The Cry of the Reed Curriculum Guide

Limelight

teacher literary & curriculum guide

The Cry of the Reed

Sinan ünel Directed by Daniel Goldstein by

March 28 - May 4, 2008 Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA 527 Tremont Street, South End

HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY IN RESIDENCE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY

Nicholas Martin

IN RESIDENCE AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director

Michael Maso Managing Director

The Cry of the Reed Sinan ünel Directed by Daniel Goldstein by

STAFF

Table of Contents 3 Synopsis

This Teacher Literary and Curriculum Guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by

4

Sinan Ünel: Turkey, Provincetown, and Beyond

Marisa Jones, Education Consultant 6 With contributions by Donna Glick, Director of Education

Sinan Ünel: Multi-Dimensionality in a Life of the Stage

8

Rumi: Bearer of Islamic Mysticism

Ilana Brownstein, Literary Manager

9

Spinning Toward Divinity

Amanda Rota, Education Department Manager

10 Today’s Turkey: Life at the Continental Crossroads

Markey Bakas, Education Department Intern

11 Terrifying Tools of the Insurgency

Kathryn Harris, former artistic intern at Huntington

12 Audience Etiquette 12 Characters & Objectives

Julie Levine, Freelance dramaturg and former artistic intern for the Huntington

13 Preparation for The Cry of the Reed 14 Related Works and Resources

Brett Marks, Assistant to the Artistic Director of the Huntington

14 Open Response & Writing Assignments

Elisha Sawyer, Education Department Intern

15 Mastery Assessment

Justin Waldman, Artistic Associate at the Huntington

16 Media Assessment 17 Questions for After the Performance

Melissa Wagner-O’Malley, Layout

18 For Further Exploration 18 Lesson Plans 19 Handout 1: Vocabulary 20 Handout 2: A Comparison of Three Major Religions Proud Sponsor

The Cry of the Reed

Sinan ünel Directed by Daniel Goldstein by

March 28 - May 4, 2008 Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA 527 Tremont Street, South End

2

Huntington Theatre Company

SYNOPSIS

The Cry of the Reed I

n a time of war, what pulls people apart? And what ties them together? Can an extreme circumstance somehow transcend years of hurt?

Josh is out of his mind with worry. His girlfriend Sevgi is a journalist so frustrated by her paper’s failure to give her assignments in Iraq that she and her colleague Philip set off for the war zone. Josh discovers their dangerous plans too late to stop them. Not knowing what else to do, he flies to Turkey to find Sevgi’s estranged mother Ayla, who’s a cleric of the 13thcentury poet Rumi.

Meanwhile, Sevgi and Philip get into the wrong cab and find themselves accused of spying and detained by insurgents in Tal Afar. Sevgi gains the sympathy of the group’s leader and strikes a deal. But instead of being set free, Sevgi learns the man she had bargained with has been killed, and the new leader isn’t willing to talk. The same may not be true, however, of the young guard who watches over the prisoners. Is he their way out? With time and trust in short supply, and Sevgi racing toward her fate, a simple telephone call may hold the key to understanding.

On the eve of a Turkish festival celebrating Rumi, Sevgi’s chaos is juxtaposed against the powerful, sacred dance of the whirling dervishes, whose movements symbolize transformative and divine love. Sinan Ünel’s The Cry of the Reed is a moving look at faith, the cost of war, and the capacity for the most terrifying experiences to provide an opportunity to heal.

– KH & JW

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

3

SINAN ÜNEL

Turkey, Provincetown, and Beyond

Sinan Ünel

4

Huntington Theatre Company

S

inan Ünel has been a world traveler since he was young. Born in San Francisco to an American mother and a Turkish father, the family moved to Turkey when Ünel was only a year old.

He grew up in Istanbul, where he attended a French Jesuit boarding school.

When the time came to pick a college, he chose to return to America and enroll at the University of Kansas, near his American grandparents. His choice of study, however, was not as clear.

“Originally I thought liberal arts or film, but it was a tough time with my family because they were sort of appalled at the idea of me studying film, or writing, or anything like that. They wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer. As a compromise, I went into the School of Architecture, but it just wasn’t me.”

However, one summer trip would put it all in perspective for Ünel. On his way back to Turkey to visit his parents, he stopped in New York City, where he saw a production of Lanford Wilson’s The Fifth of July. Inspired, Ünel immediately set about writing a play once he arrived in Turkey. “I would stay up until four o’clock in the morning, my parents would be asleep, and I’d be writing. It was absolutely clear to me what I was going to do for the rest of my life.” The play was called Train, and though it has never been produced, it was the beginning of Ünel’s transition to playwriting. Ünel transferred to the University of Kansas’s writing program; unfortunately, his family wasn’t as excited about the change as he was. “My parents were ready to cut me off. Was it a smart decision? Not really. But it was the right decision.” Eventually his family came around, and when Ünel moved to New York after graduation, he took a desk job at a hotel that allowed him time to write.

New York, however, was not the place for Ünel. After a couple of tough years, he was convinced by a friend to move to Provincetown, which seemed like a better fit. “I grew up on the Mediterranean,

and I love the water, so I came for a summer and I never went back.” He began a relationship with the Provincetown Theatre, and over the next ten years, saw many of his plays produced there, including Portals, Thalassa My Heart, Lost Gospels of Blankenburg, and also Three of Cups, which he directed; it was also produced at both the University of Kansas and in New York City.

Though he was enjoying success in Provincetown, Ünel kept looking forward, and in 1997 he applied to the graduate playwriting program at Boston University. Through that program, he developed a strong relationship with its chair Kate Snodgrass, who is also artistic director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

Left to right: Brian McManamon and Amir Darvish in Sinan Ünel’s play Single Lives at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre; photo: BU Photo Services

When the idea came to him for his most recent work, The Cry of the Reed, he collaborated closely with the artistic staff of the Huntington through the writing process.

She quickly became a mentor. “I think over the years you become friends with people, you form these intimacies, and they become people that you trust.

