The Corn is Green Curriculum Guide

Limelight TEACHER LITERARY & CURRICULUM GUIDE 2008-2009

Kate Burton in

Emlyn Williams

by

Directed by

Nicholas Martin B.U. Theatre January 9 - February 8, 2009

HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY IN RESIDENCE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

huntington theatre company in residence at boston university Peter DuBois

Michael Maso

Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director

Managing Director

STAFF This Teacher Literary and Curriculum Guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by Alexandra Smith, Professional Intern With contributions by Donna Glick, Director of Education Lynne Johnson, Associate Director of Education M. Bevin O’Gara, Artistic Associate Charles Haugland, Stone Literary Fellow Ilana Brownstein, Assistant Professor at Boston University’s School of Theatre Becky Perlman, Literary Manager, Collaboration Theatre Company Meg Wieder, Education Department Manager Melissa Wagner-O’Malley, Layout

Production Sponsor

The Corn is Green

by Emlyn Williams Directed by Nicholas Martin Table of Contents 1

Synopsis

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Emlyn Williams and His Real-Life Miss Moffat

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The Irresistible Pull of Miss Moffat

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Morgan Ritchie: In the Blood

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The Corn is Green at the Williamstown Theatre Festival

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Coal-Mining: The Bleak Legacy of North Wales

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Civilization Versus Education in the 19th Century

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Audience Etiquette

8

Characters & Objectives

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Preparation for The Corn is Green

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Mastery Assessment

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Open Response & Writing Assignments

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Arts Assessment

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Related Works and Resources

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After Viewing the Production

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Lesson Plans

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For Further Exploration

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Handout 1: Vocabulary

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Handout 2: Dramatizing Your Life Story

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Curriculum Framework Ties

SYNOPSIS

The Corn is Green L

ily Cristobel Moffat arrives in the Welsh mining town of Glasorno in 1895 with a mission: to found a school devoted to the education of the boys and girls slaving away in the nearby coal mines. As an unmarried, highly-educated, thoroughly English woman, however, Miss Moffat is a curious outsider in Glasorno’s tight-knit community. She encounters stiff opposition to her plans almost immediately. The villagers are suspicious of her intentions and the mine-owning Squire rebuffs her efforts to shorten his young employees’ hours for school attendance. Worst of all, the young miners themselves are wild and stubborn. Just when things seem hopeless, reading the promising writing of bright young miner Morgan Evans steels Miss Moffat’s idealistic resolve. She finds an ally in her indomitable housekeeper, Mrs. Watty, though she instantly clashes with Mrs. Watty’s slatternly young daughter.

Bessie Watty is lazy, flirtatious, and shallow — everything Miss Moffat is not. After winning over the town minister, Mr. Jones, and respectable spinster Miss Ronsberry, she enlists their help in converting her home into a classroom for the children.

After a rough start, the students begin to blossom, and Morgan quickly rises to the top of the class. Convinced that Morgan has the ability to do great things, Miss Moffat uses crafty flattery to convince the arrogant town Squire to recommend Morgan for a full Oxford University scholarship. Soon, however, the pressure and isolation of his intense preparatory tutoring regimen prompts Morgan to revolt. He finds brief comfort in drink and the romantic attentions of Bessie Watty. Thankfully, his rebellion is short-lived. After serious thought, a contrite Morgan returns to Miss Moffat with renewed determination to attend Oxford. His admission to the school depends on a crucial entrance examination, but just as Morgan finishes the test, two unexpected arrivals upend everyone’s priorities and compel Miss Moffat and Morgan to take separate paths into unknown territories. Though their futures lie down different roads, both ways look bright. – BP

Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009

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Emlyn Williams and His Real-Life Miss Moffat E Miss Cooke sent a

mlyn Williams was born in the small town of Mostyn, Wales in 1905 and grew up in poverty as the son of a coalminer. He was rescued from a hardscrabble life by local schoolteacher, Miss S.G. Cooke, who recognized the promise of his nimble mind. A London social worker and teacher, Miss Cooke saw that the ten year-old had an ear for languages, even though he had spoken only Welsh until the age of eight. She took him under her wing and spent the next decade schooling him to become a teacher like herself. Under her tutelage, Williams won a scholarship to study French in Switzerland, and then gained admittance to Oxford University. His stratospheric rise to Oxford would prove the main inspiration for the character of Morgan Evans in The Corn is Green.

While at Oxford, Williams attended the theatre for the first time, seeing a performance of Somerset Maugham’s play Camel’s Back. He immediately knew he wanted to pursue a life in theatre instead of in education. Williams began to perform with the Oxford Dramatic Society, and wrote his first full-length play for the group, entitled Full Moon. By 1927, he was acting in professional productions. His first recognition as a playwright came three years later when his play A Murder Has Been Arranged was performed in London. Acting roles on Broadway and in motion pictures soon followed.

In 1935, Williams saw major success in London and New York City with the production of his play Night Must Fall, a thriller in which he also played a leading role as a homicidal bell-boy. Upon returning to England after the successful American run, Williams co-starred in and co-directed his play, He Was Born Gay, with theatrical luminary John Gielgud. He married Molly O’Shann in the same year, with whom he would have two sons. An invitation to join the esteemed repertory company of London’s 2

Huntington Theatre Company

telegram praising the script but ended by writing, “No offense, but can’t see anyone being interested [in a play about a schoolteacher].”

Emlyn Williams

Old Vic Theatre arrived soon after their wedding. While Williams performed in works by Shakespeare and Ibsen, he kept Miss Cooke close to his heart. Still living and busy teaching in Wales, she made time to read all of his plays and attend each of his London openings. She also became close with his wife and served as an adopted grandmother to his children.

Always solicitous of Miss Cooke’s opinion, Williams was especially nervous to hear what she thought of a new play he began in 1938, inspired by the formative years he spent with her, called The Corn is Green. Miss Cooke sent a telegram praising the script but ended by writing, “No offense, but can’t see anyone being interested [in a play about a schoolteacher].” For once in her

life, Miss Cooke’s instincts were incorrect.

The Corn is Green became a smash hit in London, where it ran from late 1940 to early 1942. A successful engagement on Broadway starring Ethel Barrymore soon followed.

Williams’ theatrical success attracted the attention of the burgeoning motion-picture industry. He worked steadily as a screenwriter and film actor throughout the 1930s and 1940s, including early-career work on Alfred Hitchcock’s 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much. In 1948, he wrote, directed, and performed in The Last Days of Dolwyn, a movie set and filmed in Wales.

The film marked the cinematic debut of Williams’ protégé, Richard Burton (who had also made his professional theatre debut in an earlier Williams piece, Druid’s

Rest (1943). In appreciation of their friendship, Burton later named Williams as godfather to his daughter, Kate Burton, who stars in the Huntington’s production as Miss Moffat. Williams’ biggest cinematic hit was the adaptation of The Corn is Green, filmed in 1945 and starring Bette Davis as Miss Moffat. Another adaptation was filmed for television in 1979 and featured Katharine Hepburn.

