I Was Most Alive with You Curriculum Guide

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Standards 3 Guidelines for Attending the Theatre 4 Important Notes 5 Artists 6 Themes for Writing & Discussion 9 Mastery Assessment 13 For Further Exploration 15 Suggested Activities 24

Š Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 June 2016 No portion of this curriculum guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education & Community Programs Inquiries should be directed to: Donna Glick | Director of Education djglick@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu This curriculum guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by: Alexandra Truppi / Manager of Curriculum & Instruction Pascale Florestal / Education & Community Associate Marisa Jones / Education Associate with contributions by: Donna Glick | Director of Education

COMMON CORE STANDARDS

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

STANDARDS: Student Matinee performances and pre-show workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Activities are also included in this Curriculum Guide and in our pre-show workshops that support several of the Massachusetts state standards in Theatre. Other arts areas may also be addressed depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 1 • Grades 9-10: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

• Grades 11-12: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences from from the text, including where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 2 • Grades 9-10: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

• Grades 11-12: 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 and objective summary of the text.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 3 • Grades 9-10: 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 11-12: 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: 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.

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 6 • Grade 8: Analyze how differences in the 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.

• Grades 11-12: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view required distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7 • Grades 9-12: 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).

Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 9 • Grades 9-12: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 5 • Grades 9-10: 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.

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MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS IN THEATRE ACTING • 1.14 — Create complex and believable characters through the integration of physical, vocal, and emotional choices (Grades 9-12).

• 1.15 — Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a character analysis (Grades 9-12).

• 1.17 — Demonstrate increased ability to work effectively alone and collaboratively with a partner or in an ensemble (Grades 9-12).

READING AND WRITING SCRIPTS • 2.11 — Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of literature (Grades 9-12).

TECHNICAL THEATRE • 4.13 — Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production (Grades 9-12).

CONNECTIONS • Strand 6: Purposes and Meanings in the Arts — Students will describe the purposes for which works of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and architecture were and are created, and, when appropriate, interpret their meanings (Grades PreK-12).

• Strand 10: Interdisciplinary Connections — Students will apply their knowledge of the arts to the study of English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering (Grades PreK-12).

AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE Attending live theatre is a unique experience with many valuable bl educational d l and d sociall b benefits. f To ensure that h allll audience d members are able to enjoy the performance, please take a few minutes to discuss the following audience etiquette topics with your students before you come to the Huntington Theatre Company.

• How is attending the theatre similar to and different from going to the movies? What behaviors are and are not appropriate when seeing a play? Why? • Remind students that because the performance is live, the audience’s behavior and reactions will affect the actors’ performances.

No two audiences are exactly the same, and therefore no two performances are exactly the same — this is part of what makes theatre so special! Students’ behavior should reflect the level of performance they wish to see.

• Theatre should be an enjoyable experience for the audience. It is absolutely all right to applaud when appropriate and laugh at the funny moments. Talking and calling out during the performance, however, are not allowed. Why might this be? Be sure to mention that not only would the people seated around them be able to hear their conversation, but the actors on stage could hear them, too. Theatres are constructed to carry sound efficiently!

• Any noise or light can be a distraction, so please remind students to make sure their cell phones are turned off (or better yet, left at home or at school!). Texting, photography, and video recording are prohibited. Food, gum, and drinks should not be brought into the theatre.

• Students should sit with their group as seated by the Front of House staff and should not leave their seats once the performance has begun.

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IMPORTANT NOTES ACRONYMS, TERMINOLOGY, AND USAGE • American Sign Language is often referred to by the acronym ASL, which will be used frequently in this curriculum guide.

• The term sim-com will also be used to describe simultaneous communication in ASL and spoken English by one person.

• The word deaf with a lowercase d describes a person’s inability to hear. For example, in the sentence, “He is deaf in one ear,” the word refers specifically to the audiological condition of being unable to hear. The word Deaf with a capital D describes a person’s cultural association with the Deaf community.

Although Deaf culture can take many forms, members of the Deaf community are generally fluent in ASL, take special pride in their unique form of expression, and have a shared communication etiquette. A person may be audiologically deaf but not culturally Deaf (for example, someone who loses his or her hearing later in life and does not know ASL is deaf but not Deaf). The Deaf community also includes hearing ASL interpreters who embrace Deaf culture and values. D/deaf will be used in statements that apply to both Deaf and deaf groups.

FORMATTING I Was Most Alive with You is written and intended to be performed in two languages: spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL). In the script, playwright Craig Lucas uses font treatments to differentiate among dialogue that is signed, dialogue that is spoken aloud, and dialogue that uses both spoken English and ASL. The play also includes moments of overlapping, simultaneous, and omitted dialogue in both languages. When quoting excerpts from the play, the authors of this curriculum guide have followed the playwright’s original formatting: • For the most complete understanding of the play’s text, we recommend printing this guide in color.

• Dialogue in black is spoken English.

