Everyman Theatre "Intimate Apparel" Play Guide by Everyman Theatre

PLAY GUIDE

EVERYMAN THEATRE G REAT STO RI ES, WELL TOLD.

#bmoreeveryman

A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR By Vincent M. Lancisi, Artistic Director

t Everyman, we place a high value on intimacy. We are attracted to stories that are intimate, relationships that are intimate and performances that are intimate and offer an up-close view into a person’s life. We love to hold the mirror up to nature in a way that allows audiences to detect the subtle layers of relationships and motivations in search of the truth in the play. Intimate Apparel is the epitome of this kind of play. Lynn Nottage is the only woman playwright to ever win two Pulitzer Prizes for her dramas. This doesn’t surprise me. Intimate Apparel marks the third Lynn Nottage play we have performed over the past three years. Ruined and By The Way, Meet Vera Stark were the other two. Needless to say, we’re big fans of her writing. Back in 2003 Intimate Apparel had its world premiere at Baltimore’s Center Stage. In fact, Center Stage cocommissioned the play with South Coast Rep. Thank God that they did, for it has become a beloved play and here we are 14 years later, bringing it back home to Baltimore. One of the great things about Nottage is that she often gives a voice to people we don’t see on stage. She tells all stories—a seamstress (Intimate Apparel) and a woman in the Congo (Ruined), among others. Intimate Apparel is about a unique woman—in many respects an

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“Everyman”—struggling to make her way in 1905 New York City, a city of immigrants reinventing themselves and living/working in close quarters, taking advantage of the opportunities they created to survive. I think it’s fascinating that this play marks resident company member Dawn Ursula’s third opportunity to portray one of these iconic people here at Everyman. She transforms right before our very eyes as she takes on another of Nottage’s extraordinary characters. Intimate Apparel is a play filled with powerful, expressive writing. It’s about love and life and pursuing your dreams. Nottage’s poetic style with this piece reminds me why she’s one of the finest playwrights writing today. Her plays are deeply human. Each one provides an experience for the audience that represents live theatre at its best. As we celebrate great writers and plays, please consider subscribing to the rest of the season here at Everyman. If you already subscribe, thank you. Experiencing each other’s stories is so important in our lives—especially in this fast paced, technological world we live in. We go to the theatre to connect with people—to see ourselves and others in ways that we might have overlooked or not thought about. If you like what you see here at Everyman, please spread the word. The most effective marketing is word of mouth and we want Everyone to see our plays. Talk about it, tweet it (#bmoreeveryman), share it on Facebook, tell your neighbor. It makes a difference.

EVERYMAN THEATRE presents

Vincent M. Lancisi, Founding Artistic Director Jonathan K. Waller, Managing Director

INTIMATE APPAREL Playwright LYNN NOTTAGE Director TAZEWELL THOMPSON

Esther.............................................................................................. DAWN URSULA* Mrs. Dickson..................................................................................... JENN WALKER* Mrs. Van Buren................................................................................. BETH HYLTON* Mr. Marks............................................................................................DREW KOPAS* Mayme.............................................................................................. JADE WHEELER* George................................................................................... BUEKA UWEMEDIMO* Set Design DONALD EASTMAN

Lighting Design STEPHEN QUANDT

Costume Design DAVID BURDICK

Sound Design & Composition FABIAN OBISPO

Dialects GARY LOGAN

Wig Design DENISE O’BRIEN

Piano Consultant ERNEST LIOTTI

Props Master JILLIAN MATHEWS

Stage Manager AMANDA M. HALL*

Understudy-Mr. Marks STEVE POLITES

Time and Place: Lower Manhattan, 1905. This production will be performed in two acts with one intermission.

PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES. NO TEXTING. NO EATING IN THE THEATRE. Intimate Apparel is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. Commissioned and first produced by South Coast Repertory and Center Stage. Originally produced in New York by Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Artistic Director. The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. * Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement for the appearance is made at the time of the performance.

SPONSORS VIC & NANCY ROMITA INTIMATE APPAREL PLAY GUIDE | 3

Lynn Nottage sits for a portrait in her studio in Brooklyn, New York on April 6, 2014. Photo by Jesse Dittmar for The Washington Post.

THE PLAYWRIGHT Lynn Nottage

ynn Nottage is a playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” winner born and living in Brooklyn, New York. She is the only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Nottage has also been honored with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, OBIE Awards, Helen Hayes Awards, and nominations for Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards. Notable works include Sweat; Ruined (Everyman 2015); Intimate Apparel (Everyman 2017); By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Everyman 2014); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; and Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine. Nottage also worked as a Press Officer at Amnesty International and is an Associate Professor of theatre at Columbia University and a Lecturer at the Yale School of Drama.

Nottage’s plays are set everywhere from a Pennsylvania town in the early 2000s to Hollywood in the 1930s to a brothel in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, but they are connected in their stories of the African or African-American woman’s experience and in amplifying the voices of people who are often overlooked. When writing, Nottage conducts intense textual and photographic research, following a motto of “replace judgment with curiosity.”