In the 1950s, Williams translated his lifelong love of Charles Dickens into a series of one-man shows. Performing as the great novelist, Williams toured the world to popular and critical acclaim in the show, simply called Emlyn Williams as Charles Dickens.

He even brought the production to Wales, where he performed it in Welsh. In the 1960s, he similarly adapted the memoir of fellow Welshman Dylan Thomas into a solo performance, entitled A Boy Growing Up, which he performed in London and New York.

As the demand for television programming grew, the ever-flexible Williams devoted his talents to adapting plays for television broadcast on the BBC, including several of his own pieces. He also made numerous guest appearances on popular British shows as he grew older, including the comedy “Rumpole of the Bailey.” In his later years, Williams devoted himself to writing two volumes of memoirs, George, An Early Autobiography, published in 1961, and Emlyn: An Early Autobiography, 1927-1935, published in 1974. At the age of seventyfive, he wrote his first novel, the comic Headlong (later adapted as the movie King Ralph). Shortly after undergoing treatment for cancer at 81, he passed away in his London home. Williams left behind a critically-acclaimed body of writing spanning multiple countries, genres, and media. He performed all over the world, on Broadway (garnering a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in 1958), in London’s West End, and in over forty films. Perhaps most satisfyingly, he saw all of his twenty plays produced onstage. Whenever Williams was asked for the secret to his long, successful career, he ascribed it all to the influence of his beloved Miss Cooke — the wise teacher who saw a glint of promise in a ten year-old boy so long ago. – BP

The Irresistible Pull of Miss Moffat

P

laygoers and movie-buffs alike have been captivated by Emlyn Williams’ singularly ambitious schoolteacher, Miss L.C. Moffat, ever since The Corn is Green opened in London in 1940. The character’s indomitable ambition, rapid-fire wit, shrewd wisdom, and enduring belief in the power of learning is as inspiring and fascinating today as it was nearly seventy years ago.

John Dall and Bette Davis in the the 1945 film adaptation of The Corn is Green.

Given the role’s enormous appeal and complexity, it is no surprise that the women who have portrayed Miss Moffat on stage and screen comprise a veritable “who’s who” of 20th century American theatre. In 1943, it was the last great Broadway role for Ethel Barrymore before her retirement from the theatre. The New York Times theatre critic Brooks Atkinson wrote admiringly of her performance, “Whether [Barrymore] owns Miss Moffat or Miss Moffat owns her is hard to say.” And Barrymore herself spoke to both the challenge and appeal of the role in a 1940 press interview, saying, “I like it better than any [part] I’ve ever had. It has everything in it that I care about.”

Bette Davis took over the part of Miss Moffat in the first filmed adaptation of The Corn is Green, donning a gray wig and a padded suit to age her thirty-five year-old body the extra years. Noted classical actress Eva La Gallienne played the teacher in the brief 1950 Broadway revival, while Katharine Hepburn took on the powerhouse role in the 1979 television adaptation — a performance that garnered her an Emmy Award nomination.

Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actress Cicely Tyson played the schoolteacher in The Corn is Green’s 1983 Broadway incarnation, produced by Elizabeth Taylor. Tyson, who is also an accomplished stage performer, was the first AfricanAmerican actress to tackle the role. She was initially approached by Taylor to play Miss Moffat with an all-black cast, but demurred unless the play was produced as written. Commenting on the color-blind casting, Tyson said, “I don’t think it matters a bit…it should be irrelevant to the audience that I’m black.”

The Corn is Green did not receive another major American production for over twenty years, until Nicholas Martin brought the play to the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the summer of 2007. It seems only fitting that the goddaughter of the playwright, Kate Burton, was the next grand dame of the theatre to take over Miss Moffat’s classroom. Her performance met with enormous critical acclaim. The Boston Globe called Miss Moffat, “An ideal role for Burton, making full use of her strength and wit [and invested] with every ounce of energy and charisma at her command.” Variety concurred, declaring that, “The production belongs to Burton’s Moffat, a perfect fit for an actress known for her intelligence, warmth, and avoidance of easy sentimentality.”

Kate Burton has already received many awards and recognitions for her acting prowess, but The Corn is Green grants her one more — membership in a unique theatre sorority of Miss Moffats past and present. – BP

Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009

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MORGAN RITCHIE

In the Blood Grandson to legendary actor Richard Burton and son to Kate Burton, Morgan Ritchie has always had acting in his veins. He recently had a chance to test his mettle with his first major role in a professional production, appearing as Morgan Evans in The Corn is Green. He recently spoke to Artistic Associate M. Bevin O’Gara about the play, acting as a career, and his newfound love of writing.

Why do you think that The Corn is Green is a lost classic worth revisiting?

Lots of reasons. First of all, I just think it’s a great play with a compelling story: the troubled student and the teacher that just won’t give up. What’s so nice, for me, is that it’s a very Welsh play. That’s not something American audiences are familiar with, or even that you see often on the British stage.

I certainly wasn’t familiar with it, even though I am Welsh by background. On a personal level, it helped me come in contact with my cultural heritage. There’s a sweetness and elegance to the story and people really respond to the way it ends.

We’ve come to a point where there’s a lot of pessimism, where a story with a happy ending is seen as not real, or not legitimate,

that it would never really happen. The thing I like so much about Corn is that it does have a happy ending, and that it is the right ending as far as I’m concerned. Morgan Evans makes the right decision. But there’s a real conflict, and it’s a conflict that speaks to the time period and to the class struggle.

It’s been a year since you first appeared in The Corn is Green at Williamstown. With the passage of time, and with the life experience you’ve gained, how will the character of Morgan Evans change for you?

When you’re young — and I’m still quite young and still learning — but when you’re even younger than I am, you tend to think that the problems of the world, the problems adults have, are so simple. It always seems

The Corn is Green at the Williamstown Theatre Festival Kate Burton, Morgan Ritchie, and Nicholas Martin first tackled Emlyn Williams’ beloved play, The Corn is Green in the summer of 2007 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. A recipient of the 2002 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater, the Williamstown Theatre Festival is one of the oldest summer theatres in the country. Located hours from both Boston and New York, Williamstown inspires many citydwelling theatre fans to make a pilgrimage into the scenic Berkshires every year when the weather turns warm. The institution is blessed by a long history of collaborations with the incomparable Kate Burton, who has performed at Williamstown in over thirty productions, including Hedda Gabler which also was staged at the Huntington before moving to Broadway, as well as A Midsummer’s Night Dream, The Three Sisters, and The Front Page.

