Educator Guide P H I L A DEL PH I A T HE AT R E CO MPAN Y at the
October 18 - November 10, 2019
Prepared by Victoria Donnelly Designed by Gabriela CastaĂąo
table of contents Introduction Curriculum Connections
2 2
Plot Summary
3
Character Descriptions and Cast
4
letter from the artistic director
5
about the playwright
5
Letter from director
5
Major Themes
6
Dramaturgical Context
7
Sensory Loss Women in Business
7 7
Love Languages
8
Discussion prompts
10
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
10 10
Sources
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Introduction The overall goals of this guide are: A. Provide your classroom with the tools to have an engaging and educational theatrical experience B. Connect the production to your curriculum with relevant information and activities C. Engage the critical and analytical skills of your students This guide consists of: 1. A brief plot summary of A Small Fire 2. Character descriptions 3. An introduction to the playwright, Adam Bock 4. A summary of major themes and discussion questions based around those themes 5. Dramaturgy for A Small Fire 6. Additional discussion prompts and resources
Curriculum connections National Core Arts Standards TH Re7.I.a - Respond to what is seen, felt, and heard in a drama/theatre work to develop criteria for artistic choices. TH Re9.1.I.a - Examine a drama/ theatre work using supporting evidence and criteria, while considering art forms, history, culture, and other disciplines. TH Re9.1.I.c - Formulate a deeper understanding and appreciation of a drama/ theatre work by considering its specific purpose or intended audience. TH Cn10.1.I.a - Investigate how cultural perspectives, community ideas and personal beliefs impact a drama/theatre work.
Social Emotional Learning Competencies Social Awareness: Recognize and identify the thoughts, feelings and perspectives of others Self Management: Identify and apply ways to persevere or overcome barriers through alternative methods to achieve one’s goals Relationship Skills: Identify who, when, where, or how to seek help for oneself or others when needed; Utilize positive communication and social skills to interact effectively with others
PA Arts and Humanities Standards 9.1.12 B - Recognize, know, use and demonstrate a variety of appropriate arts elements and principles to produce, review and revise original works in the arts. 9.1.12 E - Delineate a unifying theme through the production of a work of art that reflects skills in media processes and techniques.
NJ Arts and Humanities Standards 1.3.12 C1 - Describe the process of character analysis and identify physical, emotional, and social dimensions of characters from dramatic texts. 1.3.12 C2 - Analyze the structural components of plays from a variety of social, historical, and political contexts.
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A Small Fire Plot Summary A Small Fire follows Emily Bridges, a woman used to running all the things – from her construction business to her family – until she suddenly and mysteriously starts losing her physical senses. After a small incident of a fire in the kitchen where Emily did not smell the smoke, she realizes that her sense of smell has vanished. Time moves on and doctors cannot explain Emily’s condition. As Emily’s daughter Jenny prepares for her wedding, Emily loses her ability to taste. When the wedding finally arrives, she can no longer see, and must depend upon her loving husband, John, to narrate the events for her. Once her final sense of hearing has vanished, Emily now must become completely dependent upon her husband John. Her relationships change in poignant and revelatory ways, as Emily and her family must learn to love and be loved in a vastly different manner. Content warnings: Profanity, sexual scenarios
A Small Fire will help engage student’s analytical minds by allowing them to analyze, critique and respond to the text, as with any piece of literature. Emily’s imaginative disease will be a particularly fascinating point of discussion and interpretation. Seeing the production live will help them to better understand the different elements of live theatre, such as sets, costumes, lighting and sound. Additionally, students can explore Social Emotional skills through the complex relationships shown in the play, as well as the individual emotional journeys that occur. PAGE 3
Character Descriptions Bebe Neuwirth Emily Bridges - 58, Owner of her own construction firm; Tough, self-sufficient, impatient and emotionally reserved.
JOhn dossett John Bridges - 60, Emily’s husband. A more gentle and nurturing soul compared to Emily’s hard exterior. “Your father has always been the good one. he’s always been the one people turn to when they’re hurt or sad or unhappy.” — “Emily”
Sarah gliko Jenny Bridges - 30, Their daughter.
Oge Agulué
Billy Fontaine - 31, A construction manager in Emily’s construction firm.
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Letter from the Artistic DirecTor: paige price Welcome to Philadelphia Theatre Company’s 45th Anniversary Season. We are truly happy to have you in our space and to share with you some remarkable plays. In each play this season, you’ll witness events that are surprising, inexplicable, mysteriously random - events that disorient or uproot the characters. As they face their future, they learn to reach out to those they love in a new way - even to those that have hurt them. A Small Fire is very specifically about someone whose world changes in sudden, drastic ways. We are so thrilled you will witness Bebe Neuwirth breathe life into Adam Bock’s complex character.
