Bare Study Guide by ShowStudies

Study guide

a welcome note Martian Entertainment welcomes you to the dynamic, diverse, and provocative world of bare. We pride ourselves on producing musicals and plays (including: The Normal Heart (Tony Award ® for Best Revival of a Play, 2011), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - The Musical, and Gore Vidal’s The Best Man) that examine powerful characters, challenge established ideas, and celebrate the power of the human spirit. Martian Entertainment is dedicated to promoting work that explores LGBT issues and stresses the importance of tolerance, equality, and acceptance. As bare explores the many questions that surround the young lives of its characters, we hope you’ll utilize this guide to explore the many aspects of this captivating musical with your students. This production offers an array of opportunities for students and teachers alike to go beyond the theatrical experience with our series of talkOUTS and connections with The Tyler Clementi Foundation, The Human Rights Campaign, Athlete Ally, and Faith in America. We encourage you to take this opportunity to inspire your students to examine, to challenge, and to celebrate themselves and their world.

contents prologue About bare • Using the guide Pre-Show Considerations • Audience Expectations

2 3

the play

EACH OF US STANDING BARE • Characters 4 Role of a Lifetime • Creating bare 5

classroom connections

Increasing Awareness & Understanding 6 How You Can Take Action 7 LGBT Issues in the Classroom 8 Understanding Sexual Orientation 9 Turning Bystanders Into Allies 10 Talk Out: Classroom Discussion 11

L anguage A rts / L iteracy

12-13

“Never Been This Bare” • Idioms & Phrases “I Meant to Tell You”• Character Expository Letters

peter

S ocial S tudies 14-15 “One Tomorrow” • Common Causes “I Want to Free the World”• Investigating a Hero

T heater A rts 1 6-1 7 “What if I Told You”• Song as Monologue “Everyone Has a Secret” • Character Subtext

r e s o u r c e s bare the Musical Official Site • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube bare Outreach Tyler Clementi Foundation • Human Rights Campaign Athlete Ally • Faith in America LGBT Issues / Outreach

nadi

1 8-20

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about the show bare is a contemporary rock musical that follows a group of teens wrestling with issues of identity, sexuality, and religion at a co-ed boarding school. Provocative, raw, and unyielding in its exploration of how todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s generation navigates the tightrope between adolescence and adulthood, bare examines the consequences of baring a soul--or hiding it from those who matter most.

using this guide

Teachers are encouraged to use this guide to elicit student discussion before the show, guide them through aspects of the production, and engage them in activities once they return to the classroom. Our goal is to help teachers utilize the production as a catalyst for student education, collaboration, and inspiration. bare provocatively explores adolescents struggling with who they are and where they belong. The production deals frankly and boldly with issues of identity, sexuality, drug use, and religion. Teachers can draw inspiration from these topics to stimulate powerful classroom discussions about the issues and draw students into evocative extension activities. We hope that your students are inspired by the production and can learn from you, from themselves, and from each other through these activities. Please feel free to copy the materials in this guide to aid you in sparking classroom interest and discussion before and after the performance. Enjoy the show! Photos by Chad Batka Production Artwork by aka NYC

Written, Edited and Designed by Timothy Reid for: www.showstudies.com

Curricular creation and guidance provided by Diane Schneider

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ideas for students to consider before seeing the show: • Use the information in this guide and the web resources as a starting point to get to know bare the musical. Get your brain thinking about what you’ll experience. • Why do you think the show is called “bare”? Think of the many connections and connotations the word has - what might the title suggest about the production’s themes? • Learn what you can about musical theater. How does this type of theater tell a story? How do the scenes and musical numbers work together? How does the choreography help? How do you think the story of this production will be told in songs? • Take a peek at the discussion questions in the guide. Give yourself an idea of what issues, ideas, and situations the show deals with. Get yourself a jump start for the class discussion after the show. • Think about what your expectations of the musical are: What will you see on stage? What will the story be like? How will the characters interact with each other? How will it begin and end? • Work through the sexual orientation and anti-bullying activities on pages 9 & 10 so students may understand LGBT struggles for identity and be ready to look for ways characters in bare work as allies for one another.