The Corn is Green is the latest of over two-dozen of the Festival’s productions to find a postsummer audience in runs on Broadway or in leading regional theatres around the country.

– BP

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Huntington Theatre Company

like everything could be so much easier and maybe it could be, I don’t know. But there’s a point — I’m there now — when you realize the world is more complicated and it’s more beautiful and staggering and amazing than you ever thought. Morgan, the character, is going through the same transition times-amillion because he’s never gone far from his town, he’s never experienced the world.

When you see him in the beginning having learned English, he’s just excited to have taught himself how to read and write, but he discovers a love of learning and wants to go to this great university. I’ve had a similar arc in my life. I didn’t particularly apply myself when I was in high school, and when I got to college I found something like a joie de vivre about learning. I started writing, and that was something I’d never done before.

Suddenly I felt this sense of fulfillment about my academic life — that definitely informs the character of Morgan.

You’ve said before that your mother, Kate Burton, wasn’t entirely in favor of you pursuing acting.

Has the experience of working together changed that?

Before we did the show she had made her peace with the fact that I was going to follow the well-trod path of my family into acting. She never would have agreed to do this show if she hadn’t been comfortable in that, and she wouldn’t put me out there unless she had felt a confidence in me being able to take it seriously and give it my all. When the show closed, I found that the way we went about discussing theatre or going to shows or reading plays, it felt that we were more like peers. That was wonderful. But, of course, she’s still my mom.

Director Nicholas Martin has known you since before you were born, but this is the first time you worked together on a substantial role. How do you think the experience changed your relationship?

Nicky is the seminal theatre director in my head because he’s been directing me since I was eight years old. The first time he ever put me in a show — I was playing a guy throwing a ball around — he gave me a lot of business that wasn’t in the script, because that’s just how Nicky works. I felt very comfortable with him, and of course still

Kate Burton and Morgan Ritchie in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of The Corn is Green; photo: Joan Marcus

felt the need to rise to the occasion. I certainly felt a lot of pressure to do well, and a real desire to work hard and sink my teeth in, but it was also comforting to be supported and guided by someone I trusted, and with whom I had such a great rapport. We had a short-hand because we’ve known each other so well and for so long.

Besides the obvious family traditions, what is it that draws you to acting?

In the same way children of doctors, when they’re six, say they’re going to be doctors, I said the same thing of acting. Then I went through a period until I was about 13 or 14 when I was feeling rather rebellious, and I said, “There’s no way I’m going to act, there’s no way I’m going into theatre. I’m going into something else entirely.” And then I did a few shows, one in Williamstown called Street Scene where I played a little mischief-

maker running around, and I just had a lot of fun doing it. But even at that point I wasn’t quite sure why. So I threw myself into acting without ever understanding if I really wanted to study the craft, and as I did more, I became more impressed with the form and the craft of acting. What I eventually found was a very primal urge: the urge to pretend to be other people and to be different characters. It’s something we do when we’re little. On the most basic level, that’s what draws me to acting. What draws me to acting now as an art form is its mercurial nature. To create a performance and to have what is left not be an object, not be a book, not be a painting — a production is seen a certain number of times and then it’s gone, the only way it exists beyond that is in the memory of the people who saw it, but inevitably it disappears into the ether. I find it fascinating.

What are you looking forward to most about getting to tackle The Corn is Green again?

First, whenever you work on a show you love, just getting the chance to do it again is so exciting. It’s simple but it’s the truth. I’m now in this great position of having distance from the show and all this time to have thought about it and continue developing a relationship with the play. As a company, we’ll be able to think more about character and the world of the play — we had so little time at Williamstown. There’s an old joke there: you walk offstage on the final Sunday performance and you say, “Oh, my God! I’ve figured everything out! Finally, I know what this show’s about. Everything’s really clicking.” Being able to come back to the show gives me a chance to explore those things. And obviously the chance to work with Nicky and my mom is always a pleasure and a privilege.

Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009

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COAL-MINING

The Bleak Legacy of North Wales E mlyn Williams set The Corn is Green in the fictional town of Glasarno, based on his own childhood home in a small mining village in the North Wales Flintshire district. Though Williams wasn’t born until 1906, he chose to set the play a generation before his birth in 1895, in the midst of the Welsh coal-mining boom. Wales’ great mineral wealth was first discovered in the late 1700s, as the budding Industrial Revolution increased the demand for iron and coal.

Welsh coal was used as fuel in boilers and steam engines across the United Kingdom, and became essential to the booming ironsmelting industry.

During this time, industrialists bought up great swathes of the green Welsh countryside to build coal mines. Soon, native Welsh farmland and pastures were displaced by gaping rock pits, sprawling ironworks, smoke-belching collieries, and winding rows of rickety employee housing. Traditional rural communities were transformed, as families abandoned their old livelihoods for the promise of greater financial gains through work in the mines.

Miners and their families lived bleak lives as the Industrial Revolution continued, and the ravenous appetite for coal pushed safety regulations in the mines and pits aside.

Thousands of Welsh miners died in underground explosions and cave-ins. The lucky ones worked twelve-hour shifts without breaks, six days a week. Young children and women were not prohibited from working in the mines until 1842, and many mines ignored the laws and continued to hire underage workers through the late 1860s. As mine owners imported immigrant workers to feed the labor demand, formerly small villages became choked with new inhabitants. Overcrowding led to fatal outbreaks of influenza and cholera, and infant mortality throughout Wales climbed. Miners who escaped accident and sudden illness were plagued by chronic respiratory illness caused by the continuous inhalation of coal

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Huntington Theatre Company

Disaster at the Albion Colliery, Pontypridd, Wales, 1894; The Illustrated London News

By 1895, the life-expectancy for miners in Wales was decades lower than for any other worker in the United Kingdom. dust and other lung irritants. By 1895, the life-expectancy for miners in Wales was decades lower than for any other worker in the United Kingdom.

In spite of the risk-filled, back-breaking nature of their work, and the mandatory long shifts, Welsh miners were not compensated fairly for their labor, were prohibited from organizing into unions, and were denied basic employee benefits like health care. When the price for coal fell, miners’ wages were lowered to protect company profits, and as the mining became the defacto profession for families through the generations, education ceased to be a priority, especially in families struggling just to eat. In many mining villages, pubs were

open nearly round-the-clock to accommodate the schedules of shift-workers, and alcohol consumption increased accordingly.

Churches, civic groups, and choral societies were also important community bedrocks, but many miners were too exhausted after a day spent working to do anything besides eat and sleep. As news of the dangerous work and bleak living conditions of Welsh mining towns made its way to England, many activists and crusaders like The Corn is Green’s Miss Moffat made their way to Wales’ countryside with prescriptions for improving Welsh lives; however, most of these well-meaning do-gooders remained oblivious to their vast social, economic, and cultural differences. – BP

Civilization Versus Education in the 19th Century T

he 19th century was a time of constant upheaval and instability for Wales and its people. As a nation, it was ruled from afar by the imperious British government.

