Abundance

Abundance

By Beth Henley About the play: From the singular, uniquely American voice of Beth Henley, the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Crimes of the Heart, comes Abundance. This wickedly funny and deeply touching tall tale follows the fortunes and misfortunes of Bess and Macon, two mail-order brides, on their twenty-five year journey across the American frontier. An epic tale about bygone America, both strange and strangely familiar.

Grade Recommendation: 9th grade and up Content Advisory: Includes suggestive content and depictions of domestic violence.

Topics:  Expansion of the Western Frontier  Sensationalist Revision of Events  Stories of Settlers  Women’s Rights  Tall Tales

Themes:  Opportunity and Opportunism  Starting Over  Expectations of Reciprocity  Friendship

Student Performance Series date:  Thursday, April 25 at 10:30 a.m.

Curriculum Standards Student Performance Series performances and workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of Common Core standards in English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on each play’s subject matter.

The experience of seeing and discussing Abundance provides classroom links to the following Common Core standards in English Language Arts: Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details  Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the themes (Grades 9-10).  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 (Grades 11-12).

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure  Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone) (Grades 9-10).  Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact (Grades 11-12).

Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas  Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist) (Grades 11-12).

Student Performance Series workshops also support the following Connecticut state standards in theatre for grades 9-12:   

6: Connections. Students will make connections between theatre, other disciplines and daily life.

7: Analysis, Criticism and Meaning. Students will analyze, critique, and construct meanings from works of theatre.

8: History and Culture. Students will demonstrate an understanding of context by analyzing and comparing theatre in various cultures and historical periods.

About the Student Performance Series: Our Student Performance Series packages include  1 free chaperone ticket for every 20 student tickets  Free study guides that include historical context, thematic analysis, questions for discussion, and suggestions for learning activities (emailed to you in PDF format).  A talk back immediately following the performance. Hosted by a member of our education department staff and featuring actors from the play, the talk back provides students with the opportunity to ask questions and express their initial reactions to the play-going experience through dialogue with artists and each other.

Pre- and post-show workshops are also available for an additional fee. Designed to help integrate the play into your curriculum, our interactive workshops are led by a Hartford Stage teaching artist who visits your classroom and gets students on their feet to explore the play’s major themes, plot points, and connections to history and culture.

To book tickets for the Student Performance Series, please contact Chelsea Caplan, Education Sales Coordinator at (860) 520-7244 or ccaplan@hartfordstage.org