• Dialogue in red is rendered in ASL. • Dialogue in light blue provides the actor with a choice of signing, speaking, or a combination (sim-com). Since each character has a different fluency in ASL, an interplay between the two languages can be useful. The ratio of one language to the other is a matter of interpretation for the actor and director to determine in each instance, so it is also quite possible that some of these passages be entirely signed or entirely spoken.

• A slash mid-way in a line of dialogue / indicates the point at which the subsequent speaker may overlap.

• Words in brackets [ ] indicate unspoken thoughts.

• An ellipsis on a line by itself… is a pause of any length.

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ARTISTS Archival Research Center. Dr. Gotlieb, for whom the center was named in 2003, believed it was important to highlight Lucas as a groundbreaking artist, and collected manuscripts, drafts, contracts, personal journals, and many other artifacts for the exhibit. As Lucas’ body of work expands, his writing will continue to be preserved by the center.

“I AM SO EXCITED TO BE WORKING ON I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU AT THE HUNTINGTON … I COULDN’T BE MORE THRILLED ABOUT THE PROCESS, THE ACTORS, THE PROJECT. AND IF THE PROCESS SO FAR IS ANY INDICATION, THEN THIS IS FAR AND AWAY THE MOST MEANINGFUL ARTISTIC JOURNEY OF MY LIFE.” – CRAIG LUCAS Playwright Craig Lucas

PLAYWRIGHT CRAIG LUCAS: FROM COMEDY AND MAGIC TO TRAGEDY AND REDEMPTION With writing that spans over three decades and a notable acting and directing career both on stage and in film, Craig Lucas continues to make his mark as a master storyteller. Many of his early plays could be classified as romantic comedies, including his breakout success, Prelude to a Kiss, which was adapted into a major motion picture starring Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan in 1992 (the play was also produced at the Huntington Theatre Company in 2010). He began working on the play while “listening to a lot of Duke Ellington, and I thought that song [“Prelude to a Kiss”] had extra reverberations for my story — more than just the ones in connection with the big kiss in act one; there are a lot of kisses in the play, and there’s an ultimate, metaphoric one if you go in for that sort of thing.” Prelude to a Kiss was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, several Drama Desk Awards, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Despite his success, Lucas could not have started with a more modest beginning. Born in 1951 in Atlanta, Georgia, he was found abandoned in a car. A married couple from Pennsylvania adopted him when he was eight months old and raised him in the Main Line area of Philadelphia. Lucas’ father, an FBI agent, and mother, an artist, guided him through his early school years. Lucas dedicated his play Prelude to a Kiss to his parents, telling them it was “sweet and romantic. My tribute to marriage.” He graduated from Boston University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre and creative writing, and is now an honored alumnus of the school, with an exhibit about his work housed at the Howard Gotlieb 6

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After college, Lucas moved to New York City to become a playwright with the encouragement of his mentor Anne Sexton, a Pulitzer-Prize winning poet from Newton, MA, who lost her battle with mental illness when she committed suicide at age 46. Sexton advised Lucas to go to New York and at least “try his luck.” There, Lucas also found a mentor in composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who according to Lucas, says he made a better writer than actor. While he worked on his writing, Lucas also found success on the Broadway stage, performing in musicals including Sweeney Todd (original Broadway cast) and Shenandoah, among others. Lucas met his long-time collaborator, producer Norman Rene, in 1979 and wrote a number of successful plays including Marry Me A Little (1981), Missing Persons (1981), and Reckless (1983).

Lucas has said that coming out as gay allowed him to fully realize his potential as both a playwright and a person. In 1995, Lucas’ personal life took a tragic turn when his partner, Tim Melester, died from AIDS. Lucas’ writing, perhaps in part or as a result of this difficult experience, began to focus on more serious topics, including the AIDS crisis and other issues of importance to the gay community. Some critics refer to these works as his “gay plays,” a categorization at which Lucas scoffed, “I never ask my plays who they are sleeping with.” But a few of these plays, such as The Singing Forest, Longtime Companion, and The Dying Gaul, are widely considered to be his best. Longtime Companion and The Dying Gaul were later turned into films, Longtime Companion in 1989, and The Dying Gaul, directed by Lucas, in 2005. Lucas has also found great success as a bookwriter of musicals; he was nominated for a Tony Award for The Light in the Piazza in 2005, and An American in Paris won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015.

In his 2008 commencement address titled “Leaving Your Artistic Legacy,” Lucas spoke to the graduates of the Boston University College of Fine Arts with a clear message to young artists: “Art is a quality of life issue! It makes things better. Worth living,” he said, seeking to empower the new graduates to find meaningful uses for their talents rather than simply applying them in the pursuit of acceptance, awards, and money. “Success,” he noted, “is only news once.” Lucas challenged the audience to make people truly feel something through their art, which he believes is difficult in our often cynical and indifferent world. “We began, as artists, tens of thousands of years ago, by putting our hands to the walls of caves and leaving a handprint,” he reflected. “‘I was here! This is what it was like! These arrows, these animals, this blood.’ That is still our job.”