Welsh citizens were not fairly represented in Parliament and only the wealthiest four percent of the country’s population was permitted to vote. Many of these franchised citizens were transplanted Englishmen like The Corn is Green’s Squire, who also held local positions of power as magistrates, member of the gentry, or industrialists. Accordingly, this small group of rich English men easily controlled Wales’ largely working-class population in spite of the native Welsh peoples’ simmering resentment. Discriminatory legislation, predatory hiring practices, and forced labor triggered waves of unrest and powered the burgeoning pro-democracy movement.

Native Welsh politicians such as Thomas Edward Ellis sought self-rule and democracy for Wales, but were blocked at every turn by the British. As the demands of the Industrial Revolution further transformed the Welsh landscape and its people, civil uprisings and riots broke out in every corner of the small country. Already disparaged by the English as wild and childlike, the Welsh soon acquired an additional unfair reputation as lawless, unclean, lazy, and promiscuous. The British Parliament was so alarmed by the Welsh people’s appetite for civil protest and their disinclination to assimilate into British society that it commissioned an inquiry into the so-called “educational and linguistic deficits” of the country in 1846. The Commissioners’ find-

ings, popularly known as the Blue Book Reports, were published the following year.

In their 1847 reports, the Blue Books Commissioners compared the Welsh to the Irish, whom they saw as similarly “uncivilized,” writing, “There is a great similarity between the lower orders of the Welsh and Irish — both are dirty, indolent, bigoted, and contented...Mentally and morally, [they are] the most degraded and benighted of Her Majesty’s Subjects.” Although their findings clearly reflected the Commissioners’ own prejudices much more accurately than they did the true Welsh national character, their judgment was accepted as fact in Parliament, with devastating consequences for the Welsh.

Many British government officials blamed the perceived ignorance and immorality of the Welsh on their continued insistence on speaking Welsh, rather than English.

Parliament decided that a lack of standardized education was to blame, and began a sweeping reform of the Welsh education system. By 1870, there were three English schools for every one school run by Welsh teachers and administrators. In these Englishrun schools, children were punished for speaking their native tongue in the classroom, and as English fluency and literacy climbed, national knowledge of the Welsh language began to flag. Just as significantly, by learning to speak English instead of Welsh in school, many students also learned to regard English culture as superior to Welsh. By 1895, the year in which The Corn is Green is set, Parliament declared elementary education to be mandatory for all

Welsh children. Yet the young Welsh colliers, such as The Corn is Green’s Morgan Evans, often struggled to become students again after being forced to assume adult workloads in the nearby mines.

The English people’s imperialistic efforts to educate and “civilize” the Welsh increased the ever-widening cultural schism dividing the two countries. Many Welsh became more suspicious of the English, and hostile to their social-reform efforts, however genuinely well-intentioned. In spite of general improvements implemented by the national educational system in Wales, many communities continued to be underserved by the national education system in the late 19th century. Often, religious schools, run by area churches, sprung up to fill in these gaps, and a small number of independently-run private schools — such as the one started by Miss Moffat in The Corn is Green — were also created. Whether a school was run by the Welsh or the English, each struggled to retain students after the elementary years. In 1895, the year in which The Corn is Green is set, young people like Morgan Evans were legally allowed to leave school after they turned eleven years old. With the urgent need to provide for their families by joining the workforce, many Welsh children never made it to secondary school, and even fewer graduated from high-school. To set one’s goals on attending Oxford University, as Morgan Evans does in the play, and as Emlyn Williams did in real life, was an almost ludicrous impossibility for most Welsh young people. – BP Limelight Literary and Curriculum 2008-2009

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BU Theatre by T. Charles Erickson

Audience Etiquette Because many students have not had the opportunity to view live theatre, we are including an audience etiquette section with each literary/curriculum guide. Teachers, please spend time on this subject since it will greatly enhance your students’ experience at the theatre.

1. How does one respond to a live performance of a play, as opposed to when seeing a film at a local cinema? What is the best way to approach viewing a live performance of a play?

What things should you look and listen for?

2. What is the audience’s role during a live performance? How do you think audience behavior can affect an actor’s performance?

3. What do you know about the theatrical rehearsal process?

Have you ever participated in one as an actor, singer, director, or technical person?

4. How do costumes, set, lights, sound and props enhance a theatre production?

Kate Burton and Morgan Ritchie in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of The Corn is Green; photo: Joan Marcus

BACKGROUND

& Objectives Use the following synopsis and objectives to inform your teaching of The Corn is Green curriculum.

J

In the year 1895, Lily Cristabel Moffat appears in the Welsh mining town of Glasarno with boxes of books and a selfless objective. Having learned of the area’s high number of illiterate children who are forced to work in the mines at as young an age as twelve, Miss Moffat arrives with the goal of starting a school to educate these children. But despite her good intentions, she is met with suspicion from the villagers and strong objection from the mine owners to shortening the workday to include instruction time.

As she moves forward with her plans, and the villagers begin to discover a love for learning, Miss Moffat believes she sees a special aptitude in Morgan Evans, a bright, mischievous fifteenyear-old. Over the course of two years, Miss Moffat guides Morgan from barely speaking and writing in stilted, error-laden English to studying the classics.

However, when Miss Moffat decides to advance Morgan’s future by submitting him for a scholarship to Oxford University, the conflict becomes less about his abilities and more about his desire and commitment to be part of the world Miss Moffat has envisioned for him. When shocking developments threaten to bind Morgan to Glasarno forever, Miss Moffat must step back and let Morgan decide his own path . . . not for her reasons, but for his own.

OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Identify key issues in The Corn is Green including: • perceptions of ignorance vs. civilization • the transformative power of education • obligations to oneself and others 2. Relate themes and issues in the play to their own lives.

3. Analyze the themes and issues within the historical and social context of the play.

4. Participate in hands-on activities that enhance understanding of the production.

5. Evaluate the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Corn is Green.

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Huntington Theatre Company

PREPARATION FOR

The Corn is Green Note to Teachers: Use the following ideas to engage your class in thinking about The Corn is Green and its major themes.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES Playwright Emlyn Williams based some of the characters and setting of The Corn is Green on people and places in his real life.

The town of Glasarno was inspired by Williams’ hometown of Mostyn Wales.

Miss Moffat’s tutoring of Morgan Evans mirrors the playwright’s experiences with his own teacher, Miss S.G. Cooke. Oxford University is not only the school where Morgan applies for a scholarship, it is also the school Mr. Williams attended.