Kate’s become that person for me.” After his time at B.U., Ünel’s work quickly gained momentum. Pera Pelas was produced Off Broadway in 1998, and soon after in London at the Gate Theatre. It has gone on to have a healthy life, with subsequent productions at the Long Wharf Theatre, Pittsburgh’s Open Stage Theatre, Pasadena’s Boston Court Theatre, and most recently London’s Arcola Theatre. Pera Palas earned Ünel both the John Gassner Memorial Award and the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award. Pathétique, a speculation on the events surrounding the death of Tchaikovsky, has received readings in the Huntington’s 2004 Breaking Ground Festival, and at the New Harmony

Theatre. Additionally, Ünel’s ten-minute plays, Fantasia Fair, A Peck of Dust, The Prophet’s Wife, and Single Lives have all been produced in the Boston Theater Marathon. He has been well-received locally, with productions at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Provincetown Theatre Company, and Provincetown Theatreworks, as well as internationally, in Germany, Austria, and the U.K. Ünel also writes for the screen, his Race Point won the 2001 New Century Writer Award for Best Screenplay.

In 2003, Ünel became a member of the first class of Huntington Playwriting Fellows, along with John Kuntz, Melinda Lopez, and Ronan Noone. It was a major step for him. “I love being around other writers, and listening to people talk about writing and hearing other people’s work. It was very helpful for me, and it really got me out of my own little shell.”

Since completing the Fellows program, Ünel has remained part of the Huntington family, and when the idea came to him for his most recent work, The Cry of the Reed, he collaborated with the artistic staff of the Huntington through the writing process. It was read as part of the 2007 Breaking Ground Festival. Literary Manager Ilana Brownstein recently noted, “This play’s lyricism and timeliness made it a clear choice for production this season, not to mention that we’ve been looking for an opportunity to work more closely with Sinan, whose writing we admire deeply.”

In addition to his writing career, Ünel teaches at Emerson College and the Walnut Hill School, and leads workshops on creative writing all over New England. He currently lives in Provincetown with John Andert, his partner of 25 years. – BM Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

5

SINAN ÜNEL

Multi-Dimensionality in a Life of the Stage Turkish-American playwright Sinan Ünel has mined his dual cultures, as well as the complexities of current world events, for his most recent play, The Cry of the Reed. Born in San Francisco to an American mother and Turkish father, Ünel moved with his family to Istanbul, Turkey, when he was only a year old, and was raised there between the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, and the Sea of Marmara. Ünel found his way to playwriting, and eventually, to the Boston area and the Huntington, where he was part of the first class of Huntington Playwriting Fellows. He recently spoke with Literary Manager Ilana Brownstein about his writing process for this, his newest play.

What was it like for you to leave Istanbul, a kind of crossroads where the Middle East meets Europe, for Lawrence, Kansas?

It was quite shocking, and simultaneously a really lovely experience, because when you first come to America — especially the Midwest — there’s this openness and friendliness you don’t really see in many other places. Turks are friendly when you get to know them, but walking down the street and having people say hello to you, people you don’t know, was a completely foreign and shocking thing to me. Turks don’t do that, but once they warm up to you, they’re friends for life.

Why did you eventually choose to attend Boston University’s graduate playwriting program at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre?

It was out of the blue. I was struggling as a writer, I wasn’t getting my plays produced as widely as I would have liked. I like Provincetown, I still live there, but I needed to expand my boundaries. I thought, maybe I’ll go to graduate school at night. I applied to B.U., and they called me one day and invited me in. It was exactly what I needed. In a program like that, you learn how to be around other people who are writing, and you hear other people’s work — you 6

Huntington Theatre Company

see how someone else tackles similar problems. For me, graduate school was more of a life experience rather than just a place to learn skills. Being at B.U., getting feedback for my work, and hearing other people’s work, it was a new experience and was really helpful. It made me a better writer.

When writing a new play, how do you begin?

Usually, I’ll read something that sets a spark. With The Cry of the Reed, I started with an idea about Rumi, but it only began to take shape when I read about this Turkish woman journalist who’d been abducted in Iraq and she’d just been released. The two ideas together started to form the genesis for this play.

What got you interested in Rumi?

Rumi’s work has always been part of my history. The humanism of Turkish culture is alive in the observance of Sufism and in the poems of Rumi. I was also interested in the incredibly passionate love that Rumi had for this other man, Shams.

All his writing is about this love. It’s a mystical love, it’s a love that’s not just for this individual, but for the spirit of God, or his understanding of God. For Rumi, Shams becomes an expression of God. These mystical poems are amazingly sen-

sual and romantic. I was interested in all that initially, and then, of course, the play became something completely different.

What was the next step in the process?

I thought more and more about this journalist whose abduction and release had been publicized. I went on a research trip to Turkey, sought her out, and she agreed to meet with me in Ankara. We sat at a coffee shop and talked for about five hours.

During that trip, I also spent two days with a close friend of my mother’s — a woman who’d been like an aunt to me, and who’d become a Sufi later in life. The research took about a year. I read a lot and I spent many evenings in New York with my friend, the actress Cigdem Onat. Those conversations helped shape a lot of the ideas in the play. I feel it’s important, however, that audiences and readers understand that although I interviewed several people about their specific experiences, the characters in my play are my invention and not these people. It’s a fine line that artists walk, balancing inspiration, research, and invention. In creating new worlds, you can’t always write about your own personal experience.

Unlike some writers who invite input early on, you hold your initial drafts pretty close until you feel that they’re ready to be seen by the outside world.

For me, the fun of it is to have this thing that I live with every day, growing and taking shape and becoming something.

It’s very private, like a romance. You don’t want to let anybody in there, but at the same time, you’re sort of nurturing it and looking forward to the time when it’s going to be ready and you can show it to somebody. And if you show it to them before it’s formed, it becomes something else. It may be eccentric of me, but I really love living with the idea by myself for as long as possible. Sometimes it’s frustrating and you’d want to talk to people about it, but I resist that. Once I have a full draft, my partner John Andert is always the first

Rumi’s mausoleum; photo: Corbis

person to read it. He has a keen eye and is incredibly supportive, which is what you need at that point.