Surprisingly, Sweat is the only of Nottage’s plays to be produced on Broadway despite her storied career off-Broadway and around the world. Photo series of Lynn Nottage for the MacArthur Foundation. Photos by John D. & Catherine T. Nottage and fellow playwright and former teacher, Paula Vogel, spoke about their long journeys to the Great White Way in a New York Times article this year: In addition to this solo research, Nottage also “The two of us write history plays, and we write political interviewed survivors of the Congolese civil war in plays, and I think that that’s why, perhaps, our journey Uganda for Ruined and factory workers in Reading, has been a little different,” Ms. Nottage said. “The plays Pennsylvania for Sweat. It’s no wonder, then, that are unabashedly political and they’re about very difficult Nottage’s characters are often “morally ambiguous subject matters and they tend to be unafraid of the heroes or heroines, people who are fractured within darkness. And I think that women writers are supposed their own bodies, who have to make very difficult to embrace the light.” choices in order to survive” (New Yorker) given that they are based on the experiences of real people. EVERYMAN THEATRE

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In Her Words On Her Second Pulitzer Prize Win...

Dawn Ursula (left) and Kelli Blackwell in By The Way, Meet Vera Stark at Everyman Theatre during the 2013/14 Season. Photo by ClintonBPhotography.

“No. 1, I’m representing for women, and No. 2, I’m representing for playwrights of color.” On the Journey to Broadway... “...repeatedly I heard, ‘There are no black actresses who can open a Broadway play.’ It was frustrating—the unwillingness to gamble on this play [Ruined] that had proven to be very successful, because it was written by a woman of color and starred women of color.” On Writing From Experience... “I always write about my experience; it’s just told through metaphor… I just feel like I follow where my imagination goes. I think I’m restless. And I think the restlessness is manifest in the work. I like to wander; I’ve always liked to wander, from the time I was very young. I like to travel to different places; I like to see different landscapes. I think that that’s just sort of flowed into my work.”

Comprehension: How do Lynn Nottage’s personal experiences inform her playwriting?

LYNN NOTTAGE PLAY FEATURED AT EVERYMAN FOR THE THIRD TIME Intimate Apparel marks the third Lynn Nottage play produced at Everyman Theatre. Resident Company member Dawn Ursula has performed in all three productions, including Ruined and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. Intimate Apparel is particularly special to her, as Ursula directed a staged reading of the play during Everyman’s Salon Series—a time when she became deeply attached to the characters. Fun Fact Jade Wheeler and Bueka Uwemedimo, playing Mayme and George respectively in Intimate Apparel, also performed in Everyman’s production of Ruined during our 2014/15 Season. Pictured at right, from top to bottom: Dawn Ursula, Bueka Uwemedimo, and Jade Wheeler in Ruined at Everyman Theatre. Photos by ClintonBPhotography.

Dawn Ursula at the first read of Intimate Apparel at Everyman Theatre.

Reflection: Whose stories do you want to hear and why? Who would you interview about their life and why?

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THE PLAY SETTING

Lower Manhattan, New York City in the year 1905. Scenes unfold in a number of apartments and boarding house rooms throughout the city, which vary in style, status, and mood.

1905, subway entrance and exit kiosks at East 23rd Street. Courtesy Library of Congress/Stephen Thompson.

Circa 1900, a Fifth Avenue stagecoach. Courtesy Library of Congress/Stephen Thompson.

THE CONFLICT

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1906, Annual parade of the Coaching Club. Courtesy Library of Congress/Stephen Thompson.

An African-American woman with an entrepreneurial spirit makes a living stitching undergarments for women of diverse backgrounds throughout New York City. As an unmarried woman of personal and professional aspiration, she begins a courtship with a man she has never met via letters, despite a fondness for her local fabric merchant, in hopes that a better future awaits her.

THE CHARACTERS Esther (played by Dawn Ursula) is a seamstress in her mid-thirties living in a tenement building, where she sews intimate garments for clients whose stories captivate and shape her.

Mrs. Dickson (played by Jenn Walker) is the owner of the boarding house where Esther lives. A widow for many years, she is a woman in her fifties of high moral standard.

Mrs. Van Buren (played by Beth Hylton) is one of Esther’s clients who is a wealthy Manhattan socialite. She shares accounts of her life and marriage, and laments her husband’s long-term absences from home.

Mr. Marks (played by Drew Kopas) is Esther’s Romanian fabric merchant, who practices Orthodox Judaism. He has been affianced for many years to a woman in Romania through his family’s arrangements.

Mayme (played by Jade Wheeler) is another client of Esther’s. She is originally from Memphis and, though Esther is in her thirties, she remains unmarried. Her goals of becoming a professional musician derailed, she currently resides above a New York City saloon.

George (played by Bueka Uwemedimo) is a Barbadian immigrant laborer in his thirties, working on the construction of the Panama Canal. He initiates a courtship with Esther through handwritten letters.

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CHARACTER FOILS IN INTIMATE APPAREL Character foil: A foil is a character who highlights, through sharp contrast, the qualities of another character.

SIMILA

ESTHER

• African-American • Seamstress • Single • Illiterate (cannot read/write) • Defies gender stereotypes • Lives in a tenement building

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• Female • In her 30s • Lives in New Y • Heavily influe actions, words, • Envious of so • Insecure abou • No children

ARITIES

York City enced by men’s , & thoughts omeone else ut herself

MRS. VAN BUREN • White American • Housewife • Married • Literate (can read/write) • Illuminates gender stereotypes • Lives in an elegant home

Comprehension: What is a foil character? Reflection: There are other foils in this play. How are George and Mr. Marks or Mayme and Mrs. Van Buren foil characters? Explain by comparing and contrasting their qualities.