However, Williams changed some major details by setting The Corn is Green a generation before his own, and placing Morgan directly into the harsh Welsh coal mines, a place Williams himself never worked. Why might some one choose to write this kind of “fictional autobiography?” What fictional details in the play are vital to its plot? How might the process of writing an autobiographical play be different from writing a play that is entirely made up? What other plays and books were similarly “inspired by a true story?”

How does knowing biographical information about the playwright help the audience to understand the play?

INDUSTRY AS A WAY OF LIFE When Miss Moffat arrives, Glasarno, Wales is a town where the vast majority of men and boys over the age of 12 go to work in the dark, dangerous coalmines, which are owned by British Squires and provide the economic base of the community. While Glasarno is a fictional town, there was no shortage of similar places in Wales in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Research Welsh history of the late 19th century.

What economic factors and social conditions in the late 19th century contributed to the poverty that forced generations of

local families to go to work in the same British-owned mines?

Although modern labor laws prevent children as young as those in The Corn is Green from being employed, are there places in Wales or even in the United States today where a specific industry forms the economic basis of the community? How might a dependency on a particular industry develop? How would the community be impacted if this industry were no longer available as a means of employment?

KEY ISSUES Perceptions of Ignorance vs. Civilization In the late 19th century, British citizens arrived in large numbers in Wales, many as magistrates or industrialists with the goal of bringing “light into the minds of rude and ignorant people.” British Imperialists moved to the Welsh countryside bringing “civilization” in the form of the mines that employed generations of Welsh citizens, or their roles as magistrates who oversaw all aspects of the villagers’ lives. In their opinion, they saw the Welsh as ignorant, lazy, and full of immorality. Other British, like Miss Moffat, transplanted themselves to Wales in order to introduce British education, and establish civilization for the masses.

Define the words “ignorance” and “civilization.” Do either, or both, of these words apply to the villagers in Glasarno? How so? What about the Squire and other British transplants to Wales? What qualities and behaviors should be present in order to consider a society “civilized?” By the standards you just identified, is the modern United States a civilized country?

Why or why not? Research the United States post-civil war history when Northerners traveled to Southern states with similar goals of establishing educational and cultural systems reflecting the values and customs of late 19th century

northern US society. Compare the agents of change and beliefs of the late 19th century US, and those of Britain and Wales.

The Transformative Power of Education In 1847, a British commission was assigned to investigate the educational defects of the Welsh people. Their findings, known as the Blue Book Reports, led to the establishment of English schools throughout Wales, with the aim of not only teaching English language and culture, but also assimilating Welsh students into the English way of life.

The British sought to use basic education to transform the Welsh populace from intellectually deficient to, at the very least, peacefully subjugated.

In the play, the Squire regards the villagers in Glasarno as simple-minded, yet initially disapproves of Miss Moffat’s attempts to educate them. Why would it be to The Squire’s benefit to discourage education for the villagers? What might change if the villagers acquired an education? How would the villagers’ lives be different? Does The Squire stand to gain anything if Miss Moffat’s efforts are successful?

In today’s world, why is having an education important?

Obligations to Oneself and Others Upon arriving in Wales, Miss Moffat claims that when she learned of the poor state of education in Glasarno, she felt obligated to devote herself to saving the children from a life of ignorance by creating a school for them. Later, the character Bessie Watty does not want to be tied down and places her personal comfort over her obligations to her child. In order to relieve Morgan of what he sees as his obligation to Bessie and their child, Miss Moffat agrees to adopt the baby, believing that it is more important that Morgan fulfill his duty “to the world.”

Think of a time in your life when you had an obligation to some one else that you were unsure you could fulfill. Was this because of a commitment elsewhere or did you prioritize your own needs ahead of it?

How did you decide what to do? In what types of situations might the obligations you have to yourself trump those you have to others? And vice versa? Do you think Morgan made the right choice?

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ACT II, SCENE 2

MASTERY

33. How long has Bessie been away?

Assessment

34. Why does Miss Moffat think it is not very likely that Morgan will win the Oxford University scholarship?

ACT I, SCENE 1

ACT II, SCENE 1

1. What language does Jones use when singing and in communicating with Idwal?

22. What question does Old Tom ask Miss Ronberry regarding Shakespeare?

2. Why hasn’t Sarah’s post office had a letter for seven weeks?

23. What is Miss Moffat’s strategy for teaching Greek to Morgan when she doesn’t know the language herself?

3. Where have Miss Ronberry and The Squire met before?

4. What reason does the Squire give for why he won’t forget Miss Ronberry at the next wedding?

5. How old is Idwal?

24. Where has Bessie’s mother, Mrs. Watty, gone?

25. What does Bessie say she has heard Morgan does while on his walks?

6. Why isn’t Idwal working in the mine?

26. Why does Bessie ask Miss Moffat for money?

7. What has Miss Moffat brought in huge numbers?

27. Who wrote, “Bessie Watty has the face of an angel?”

8. What about Miss Moffat surprises the Squire and Miss Ronberry?

28. Describe Morgan’s appearance and behavior when he returns to the school.

9. What problem did Mrs. Watty have before she was “saved?”

29. What excuse does Morgan give to Miss Moffat explaining why he cannot recite the Voltaire verse yet?

10. Who is the source of the singing Miss Moffat hears?

11. What do Miss Moffat and Miss Ronberry have in common?

12. According to Miss Moffat, why is Jones “a disappointed man?”

13. Where are the village children sent after they turn twelve?

30. Why does Miss Moffat feel proud that Griffith, the butcher, laughed so hard at the Squire’s pun?

31. How does Miss Moffat convince the Squire that Morgan should be allowed to compete for the Oxford scholarship?

32. Where does Morgan tell Miss Moffat he is going?

35. What news does Bessie bring when she returns?

ACT III, SCENE 1 36. What news is everyone waiting for at the beginning of the scene?

37. Describe Morgan’s experience with the examiners and other scholarship applicants.

38. Who is the father of Bessie’s baby?

39. What does Bessie say she wants from Morgan?

40. Who volunteers to marry Bessie? Why does she refuse?

41. Who does Mrs. Watty suggest should adopt the baby? Why does this person agree?

42. How does Morgan find out what is going on?

43. According to the letter that arrives for Miss Moffat, who has won the Oxford scholarship?

44. What does Miss Moffat say Morgan’s life will be like if he goes after Bessie?

45. Why can Morgan never see Miss Moffat again?

46. What is Morgan’s final decision?

47. What document does Miss Moffat receive?

14. What does Miss Moffat plan to do?

ACT I, SCENE 2 15. What does Miss Moffat do when Morgan asks her for a kiss?

16. Why hasn’t any work on the school been accomplished?

17. What message does the Squire deliver to Miss Moffat?

18. Why is the Squire upset about the workers being out of the mine?

19. Why does Morgan live alone?

20. How did Morgan learn to read?

21. Where does Miss Moffat decide to start this school?

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Huntington Theatre Company

Kate Burton and Morgan Ritchie in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of The Corn is Green; photo: Joan Marcus

OPEN RESPONSE & WRITING

Assignments OPEN RESPONSE ASSESSMENT

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Instructions to the students: Please answer the following as thoroughly as possible in a wellplanned and carefully written paragraph.