pre-show considerations • audience expectations Going to see a musical is an incredibly exciting and entertaining experience. In order to enhance that experience, here are some things to keep in mind: • Take your seat. Be sure to get to your seat in time to ready yourself for the journey you’ll take with this production. • Turn off your cell phone. The messages and texts can wait until later - get into the world of the show completely! • Get ready to watch carefully. The wonderful thing about live theater is that it’s happening right there before you! Be sure to soak it all in. • Let the actors do the talking. Feel free to laugh at the jokes and be moved by the drama, but save your commentary for the conversation with the class after the show. • Show your appreciation. When the show is over, applaud for the actors and wait for the curtain call to be over before leaving your seat. To show them your highest praise, give them a standing ovation.

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characters

efforts to get closer quickly begin to alienate her. FATHER MIKE - headmaster at St. Cecilia’s who grows concerned about Sr. Joan’s teaching style.

PETER – socially invisible student whose anonymity, safety and happiness are threatened when he begins secretly dating the most popular boy in school. JASON - golden boy struggling to reconcile his feelings for Peter with his desire to conform to familial, societal, and peer expectations. IVY - the new girl at St. Cecilia’s who has transferred in an effort to outrun rumors from her previous school. She falls for Jason while clashing with his sister Nadia.

SISTER JOAN - passionate nun with a bold personality that helps her relate with students but causes conflict with Fr. Mike. ZACK – Senior football captain, head of a trio of jocks who join the production of Romeo and Juliet when it becomes clear that’s where all the girls are to be found. VANESSA – Fashion-conscious sophomore put in charge of costumes for the school’s production of Romeo & Juliet.

MADISON – rich, gossipy junior who feels challenged by Ivy’s arrival. DIANE – formerly homeschooled student who steers clear of conflict because she usually doesn’t understand what’s going on. BETO – aspiring DJ, member of the baseball team. Considers himself a ladies man, but is too crude to land a girlfriend. NICK – porn addicted scholarship member of the baseball team. Madison’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. ALAN – the only Jewish student at St. Cecilia’s. A freshman still waiting for puberty’s arrival.

NADIA - Jason’s sardonic sister, who long ago gave up on trying to compete with her brother’s accomplishments. The school’s purveyor of drugs, her unspoken crush with Matt is derailed when he falls for Ivy. MATT – nice guy kid and people pleaser who begins dating Ivy as soon as she transfers, but whose

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role of a lifetime: creating the musical bare an interview with Jon Hartmere Jon Hartmere (book & lyrics) - has written

screenplays and teleplays for Disney, East of Doheny Productions, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Nickelodeon and Sesame Street Workshop. He was also a field agent on Cycle 5 of MTV’s PUNK’D.

1. What was the inspiration for bare?

JH: bare was inspired by our lives, Damon’s* and mine. It’s broadened out from our personal stories to include the more universal theme of “coming out” in terms of the struggle everyone goes through just to be themselves.

continues now.

3. What do you believe is the message of bare?

JH: The message to me is how one voice can really make a difference in someone’s life. bare is also about acceptance – it’s about acceptance of self and about acceptance of others, and it’s about the journey to acceptance that hopefully everyone is able to undertake, and how we can either be guides for others, or impediments. The choice is ours.

4. How has the show changed for this new production?

JH: There have been lots of changes and there continue to be lots of changes as new voices are added to the process. It would be hard to be specific at this point because we’re going to be adjusting this production right up until it opens. I can say that we’re opening up the book to reveal more about the characters.

5. What advice would you offer aspiring lyricists and writers?

2. Can you describe what the process was for creating bare?

JH: The process has involved and continues to involve lots of drafts. Damon and I were 22 when we first started working on the show, and it was the first thing we’d written, so the “how” was pretty fluid. Some songs we wrote lyrics first, some we wrote music first. Characters came and characters went. It was trial and error to see what worked and it’s a process that

JH: I would say to write as often and as much as possible, and then not be afraid to share your work. You improve by getting feedback, by getting the thoughts and reactions of people whose opinions you trust. Also, go see shows. There are lessons in every show, in the things that work and things that don’t. But most of all, set aside time to write, and then stick to it.