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TIMELINE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

A brief history of women in finance, business, politics and entrepreneurship, and the policies that paved the way for them.

1870

Ellen Swallow Richards is admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As the first woman to be accepted to a science and technology school, she graduated in 1873 and later became the school’s first female teacher. In 1876, she established the Women’s Laboratory at MIT.

1872

Victoria Woodhull is the first woman to run for President of the United States. She and her sister, Tennessee Claflin, opened Woodhull, Claflin & Co., becoming the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street. They, however, never gained a seat on the New York Stock Exchange—something no woman would achieve until 1967.

1919

Sarah Breedlove is celebrated as the country’s first female self-made millionaire. Born into freedom as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation and orphaned at a young age, she later invented and sold homemade hair-care products to black women through the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Breedlove built a factory, a laboratory, and a beauty school to train sales agents.

1934

Lettie Pate Whitehead is appointed to the board of The Coca-Cola Company, making her one of the first women to serve on the board of a major corporation. She held the position for nearly two decades. Her husband founded the first Coca-Cola bottling facilities. After his death, she took over the business, and later expanded it by founding the Whitehead Holding Company and the Whitehead Realty Company.

1963

Katharine Graham becomes president of The Washington Post, then a small, family-owned newspaper. By the early 1970s, she would become CEO and the first woman to lead a major U.S. corporation. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 passes, requiring that men and women receive equal pay for equal work in the same company.

1967

Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange—the only woman among 1,365 men on the trading floor. (Until this time, women were only permitted on the trading floor as clerks and pages to fill shortages during World War II and the Korean War.) She donated millions of dollars from her brokerage and securities underwriting business to help other women get their starts in business and finance. Ten years later, she became the first female Superintendent of Banks for New York, overseeing all of the state’s banks, which had about $500 billion of assets under management, according to the MoAF. Not a single bank failed during her tenure.

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1978

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 serves as an update to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.

1987

Aretha Franklin is the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With a background in gospel music, “The Queen of Soul” was signed to recording companies like Columbia, Arista, and Atlantic Records. According to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Franklin’s greatest triumph—and an enduring milestone in popular music—was her hit song, “Respect.”

2000

Executive Order 13157 is signed by President Bill Clinton to increase opportunities for womenowned small businesses. It charges the Small Business Administration to work with each federal agency to identify contracting opportunities for businesses owned by female entrepreneurs.

2007

Christine LaGarde of France becomes the first woman to hold the post of Finance and Economy Minister of a G-7 country. She would later shatter another glass ceiling when, on July 5, 2011, she would become the eleventh Managing Director of the IMF—the first woman to take that title.

2009

2010

2014

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is an update to The Equal Pay Act. The amendment states that “Wages can include more than just hourly or annual pay. Wages includes bonuses, company cars, expense accounts, insurance, etc.”

Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first female to win the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. Bigelow also became the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing.

Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African-American female billionaire. The former television host turned media mogul founded OWN cable network and has a 10% stake in Weight Watchers. She is currently America’s highest-paid female celebrity, worth roughly $3 billion.

2017

Four decades ago, Yoshiko Shinohara—armed with a high school degree and secretarial experience— started a temp-staffing company in her one-bedroom Tokyo apartment. Now, at age 82, she’s become Japan’s first self-made woman billionaire. She recently retired as chairman of staffing company Temp Holdings, which had revenues of $4.5 billion last year.

NOW

Lynn Nottage’s play Intimate Apparel, is produced at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland

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The Panama Canal’s chartered vessel transited the new Agua Clara Locks in the Atlantic side on June 9, 2016. From the Canal de Panamá YouTube Channel.

THE PANAMA CANAL History.com

ollowing the failure of a French construction team in the 1880s, the United States commenced building a canal across a 50-mile stretch of the Panama isthmus in 1904. The project was helped by the elimination of disease-carrying mosquitoes, while chief engineer John Stevens devised innovative techniques and spurred the crucial redesign from a sea-level to a lock canal. His successor, Lt. Col. George Washington Goethals, stepped up excavation efforts of a stubborn mountain range and oversaw the building of the dams and locks. Opened in 1914, oversight of the worldfamous Panama Canal was transferred from the U.S. to Panama in 1999. The idea of creating a water passage across the isthmus of Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans dates back to at least the 1500s, when King Charles I of Spain tapped his regional governor to survey a route along the Chagres River. The realization of such a route across the mountainous, jungle terrain was deemed impossible at the time, although the idea remained tantalizing as a potential shortcut from Europe to eastern Asia. France was ultimately the first country to attempt the task. Led by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal in Egypt, the construction team broke ground on a planned sea-level canal in 1880. The French soon comprehended the monumental challenge ahead of them: Along with the incessant rains that caused heavy landslides, there was no effective means for combating the spread of yellow fever and malaria. De Lesseps belatedly realized that a sea-level canal was too difficult and reorganized efforts toward a lock canal, but funding was pulled from the project in 1888.

