the Mercury Theatre (and hundreds of others even wrote NBC, which had no involvement in the radio play). The commission did investigate the events but chose not to sanction any stations for carrying the drama (unlike the TV stations that were fined for broadcasting the Super Bowl during Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” in 2004—although those fines were appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, so far the legalities of the fines have not been determined). if I didn’t know what I was doing . . . but I’m afraid it was about as hypocritical as anyone could possibly get!” • Which story about Welles’ plan do you believe? Why? • What elements of the radio play made it believable at the time? How about today? • How did Welles and his colleagues manipulate the audience? • What “news stories” have you initially believed to be true but were actually false? How did you first hear the stories? • What elements make modern hoaxes (like e-mail scams) believable? orson welles War of the Worlds caused mass hysteria not only throughout the United States when it hit the airwaves. A Spanish version of the radio play produced in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, 11 years later sparked extensive rioting that led to several deaths. Perhaps the unintended consequences of both broadcasts point toward our own daily interactions with overstimulated (not to mention overstimulating) and fragmented media. Careful examination of the information we gather from television, radio, and news web sites is necessary, but perhaps more insidious is the misinformation that can so easily spread through e-mail scams and social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. The day after the broadcast, Welles announced to reporters that he and the production team were “deeply shocked and deeply regretful” at causing such confusion and disruption but pointed out the numerous ways that the theatrical nature of the program had been made clear to listeners. In an interview with David Frost in 1970, he elaborated that his intent was not to terrify people, yet in 1975, he implied to Tom Snyder that this in fact was his plan all along: “There are pictures of me made about three hours after the broadcast looking as much as I could like an early Christian saint. As 5
Page 1: War l.a. theatre works of | susan a
Page 6: news archive The students’ StageP

War of the Worlds

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?