QUESTIONS: 1. Research Craig Lucas’ life further and then consider his latest play, I Was Most Alive with You within this context. Is there evidence of Lucas drawing upon his personal experiences for inspiration when writing this play? Why might he have felt that this story was important to tell?

2. Research Craig Lucas’ career as a writer and performer. Do you think he follows his own advice by not chasing fame and fortune?

3. What do you believe is the purpose of art in today’s society?

Through which artistic forms do you express yourself? What motivates you to explore your own creativity?

ACTOR RUSSELL HARVARD Here in the Bay State, his last name evokes a certain famous Ivy League university, but Russell Harvard is a rising star of both stage and screen. In the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Craig Lucas’ new play, I Was Most Alive with You, Harvard plays the lead role of Knox. Similar to his character, Harvard is deaf but uses a combination of ASL, spoken English, and lip reading to communicate. He can also hear some sound. Born in Pasadena, Texas, Russell Harvard is the third deaf generation in his family, following his parents and paternal grandmother. His parents recognized when Harvard was still very young that he had some residual hearing (according to the International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation, “residual hearing refers to the hearing that remains after a person has experienced a hearing loss. It is suggested that the greater the hearing loss, the lesser the residual hearing.”). As a result, Harvard’s parents thought it best to place him in an oral school (schools that use hearing aids and cochlear implants, which replace the function of the damaged inner ear, as tools to assist D/deaf students and focus on teaching students to communicate through spoken English rather than ASL).

In a March 2013 interview with the LA Stage Times, Harvard recounts the moment he left his oral school and transferred to his parents’ alma mater, the Texas School for the Deaf. “I went to an oral school at first — I had residual hearing and my mom thought it was the best decision. But I was not a happy child at that time.

Russell Harvard

I remember just crying every day, and my mom decided to bring me to a deaf school and I was very happy there.” After graduating from the Texas School of the Deaf in 1999, Harvard attended Gallaudet University, the nation’s foremost institution of higher learning for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, in Washington, DC. Harvard’s love of acting started at a very young age when he saw his cousin in a production of The Wizard of Oz. In a March 2013 interview with the Orange County Register, Harvard recalled the moment he realized he wanted to become an actor: “My cousin was so nice and mild mannered and here he was playing this villain. I thought, ‘Wow, I want to do that!’” But throughout his time at Gallaudet, Harvard struggled to decide on a career path — he considered both acting and training as a physical therapist — due to the lack of job security many deaf people encounter during their job searches. Harvard took a leave of absence from Gallaudet and spent three years in Anchorage, AK, where he worked as a live-in staff member and teacher’s assistant at a pre-school with seven Deaf pupils. During his time in Alaska, he became very interested in teaching theatre and returned to Gallaudet, graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre.

Since graduation, Harvard has found much success as an actor and continues to find roles that showcase his unique talents and provide him with the opportunity to bring characters to life that defy stereotypes. His first professional film role was in the 2007 Academy Award-nominated movie There Will Be Blood, in which he portrayed adult H.W., the son of Daniel Day-Lewis’s character, Daniel Plainview. Soon after filming There Will Be Blood, Harvard starred in an episode of “CSI: New York” opposite Academy Award-winning Deaf actress Marlee Matlin. Other film I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU CURRICULUM GUIDE

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RESOURCES and television credits include Mr. Wench in the FX series “Fargo,” “Switched at Birth,” “Odd Mom Out,” and the lead role of Matt in the independent film The Hammer.

Harvard has also found tremendous stage success in recent years.

He has appeared in several productions at the Deaf West Theatre in California, including Sleeping Beauty Wakes and Aesop Who? In 2012, he appeared in the Off Broadway production of Nina Raine’s Tribes in which he originated the role of Billy, a young deaf man with an intellectual but dysfunctional family. He was later cast in the Broadway transfer of Deaf West’s production of Spring Awakening. When he is not performing, Harvard teaches theatre part-time at his alma mater, the Texas School for the Deaf.

He is also extremely passionate about deaf actors having the same opportunity as hearing actors to be cast in roles beyond their disability. He is a strong advocate for more representation of disabilities on the stage and in films. He states in his March 2013 interview with LA Stage Times: “We need writers and casting director to be fearless in working with actors who happen to be deaf. I’m a little bit exhausted with being called in a category of deaf performers. Do hearing actors have a category of their own, apart from ‘A list, B list, D list’? Another factor is that budgets are limited, so interpreters are usually pricey, expensive. I think it’s time to let go of that and be more independent in the business. I have confronted issues that interpreters are being paid more than actors. We need to do this more on our own, using different modes of communications, like iPhones, smartphones, voice recognition apps, laptops using word dots. I know it isn’t the fastest mode, but it’s doable.”

QUESTIONS: 1. Russell Harvard is frequently compared to Deaf actress Marlee Matlin, who won an Oscar for her leading role in the film Children of a Lesser God in 1986. Compare and contrast Harvard and Matlin’s training as performers and their careers onstage and on screen.