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Following the deliberations of the U.S. Isthmian Canal Commission and a push from President Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. purchased the French assets in the canal zone for $40 million in 1902. When a proposed treaty over rights to build in what was then a Colombian territory was rejected, the U.S. threw its military weight behind a Panamanian independence movement, eventually negotiating a deal with the new government in 1903 that gave them rights in perpetuity to the canal zone. Seemingly not grasping the lessons from the French effort, the Americans devised plans for a sea-level canal along the roughly 50-mile stretch from Colón to Panama City. The project officially commenced with a dedication ceremony on May 4, 1904, but chief engineer John Wallace encountered immediate problems. Much of the French equipment was in need of repair, while the spread of yellow fever and malaria was frightening off the workforce. Under pressure to keep construction moving forward, Wallace instead resigned after a year. A railroad specialist named John Stevens took over as chief engineer in July 1905 and immediately addressed the workforce issues by recruiting West Indian laborers. Stevens ordered new equipment and devised efficient methods to speed up work, such as the use of a swinging boom to lift chunks of railroad track and adjust the train route for carting away excavated material. He also quickly recognized the difficulties posed by landslides and convinced Roosevelt that a lock canal was best for the terrain. The project was helped immensely by chief sanitary officer Dr. William Gorgas, who believed that mosquitoes carried the deadly diseases indigenous to the area. Gorgas embarked on a mission to wipe out the carriers, his team painstakingly fumigating homes and cleansing pools of water. The last reported case of yellow fever on the isthmus came in

November 1905, while malaria cases dropped precipitously over the following decade. Although construction was on track when President Roosevelt visited the area in November 1906, the project suffered a setback when Stevens suddenly resigned a few months later. Incensed, Roosevelt named Army Corps engineer Lt. Col. George Washington Goethals the new chief engineer, granting him authority over virtually all administrative matters in the building zone. Goethals proved a no-nonsense commander by squashing a work strike after taking charge, but he also oversaw the addition of facilities to improve the quality of life for workers and their families. Goethals focused efforts on Culebra Cut, the clearing of the mountain range between Gamboa and Pedro Miguel. Excavation of the nearly 9-mile stretch became an around-theclock operation, with up to 6,000 men contributing at any one time. Despite the attention paid to this phase of the project, Culebra Cut was a notorious danger zone, as casualties mounted from unpredictable landslides and dynamite explosions. Construction of the locks began with the pouring of concrete at Gatún in August 1909. Built in pairs, with each chamber measuring 110 feet wide by 1,000 feet long, the locks were embedded with culverts that leveraged gravity to raise and lower water levels. Ultimately, the three locks along the canal route lifted ships 85 feet above sea level, to man-made Gatún Lake in the middle. Hollow, buoyant lock gates were also built, varying in height from 47 to 82 feet. The entire enterprise was powered by electricity and run through a control board.

The Panama Canal officially opened on August 15, 1914, although the planned grand ceremony was downgraded due to the outbreak of WWI. Completed at a cost of more than $350 million, it was the most expensive construction project in U.S. history to that point. Altogether, some 3.4 million cubic meters of concrete went into building the locks, and nearly 240 million cubic yards of rock and dirt were excavated during the American construction phase. Of the 56,000 workers employed between 1904 and 1913, roughly 5,600 were reported killed. Bolstered by the addition of Madden Dam in 1935, the Panama Canal proved a vital component to expanding global trade routes in the 20th century. The transition to local oversight began with a 1977 treaty signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama leader Omar Torrijos, with the Panama Canal Authority assuming full control on December 31, 1999. Recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the seven wonders of the modern world in 1994, the canal hosted its 1 millionth passing ship in September 2010.

Map of Central America, Panama by Google Maps. Map of Panama Canal route © Thomas Römer/OpenStreetMap data CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The grand project began drawing to a close in 1913. Two steam shovels working from opposite directions met in the center of Culebra Cut in May, and a few weeks later, the last spillway at Gatún Dam was closed to allow the lake to swell to its full height. In October, President Woodrow Wilson operated a telegraph at the White House that triggered the explosion of Gamboa dike, flooding the final stretch of dry passageway at Culebra Cut.

Comprehension: How did the Panama Canal project get started? How long did it take? Who commissioned the project? Reflection: How do you think working on the Panama Canal would have affected George mentally, emotionally, and physically?

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32 MILLION U.S. ADULTS ARE “FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE”... WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? By Daniel Lattier, intellectualtakeout.org (August 26, 2015)

n a few of our blog posts we’ve mentioned the statistic that 32 million (1 in 7) adults in the U.S. are considered “functionally illiterate.” There have been some questions about the meaning of this mysterious term “functionally illiterate,” so I have provided something in the way of an explanation below. The most frequently referenced definition of “functional literacy” is from UNESCO’s conference in 1978: “A person is functionally literate who can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his group and community and also for enabling him to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his own and the community’s development.”

The UNESCO definition implies that a functionally literate person possesses a literacy level that equips him or her to flourish in society. A functionally illiterate person, on the other hand, may be able to perform very basic reading and writing, but cannot do so at the level required for many societal activities and jobs.

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What does functional illiteracy look like? Here are a couple of anecdotes from a 2011 CBS story entitled “Battling the Scourge of Illiteracy”: Walter Long is 59 years old and lives in the town outside of Pittsburgh where he grew up. He’s got a good job with the county water board, a nice house where he has raised four kids, and a wife who loves him. And for years, Walter Long also had a secret: He could not read. He faked it well, until one night when he was reading— or pretending to read—a story to his four-year-old daughter, Joanna. “My daughter looked up at me and said, ‘That’s not the way mom read it to me,’” Long recalls with emotion. “It’s still hard to say to a four-year-old, that you can’t read.” Lavonne McKinstry drives a school bus for the greater Pittsburgh school system. Ten years ago she would not have had the job because she couldn’t read well enough to pass the driving test. Like Long, she hid her lack of reading skills from everyone—even her daughters. “I was embarrassed, I was ashamed,” McKinstry says. “It hurt.”