Would you agree that the time you take to sit with that material affects how it comes out on the page?

Absolutely. I was watching Charlie Rose interviewing David Hare recently, and he asked, “What makes a playwright?” David Hare said, “It’s a view of the world, your view of the world.” I just thought, that is exactly what it is. What really makes a play is the individual point of view. So if I’m writing, and I allow other points of view to come into the process of forming the play too early, then it’s no longer really my play any more. The research phase of writing a play is when I’m wide open to other points of view. I interview people, I read, I’m pursuing the idea. It’s really a lot of fun. But when I start to compose the play, that’s when I get private. At that point it’s about an interpretation, cultivating my individual vision.

The Cry of the Reed deals with several delicate subjects, not least of which is religion. How did you approach this topic?

My fascination is not with religion but with faith, and how faith serves people.

Of course in today’s climate, religion generates more discussion than faith, and obviously those two things are connected. My question has always been, what is faith and why do people have it?

How does it serve them? Sufism — which is a branch of Islam — is a system of belief unusually concerned with the meaning of God on a personal level, rather than on a social or political level.

It prompted me to start writing about this character (who in the play became Ayla) whose faith was about surviving grief. Around the same time, I was talking to an acquaintance of mine — a Jewish atheist. He told me he’d been reluctant to mention that he was an atheist because he thought that would offend me — which I thought was ludicrous. These two threads became part of the play early on.

What role does faith play in your own life?

I think it’s similar to my relationship with my writing in a way. It’s extremely personal. Here’s what happened today: I was asking myself “Why do I write?”

My answer to myself was — and I’d never really thought this before — “I write because I don’t know the answers.” My relationship to faith is the same, in that I don’t have the answers. I think that faith is about not having the answers. The moment you think you have the answers, then it’s distorted and it’s the problem that we have in the world today. I think faith, like writing, is about uncertainty. It’s about exploration, listening, and learning through a journey.

What themes consistently arise in your work?

I’m interested in the changeability of identity: how we may seem to be one thing, but we’re really not that thing,

or how that one thing may be part of us, but we’re much more than that. We are all shape-shifters. Playwriting lends itself to this kind of exploration because, to some extent, you have to become your characters as you write them. You have to get under the skin of all these different points of view and different people, and try to figure out who they are and why.

Your plays tend to span great geographical or temporal locales — there’s something a bit epic about them, I think. What draws you to create those kinds of worlds?

It’s the dimensionality. The first project assigned when I got to K.U.’s School of Architecture had the following instructions: first make a two-dimensional pattern in black and white. Then, add color. The final step was to make it pop off the page, to make it three-dimensional. So we all went and took a stab at it. Everyone else made these geometrical patterns, then they colored them, and then they sort of raised the shapes off the page a little bit, and you know, the project was what it was. But what I did was plan the whole thing ahead of time so that the final product wasn’t just a raised geometrical pattern, but it was a truly three-dimensional object that had elements on the bottom, the top, and the sides. Not only that, but it also had movement: it revolved! It was different from what everybody else did, and that was the only project in the School of Architecture that I was actually good at.

It was the only time I felt like, wow, this is really fun. So to answer your question, I think it is about finding the dimensions of time and space on stage. It applies not only to the structure of the play and the plot, but to the characters as well. This gets back to my interest in the changeability of identity. My work is inherently about looking at people and the world from as many different angles as possible.

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

7

RUMI

Bearer of Islamic Mysticism M any references to the 13th century Sufi poet and philosopher Rumi are made throughout The Cry of the Reed; the play even takes its title from one of his poems, and several characters are followers of his. One of the world’s most widely read poets, Rumi’s poems and teachings have had a tremendous influence on Middle Eastern literature and on Islam, with many finding great meaning in his words to this day.

Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was born in 1207, in the Persian city of Balkh (now part of Afghanistan).

His father Bahauddin Walad was a theologian and mystic who raised Rumi with a deep respect and appreciation for education and religious thought. Walad was a court advisor, so Rumi grew up in an environment of power and privilege, a member of the upper class. Their social standing could not protect them, however, during the Mongol invasion of Central Asia between 1215 and 1220. Walad, well aware of the danger, led his family and disciples west, out of Persia and towards what he hoped would be relative safety in Anatolia (now Turkey). Along the way, Rumi met numerous scholars and Sufi mystics, including the famous Persian poet, Attar. Attar was so impressed by the eighteen-year-old Rumi’s spiritual strength that he gave the young man his copy of Asrarnama, a book examining the soul’s place in the physical world — a significant gift at a time when books were rare and highly prized possessions. This, along with similar encounters, had a profound effect on Rumi, and would help shape his work and ideas later in life.

When they reached the city of Konya in Anatolia, Walad took charge of a religious school, for which Rumi assumed

8

Huntington Theatre Company

Portrait of Rumi; photo: British Museum

responsibility at the age of twenty-five, after his father’s death. The most monumental change in his life, however, did not happen until 1244, when Rumi was 37. It was in the winter of that year when Rumi met a dervish — a member of a Sufi Islamic religious order — named Shams Tabrizi. The two instantly connected on an intellectual as well as personal level.

Shams, without question, was Rumi’s greatest teacher. Many versions of their initial meeting involve Shams throwing

Rumi’s books — including one handwritten by his father — into a fire, only to retrieve them perfectly intact; symbolically, the story serves to explain Shams’ insistence that Rumi simultaneously throw out the knowledge he already possessed and build upon it.

The intimacy between Rumi and Shams elevated Rumi’s understanding of God, for love plays a central role in Sufism. In No god but God, religious scholar Reza Aslan explains that “Love is the

foundation of Sufism. It is the language through which Sufism is most perfectly expressed and the sole avenue through which its ideals can be understood…[I]t is love — not theology and certainly not the law — that engenders knowledge of God.” Rather than an academic understanding of love, Aslan asserts, Sufism thrives on self-denying love “to the point of utter self-annilhilation; indeed, that is its very purpose.” Scholars fall on both sides of the debate as to whether the connection between the two men was intensely felt but platonic, or if it also encompassed a physical relationship. Regardless, their bond had a tremendous affect on Rumi spiritually, as well as a personally.