2. In a New York Times article about Russell Harvard in April 2012, journalist Kate Taylor states that “in the past few years two productions — a New York Theatre Workshop one of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, adapted from the novel by Carson McCullers, and the Broadway production of The Miracle Worker — have angered some deaf people because the productions cast hearing actors in deaf roles.” Research other instances in which television shows, films, and plays featured deaf or hard-of-hearing characters that were played by hearing actors. Why did the theatres make these casting decisions? How did audiences react to these casting choices?

3. Russell Harvard struggled to find a career path in college due to his disability and almost gave up on his dream. Research what professions are common among members of the D/deaf community. Why do you think those who are deaf or hard-ofhearing gravitate towards these careers?

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LOCAL AND NATIONAL DEAF EDUCATION American Society for Deaf Children: deafchildren.org Beverly School for the Deaf: cccbsd.org Boston University Deaf Studies: bu.edu/academics/sed/programs/deaf-studies Clarke School for the Deaf/Center for Oral Education: clarkeschools.org DEAF, Inc. (Boston, New Bedford, Salem, and Taunton): deafinconline.com Gallaudet University: gallaudet.edu Hands and Voices: handsandvoices.org Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: bostonpublicschools.org/school/horace-mann-schooldeaf-and-hard-hearing The Learning Center for the Deaf: tlcdeaf.org Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/mcdhh Massachusetts State Associate of the Deaf: massdeaf.org Northeastern University American Sign Language Program: northeastern.edu/cssh/asl Willie Ross School for the Deaf: willierossschool.org

DEAF ARTS Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts: inclusioninthearts.org Deaf Arts Festival: infodeafartsfestiv.wix.com/deaf-arts-festival Deaf Culture Art: deafart.org

THEMES FOR WRITING & DISCUSSION A SENSE OF BELONGING: INSIDERS AND OUTSIDERS All human beings share a desire to feel wanted and included by others, and many people satisfy this need through their family connections, religious gatherings, political affiliations, and work with other special interest groups with whom they share a common set of values. It can sometimes be difficult to achieve a sense of belonging in these groups, however, when those who are already insiders have their own unspoken expectations and understandings about what membership in the group means.

How does a person’s desire to fit in motivate their decisions and actions? What happens when there are conflicts over who belongs and who does not?

I Was Most Alive with You includes many characters who grapple with the expectations and assumptions connected with the various communities and groups with which they identify, and in some cases make significant personal sacrifices in order to achieve a sense of belonging. The Deaf community, largely signified by the use of ASL, is an important group for the family at the center of the play, and there is a stark contrast between how Knox’s mother Pleasant and other relatives connect with it. Knox’s mother Pleasant does not use ASL, unlike her husband, Ash, who is fluent in the language and uses it frequently in conversation with his son.

Pleasant complains on numerous occasions that this makes her feel like an outsider, despite the fact that her lack of ASL knowledge is her own choice. In Scene 9, Pleasant speaks to her mother-in-law Carla expressing frustration with Knox’s acceptance of his romantic interest, Farhad, despite Farhad’s refusal to embrace ASL. She does not understand “why [Farhad] is allowed not to sign but I must, after having taught Knox how to speak perfectly, alone, when, nobody would help” (Scene 9).

In addition to feeling out of place with her son’s Deaf community, Pleasant is also an outsider in her own marriage to Ash. Ash’s parents are both Jewish (his mother converted to belong to the same faith as her husband), but Pleasant is not Jewish and feels that this creates a barrier between her and the family. Pleasant’s mother-in-law Carla offers a model for how to create a place for oneself where none previously existed. She converted to Judaism in part for her husband but also because of the sense of belonging she felt when she joined the Jewish community. Raised in a Christian household, Carla felt like an outsider until she decided to convert. In scene 5 Carla explains: “What I loved about the Jews when I became one; they don’t care if you believe in God, they just want you to join the conversation.” Meanwhile, Pleasant’s inflexibility contributes to her outsider status from the communities to which her family members belong. She is an outsider in the Deaf and Jewish communities, and despite her desire to overcome these challenges through the love in her personal relationships, she is once again pushed out by Ash’s relationship with his writing partner, Astrid. As Pleasant explains to Farhad, “my husband and Astrid are writing partners, which means he spends more waking time alone with her than he does me” (Scene 5).