Last year, a CNN article also pointed out that there are many college athletes are functionally illiterate. Indeed, it’s been estimated that 19% of high school graduates fall into that category. A piece from wiseGeek hints at the fact that America’s knowledge-based economy has increased the need for functional literacy:

 A survey conducted in 2003 by the National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that 14% (1 in 7) of the adults that participated in the survey were functionally literate.

“The level of illiteracy required for functional illiteracy varies from culture to culture. A person living in a rural, agrarian community in the developing world may be able to accomplish most daily tasks without advanced reading skills. Someone who lives in an urban environment with a strong reliance on technology must have a much higher literacy level to complete even simple tasks. “Functional illiteracy is not limited to those on the fringes of society. Major U.S. corporations such as Ford and Motorola have sponsored remedial reading programs to bring their employees up to a functional level of literacy.”

And what is the origin of the statistic that claims 32 million adults in the U.S. are functionally illiterate? It’s based on the National Assessment of Adult Literacy— conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2003—in which a demographically representative population of 19,000 adults were interviewed. According to the findings of the survey, 14% (1 in 7) of adults fell into the category of “Below Basic” in “Prose Literacy,” meaning that they possess “no more than the most simple and concrete literacy skills.” Those who fall into this category are deemed “functionally illiterate.” An international survey released in 2013 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development yielded similar results for U.S. adults.

Comprehension: How does this article define functional illiteracy? Reflection: Based on this definition, is Esther functionally illiterate? Is literacy as important today as it was in 1905? Why or why not?

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AMERICA’S IMMIGRANT STORY ABOUT CHASING A DREAM A review by David M. Shribman for City of Dreams: the 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York by Tyler Anbinder.

By David M. Shribman, Boston Globe (October 14, 2016)

n the nearly three decades between the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886 to the beginning of World War I, more than 17 million people poured into the United States. It is the largest population transfer in history, a rainbow of individuals who sought to feel the beat of what Emma Goldman called “the generous heart of America.” Goldman, born in Russia, arrested in America, an accomplice in the attempted assassination of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, is perhaps the best-known anarchist in our history. She makes an unlikely emigrant evangelist. But the pull of America was so strong — the promise of it so great — that even a hardened revolutionary felt it. The story of how those waves of millions, and those groups who came before and after, cascaded upon American shores is told brilliantly, even unforgettably, in Tyler Anbinder’s City of Dreams, a chronicle of the ultimate American story… And it arrives in time to offer needed context to one of this election season’s major preoccupations. “The story of immigrant New York,’’ Anbinder tells us in his prologue, “is truly the story of dreams”—in this case a recurring dream that had its beginnings in early New York, for by the middle of the 17th century the primitive settlement was already remarkably diverse, its nearly 20 languages producing what one Dutchman

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described as a “Babel of confusion.’’ In fact, the people who seemed most foreign were the English. There was toleration—to a point, though eventually toleration would be the point. In the beginning—three centuries before the Second Avenue Deli, which opened in 1954, became an American cultural touchstone and its extra-lean, tiptongue sandwich, now priced at $23.95, an American delicacy—Jews were singled out for opprobrium, forbidden to build synagogues for their “abominable religion,’’ barred from standing guard with the local militia, and then, in a peculiar twist of illogic, taxed for not standing guard. Later they were allowed to become bakers and butchers, though not to vote. Likewise, Lutherans struggled, not being permitted to have ministers. By 1700, Catholic priests also were barred. Anbinder shows us how deriding the latest batch of immigrants became a New York tradition, a cliché of cruelty that endures to this day. Even so, the city was a magnet for what he describes as “men and women of modest means who had heard that New York offered ambitious newcomers many paths to upward mobility.” This likewise remains so to this day. Passage to America was, until the end of the 19th century, an endurance test. Regardless of the point of origin, the central problem immigrants faced was basically the same: how to assimilate while retaining traces, or more, of their origin. But this sub drama played itself out as endless waves of new Americans coursed across the sea.

Anbinder... fills out the story with fascinating details: the structure of an immigrant ship; the ordeal of passing through inspection; how Italians became barbers and tailors; how Dominicans became livery drivers and operated bodegas; how the various ethnic groups distributed themselves in New York in a rough approximation of their place on the globe, with the French, for example, settling in the city near the Spanish; how the architecture of the New York tenement evolved over the years— and how the 18-inch air shaft in so many of them amplified sounds, carried odors, and spread fires. This is a story of city bosses and labor chieftains, of revolutionaries and mobsters, of great fears (of being labeled a “lunatic’’ or “idiot’’ or “imbecile’’ at Ellis Island) followed by great struggles (in domestic service and sweatshops, behind push brooms and pushcarts), of great myths (no one had his name changed at Ellis Island), great injustices (the dispatch of Japanese Americans to internment camps), and hard truths (the way ahead, and the American way, involved as much luck as work). “The story of immigrant New Yorkers changes constantly on its surface,” says Anbinder, “yet not at all at its heart.” So while this is a New York story, it really is an American story, one that belongs to all of us.