Unfortunately, their closeness sparked jealousy amongst Rumi’s followers, even causing Shams to flee to Damascus until the intense animosity had died down. As Rumi and Shams were talking one night in 1248, Shams was called to the back door and disappeared, probably killed by envious followers or even by one of Rumi’s own sons. Devastated, Rumi threw himself into his work, writing music and poetry at a remarkable rate.

Much of Rumi’s writings of this period are considered to have a level of complexity and emotion unmatched by his earlier pieces, thought largely due to the extent of his loss.

Rumi strongly believed in the importance of music, poetry, and dancing in worship and prayer. Though he denied being a prophet, his ideas had a clear impact on Islam; the Mevlevi Order, known as the “whirling dervishes” for their distinctive dancing ritual, is firmly rooted in Rumi’s belief that music and dance enable suppliants to focus all of themselves on God. One of the foremost Persian poets — he had written over 70,000 verses of poetry by the end of his life, and has been compared to Shakespeare and Dante — Rumi’s influence extends beyond Turkey and the Middle East. Translated into many languages, Rumi’s works are

shared not only through published collections of his poems, but through concerts, readings, and dance interpretations of his work; his verses are often used as an introduction to Sufism for the unitiated.

For performance poet and leading Rumi interpreter Shahram Shiva, there are simple reasons for such universal appeal: “Rumi is able to verbalize the highly personal and often confusing world of personal/spiritual growth and mysticism in a very forward and direct

fashion. He does not offend anyone, and he includes everyone. The world of Rumi is neither exclusively the world of a Sufi, nor the world of a Hindu, nor a Jew, nor a Christian; it is the highest state of a human being — a fully evolved human.

A complete human is not bound by cultural limitations; he touches every one of us.” – KH

Spinning Toward Divinity The whirling dervish is a unifying image throughout Sinan Ünel’s The Cry of the Reed.

Members of religious orders within the Sufi sect of Islam, dervishes live strict, ascetic lives, taking vows of poverty not unlike those by which Christian nuns and monks live.

Many dervishes beg so that they may learn humility, but are not allowed to do so on their own behalf; instead of keeping the money they collect, dervishes distribute it amongst the poor. Others hold simple jobs and some live in monasteries as members of various Sufi orders.

Whirling dervishes; photo: Afsin Sezer

The whirling dervishes belong to the Mevlevi Order in Turkey, which was founded by the son of the poet Rumi. For over 700 years, dervishes of this order have practiced a unique style of dance that helps them reach religious ecstasy. This dance, made up of a series of rapid turns reminiscent of a spinning top, is an important ritual for the Mevlevi. Wearing long, white skirts to represent burial shrouds, dervishes whirl with their arms extended — their right palms facing up, and their left palms down — as energy enters their bodies from the right palm and exits through the left. In the center of the circle stands the leader, or Pir, around whom the dervishes orbit. The ritual expresses the dervishes’ rebirth as creatures of God, the rapture of human beings in the presence of God’s greatness, and the total submission of the mind to love, which, for a Sufi, is essential in knowing God. Because Sufis believe that being in prayer opens a person’s body to the energy of God, spinning or whirling enables dervishes to focus on the nature of the divine while being keenly aware of their sensations in the present moment. The word “dervish” comes from the Persian “darwish,” meaning literally, “the sill of the door.” In Arabic and Turkish the word is taken to mean “a Sufi who is at the door to enlightenment.” The purposeful spinning, therefore, is more than a form of meditation; it is a highly ritualized ceremony that can bring about an intense religious experience. – KH Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

9

The Haghia Sophia in Istabul, Turkey; photo: Bunyad Dinc

TODAY’S TURKEY

Life at the Continental Crossroads T urkey’s government — which from 1299 to 1922 ruled the far-reaching Ottoman Empire — transitioned from a deeply rooted Islamic history to extreme secularism in less than a century.

After Turkey declared itself a republic in 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, its founder and first president, enacted sweeping reforms, shifting the country to secular nationalism. Believing that adhering to traditional Islam would impede Turkey’s transformation into a modern European state, Ataurk disbanded religious courts, outlawed mystic sects, took religiousbased instruction out of schools, replaced Arabic script with Latin, looked to the Swiss civil code, and allowed women to vote. Despite protests from conservative Muslims, Atatürk’s reforms were quickly put into effect. This intense secularization persists even today, though in recent years it has faced challenges from Islamist activists.

10

Huntington Theatre Company

Turkey’s position between East and West — between Islam and secularism — reflects its geographical location.

Connected to three continents, and surrounded by seas on three sides, Turkey served as the birthplace of great civilizations and continues to be a major commerce center today. Just as it was during the six-century rule of the Ottoman Empire — which controlled parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia — modern Turkey is the crossroads between continents.

This commercial advantage brings with it a conflicted sense of identity. While Turkey shares a heritage with its Middle Eastern neighbors, the country has, since its creation, considered itself “a European country with a Middle Eastern geography,” as Joshua Walker writes in Mediterranean Quarterly. In 1947, the U.S. used the Truman Doctrine to support Turkey, hoping the country would be a barrier to Communist expansion in Europe. In

return, Turkey gained security from the West, becoming in 1952 the first Middle Eastern country to join NATO. Turkey’s policies throughout the Cold War solidified its status as a Western nation. The post-Soviet, post-9/11 world order, however, has forced Turkey to re-evaluate its position. No longer vital in containing Communist expansion, Turkey’s concerns about alienating the rest of the Middle East have caused it to ally more closely with countries unfriendly toward the West.

This shift in attitudes is most clearly seen in Turkey’s actions regarding Iraq; it denied the U.S. request to use the country for a northern front in Iraq, and has been conversing with Syria and Iran about responding to the Iraqi conflict.