About the Playwright: Adam Bock Adam Bock is a Canadian playwright, originally from Montreal. He studied at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Currently, Adam is the resident playwright at Encore Theatre, and a Shotgun Players Artistic Associate. Some of his accomplishments include being a NEA grantee, a Guernsey Award-winner, a three-time resident at Yaddo, 2012 Guggenheim grantee, a former member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, a NYTW Usual Suspect, and a TDF Open Doors mentor. Adam’s plays are published by Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts, Inc.
Letter from the Director: Joanie schultz Small fires happen every day. Sometimes they are extinguished. Sometimes they burn themselves out. Sometimes they spread. Sometimes, they grow and we can’t fight them alone. These are the critical moments of our lives.
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When a fire has spread, either literally or metaphorically, those who love us most grab their hoses and fight it with us. Or if they can’t fight it with us, they stand by our sides and support us while we fight. A large fire like that one doesn’t just happen to one person, it happens to a community. And our personal fires effect not only us but our family and friends. The irony of life, I’ve found, is that adversity often provides opportunities to grow both personally, and closer to people we love.
Major Themes Love
A Small Fire explores multiple kinds of love: mother/daughter, husband/wife, friends, co-workers.
How are these kinds of love different (in how they are expressed, how we, as an audience, perceive them)? How are they similar?
Once Emily falls ill, how do the people around her express their love differently? What does it mean, to you, to love someone unconditionally? Does her illness affect the way she responds to their love?
Independence / Dependence At the start of the play, Emily is incredibly self-sufficient, and prides herself on that independence. As her senses fade away, she is forced to become more and more dependent on others, specifically her husband. What does this dependency change about Emily? Can anyone ever be truly independent?
Family
While the play centers around Emily’s immediate family, the members of her construction company are also a kind of family to her. How do these intimate relationships shape Emily’s world? How does her regard for her construction crew as family enhance her relationship with them?
At the beginning of the play, who would you say is more of Emily’s “real” family? Does this change as the play progresses?
What makes a “familial” relationship different from just a friendship or any other kind of relationship?
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Dramaturgical Context Dramaturgy is the study of the world in which the play resides. It provides a context for all the social, political, and economic factors, as well as everything in between, that influence the world that the play lives in.
Sensory loss Though Emily’s sensory affliction is never named, and there is no known disease that matches its description, sensory loss is still an incredibly real phenomenon that affects the majority of the older adult population. Nearly 94% of adults will experience some form of sensory loss as they age, and 38% percent will have a deficiency affecting two or more senses. The most commonly lost sense in older adults is hearing. This loss often develops slowly, and while the majority of adults ages 55 and older are not legally deaf, the deficiency reveals itself in other ways. Many complain of not being able to distinguish similar sounding words from each other, being unable to hear higher pitched sounds, and sounds coming across muffled. A common side effect of hearing loss is the gradual withdrawal from participation, due to frustration, shame and depression. Vision loss is commonly associated with conditions like glaucoma and macular degeneration, which are diseases that affect different parts of the eye. Additionally, aging eyes generally need more light, about 80 times more light than a young adult to read, according to one study.
The Five Senses
SIGHT
SMELL
HEARING
TASTE
TOUCH
The loss of taste and smell go hand in hand, as the sense of smell is closely related to how humans taste. As we age, the actual amount of taste buds we have slowly decreases. At the age of 30, a person will have about 245 taste buds on their tongue that will decrease to about 88 taste buds by the time they’re 70 years old. Normally, sweet and salty tastes are the first to fade. Smell plays an important role in the enjoyment of food and other things, as “odor memories” often have strong emotional connections to them. Our sense of touch fades as our skin ages and becomes less elastic. This change affects an older person’s ability to perceive changes in temperature, movement or pain. While an older adult may not lose their sense of touch completely, it will become less sensitive over time, leading to difficulties in distinguishing objects from each other and affect simple motor skills.