An Italian immigrant family on board a ferry from the docks to Ellis Island, New York. (Getty Images)

1907

“The peak year for admission of new immigrants was 1907, when approximately 1.3 million people entered the country legally. Within a decade, the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) caused a decline in immigration. In 1917, Congress enacted legislation requiring immigrants over 16 to pass a literacy test, and in the early 1920s immigration quotas were established. The Immigration Act of 1924 created a quota system that restricted entry to 2 percent of the total number of people of each nationality in America as of the 1890 national census–a system that favored immigrants from Western Europe–and prohibited immigrants from Asia.”

Health inspection for new immigrants, Ellis Island, New York, 1920. Comprehension: What are some difficulties faced by immigrants of the United States throughout its history? Discuss the idea of assimilation and how it applies to this story. Reflection: Compare and contrast Mr. Marks’ and George’s immigration experiences. How are they similar and yet very different?

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Costume Designer David Burdick in the costume shop at Baltimore Center Stage.

Q&A: FIVE QUESTIONS WITH DAVID BURDICK By Jessica Gregg, Baltimore Style (October 2017)

his month, the frilly fashion conceived by Everyman Theatre costume designer David Burdick will make its stage debut in Intimate Apparel, one of four plays at the theater to feature his work this season. Burdick, a seven-year company member, began researching, designing and fabric-shopping back in July. Here he shares some of the process with Baltimore Style.

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Tell us about the projects you’ve been working on. Intimate Apparel is the story of Esther a young black woman at the turn of the 20th century who moved to New York City and started a business, and her talent is making beautiful lingerie for high society Fifth Avenue women. She also has a friend who is a prostitute and she makes clothes for her, too. This play is a designer’s dream: Esther has three looks, for example—there are probably 14 looks for the play—but each look has different pieces, like a corset, and camisole and a dressing gown. As many as five designers can be making costumes. It’s a lot of costumes. That’s one of the fun things about this play. The second project is Revolutionists, an historical play about four women from the 18th century who

would never be in a room together, but the playwright invented this scenario. So we use some period stuff with high fashion. It’s more of a mixture, so there’s a bit more fantasy to it. You mentioned that you’ve been a fan of Intimate Apparel for a while. Esther is a great character. She perseveres and is so inspiring. She is a woman of color in 1906, making it on her own and starting her own business. Lynn Nottage is the playwright and I’ve done several of her plays. I like her work a lot. Why costumes? I love the theatre and grew up in a school system in Suburban Philadelphia that had a pretty strong theater program. I love clothes and fashion as well but the interesting thing about costumes is that I’m helping to tell the story by creating a look for a character. I love working with actors, and the greatest compliment I can get in a fitting is when an actor says, “I didn’t really know my character until I put these clothes on.” My job is really to make them more comfortable. Are there certain plays you’ve dreamt of designing for? Intimate Apparel is definitely one. I love Noël Coward, too, because his work is often about really stylish people. They aren’t necessarily always very nice, but they are always well-dressed.

Other Everyman productions featuring David Burdick’s costume designs... Top: The Beaux’ Stratagem at Everyman Theatre during the 2012/13 Season. Photo by Stan Barouh. Middle: Ghosts at Everyman Theatre during the 2014/15 Season. Photo by ClintonBPhotography. Bottom: By The Way, Meet Vera Stark at Everyman Theatre during the 2013/14 Season. Photo by ClintonBPhotography.

What does a costume designer wear to work? It depends on the person. I’ve sort of over the years adopted a uniform: a classic white shirt with jeans or khakis. On big fitting days, which is your super hardcore work time, I like to keep myself as neutral as possible so we can focus on the actor and the clothes. But I do have a scarf thing.

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GLOSSARY Accoutrement: Accessories or equipment worn for a specific activity or task. Bohemian: A person who has unconventional or informal social habits, particularly an artist or writer. Boudoir: A woman’s bedroom or private room. Cambric: A lightweight, closely woven white linen or cotton fabric commonly used for shirts, linens, handkerchiefs and needlework. Cholera: A bacterial disease causing acute diarrhea and dehydration, usually spread through contaminated water.

Opiates: A class of drugs including opium, codeine, and morphine derived from poppy plants. Opiates can be extremely addictive and are used medically for pain relief or anaesthesia. Orthodox Judaism: A traditionalist approach to religious Judaism based in specific Talmudic texts. Orthodoxy forbids marriage outside of the religion and demands adherence to strict laws of dress, diet, and lifestyle. New York City is home to the largest population of Orthodox Jews in the United States. (Baltimore also hosts a large population.)

Chiffon: A light, sheer fabric usually made from silk or nylon. Commonly used for dresses, blouses, and skirts.

Rag (ragtime music): An early form of jazz music in the early 20th century written largely for the piano, characterized by a syncopated, or “ragged,” rhythm. Ragtime originated in black communities like St. Louis and its most famous composer was Scott Joplin.

Draft horses: Large horses used for pulling heavy loads, especially a cart or plow. Common breeds include Clydesdales and Bretons.

Ragman: A person who bought and sold old clothing and cloth for re-use. Ragmen have all but disappeared since the mid-20th century.