Remember to use topic sentences and examples from the text.

1. In the mid to late 19th century, many people similar to the character of Miss Moffat traveled to Wales to bring British education and civility to the Welsh countryside. Is it accurate to describe the Welsh villagers in The Corn is Green as “uncivilized?” Why or why not? Use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

1. The play, The Corn is Green is structured in three acts, but its overall length is similar to many contemporary one and two act plays. When each act is relatively short, why would a playwright decide to divide the play up in this way? What does structuring a play in three acts allow the playwright to do that cannot be done in two?

What are the pros and cons of the threeact structure?

2. Describe the role of singing and music in the play. What is its purpose in the characters’ lives? How does it factor in as a dramatic device?

3. At the beginning of the play, Miss Ronberry, Mr. Jones, and the Squire are expecting L.C. Moffat to be a man, and are shocked to meet a woman instead.

Why do you think they made that assumption?

4. Do you think Bessie Watty planned in advance to seduce Morgan? Why or why not? What was her primary motivator?

5. Describe Miss Moffat’s interactions with and comments about Bessie. How do you think they impacted Bessie’s decisions and eventual fate?

6. Miss Moffat fears that the examiners will not understand or appreciate Morgan’s “highly original intelligence,” and choose to give the scholarship to someone with a more general academic knowledge of facts and dates, which Morgan lacks. In today’s world, do you think it is more important and useful to be able to remember and report information, or to use critical thinking skills and express original ideas and interpretations?

2. Write a journal entry from Miss Moffat’s perspective, as if it was written on her journey to Glasarno, Wales. How did she first hear about Glasarno and what made her decide to go there? What hopes and fears does she express about the future? How does she plan to progress upon her arrival?

3. In Act One Scene Two, Miss Moffat discovers a bit of writing in a composition book by Morgan Evans, in which he refers to “where the corn is green.”

Read the line in the context of the rest of the speech. What is Morgan writing about? Why do you think Miss Moffat sees this bit of writing as special? Why do you think playwright Emlyn Williams used this line as the title of the play?

4. Examine the following dialogue: MISS MOFFAT: Do you want to learn any more?

MORGAN: No, thank you.

MISS MOFFAT: Why not?

MORGAN: Nobody ever ask me to.

Consider the time and place in which Morgan lives. Do you believe Morgan’s reason that he had never been asked to learn before is a valid reason for not having or desiring an education? Should modern students take any responsibility for decisions regarding their own intellectual development? Why or why not?

5. When Morgan arrives back at the school drunk, Miss Ronberry comments that she’s “never seen [him] like this before,” to which Morgan responds: “You haven’t, have you? Well—now I come to think of it, I haven’t neither.”

What does Morgan mean by this? Read Morgan’s monologue that follows this exchange. How has his daily life changed as a result of his new education? In his view, what kind of impact has his education made on his life?

6. Throughout the play, Miss Moffat is faced with the challenge of convincing the Squire that the villagers, who are his workers, should be engaging in educational pursuits. Why do you think she has to work so hard to do this? What does the Squire gain by preventing the workers from attending classes? What does he gain by permitting them to go?

Describe how Miss Moffat changes the Squire’s mind.

7. When Bessie Watty returns to Glasarno with news of her pregnancy, she tells Miss Moffat, “I’m teaching you something, am I? You didn’t know things like that went on, did you? Why? You couldn’t see what was going on under your nose, ‘cause you’re too busy managin’ everythin’! Well, you can’t manage him any longer…” What does she mean by this? How and for what purpose has Miss Moffat been “managing” Morgan?

How does Bessie think her news will change things?

8. At the end of the play, Morgan must make a choice between marrying Bessie Watty to take care of their child, or accepting the Oxford University scholarship and allowing Miss Moffat to adopt the baby. He initially intends to choose the former, claiming he has “a duty to—to them both.” Miss Moffat counters that argument with the belief that Morgan’s “only duty—is to the world.” What does Miss Moffat mean by this? Describe Morgan’s future if he goes to Oxford University. How will Morgan be fulfilling a duty to the world if he chooses this future?

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Arts Assessment The following exercises are interactive, handson challenges in Drama, Music, Design, and Visual Arts. They aim to give students a better understanding of the many tasks that contribute to a theatrical production.

ACTING Many of the actors who perform in productions of The Corn is Green play characters that speak in Welsh or in both Welsh and English. What challenges do you think actors face when playing a bilingual role?

What skills do they use to communicate with their audience in a language that neither they nor the audience may understand? To explore this, use the following improvisation exercise: • The instructor should write conflicts on pieces of paper and put them into a hat, then break the students into pairs.

• Each pair should select a conflict from the hat.

• The students’ challenge is to improvise a scene in which they introduce and resolve the conflict using gibberish (nonsensical) language and nonverbal communication. Students may insert

one or two English words throughout, but the scene should be overwhelmingly played in gibberish.

• The rest of the class must determine the conflict, and how it was solved.

Discuss what vocal and physical choices the actors made to communicate what was happening.

CHARACTERIZATION Break students into groups. Assign each group a scene from The Corn is Green, and a character to play in the scene. Students should read the scene out loud, and then decide what events happened in each character’s day from the time they woke up until the moment the scene begins. How do different experiences impact the character’s behavior, emotions, and tone in the scene?

Try reading and performing the scene a few different times, with different days plotted for each character.

MUSIC The Welsh villagers are frequently heard singing throughout the play, including on their way to and from working in the mines.

Research traditional Welsh music. What

THE DESIGN PROCESS The first scene of The Corn is Green includes descriptions and comments from the characters regarding the house where Miss Moffat will be living. Imagine you are the set designer, and must translate the information in the stage directions and dialogue in this scene into a design for the set. Start by researching the play’s period and location. What might the house itself look like?

The furniture and other contents? How does the interior of a home reflect the person who lives there? Use your research, as well as the details discussed in the play and knowledge of Miss Moffat’s character to depict the style and contents of the room in which the play takes place. After viewing the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Corn is Green, compare your design with that of the production’s set designer. How were your ideas similar or different?