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women in business Emily’s construction business is one of the most, if not the most, important things in her life at the start of the play, and the audience can see that she is fiercely invested in its success. While women in executive positions of businesses is not an entirely uncommon occurrence today, the atmosphere for women in business was much different for Emily’s generation. In the 1980s and 90s, when Emily most likely would have been starting her company, the female presence in the workplace was not received very well, especially for a single or divorced woman. An economic recession in the late 80s and early 90s also saw more capable women being laid off. These phenomena lead to women turning to creating their own businesses out of necessity, with many flourishing. In the 1980s, women owned businesses made up 25% of all US firms, which opened the doors for the creation of resources to assist female entrepreneurs. The Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 legally ended discrimination when it came to financial lending and eliminated laws that required a woman’s husband to co-sign loans in some states. In the mid 90s, several banks launched financial initiatives to help future female business owners with their start-ups.
“Sometimes it feels like if I don’t do it, it won’t get done.” — “Emily”
These days, it is estimated that women-owned businesses created nearly one third of the new jobs in the United States in 2018, and women are the majority when it comes to having an undergraduate and graduate degree. Women of color have also made significant advances as business owners, with the number of businesses owned by African-American, Latinx, Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander women growing at rates well over 100% in a 15 year span. While real struggles still remain for women in business, such as the wage gap, issues with women receiving promotions, and continued discrimination against women of color and LGBTQ+ women, the atmosphere had changed significantly for the better, in the past 30 years. Emily’s passion for her work can be understood given the challenges she undoubtedly faced while trying to get her company off the ground.
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Love Languages Emily and John’s relationship goes through a major transformation once Emily begins to lose her senses. Not only does she become solely dependent on John, but they both must learn to connect and communicate in new ways, something that their relationship needed even before Emily developed her sickness. The five Love Languages coined by Doctor Gary Chapman define the way that we feel and show love and appreciation by our friends, family and romantic partners. They are Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time and Physical Touch.
“Love isn’t what you get from someone. it’s what you give them.” — ”JOhn”
Receiving Gifts
Words of Affirmation This is about verbal compliments or words of appreciation. This uses words to lift the other person up and show your appreciation in a straightforward way. “I love you.”
Acts of Service
This is about giving physical objects
It depends on doing things for the other
to demonstrate that the other
person that you know they would like.
person was thinking about you. The
It can be simple things such as baking
actual gift itself does not matter so
a treat for them, helping out with
much, what is important with this
chores, or running an errand for them.
love language is the thought that
The thought, time, effort, and energy
went into giving it and expressing
that go into this act for the other
love.
person expresses love.
“I feel so lucky to have you.”
“Thank you for being there for me.”
Quality Time
Physical Touch
This means giving the other person your undivided
These touches do not have to be just things like holding
attention. The committment of giving the other person
hands or kissing, but smaller things such as a hug or sitting
your time and attention, without any distractions like
close to each other. Anything else that fits within your
television or your phone, shows them that you care.
relationship with that person can communicate the love to a
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person who has this love language.
12 1 2 3 4
7
6
5
Discussion prompts Why do you think A Small Fire was chosen as the title of the play? What do you think the sensory loss symbolizes in this play? Why do you think Adam Bock, the playwright, chose to give Emily a fictitious disease? How would the play be different, at all, if Emily was afflicted with a known disease? How is the kind of loss experienced in A Small Fire different from a typical story of loss (death of a loved one, a break-up, etc.) ? How did the other theatrical elements of the production - sets, costumes, lighting, sound - help tell the story? Were there any particular uses of these elements that stood out to you?
Additional Resources Plays with similar themes of family, loss, and intimate relationships: Sea Marks by Gardner McKay; Fixing Gwen by Sam Bobrick; The Herd by Rory Kinnear Additional Plays by Adam Bock: The Receptionist, The Thug, A Life, The Drunken City Additional Resources on Sensory Loss: UChicago Medicine study; The Cook with No Taste; A Blind Painter’s Story Additional Resources on Love Languages: www.5lovelanguages.com Additional resources on women in business: Smithsonian Institute Women In Business Perspective; Notable Female Business Owners in US History; Women of Color in Modern Business.
Sources Chapman, Gary. “The Five Love Languages Defined.” The 5 Love Languages®, 16 May 2018, www.5lovelanguages. com/2018/06/the-five-love-languages-defined/. Charatan, Debrah Lee. “30 Years of Female Entrepreneurship: From Anomalies To Assets.” Entrepreneur, 4 May 2016, www.entrepreneur.com/article/270095. Firger, Jessica. “Most Aging Adults Experience Loss of at Least One of the Five Senses, but Frequently More.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 23 May 2016, www.newsweek.com/aging-adults-sensory-loss-428333. Kemmet, Dena, and Sean Brotherson. Making Sense of Sensory Loss as We Age. www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/famsci/fs1378.pdf *Inspiration was also taken from the Portland Center Stage 2014 A Small Fire Resource Guide* PAGE 10