At the same time, the Turkish government — led by the Justice and Development (AK) Party, which has Islamist roots — is strongly lobbying for admittance to the European Union (E.U.).

Yet the AK Party inspires deep suspicion in the country’s secularists, who strive to retain Atatürk’s founding principles.

While success would finally firmly categorize Turkey as “European,” it might also lead the country to become less vigilant in protecting its secularist policies: E.U. membership would necessitate a decline in the power of the military, which over the last century has played a major role in resisting incursions of religious rule.

Joining the European Union, therefore, would make Turkey’s already noteworthy identity — as the only country that is secular and Islamic — even more complex.

Over the course of the 20th century, Turkey completely transformed itself into a democratic republic. Even today, Turkey’s culture is in flux, as the balance between its overwhelmingly Muslim citizenry and its commitment to secularism sways uneasily. How appropriate, then, that Ünel’s play — set partially in the Turkey of 2004, brings us a portrait of Sevgi, a woman who struggles to negotiate her own path between spirituality, atheism, Islam, and history. – KH & JL

Terrifying Tools of the Insurgency S et in 2004, The Cry of the Reed moves deftly between the peaceful home of the Sufi cleric Ayla in Turkey, and the chaos of Iraq, just across Turkey’s southern border. The juxtaposition of these two settings is revealing, and pushes the drama of Ünel’s play to terrifying climax and hopeful resolution. In Ayla’s home, preparations are being made for the annual festival celebrating the poet Rumi. Meanwhile in Iraq, unbeknownst to Ayla, her daughter Sevgi and Sevgi’s colleague Philip — both reporters — have been kidnapped by insurgents looking to leverage the hostages for publicity.

2004 was a particularly treacherous year for journalists attempting to report on the numerous Iraqi factions vying for dominance in a power vacuum. Of the fifty-four journalists killed worldwide in 2004, almost half of the deaths occurred in Iraq at the hands of militants, and by 2005, more journalists had been killed in Iraq than in the entire span of the Vietnam War. Though many journalists were victims of outright murder, others were subjected to a more refined tool of the insurgency: kidnapping.

Kidnapping has become a staple news item of the conflict in Iraq. The stories have become too familiar, and images of the captives are frequently publicized while all loved ones can do is wait and hope. Unlike Sevgi and Philip — who have unwisely struck out on their own — most Western journalists often turn to local Iraqis for assistance in covering stories outside highsecurity areas like the Green Zone because the situation is so perilous. Ann Cooper, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, notes that, sadly, “most of the journalists killed have been Iraqis.

Photo: Falko Matte, iStockPhoto

Insurgents often target Iraqis as ‘collaborators’ because they are working with Western news organizations. Many have been threatened, ‘If you don’t stop this work, we’ll kill you.’ Some have stopped working. Some have gone into exile. Some have been killed.” Kidnapping is so rampant in Iraq that for some, it has become a business. James Glanz, in a March 2005 New York Times article reports “Iraqi families are so well schooled in the new commerce of kidnapping. […] In spite of the mortal danger to their loved ones, they seldom agree to the initial ransom demand, because [once kidnappers know what the family is willing to pay,] the price will only increase.”

Foreigners, however, remain the choice targets for bringing international attention to the political causes of insurgents, and journalists are not the only ones in the crosshairs. One such high-profile abduction was that of 62-year-old engineer Kenneth Bigley of Liverpool, England. He was seen on video wearing an orange jumpsuit and begging British Prime Minister Tony Blair to free any women

being held in Iraqi prisons: “I need you to be compassionate as you always said you were and help me, help me to live. I don’t want to die. I don’t deserve that.” Mr. Bigley was executed by his captors, and the ordeal proved a chilling one for Britain’s citizenry and government.

Abducted in 2004, Canadian journalist Scott Taylor was one of those who lived through his kidnapping. He describes his treatment in detail: I had barely removed the blindfold and taken a sip of water when five men rushed back into the room. I could see the batons and ropes, but I had no time to react before I was pulled to my feet. When I attempted to resist, my feet were knocked out from under me, and I was savagely kicked.

They blindfolded me and gagged me with a headscarf. My hands were tied behind my back and I was rolled over with my feet up in the air — tied to a pole. Two men held the pole up when two others began beating my feet with straps and batons.

Turkish journalist Zeynep Tugrul, held hostage alongside Scott Taylor, asserts that the kidnappers “are people who think they are living in the time of the Crusades. They say they are fighting for Islam first and Iraq second. They think their religion is being attacked.” As their captors repeatedly alternated promises of release with threats of beheading, Tugrul and Taylor experienced four days of uncertainty, preparing for the likelihood of death.

The kidnappers freed Tugrul on September 11, 2004 but continued to hold Taylor. The next day he heard the words, “Stop. Get your things. You will live. You are free.” And just as abruptly as he had been captured, Taylor was released. The senselessness of his and Turgul’s captivity — not to mention all the others who did and did not make it back home — informs The Cry of the Reed at every turn. Yet even in senseless times, there can be hope, and Ünel carefully walks that line with his characters and with us, his audience.

– KH & JL Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

11

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?

Statue of Crossed Sabers, Baghdad (detail); photo: Dragon Mastergunner (U.S. soldier deployed in Iraq), stock.xchng

BACKGROUND

& Objectives Use the following synopsis and objectives to inform your teaching of The Cry of the Reed curriculum.

A

fter entering war-torn Iraq to cover the news, Western journalists Sevgi and Philip quickly become the news when they are kidnapped by Sunni insurgents.

As the crisis unfolds, Sevgi’s distraught boyfriend and estranged mother work together to save her life — and to cope with the possibility that it may already be lost.

Although unaware of their efforts, Sevgi comes to realize that her survival may depend on what her kidnappers believe about those two complex relationships.

OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Identify key issues in The Cry of the Reed including: • Love and grief • Shifting identity • Religion as purpose 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 Cry of the Reed.

12

Huntington Theatre Company

ed in opposite ways? Discuss how they are similar and how they are different.