Duppy: A word of Caribbean origins for a malevolent spirit or ghost that haunts people at night.

Rooming house: A private home whose owner rents rooms to temporary guests. Some proprietors would also provide meals and laundry service as part of rent.

Flamboyant: Several species of large trees that grow in tropical regions with brightly colored flowers and fern-shaped leaves. Gabardine: A tough, tightly-woven cotton fabric woven so it has parallel diagonal ridges (twill weave). Used to make overcoats, suits, and trousers. Gas lights: A lighting system for streets and buildings in the 19th and early 20th centuries that used combustible gas such as hydrogen or methane piped into homes and burned in wall fixtures. (Baltimore was the first American city to use gas streetlamps, in 1816.) Ground nuts: Another name for peanuts. Heliotrope: A vibrant pink-purple color imitating the color of the flower of the same name. Mulatto: A dated term for a person of mixed black and white ancestry, specifically one white and one black parent. Muslin: A lightweight cotton cloth with a plain weave (as opposed to a twill, or diagonal, weave) and a variety of thickness. Commonly used for dresses and shirts as well as backing or lining for finer fabrics. Nainsook: A fine, soft type of muslin often used in lingerie or babies’ clothing.

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Saloon: A public space often used for drinking, socializing and performances. Sometimes saloons were also places to find prostitutes, gamble, or conduct other illegal business. Saperstein’s: While there is a real department store of this name in New York state, Esther is likely referring to a fictional tailor here. Spinster: An unmarried woman considered to be past marriageable age. (In 1905, most women were married by their mid-twenties.) Suffragettes: Women seeking the right to vote through organized protest. The suffragette movement in the United States was active between 1869 and 1920 when women were granted the right to vote. Taffeta: A fine, lustrous silk plain woven fabric with a crisp texture used for evening gowns and fine clothing. Tenderloin: An outdated slang term for a red-light district or area of a city known for illegal activities such as gambling and prostitution. Tenement building: A city apartment building denoted by its cramped quarters, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and disrepair. Tenements were the most common kind of housing for poor immigrants in New York City at the turn of the century.

Tulle: A soft, fine net made of silk or cotton that is often starched. Used for veils, tutus and gowns.

“The War”: In 1905, this likely referred to the Civil War, which ended in 1865.

Uptown: Generally referring to a wealthy residential area of a city. Specifically, the area north of Central Park and the Upper West Side in New York City.

Worsted suit: A suit made from worsted wool, which is finer and stronger than other types of wool yarn because of its long, parallel fibers.

LOCATIONS MENTIONED

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Central America 1 Havana, Cuba 2 Barbados 3 Panama Canal

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Europe

USA

Manhattan, New York City

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1 Prague 2 Romania

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Maps from Google Maps

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THEATRE ETIQUETTE When you come and see a play, remember... Respectfully enjoy the show. While we encourage you to laugh when something is funny, gasp if something shocks you, and listen intently to the action occurring, please remember to be respectful of the performers and fellow audience members. Please turn off or silence all electronic devices before the performance begins. There is no texting or checking your cell phone during the show. The glow of a cell phone can and will be seen from stage. Photography inside the theatre is strictly prohibited. Food and drinks are not allowed in the theatre. Food and drinks should be consumed in the Everyman lobby before or after the show, or during intermission.

Be Present. Talking, moving around, checking your phone, or engaging in other activities is distracting to everyone and greatly disrupts the performance’s energy. Stay Safe. Please remain seated and quiet during the performance. Should you need to leave for any reason, re-entrance to the theatre is at the discretion of the house manager. In case of an emergency, please follow the instructions shared by Everyman staff members. Continue the conversation. After your performance, find Everyman Theatre on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and use #BmoreEveryman to tell us what you thought!

DEEPER DIVE Take a closer examination of the world of Intimate Apparel by visiting these resources. More on Female Entrepreneurship... Report: Baltimore a top city for female entrepreneurs bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-WomenBiz Enterprising Women—A 250 Year History bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-EnterprisingWomen First Black American Woman to Be a Self-Made Millionaire bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-MadamWalker More on the History of Ragtime... What is Ragtime? bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-Ragtime1 bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-Ragtime2 bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-JazzInAmerica Listen to a rag or two! youtu.be/e8IM5-wUdng youtu.be/2ZPSDgew17c youtu.be/0NRC0SEkt5s

More on Domestic Violence… What is Domestic Violence? bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-HouseOfRuth bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-DomesticViolence1 bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-DomesticViolence2 Resources & Help bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-NDVHotline bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-CADV bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-MD211 More on American Immigration… bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-WSJComingToAmerica bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-LOCImmigration bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-ImmigrationToNYC bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-birth-of-illegal-immigration bit.ly/IAPlayGuide-NYT-immigration

CURRICULAR TIE-INS From the stage to the classroom... COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. EVERYMAN THEATRE | 22

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.C Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives. NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS Anchor Standard #6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. Anchor Standard #7. Perceive and analyze artistic work. Anchor Standard #8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work. Anchor Standard #11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.