Nancy E. Carroll (Carla), Russell Harvard (Knox), Dee Nelson (Pleasant), and Steven Goldstein (Ash). Photo by Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots

Meanwhile, Knox has fallen in love with Farhad who is also deaf but does not belong to the Deaf community the way that Knox does. Farhad is also an addict, whereas Knox joined Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to get sober. Knox has a passion for AA’s Twelve Step program and for his work as a teacher, and he sees an opportunity to use their relationship as strategy to help Farhad join those who have embraced sobriety. Knox says: “Make a deal with you: stay sober today, leave that thing here (meaning the gaming device) and you don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight. Just cuddling” (Scene 3). Farhad’s lack of interest in embracing Deaf culture also sets him apart. “He isn’t sober and he doesn’t sign,” Ash remarks in Scene 2. Astrid clarifies: “No, he does, he just won’t.” Farhad has a cochlear implant and does not want to communicate in ASL, a rejection of Deaf culture that implies that Farhad would rather belong in the hearing world than in the Deaf one. But soon, a tragic accident causes Knox and Farhad to trade roles. In Scene 14, Farhad finds himself bargaining with Knox, promising to change his life and join him in sobriety. “I won’t drink, I won’t take drugs,” he begs. “I’ll make my life worthy, I will, worthy of you.” Farhad also begins taking ASL lessons, finally joining Deaf culture and leaving behind addiction, but are these efforts too little too late?

QUESTIONS: 1. Craig Lucas says that “among many things, [I Was Most Alive with You] is about belonging, and there are quite a few communities dramatized within the action — Deaf, hearing, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, alcoholic, non, young, old, wealthy, and disenfranchised. Each of these has particular ways of speaking about experience when like-members are alone with one another, and ways they wish to see their demographic represented to a larger world.” Choose one of the communities Lucas lists and consider I Was Most Alive with

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You with that community in mind. Cite specific evidence from the text that exemplifies the difference between how members of the community talk about themselves and their experiences versus how others discuss the same topics.

2. How much pressure do you feel to fit in with a particular group of friends or people at school? How does the media influence your desire to belong with particular communities?

3. Think about a time when you wanted to belong to a group that you were excluded from. Why did you want to belong to this group and why were you excluded? How did that feel?

FAITH AND SUFFERING FARHAD: What is faith?

KNOX: You know what faith is.

FARHAD: I don’t. Where did we come up with the idea that there are Gods? What’s wrong with life that we’re not enough — ASTRID: Thank you!

FARHAD: — there has to be some unseen force, for thousands of years and I see no evidence.

(Scene 5) Webster’s New Dictionary defines faith as “unquestioning belief” and “complete trust or confidence” with no need for physical proof, but in I Was Most Alive with You, Farhad is looking for something more concrete. As Ash observes, Farhad believes in what he can see and touch. “When you look into that — (gaming device),” Ash explains, “you have faith it will deliver. When you sip — (wine ) — that, you have faith it will give you something you really like” (Scene 5). Although Ash has lapsed from the Jewish religious tradition he was raised in, the time he and his son Knox spent in Alcoholics Anonymous provided him with a different kind of faith. In his and Knox’s struggles, Ash sees proof of a higher power. “Knox and I, we’re evidence,” he remarks. “My problem with the new atheists is that they say the idea of God has outlived its usefulness but they’re simultaneously dismissing the life-lines for millions and millions of alcoholics and addicts” (Scene 5). For Ash, his victory over the suffering of addiction is all the evidence of God’s existence that he needs.

Similarly, Knox’s faith is deeply personal and connected to his struggles with addiction. Every day, Knox recites the Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity, a daily Buddhist meditation prayer of the Dalai Lama. In the prayer, the speaker asks God to aid him or her in finding ways to be helpful and useful to others, precisely what Knox strives to do through his work as an ASL teacher and his efforts to assist Farhad, who is both deaf and a drug user, in conquering his addictions. “Stop drinking, learn to sign,” Knox encourages in Scene 3. Knox knows from his own experiences that faith is pivotal to overcoming addiction for good. He is not interested in asking God to intervene and fix all of his problems; instead, Knox believes that the inner strength it takes to 10

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overcome his challenges is evidence of God’s presence. “I don’t pray for God to hear me,” Knox signs as Mariama translates. “I pray to be able to hear the small voice deep inside, my best self, mostly hidden, but always there. If I ever pick up another drink, my disease has been waiting, it’s been doing push-ups all these years, getting much stronger. That will kill that voice for good: That voice is God speaking through me” (Scene 5). Knox’s mother Pleasant has views that differ significantly from those held by her husband and son, and believes that, rather than strengthening it, personal tragedy undermines faith. Pleasant is a self-identified lapsed Protestant. Knox tells his father in Scene 7: “The one thing she has faith in is no matter what she does… … … … …you’ll never stop loving her.”

As the family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner and offers up testaments of gratitude for the challenges they believe have made them better people, Pleasant grows disgruntled. “I am grateful I read some of the Old Testament coming here because it reminded me some people do everything possible to be good and every single thing is still taken away from them and the world still has no compunction about crushing them to dust,” she says, referring to the story of Job, a pious man whose faith is tested when he loses everything (Scene 6). Though he initially maintains his faith, Job eventually falls into despair, an emotion that both Farhad and Knox experience after an accident severely damages Knox’s ability to communicate. Farhad resorts to bargaining in an effort to repent. “I won’t drink, I won’t take drugs, I’ll make my life worthy, I will, worthy of you,” he begs, pleading for Knox’s forgiveness (Scene 14). Farhad takes inspiration from Knox and begins to use the accident as motivation for self-improvement, following Knox’s earlier mantras about how struggle made him a better, stronger person. But Knox has experienced a shattering loss and begins to question his previous faith that everything happens for a reason.