As a thought experiment, imagine a perfect world in which there is no death or suffering (a place like the religious concept of heaven or paradise). Would love still exist without a basis for grief? How would it be different from the kind of love we feel in our imperfect world?

Tasbeh (prayer beads); photo: Owais Khan, stock.xchng

PREPARATION FOR

The Cry of the Reed Note to Teachers: Use the following ideas to engage your class in thinking about Sinan Ünel while introducing them to The Cry of the Reed and its major themes.

SINAN ÜNEL Sinan Ünel grew up in Turkey but returned to America, the country of his birth, for college. Like many young people, Ünel was undecided about a college major. He was interested in writing and film, but his parents hoped he would pursue law or medicine. As a concession, Ünel chose to enter the school of architecture. But he was unhappy there because his true passion was for playwriting. Despite his parents’ threat to cut off their relationship, Ünel transferred to the writing program. He believes he made the right decision and has made peace with his parents. What factors should guide a person’s decision about their college major or career? Should you always follow your dreams? Does it make sense to consider the practical aspects of a career choice, such as how much money you will make or the likelihood of landing your dream job? Continue learning about Ünel by consulting pages from the literary guide. Do you agree that he made the right decision?

INSTABILITY IN IRAQ After the fall of Baghdad and the capture of Saddam Hussein, many observers incorrectly believed that the war was over. But the war continues to this day. Since it began in March 2003, the American military has lost approximately 4000 personnel. Many more Iraqis have died as a result of the fighting. Roadblocks and marketplaces are often under attack. Kidnappings and arrests occur daily. In addition to the devastating loss of life, the war has destroyed many national treasures and natural resources, including oil wells upon which Iraq’s economy depends. Iraqis must endure the inconvenience of electricity shortages and early curfews. Do you think that the removal of Saddam Hussein has led to happier lives for the Iraqi people? Do you think that the United States, having invaded the country, now has a responsibility to stabilize it—or should the Iraqis be expected to do so on their own?

KEY ISSUES Love and Grief At the end of the play, Ayla remarks that as she ran from grief, she also ran from love, because one cannot exist without the other. What does she mean? Are grief and love the same emotion reflect-

Shifting Identity Sevgi has a complex cultural identity. She was born in Turkey, educated in America, and is a citizen of both countries. Although an avowed atheist, her worldview has been heavily influenced by the religious traditions of her Muslim mother and Jewish father. Sevgi tries to use this unique heritage to elicit compassion from her kidnappers, presenting herself as someone who understands their plight and can communicate it effectively to Western readers. Yet the kidnappers seem to view the world through a much simpler prism: either Sevgi is a devout Muslim, or she is an infidel. The irony is that Sevgi arguably emerges from their encounter as an even more complex person, with an identity that continues to shift and change. Do you think that Sevgi is lying when she portrays herself as a devout Muslim, or is that a genuine part of her identity?

Religion as Purpose At the beginning of the play, Josh is lost — literally. But he is also feeling emotionally disoriented. He struggles to understand what has become of his relationship with Sevgi, where his life is headed, and why religious faith continues to be so prevalent in the world. In contrast, other characters in the play seem to rely on religion as an anchor. Their faith gives them rules to follow, goals to attain, and a sense of security about their future, even in death.

Josh believes that his lack of faith makes it impossible for him to find peace and order amid the chaos. Is it necessary to have religious faith to get through difficult times?

Do you need religious faith to have a purpose or meaning in your life?

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

13

Related Works and Resources You might explore other books and plays recommended by the Huntington artistic staff: A Mighty Heart: The Inside Story of the Al Qaeda Kidnapping of Danny Pearl by Mariane Pearl (2004) History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey by Stanford J. Shaw (1976) Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat by Richard H. Shultz and Andrea J. Dew (2006) Iraq: A War —Photography by the Associated Press by Chris Hedges (2007) No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

by Reza Aslan (2006) The Essential Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks (Penguin, 2004) The Sufi Book of Life: 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish

by Neil Douglas-Klotz (2005) Other works with related themes include: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003) A Mighty Heart directed by Michael Winterbottom (2007) The Road to Guantanamo directed by Michael Winterbottom (2006)

14

Huntington Theatre Company

OPEN RESPONSE & WRITING

Assignments OPEN RESPONSE ASSESSMENT Instructions to the students: Please answer the following as thoroughly as possible in a well-planned and carefully written paragraph. Remember to use topic sentences and examples from the text.

3. Do you understand the perspective of the Sunni insurgents, as Philip claims he does? Can you understand their religious and political views?

Is violence necessary in order to achieve their objectives?

1. Explain the meaning of the play’s title, The Cry of the Reed.

4. The play’s author, Sinan Ünel, believes that a common theme in his work is the “changeability of identity.” Do you believe that Sevgi is a “shape-shifter,” meaning that she changes qualities about herself depending on the situation, not only out of necessity but also as a result of her own personal development?

Give examples.

2. Emir believes there is no difference between journalists and spies. Is this a fair assessment in a time of war?

3. How do you feel about Kadir? Do you have sympathy for him? Is he a good or bad person?

4. Do you think Sevgi and Philip deserved their fate, when they traveled into Iraq without proper protection?

5. Does anything positive comes of Sevgi’s kidnapping?

6. Do you think Ayla is a good mother? Does she help Sevgi in her time of need?

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS 1. Philip initially rejects Sevgi’s claim that “words have power.” But when they are pressured by their kidnappers to convert to Islam, it is Sevgi who decides to feign conversion and Philip who refuses as a matter of principle. Would you accept Emir’s bargain? How much power do words really have?

2. Do you think that Ayla’s broadcasted speech helped to save Sevgi’s life?

Should Ayla have known how Sevgi’s captors would react to learning she is a Sufi? Should she have done anything differently?

5. Select one of the following quotations and discuss it in essay form.

“A mother and her child are linked together like chapters of the same book.

One doesn’t make sense without the other.”

“All the lower species long to be like us.”

“The fear of loss is like a sister to me.”