POST-SHOW DISCUSSION Use these question as a launchpad for conversation... Production • How do clothing, dialects, props, and/or lighting influence your understanding of the play? • How does the set design influence your connection to or understanding of the play? • Many sound effects are used during the production to replicate the setting of New York City. What sounds do you remember hearing? Were they impactful? Why or why not? • How does the setting contribute to the theme and character development? Is the particular setting used important to the play? How so? Theme and Content • What is the moral or human significance of the play? How do the theme, plot, and characters reflect this universal significance? Does it stimulate thought about any important problems of life? Explain. • Langston Hughes wrote a poem called Harlem, in which he describes what happens to a dream deferred. All of the characters in this play have dreams. What are their dreams? How have each of their dreams been deferred? • One of the topics this play covers is love and self worth. How is this topic reflected in the play? • How does the story of Intimate Apparel compare and contrast to Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun?

Character • Who is the protagonist (main character)? What are his (or her) character traits? Weaknesses? Values? • What are the functions of the other characters? Do any serve to bring out certain aspects of the main character? How? Is there a character who seems to be the special vehicle for the author’s message? • What technique does the playwright use to help develop the characters? Stage directions? Self-revelation by monologue or dialogue? Actions? Comments by other characters? • How do the women and men of this play reflect traditional gender roles? How are these roles seen differently in today’s society, more than 100 years later? • Does the playwright try to give minor characters well-rounded personalities? Are there any stereotypical characters? Explain. • The American Dream is defined as “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” How was this ideal achieved or not achieved by Esther, George, Mayme, Mr. Marks, or Mrs. Dickson?

EXTENTION PROJECTS Become the actor or the costume designer... Be The Actor: Connect to the Character Actors bring emotional truth to their roles by identifying qualities about their characters which they can relate to. They research their roles in order to make informed choices for the characters they bring to life. While it is critical to understand the world of the play, actors create emotional connections by establishing relationships between themselves and the roles they inhabit.

Be the Costume Designer: Connect to the Clothing Costume Designers are tasked with interpreting a story and bringing the apparel in this fictional world to life. Finding inspiration in the world around them, they may include in their design renderings details of texture, pattern, print, and even age. Is there an article of clothing you cannot live without? A sweater from your grandmother? Your girlfriend or boyfriend’s t-shirt?

Now, it’s your turn! Choose one character in this play with whom you find a personal connection. • Journal your thoughts from your character’s point of view after a pivotal moment in the play. Infuse your writing with what you know about the play and your personal connection(s) to the role. • Challenge yourself to include descriptive language to inform how he/she feels about what has transpired, as well as attitudes toward other characters involved. • How might the link between this character’s story and your personal life inform your artistic choices? How would it deepen your emotional truth in your portrayal? How might these factors impact your audience?

Now, it’s your turn! Capture your audience by making them care about this piece of clothing just as much as you do! • Illustrate the piece of clothing you feel is important. Include details important to the design. What story does this article of clothing tell? • Describe the clothing using sensory details. What does it feel and look like? Does it have a certain smell? What has this clothing item seen? • Present your illustration in a design presentation, where you show your work, sharing with your peers why you made the choices you did, and what each detail represents. Share the story of the apparel to captivate your audience. Rendering: A sketch of ideas that a designer puts to paper before designing the full, three-dimensional final product; a visual representation of notes and thoughts for what the costume will look like. The final version can differ slightly or significantly from the initial rendering.

SOURCES Sources used to currate this Play Guide include... • • • •

• •

forbes.com/sites/tanyaklich/2017/03/08/the-first-women-of-wealth-andthe-policies-that-paved-their-way/#434580327fb8 lynnnottage.com lynnnottage.com/about.html bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2016/10/13/immigration-isn-newissue-but-has-always-been-thorny-and-about-american-dream/ x17N3oSlL9YaIH77DO1DuO/story.html corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/ intellectualtakeout.org/blog/32-million-us-adults-are-functionally-illiteratewhat-does-even-mean

• • • • •

nytimes.com/2017/03/22/theater/lynn-nottage-paula-vogel-broadway.html newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-first-theatrical-landmark-of-thetrump-era americantheatre.org/2015/07/10/how-lynn-nottage-inveterate-wandererfound-her-way-to-reading-and-sweat/ elle.com/culture/news/a45824/lynn-nottage-interview-sweat-tony history.com/topics/panama-canal/

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DESIGN YOUR OWN PRODUCTION IMAGERY For each production at Everyman, our Marketing Department works with artist Jeff Rogers to create imagery that conveys a visual story. What story does the Intimate Apparel artwork on the cover convey? Now it’s your turn! Think about the play Intimate Apparel and design a new image/artwork to brand the show. Keep in mind, this image could be used on posters, advertisements, billboards, television, internet, etc.

JOT DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS Use this space to jot down any thoughts that arise before, during, and/or after the performance. You can bring this with you to the theater and log your thoughts during intermission or on the bus after the show. Then, bring this to the Post-Show Workshop to share with a guest artist!

I was surprised by/when…

The most memorable scene was when… because...

I was impacted most by the scene where...

I was confused by… or I wonder why...

THIS PLAY GUIDE CREATED BY Lisa Langston, Education Program Manager Brenna Horner, Lead Teaching Artist Abigail Cady, Education Apprentice Kiirstn Pagan, Graphic Designer

EVERYMAN THEATRE IS LOCATED AT 315 W. Fayette St. Baltimore, MD 21201 Box Office 410.752.2208 Administration 443.615.7055 Email boxoffice@everymantheatre.org

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT If you have questions about the Play Guide, contact our Education Department at education@everymantheatre.org or 443.615.7055 x7142