“Is believing in a higher power the same as knowing what happens is always for good?” Astrid ponders in Scene 16 when she notices that Knox has transformed into a pessimist who questions all he ever learned about the relationship between faith and suffering.

Knox grows reflective. “‘Pain is the chisel God uses to perfect us.’

That’s what the rabbi said to me at the hospital,” he recalls. “‘Every disaster is an opportunity.’ My sponsor. ‘God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle.’ My sponsor’s sponsor.” (Scene 25). But does Knox still agree?

Knox continues to pray, revisiting the Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity in spoken English rather than in ASL. But with Farhad staying away while he works on his sobriety, Knox sharply feels his absence. Ash tries to reassure his son. Farhad has finally started living up to the potential Knox saw in him and Ash cites this as a sign that Knox should hold onto his faith (scene 26): ASH: [Farhad is] good. … He is. You were right about him.

I’m keeping faith with that.

KNOX: Do you think that whole story he told about what he’d been through is true? That’s an awful lot of terrible shit to happen to one person.

ASH: That’s what faith is: believing across that little space between what you can know and what you can only feel.

Your small still voice.

Can Knox rediscover his faith? And will faith help him overcome the new challenges he faces? Knox previously drew on his faith for the energy to devote his life to teaching his students and to forging a relationship with Farhad. In the past, Knox was, like the title character in the theological Book of Job, “blameless and upright in all things” (Scene 2). How will he respond when everything he holds dear has been taken away? The answer may lie in Ash’s words from Scene 5: “Faith doesn’t prevent suffering, it prevents man from thinking he’s God.”

QUESTIONS: 1. The characters in I Was Most Alive with You identify with several different religious traditions and have varying levels of devotion to those faiths. In Scene 5, Pleasant identifies Ash as Jewish, Astrid as an atheist, herself as a Protestant, Knox as a “Jew-Bu” (a slang term for someone who incorporates elements from the Jewish and Buddhist traditions into their personal faith), and Farhad as “a lapsed Muslim,” while Mariama states that she herself is a Jehovah’s Witness. Investigate what these faiths say about the nature and purpose of suffering in human beings’ lives. How do the characters’ religious beliefs influence how they respond to moments of adversity?

2. In Scene 3, Knox’s prayer, the Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity, is deliberately depicted only in ASL and not interpreted or captioned to be understood by the hearing audience. When Knox offers up this prayer again in Scene 23, he recites it almost entirely in spoken English. What do these differences convey about Knox’s relationship with his faith and how it has changed in the course of the play?

3. What is the difference between faith and religion? Is it possible to be a person of faith but not belong to a particular religion?

ADDICTION: THE GORILLA IN THE ROOM In The Addicted Brain: Why We Abuse Drugs, Alcohol and Nicotine, author and neuroscientist Michael Kuha examines the ways in which longterm substance abuse fundamentally changes the brain and its ability to function. The longer a person uses drugs and alcohol, the more difficult it is to break the pattern of abuse. Stopping the disease early is the best chance an individual has of controlling it for life. For Ash, Knox, and an unwilling Farhad, addressing the disease of addiction literally becomes a matter of life and death. It is a destructive force that ultimately becomes the focal point of I Was Most Alive with You, not merely something referenced at the characters’ Thanksgiving dinner.

Ash’s battle with alcoholism began long before he and his wife Pleasant adopted Knox. An arrest for drunk driving, domestic violence charges, and deep struggles with depression and

suicidal thoughts were all part of Ash’s downward spiral. He was saved, at least in part, by his membership in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and a connection with Astrid, orchestrated by his mother Carla in a push to develop his writing career in the entertainment industry. Knox also struggles with the disease. Ash is terrified at the thought of his son following in his footsteps, or worse, prompting Carla to warn Ash that “[Knox] is killing himself. And he’s threatening your sobriety” (Scene 24).

Knox begins the play as a recovering addict, less than a year out from acknowledging his illness and making the commitment to remain sober. Despite Ash’s insistence in Scene 5 that “you can’t tell another person they’re an alcoholic,” he continually points out the ways in which Knox is risking it all, in particular, his continued relationship with Farhad and their choice to live together. But Knox feels that his own recovery is solid and in his deep hope to help the man he loves recover from addiction, he cannot fully appreciate his father’s concerns. In his attempts to be a positive influence on Farhad he remarks, “I said I was an atheist, too. But that was a lie, I had a God: Booze” (Scene 5).

Both Ash and Knox make impassioned speeches about the power of their addictions, as Ash reflects: “Even one sip is like deciding to make love with a gorilla; it ain’t gonna be over until the gorilla I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU CURRICULUM GUIDE

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Playwright Craig Lucas (center) and the company of I Was Most Alive with You. Photo by Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots

says it is. I could not control it, I was in complete despair” (Scene 5). In an effort to relay his own struggle to Farhad, Knox explains, “I don’t pray for God to hear me, I pray to be able to hear the small still voice deep inside, my best self, mostly hidden, but always there. If I ever pick up another drink, my disease has been doing push-ups all these years, getting much stronger. That will kill that voice for good: That voice is God speaking through me” (Scene 5).