Related Works and Resources

The BBC’s Website for Welsh music: www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music

You might explore the following works as supplements to this guide:

The Official Website for Welsh Tourism: www.visitwales.com

Books Night Must Fall (1966) by Emlyn Williams

Website for the Welsh Assembly Government, with options to view the site in either English or Welsh: new.wales.gov.uk/splash

A Month in the Country (1974) adapted by Emlyn Williams from Ivan Turgenev

Website for the Williamstown Theatre Festival: www.wtfestival.org

A History of Wales (1977) by John Davies

DVD The Corn is Green (Film—1945) with Bette Davis and John Dall

WWW The Blue Books of 1847 online at the National Library of Wales: www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=thebluebooks

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musical instruments were common? What themes do the lyrics focus on? How do these aspects of the traditional songs compare to the Welsh folk music of today? What about traditional and contemporary American folk music? How does it compare to the Welsh version? Find an example of each to share with your class, either by playing audio versions or by singing/performing them yourself.

Huntington Theatre Company

The Corn is Green (TV adaptation—1979) with Katharine Hepburn and Ian Saynor

Kate Burton and Morgan Ritchie in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of The Corn is Green; photo: Joan Marcus

After Viewing the Production Post-show discussions can serve as a valuable way for students to process what they have seen in the performance and relate it to aspects of their own lives or other academic subjects. In addition to the post-show actors’ forum offered by the Huntington Theatre Company, it can be useful to actively engage students in an examination of the play and the themes it presents upon returning to the classroom.

PART I: STATEMENTS Read this series of statements to the students, all of which are related to actions and choices made by the characters in The Corn is Green. They should stand if they agree with the statement, and sit if they disagree.

• Men and women should adhere to traditional gender roles.

• People should mind their own business at all times and not interfere in other people’s lives.

• Life is only fulfilling if it is spent in the service of others.

more enlightened way of life, whatever it takes.

• Ignorance is bliss.

• No one should have to learn anything they don’t want to.

It is likely that a variety of opinions will arise. It is important to allow students to speak more on their thoughts if they would like to do so. But they should at all times be speaking in support of their own position, rather than attacking other students’ positions. It is important that differing opinions not only result from this process but are also welcomed by the class.

PART II: EXPLORATION Explore subtext and “reading between the lines” by getting student volunteers to read the following three scenes out loud.

This can be done either with the students in their seats, trying to recall the staging used in the Huntington Theatre Company performance, or creating your own staging.

• It is the responsibility of students, not teachers, to make sure learning is taking place.

• Page 5-6, Miss Ronberry/Squire/Jones Begin MISS RON: Squire…

End SQUIRE: All these books.

• Those who are “civilized” are obligated to bring the “uncivilized” into a

• Page 42-44, Miss Moffat/Morgan Begin MISS MOFFAT: Is this your

essay on the Wealth of Nations?

End MISS MOFFAT: … I don’t understand you at all.

• Page 60-65, Bessie/Squire/Miss Ronberry/Jones/Mrs. Watty/Miss Moffat Begin BESSIE: Hello.

End BESSIE: …What d’you bet me?

For each scene, examine the contrast between the text and subtext of the scene.

What are the characters saying versus what do they actually mean, think, or feel?

What in the actors’ performances at the Huntington Theatre Company and in the classroom indicates that there is something else being communicated beyond the words being spoken?

PART III: REFLECTION This is the time to tie things up. Ask the students to offer any final thoughts about the play. Was there any character they particularly identified with? Was there a specific aspect of the production they felt was particularly well executed? Did the live performance reflect what they expected as a result of their in-class work? What do they think might happen to the characters in the future? Do they still have any questions about the characters or the play?

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Lesson Plans Teachers’ note: Choose activities that are appropriate for your classroom period. All assignments are suggestions. Only a teacher knows his or her class well enough to determine the level and depth to which any piece of literature may be examined.

ONE-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the context and major themes of the production.

DAY ONE - Introducing the Play 1. Distribute Mastery Assessment (P. 10) for The Corn is Green for students to read before the performance and to review again after attending it.

Optional: Distribute Handout 1: Vocabulary and ask students to define each word. A vocabulary test could be administered after viewing the play.

2. Read the Synopsis (P. 1) of the play. Discuss other works students have studied with similar themes and issues.

3. If time allows, discuss further pages from the literary guide, narrating highlights for students.

FOUR-DAY LESSON PLAN introduces students to the production and then, after viewing the performance, asks them to think more critically about what they have seen. Includes time for class discussion and individual assessment.

DAY ONE - Introducing the Play Same as Day One above; completed before seeing the production.

DAY TWO - The Production Attend the performance at the Huntington Theatre Company.

Homework: Students should answer the Mastery Assessment (P. 10) questions.

DAY THREE - Follow-up Discussion Discuss Mastery Assessment answers in class.

DAY FOUR - Test Individual Assessment: Choose either several questions from the Open Response (P. 11) or one question from Writing Assignments (P. 11) for students to answer in one class period.

Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration (P. 15) or Arts Assessment (P. 12) tasks to complete for extra credit.

SEVEN-DAY LESSON PLAN completely integrates The Corn is Green into your schedule. Within seven school days, you can introduce the play, assign reading and vocabulary, and assess your students as individuals and in groups. Students will ideally view the play after completing all assigned work.

DAY ONE - Introducing the play Same as Day One above.

Optional: Distribute Handout 1: Vocabulary due on Day Three.

Homework: Read the Act One and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment (P. 10) questions.

DAY TWO - Act One Discuss Act One and answers to Mastery Assessment questions.

Homework: Read Act Two and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment questions.

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Huntington Theatre Company

DAY THREE - Act Two Discuss Act Two and answers to Mastery Assessment questions.

Homework: Read Act III. Begin work for Handout 2, Dramatizing Your Life Story.

DAY FOUR - Act Three Discuss Act Three and answers to Mastery Assessment questions.

Homework: Continue working on Handout 2, Dramatizing Your Life Story due on Day Six. DAY FIVE - Attend Performance Homework: Prepare work from Preparation Key Issues (P. 9); For Further Exploration (P. 15); or Arts Assessment(P. 12) sections. Continue working on Handout 2, Dramatizing Your Life Story due on Day Six. DAY SIX - Dramatizing Your Life Story Presentations Presentations: Read student-written scenes out loud in class. Discuss the questions at the bottom of the sheet.

DAY SEVEN - Test Individual Assessment: Choose either several questions from the Open Response (P. 11) section or two questions from Writing Assignments (P. 11) for students to answer in one class period.

For Further Exploration Note to Teachers: The following ideas and questions can be used to further explore the text. They can be used as prompts for class discussion or additional writing assignments.

1. In the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Corn is Green, Kate Burton reprises the role of Miss Moffat, who she previously played at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Other notable actresses to assume the character over the years include Ethel Barrymore, Eva La Gallienne, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, and Cicely Tyson. Research the theatrical careers of these women.

What other roles did they play before and after Miss Moffat? How are they similar to or different from this role? What qualities characterize these actresses’ performances? What about this particular character do you think would have been appealing to them?

