A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Book by Robert L. Freedman Music by Steven Lutvak Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak About the play: Join us for a delightful evening of music, merriment… and murder. Set in the elegant Edwardian era, A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder traces the brilliant trajectory of Monty Navarro—a charmer, seducer and avenger—on his quest for recognition and family fortune. Tony Awardwinner Jefferson Mays stars in the world premiere musical comedy.

Grade Recommendation: 6th grade and up Content Advisory: Contains some spooky imagery, cartoon-like violence resulting in death, and suggestive dialogue.

Topics     

Class and British Aristocracy Lines of Succession Musical Comedy Adaptations of Literature The Anti-hero

Themes  Ambition  Legacy  Status  Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Student Performance Series dates (both at 10:30 a.m.):  Wednesday, October 7  Thursday, October 8 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 A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder provides classroom links to the following Common Core standards in English Language Arts: Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details.  Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution (Grade 6).  Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot (Grade 7).  Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text (Grade 8).  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).  Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop related 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) (Grades 11-12).

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure.  Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text (Grade 6).  Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text (Grade 7).  Analyze how differences in points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor (Grade 8).  Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise (Grades 9-10).  Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement) (Grades 11-12).

Student Performance Series workshops also support the following Connecticut state standards in Theatre for grades 9-12:  2: Acting. Students will act by developing, communicating and sustaining characters.  5: Researching and Interpreting. Students will research, evaluate and apply cultural and historical information to make artistic choices.  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.

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.