Neither Ash or Knox realize during their campaigning exactly how important their commitment to sobriety will become and how intensely they will struggle with the two drug-abusers who they love deeply but who also deeply disappoint them. Both Pleasant and Farhad acknowledge they casually use drugs or alcohol, but do not see themselves as addicts. But following Farhad and Knox’s tragic accident, Farhad commits to turning his life around and to making himself worthy of Knox, even if that means walking away from their relationship. The choices are different for Pleasant, who enables Knox’s addiction because she cannot find another way to help ease his pain, and is ultimately left to conclude that she has nothing to offer her son or husband. Astrid, after learning of Pleasant’s 12

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abandonment, pleads with Knox, “Your mom’s drinking turned her into nothing” (Scene 25).

Tragically overwhelmed by loss, Knox not only relapses but spirals out of control. He quips, “There is no situation that will be improved with alcohol. Jury’s still out on that one” (Scene 25). He cannot face his pain with or without alcohol and looks to suicide as an option — an all too common conclusion for many struggling addicts and alcoholics who lose the battle with their disease.

QUESTIONS: 1. How did Ash and Pleasant’s actions contribute to Knox’s addiction? Was it fair of Farhad to refuse to spend time with Knox unless he regained his sobriety?

2. Is Pleasant an alcoholic? Cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.

3. Was Knox’s relapse a surprise or was it inevitable? Did Knox’s suicide attempt surprise you? Did his struggle with addiction contribute to this act? If so, how?

4. What addictions do young people struggle with? How do they overcome these challenges?

MASTERY ASSESSMENT Playwright Craig Lucas’ writing style includes moments in which more than one conversation happen simultaneously, an approach he is expanding upon in this play by employing some dialogue exclusively in spoken English and other dialogue exclusively in ASL. This means that both the hearing and Deaf audiences will be “left out” of certain moments throughout the play. This shared experience is part of what makes I Was Most Alive with You an exciting theatrical event and is reflected in these comprehension questions, which should be answered after viewing the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of the play.

SCENE 1 1. With whom does Ash skype? Why is this form of communication (or texting) necessary? What is the purpose of Ash’s call?

2. Astrid is interested in a particular Biblical story as potential source material for a writing project. What story is it and why is she drawn to it?

SCENE 2 3. Explain the relationship between Pleasant and Ash, Ash and Astrid, and Pleasant and Astrid?

4. Where are Pleasant, Ash, and Astrid going for dinner?

5. Why does Astrid think the Book of Job is unique?

• DEAF AUDIENCE: Did you have to work to understand any dialogue or action, or was the ASL interpretation clear? In general, do you prefer sim-com, captioning, or professional ASL interpretation? Explain the differences and your preference!

SCENE 3

16. How does Farhard respond to personal questions? How does he interact with Carla? Do you think his responses to the family’s questions are rude, honest, acceptable, or s omething else?

17. Is Pleasant jealous of Astrid?

18. Why does Farhad lack faith in “God”? How does Ash show “evidence” of a God who exists?

19. How does Ash describe his disease of alcoholism?

20. Why does Farhad label Alcoholics Anonymous a “cult”?

• ALL AUDIENCES: In any translation from one language to another, subtleties and expressions can sometimes be lost, especially when there is no direct translation of words or grammatical rules. What might be lost as Knox and Mariama sign/speak the prayer? The stage directions read: Mariama speaks a translation of what Knox signs in ASL, so it is not the following English-language version but an altered one, filtered through the strengths & aspects of ASL. If you are bilingual, fluent in both ASL and English, do you think Mariama’s translation is accurate? For those of you who are only fluent in one of these two languages, are you satisfied with the version you understood?

21. Why is Ash frustrated by atheism?

22. What television program made Ash and Astrid successful in the industry?

6. Describe what Knox is doing at the opening of the scene.

23. Of which religion is Mariama a member?

• HEARING AUDIENCE: How did it feel to watch Knox sign without knowing exactly what he was saying? Were you able to make an educated guess about his meaning? Was Knox angry? Happy?

From this moment, what do you know?

24. What is Knox’s profession? Does he enjoy this work?

7. Does Farhad understand ASL? 8. Does Farhad believe in God? 9. What “deal” does Knox try to make with Farhad? Is Farhad receptive? Why is this event important to Knox?

25. Does Farhad like Pleasant? Do you think they will get along?

26. Knox tells Farhad’s life story in three minutes. Briefly summarize Farhad’s upbringing.

27. How does Carla express her feelings about Farhad?

SCENE 6 28. For what is Farhad grateful?