*Damon Intrabartolo wrote the music for bare

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increasing awareness and understanding in the school

Encourage athletes to sign the Athlete Ally pledge

Athlete Ally is an organization founded to encourage “all individuals involved in sports to respect every member of their communities, regardless of perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and to lead others in doing the same.” Visit: www.athleteally.org

Establish a Gay-Straight Alliance

Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are student clubs that work to improve school climate for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Visit: www.gsanetwork.org • www.glsen.org

Create an Ally Week

Ally Week is a week for students to identify, support, and celebrate Allies against anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) language, bullying, and harassment in America’s schools. Visit: www.allyweek.org • www.glsen.org

Join the The NEA Bully Free: It Starts With Me Campaign

The Bully-Free: It Starts With Me Campaign “identifies caring adults in our schools and communities who are willing to stand up as someone pledged to help bullied students. These caring adults agree to listen carefully to the bullied student who comes to them. They also agree to take action to stop the bullying.” Visit: www.nea.org/home/NEABullyFreeSchools.html

Sponsor a Rachel’s Challenge club

Rachel’s Challenge is named for Rachel Scott who was the first student killed at Columbine High School. The program exists “to inspire, equip, and empower every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school, business, and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion.” Visit: www.rachelschallenge.org

Promote a S.A.D.D. chapter

SADD’s mission is “To provide students with the best prevention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, and other destructive decisions.” Visit: www.sadd.org

in the classroom Create a Safe Zone Work with confidence and sensitivity with LBGT issues and students in your classroom. Details on page 8 Foster Understanding Educate students about the misconceptions about sexual orientation and share with them powerful statistics abut LGBT youth. Details on page 9 Educate students about words that hurt Actively engage students in a dialogue about bullying and encourage them to move from “bully” or “bystander” to become an “ally” for others. Details on page 10 Discuss cyberbullying • identification & prevention The government website www.stopbullying.gov has information on cyberbullying definitions, prevention techniques, and guidelines on how to report incidents.

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how you can take action suicide prevention NoticE the signs: • Talking about wanting to die or to kill themselves. • Looking for a way to kill themselves, such as searching online or buying a gun. • Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live. • Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain. • Talking about being a burden to others. • Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs. • Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly. • Sleeping too little or too much. • Withdrawing or isolating themselves. • Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge. • Displaying extreme mood swings.

What To Do:

substance abuse Guiding Question: How are drugs grouped in terms of how they affect the mind? Euphoric - Marijuana -Heightened sensory perception; euphoria, impaired short-term memory, attention, judgment, coordination and balance; increased heart rate; increased appetite Hallucinogens - Mind altering drugs that cause hallucinations Uppers/Stimulants - Increase the heart and all systems of the body - makes one awake, alert, decreases appetite Downers/Depressants - Decrease the heart and all systems of the body - makes one sleepy, relaxes muscles Pain Killers/Narcotics - Opium derivativeswork to relieve pain and decrease all bodily

• Ask the tough questions. • Be persistent in your concern. • Do not leave a student at imminent risk of suicide alone. • Be prepared to act. • Get help when needed. • Use your school’s support system. • Connect with parents or guardians.

functions

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-TALK (8255)

3. What do you think Jason’s intentions are when he takes pills at the end of the show?

Excerpted from http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ and http://www.sprc.org/sites/sprc.org/files/Teachers.pdf

Questions for a Socratic circle: 1. Why do young people take drugs in such a haphazard manner (not worrying about their effects)? 2. What combination of drugs do you think is responsible for more deaths than any other? Why?