2. A dramaturge is a person who provides the director, actors, and company producing a play with various pieces of background information that will help them to interpret the script. This background information could include, but is not limited to: information about the socio-economic status of the characters, the history of the period and location in which the play was written or is set, any motifs or recurring symbols, past productions of the play, and/or relevant biographical information on the writer(s). If you

were assigned to be the dramaturge for a production of The Corn is Green, what kind of images and other information would you provide to the production?

3. In the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of The Corn is Green, acting runs in the family: Morgan Evans is played by Morgan Ritchie, the real-life son of Kate Burton, who plays Miss Moffat. Kate Burton’s father, Richard Burton, was also a wellknown stage and film actor. Research the history of U.S and European performing families. In what kinds of settings in the past would you find groups of related performers? Are there any contemporary film, television, or stage actors who have acting “in their blood”? Would you want to follow the career path of anyone in your own family? Why or why not?

4. Miss Moffat submits Morgan for consideration for a scholarship to Oxford University, a university that has been in existence for at least 800 years, and continues to be one of the top universities in the world today. Explore the history of Oxford University. How is it structured? What kinds of research is it best known for? Who are some famous graduates and faculty members over its 800-year history? What are the admission and scholarship application procedures both today and in the late 19th century, the time when The Corn is Green takes place? How do they compare to admission and scholarship application procedures in the United States?

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Name:_______________________________________________________

Handout 1

VOCABULARY Appurtenances

Mongrel

Barbarian

Nuisance

Benign

Obstinate

Civilly

Pedagogue

Conquest

Percolated

Conscience

Poaching

Cropper

Posterity

Crude

Premonition

Deplorable

ProtĂŠgĂŠ

Despondent

Provocation

Deuced

Pulverize

Excavate

Radius

Exuberant

Rubbish

Florid

Sciatica

Forbears

Shrewdness

Fulsome

Spinster

Gentry

Staccato

Indulge

Stolid

Infuriating

Tankard

Invigilating

Toil

Liveried

Tremulous

Miser

Virile

Mite

Date:________________________

Name:_______________________________________________________

Date:________________________

Handout 2

DRAMATIZING YOUR LIFE STORY Writers sometimes look to their own lives for inspiration when developing a play, novel, or other piece of writing; they borrow from their real-life experiences, or the experiences of people they know, to create a character or plan out a plot. In this exercise, imagine that you have decided to follow in Emlyn Williams’ footsteps by writing a play that is “based on a true story”—the story of your own life!

1. Start by making a timeline of major events in each year of your life, from your birth up to this moment. Include • Things that you did or that happened to you • Things that your friends and family members did that affected you • Things that happened to your friends and family members that affected you • Major local, national, and world events and their impact on your life 2. Next, determine the focus of your play. Review your life’s timeline—Are there any events that occurred more than once? Are there any events in which you can draw a cause-and-effect correlation? Are there any events that are similar to each other? Is there any one event that stands out as a pivotal moment in your journey to who you are today? Decide whether you will focus on one specific event in your life, or on a combination of related events.

3. Make a second timeline, which will focus solely on the subject you have chosen for your play.

Chart out what happened, and include as many specific details as possible.

4. Look over your new timeline. Other than the basic situation, are there details of what happened that you would like to change in your play? Or are there embellishments you would like to add?

Decide what you will alter and what you will keep true to life.

5. Make changes to your timeline to reflect which facts you’ve decided to alter. This new timeline will serve as an outline of your play’s plot.

6. Write at least one scene. Be sure your scene has a distinct beginning, middle, and end.

The scene should also have a central conflict. Have volunteers read the scene out loud in class, and be prepared to explain: • Where does this scene fit into the overall plot of your play?

• Did changing some details of your life’s story make it easier or more difficult to write the scene?

• If you had been writing using only the facts, how do you think your approach would have been different?

Good luck!

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS TIES The Huntington Theatre Company’s Student Matinee Series provides an invaluable opportunity for teachers, students, and families looking to increase young people’s understanding of and interest in dramatic literature and the performing arts. This section contains a list of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Theatre and English Language Arts that are addressed fully, in part, or are supplemented by attending the Huntington’s production of The Corn is Green and utilizing this study guide as a pre- and post-show resource.

THEATRE Acting • 1.7 Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted or improvised scene

Technical Theatre • 4.12 Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production. For example, students select a play from a particular historical period, genre, or style and conduct research using reference materials such as books, periodicals, museum collections, and the Internet to find appropriate examples of hairstyles, furnishings, decorative accessories, and clothing.

Critical Response • 5.5 Continue to develop and refine audience behavior skills when attending informal and formal live performances • 5.12 Attend live performances of extended length and complexity, demonstrating an understanding of the protocols of audience behavior appropriate to the style of the performance

• 1.10 Use vocal acting skills such as breath control, diction, projection, inflection, rhythm, and pace to develop characterizations that suggest artistic choices

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

• 1.11 Motivate character behavior by using recall of emotional experience as well as observation of the external world

• 8.20 Identify and analyze the author’s use of dialogue and description

• 1.12 Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ wants, needs, objectives, and personality characteristics

• 8.24 Interpret mood and tone, and give supporting evidence in a text

• 1.13 In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a collaborative process) • 1.15 Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by creating a character analysis • 1.17 Demonstrate an increased ability to work effectively alone and collaboratively with a partner or ensemble

Grades 5-8 • 8.19 Identify and analyze sensory details and figurative language

• 8.23 Use knowledge of genre characteristics to analyze a text

• 8.25 Interpret a character’s traits, emotions, or motivation and give supporting evidence from a text • 9.5 Relate a literary work to artifacts, artistic creations, or historical sites of the period of its setting • 10.3 Identify and analyze the characteristics of various genres (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, short story, dramatic literature) as forms with distinct characteristics and purposes • 17.3 Identify and analyze structural elements particular to dramatic literature (scenes, acts, cast of characters, stage directions) in the plays they read, view, write, and perform • 17.5 Identify and analyze elements of setting, plot, and characterization in the plays that are read, viewed, written, and/or performed: setting (place, historical period, time of day); plot (exposition, conflict, rising action, falling action); and characterization (character motivations, actions, thoughts, development) Grades 9-10 • 9.6 Relate a literary work to primary source documents of its literary period or historical setting

© Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 January 2008 No portion of this Teacher Curriculum Guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education.

Inquiries should be directed to: Donna Glick, Director of Education Huntington Theatre Company 264 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115

• 11.5 Apply knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, and provide support from the text for the identified themes • 17.7 Identify and analyze how dramatic conventions support, interpret, and enhance dramatic text Grades 11-12 • 9.7 Relate a literary work to the seminal events of its time • 11.6 Apply knowledge of the concept that a text can contain more than one theme • 11.7 Analyze and compare texts that express a universal theme, and locate support in the text for the identified theme • 17.9 Identify and analyze dramatic conventions (monologue, soliloquy, chorus, aside, dramatic irony)