“You came to show me that as I ran from grief, I also ran from love…one doesn’t exist without the other.”

6. Choose one of the main characters in The Cry of the Reed and write a journal entry from his or her perspective, expanding on what we already know. Place the character at a key moment in the play, a time critical to propelling the action of the play forward.

MASTERY

Assessment ACT ONE SCENE 1 1. What did Josh lose? What is he trying to find?

2. How will Hakan participate in the upcoming Rumi festival?

3. What relationship does Hakan have with Ayla Okan?

SCENE 2 4. To whom is Ayla speaking while the projector is being fixed? What is the message of her story?

SCENE 3 5. What does Philip know about the safety of Tal Afar?

15. Kadir and Emir are suspicious of Philip and Sevgi. What do they believe they are doing in Iraq?

SCENES 8 16. What type of instrument does Josh play? Is Ayla surprised her daughter is in a relationship with this man?

17. Why is Sevgi no longer allowed to work in Iraq?

SCENES 9 18. What major decision has Nabil made about his life?

19. How do Sevgi’s captors prove Philip is still alive?

20. How will Emir check out the facts of Sevgi’s story?

6. Why did Philip call Sevgi’s editor?

21. What “gift” does Emir give to Sevgi?

7. How did Philip alter his appearance?

SCENES 10 22. What important information does Josh share with Hakan about Ayla’s past life?

SCENES 4 8. Why does Ayla think Josh wants to see her?

9. What is the real reason Josh traveled to Turkey to find Ayla?

SCENES 11 23. Why does Sevgi not want to call her mother? What does Philip think she should do?

SCENES 5 10. What nationality is Philip? What nationality is Sevgi?

SCENES 12 24. Was Ayla always a religious person?

11. Who approaches Philip and Sevgi upon entering Iraq?

SCENES 13 25. What does Nabil bring for Sevgi?

12. Who agrees to take Philip and Sevgi to Tal Afar? Why do these people make Philip nervous?

26. What happens while Sevgi speaks with her mother on the phone?

SCENE 6 13. What lie did Sevgi tell Josh? How does he think he can find her?

SCENE 7 14. Why is Philip anxious? What rules does he want Sevgi to follow?

SCENES 14 27. What happened to Emir?

SCENE 2 30. Why does Nabil believe that Sevgi should not be worried about her death?

31. What is Philip’s plan to escape?

SCENE 3 32. Does Josh believe in God? 33. What does Josh ask Ayla to do for the Al Jazeera network?

SCENES 4 34. Who does the new Emir turn out to be?

35. What does Tariq want Philip and Sevgi to do in order to be released?

Do they agree?

SCENES 5 36. What happened to Ayla’s son?

37. What kind of religious views do Josh and Sevgi hold?

SCENE 6 38. How does Philip feel about Sevgi?

SCENE 7 39. What two things make Tariq furious?

Why does he believe Sevgi lied?

SCENE 8 40. What does Sevgi want her mother to know and to do for her?

SCENE 9 41. What sad news does Sevgi learn from Nabil?

SCENES 10 42. What does the Al Jazeera network report about the fate of Philip and Sevgi?

SCENES 11 43. What great action does Nabil take for Sevgi?

ACT TWO

SCENES 12 44. Why is Ayla angry with Josh?

Why does her anger dissipate?

SCENE 1 29. What did Josh do in an effort to get Sevgi released?

SCENES 13 45. What lesson does Ayla learn through meeting Josh?

28. According to Kadir, what is Philip’s fate?

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

15

Turkey 4, photo: Lana Cuk, stock.xchng

MEDIA

Assessment The following exercises are interactive, handson challenges in Drama, Music, and Design.

They aim to give students a better understanding of the many kinds of tasks that contribute to a theatrical production.

MUSIC/DANCE The “dance of the whirling dervish” plays an important symbolic role in the play.

Some believe that its combination of spinning and meditation helps the dancer to achieve enlightenment and communion with God. Continue your study of the Mevlevi order in Turkey by consulting (p.

9) of the literary guide. Schedule library time if necessary. What would the whirling dervishes look like, and what music, if any, would they dance to? In groups of three or four, choreograph an imitation of the whirling dervishes and 16

Huntington Theatre Company

perform it for the class. Use costumes and appropriate music, if possible. Do you believe that this type of dancing could create a genuine religious experience?

COSTUME DESIGN Imagine that you have been asked to create the costume design for The Cry of the Reed.

How would Josh’s clothing differ from Ayla’s, a cleric of the 13th-century poet Rumi? How would Sevgi and Philip dress in order to blend in as they cross the border into Iraq? Choose a scene for each character and create an appropriate costume for that moment in the play. Feel free to use pictures from magazines and catalogs as a resource. Your costume choices should reflect what we know about the specific circumstances in which these characters are living.

ACTING Ask students to form pairs in order to act out an important scene from the play.

They should use props and elements of costumes, if possible. Have them consider their placement on the stage, blocking (who moves where and when), gestures, vocal tone, music, and the intended emotional impact of the scene.

CHARACTERIZATION Have each student choose a character from The Cry of the Reed to portray. As if preparing for the role in rehearsal, ask students to answer the following questions about their characters: a. What is my objective in the play, and which obstacles stand in my way? b. How, if at all, does my character transform during the course of the play? c. Are there any contradictions inherent in my character? d. What do other characters think of my character, and what does my character think of them?

QUESTIONS AFTER

Attending the Performance Note to teachers: After viewing the play, ask the following questions:

1. About the Play and Production a. What was your overall reaction?

Were you surprised? Intrigued?

Amused? Explain your reactions.

How was the play structured? Did it build to a single climax? Was it episodic? Did this structure help or hinder your understanding of the play? Was the dialogue interesting?

Appropriate? Poetic? Were you aware of the imagery and symbolism during the course of the play?