4. How can you as a youth reverse the peer pressure that exists when it comes to drinking alcohol and doing drugs?

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LGBT issues in the classroom sensitivity

Understanding the terminology

LGBTQ L G B T

Lesbian - A woman attracted to a woman. G a y - A man attracted to a man. Colloquially used as an umbrella term to include all LGBT people. B i s e x u a l - A sexual orientation in which a person feels attracted to some members of both genders. Tr a n s g e n d e r - Individuals for whom their anatomical sex does not accurately or adequately

describe their gender identity.

Q - Q u e e r o r Q u e s t i o n i n g - as applied to young people, “questioning” their sexuality

Creating a safe zone • Be conscious of the ways in which you address students. Be aware of the pronoun you utilize to be sensitive to students who do not define themselves by their gender identity. Don’t make assumptions about students’ relationships or those of their parents/guardians. • Be sensitive to students who are expressing gender or have gender characteristics or gender identity that does not conform to the expectations of society and culture. • Find someone in your school community who is knowledgeable and comfortable with discussing LGBT issues if you are not. Find a resource for help and guidance. • Take some time in a faculty meeting to discuss the issues surrounding LBGT youth. It shouldn’t be a one person show. Educate others. • Look for opportunities to bring in LGBT speakers in a variety of disciplines.

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why would anyone choose to be gay? Understanding Sexual Orientation

Guiding Question: Do you think being gay or straight is a choice? Define sexual orientation: Heterosexual - Physical, romantic, and sexual attraction for the opposite sex Homosexual - Physical, romantic and sexual attraction for the same sex* Bisexual - Physical, romantic, and sexual attraction for both the opposite and same sexes.** Asexual- A permanent or temporary lack of sexual feelings and attractions to others. *Define the terms “gay” and “lesbian” **Possible Addition: Talk about the Kinsey Report and research that was done in 1948 to address bisexuality. Activity: Right or left handed? Ask the class to stand on either side of the room depending on whether they are right or left handed. Students are asked to move to the middle of the room when they use their non-dominant hand for something. Describe behaviors that are done with one or both hands (use a range of activities that involve one and both hands: writing, buttoning a shirt, playing an instrument, etc.) Since we all use both hands for activities, most students should end up in the middle of the room. Make the point that we are more comfortable with things in binary boxes (either this or that/right or left) even though there exists a middle ground. Guiding Question - Do you think sexual orientation is a choice? Allow students to discuss without giving any cues for correct answers. Show trailer from It’s Elementary: http://groundspark.org/trailers/itselementary.html

Show trailer from The Bible Tells Me So: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v18496223THBFsstz?h1=For+Th e+Bible+Tells+Me+So

Share latest stats from GLSEN’s School Climate Report (2011):

•81.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 38.3% reported being physically harassed, and 18.3% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation. •63.9% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 27.1% reported being physically harassed, and 12.4% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their gender expression. •84.9% of LGBT students heard “gay” used in a negative way (e.g., “that’s so gay”) and 71.3% heard homophobic remarks (e.g., “dyke” or “faggot”) frequently or often at school. •6 in 10 LGBT students (63.5%) reported feeling unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 4 in 10 (43.9%) felt unsafe because of their gender expression. •LGBT students reported feeling unsafe in specific school spaces, most commonly locker rooms (39.0%), bathrooms (38.8%), and physical education/gym class (32.5%). •Transgender students experienced more hostile school climates than their non-transgender peers( %96). 80% of transgender students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression. •Nearly one third of LGBT students (29.8%) reported skipping a class at least once and 31.8% missed at least one entire day of school in the past month because of safety concerns. •The reported grade point average of students who were more frequently harassed because of their sexual orientation or gender expression was lower than for students who were less often harassed (2.9 vs. 3.2). •Increased levels of victimization were related to increased levels of depression and anxiety and decreased levels of self-esteem. •60.4% of LGBT students never reported an incident of harassment or assault to school personnel. •A considerable number of students reported discriminatory policies or practices against LGBT people by their school or school personnel. Students indicated the most common discriminatory policy or practice was related to treatment of LGBT relationships (e.g., related to dates for school dances and public display of affection). •Being out in school had positive and negative repercussions for LGBT students - outness was related to higher levels of victimization, but also higher levels of psychological well-being.

Given these statistics... Why would anyone choose to be GAY???

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Lesson created by Diane Schneider

anti-bullying activity Time: approximately 45 minutes Materials: Blank paper, signs for “ally,” “bully,” “target,” and “bystander” Ask for five volunteers to share their thoughts about where they will be 15 years from now. Talk about bullying and cover the following key points: • Bullying can take root in many forms • Cyberbullying • Spreading rumors • Isolating someone from any social group • Pushing, shoving, hitting • Name calling Mention that there are mean words that hurt that can be said to anyone. Then define the word “slur” to describe a word that in a mean, disrespectful way targets one’s race, culture, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or gender expression.

Put the four bullying signs on the four walls of the room, explaining briefly what they mean. Ask students to think two years back to a time when they remember a bullying episode. Remind them that whatever role they played then has little to do with what role they may play today. Ask them to go to the spot in the room that relates to the role they played. Once students are in their respective areas, ask the following questions: • To the bullies- why do you think you bullied? • To the targets- what did it feel like and did it make you want to stay home from school? • To the allies- what did you do to help the target? • To the bystanders- did you think you were not doing anything wrong?

Explain to the students that they are allowed to say slurs that they hear in the hallways in their schools for the purpose of this activity only. Mention that they can describe them if they are too shy to say them aloud and post these slurs on chart paper.

Make the point that, where bullying is concerned, a bystander is never “innocent” as they appear to be part of the bullies and need to become allies. Show the students how they can go from being bystanders to allies. By not excluding the target, and inviting them to be with your group of friends they will not be bullied. Emphasize the importance of telling an adult and that it is not snitching if someone is being emotionally abused.

When finished, we see the group that is affected by the slurs and how hurtful they are. Emphasize that students are not hesitant to share with a parent or adult when they are called hurtful names about their race or religion. For a young person who is gay or perceived gay they very often have no one to talk to about any of this.

Ask the students who shared their dreams to leave their desks and go to the back of the room. Share with the class the current events that surrounded the bullying news since August of this school year. Nine students have died because they were called names“faggot” and “gay” being the most common of the slurs.

Ask students to think of the slurs the class came up with as they crumple up a piece of paper. Ask students to try to flatten the paper out to try to “smooth out the slurs” and make it whole again. It’s impossible

Ask the students how they would feel if any of those students whose desks were vacated were never coming back because of the bullying they faced. Tell them that they would wish they never did it, and that they could have a “do over”. Ask the students to return to the seats. The last thing to say is: “I am giving you a do over.” - “Don’t mess it up.”

Sticks and Stones - explain how emotional scars run very deep and leave a lasting painful memory.

Lesson created by Diane Schneider

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questions for classroom discussion 1. Why do you think the show is called 7. What is the source of conflict “bare”? What meanings might the between Sr. Joan and Fr. Mike? How title have for characters? is it resolved? 2. What are the issues characters are 8. Why do you think Nadia acts the facing during this show? How could way she does? What is you advise them? she compensating for? 3. Why is Jason trying 9. Why does Matt to fit in? What other choose to send the characters are trying photo to everyone? to fit in? What do they What would be a do to accomplish this? better course of action? 4. What are the risks Jason would face if 10. Jason sings that he were to reveal his there are no “heroes who are relationship with Peter? queer”? Is that true? 5. Who are the people who are “allies” for Jason or Peter during the 11. Why do you believe Jason does what he does at the end of the show? course of the show? How do they help these characters? 12. What might be the connections between Romeo & Juliet and the love 6. Why do characters turn to drugs stories in bare? to deal with their problems? What would be better choices to make?

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Language Arts / Literacy Your Task: An “idiom” is an expression that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. Look at the idioms below that all use the word “bare” and define what each unique expression means. Then think about the situations from the musical bare and use examples from the production to help illustrate the idiomatic expressions by creating your own sentences. Share your work with the class. Extension activity: Use one of your sentences to create a longer piece of writing.

“bare your soul”