Would you have been aware of these devices without previous preparation?

production as a whole? Were there any features of the set that distracted from the action of the play? c. Did the design reflect the themes, type and style of the play? d. Were the artistic qualities of unity, balance, line, texture, mass and color used effectively? e. Did the set provide appropriate environment and atmosphere? f. Was the set used to present any symbolic images or did it simply

represent the space in which the action of the play occurred? Did it contain elements of both a “realistic” and a “symbolic approach?

4. About Lighting and Sound a. What mood or atmosphere did the lighting establish? Was the illumination sufficient? Did the lighting harmonize with, and contribute toward, the unity of the production? b. How did the sound used in the play enhance your overall experience?

b. Was the pace and tempo of the Huntington Theatre Company’s production effective and appropriate?

2. About the Characters a. Did any of the characters touch you personally in any way? How? b. Were the characters three-dimensional and believable? c. Were the motivations of the characters clear? d. What qualities were revealed by the action, physicality, and speech of the characters? e. Did the characters develop or undergo a transformation during the course of the play? f. In what ways did the characters reveal the themes of the play?

3. About the Set a. Was the set usable and workable? b. Was the set compatible with the

Sufi Man, photo: Murat Kurtuldu, stock.xchng

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

17

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. 15) for The Cry of the Reed for students to read before, and to review again after attending the performance.

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

2. Read the Synopsis (P. 3) 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.

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. A. Jill Carroll, a journalist for the Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped in Iraq during early 2006. Incredibly, she was released less than three months later. Research Carroll’s harrowing ordeal. What efforts were made to free her? How was she treated by her captors? Do you think that kidnapping journalists achieves the kidnappers’ desired result?

B. Daniel Pearl, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped in Pakistan where he was beheaded by his captors in 2002. The kidnappers claimed that Pearl was a CIA spy and a Jew working against Muslim interests. They also claimed that American journalists would no longer be safe in Pakistan. Why are journalists a major terrorist target? As a society, what consequences do we face when the press is under attack and reporting the news becomes a dangerous job?

2. The Atheist Alliance is an organization committed to uniting and supporting individuals and groups who do not believe in God, but who have an interest in community building and the protection of

18

Huntington Theatre Company

free-thought and scientific progress. After visiting the organization’s website (www.atheistalliance.org), answer the following questions: What benefits do atheists receive from operating and belonging to this kind of organization? What struggles do atheists face in this country and around the world?

3. Relatively unknown in the United States before the turn of the century, the television network Al Jazeera received international attention after airing al-Qaeda’s videotaped statements following the September 11 tragedy. The network is often censored or banned in many countries of the Persian Gulf and has struggled to act as an independent news agency. Whose interests does Al Jazeera serve?

Does the network have political goals, or is its only mission to report the news?

4. The title of the play The Cry of the Reed is taken from a poem written by Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a famous Sufi poet and philosopher. Rumi believed that love is the means through which humans come to know God and that the highest state of personal spirituality knows no cultural or religious bounds. His teachings are inclusive, as opposed to exclusive, and he is read widely throughout the world. In what ways does Rumi’s philosophy differ from that of Sevgi’s captors? Would Rumi agree that violence in the name of Islam is necessary and moral?

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. 15) 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. 14) or one question from Writing Assignments (P. 14) for students to answer in one class period.

Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration (P. 18) or Media Assesment (P. 16) tasks to complete for extra credit.

SEVEN-DAY LESSON PLAN completely integrates The Cry of the Reed into your schedule. Within seven school days, you can introduce the play, assign reading and vocabulary, and assess your students on both a group and individual level. Students will ideally view the play after completing Mastery Assessment questions.

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

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

Homework: Read Act One and answer corresponding Mastery Assessment (P. 15) questions.

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

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

DAY THREE - Act Two Discuss the end of the play and answers to Mastery Assessment questions.

Optional: Complete Vocabulary Handout for homework.

DAY FOUR - Attend Performance Homework: Ask students to look over Handout 2: A Comparison of Three Major Religions Optional: Students may choose one of the For Further Exploration (P. 18) tasks for extra credit.

DAY FIVE - Group work Complete A Comparison of Three Major Religions assignment from the Handout 2 Schedule library time if necessary. Take time for class discussion.

DAY SIX - Review/Preparation Students should answer the Open Response (P. 14) questions as preparation for their test the following day.

DAY SEVEN - Test Individual Assessment: Choose two questions from the Writing Assignments (P. 14) for students to answer in one class period.

Limelight Literary & Curriculum Guide 2007-2008

19

Name:_______________________________________________________

Handout 1

VOCABULARY astute

mortal

claustrophobic

mosque

conduit

mystic

existential

pursuit

imperialism

rampant

infidel

resilient

insolence

skeptic

insurgents

strife

minion

sustenance

misogynistic

temporal

modicum

Date:_____________________

Name:_______________________________________________________

Date:_____________________

Handout 2

A COMPARISON OF THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS In small groups, research three of the major world religions: Judiasm, Islam, and Christianity.

Many people have dedicated their whole lives to the study of these religions and their ancient texts.

This is an exercise to gain a basic overview of the differences and similarities of these philosophies.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR RELIGIOUS TEXTS?

WHAT ARE THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS CALLED?

JUDAISM:

JUDAISM:

ISLAM:

ISLAM:

CHRISTIANITY:

CHRISTIANITY:

DESCRIBE THE DEITY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RELIGION.

IDENTIFY MAJOR DIVISIONS OR SECTS WITHIN THE RELIGION.

JUDAISM:

JUDAISM:

ISLAM:

ISLAM:

CHRISTIANITY:

CHRISTIANITY:

WHAT IS THE PLACE OF WORSHIP CALLED?

NAME AT LEAST ONE HOLY CITY.

JUDAISM:

JUDAISM:

ISLAM:

ISLAM:

CHRISTIANITY:

CHRISTIANITY:

WHAT IS THE HISTORY LINKING JUDAISM WITH BOTH ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY?

IS IT SURPRISING THAT ANIMOSITY SOMETIMES EXISTS AMONG THESE HISTORICALLY RELATED RELIGIONS?

As a group, share and compare your answers with the rest of the class.

Š Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 April 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