10. Why do you think Knox moves between ASL and sim-com?

29. How does Astrid view the journey through her career?

11. What equipment does Knox think Farhad needs to have at the family dinner? Does Farhad comply?

30. Why does Pleasant resent Carla?

SCENE 4 12. What do Astrid and Ash do for a living? What idea does Astrid want them to pursue in their work?

13. How does Wilson know that he knows something?

SCENE 5 • ALL AUDIENCES: Playwright Craig Lucas notates in the script that some translations from ASL to spoken English are to be determined by the actors and director in rehearsal. Why might it be important to let the creative team work through this during the rehearsal process?

14. Who is the new person in Carla’s home who also knows how to sign?

15. What role does religion play in the family’s dinner plans?

31. Why did Ash and Pleasant have difficulty adopting?

32. How did Pleasant and Ash find out that Knox was deaf?

33. Why does Ash think it’s “dangerous” for Knox and Farhad to live together?

SCENE 7 • ALL AUDIENCES: Is it difficult to follow two conversations (Ash & Knox, Astrid & Farhad) happening at the same time? What is a key piece of information you gained through the simultaneous discussions? Why might the playwright structure the dialogue this way?

34. Astrid has friends that create video games and asks if Farhad would like to meet them. What is the condition of this offer and how does Farhad respond?

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SCENE 8 35. What conclusion are Ash and Astrid grappling with as they work on their next project with regard to the Book of Job from the Bible?

SCENE 9 36. Why does Pleasant refuse to learn ASL? 37. How did Pleasant handle the news that Knox was a deaf infant?

Why are her parenting decisions difficult for Knox to accept?

38. When Carla remarks, “Be careful what you wish for,” what is she foreshadowing?

SCENE 10 39. How is Knox entertaining Farhad?

54. What has happened to Pleasant? What does she explain in her letter to Ash? 55. Who does Knox want to see?

• ALL AUDIENCES: Why do you think Lucas felt it was important to share Pleasant’s note in both ASL and spoken English?

• HEARING AUDIENCE: Some significant dialogue in this scene is conveyed only through ASL. Were you able to understand the main plot points or did you have difficulty following the story line?

56. Who has Knox asked Ash to call? While trying to appease him, what news is Ash trying to share with Knox?

SCENE 20

40. Who catches Farhad stealing? What did he take?

57. How does Carla compare Knox to his grandfather?

41. What happened to Mariama’s son?

58. Who surprises Knox with a visit? What does she bring?

SCENE 11

• HEARING AUDIENCE: Do you know who the gift is for?

42. Back in Astrid’s work room, she and Ash continue to research their next project. Consider the idea of symbolic connections between the Book of Job and the characters and plot of I Was Most Alive with You. Who might the character of Job represent?

How might this particular Bible story reflect ideas expressed through this play?

60. What major life decision has Farhad made?

SCENE 12

62. How does Knox react to Farhad’s visit?

43. Carla has difficult news to share — what does she explain about her health, her finances, and her relationship with Mariama? Who is not present to hear the news? Why did this person leave?

SCENE 22

SCENE 13 44. What devastating injury has Knox sustained? How did it happen?

INTERMISSION

59. Who is the second surprise visitor? Is Knox happy to see this person?

61. What is the gift Mariama has given Farhad?

SCENE 21

63. Why won’t Farhad spend real time with Knox?

SCENE 23 64. How does Knox feel about Astrid’s presence in his home?

• HEARING AUDIENCE: Did you catch Knox’s final line and joke at the end of the scene? Does Astrid find him funny?

SCENE 14

SCENE 24

45. After the accident, how does Farhad feel? Is he able to do what Knox asks? How does he handle the conversation with Knox and his family?

65. What concern does Ash confide to Carla?

SCENE 15 46. What concession has Pleasant made following the accident? How does Knox feel about her efforts?

• HEARING AUDIENCE: Is it more or less difficult to keep up with dialogue when the characters switch in and out of ASL and spoken English? Or is it easier to follow dialogue exclusively communicated in ASL? 47. Why does Ash want to keep Carla’s news a secret from Knox?

SCENE 17 48. What does Pleasant allow Knox to drink while taking his medication? Why? 49. Why do Pleasant and Knox disagree about how to help Knox manage his addiction?

50. Why does Ash tell Pleasant not to bring Knox “down to your level”?

66. How is Carla feeling?

67. Why has Mariama come to see Carla?

68. Describe Mariama’s relationship with her son.

• DEAF AUDIENCE: Was the ASL interpretation clear throughout this scene? Were you able to follow the dialogue as it unfolded?

SCENE 25 69. How did Ash and Astrid meet? Why didn’t their romantic relationship work out?

70. What “tough love” does Astrid speak to Knox? Why is she worried about Ash? SCENE 26 71. Who might come by?

• HEARING AUDIENCE: Was the answer to this question obvious?

What clues did you use to piece the dialogue together?

SCENE 27 72. What did Knox do that gives Ash hope? Who does Ash tell and what is this person’s reaction?

51. Why does Ash prevent Knox from seeing the text message Farhad sent?

73. What does Astrid want Ash to write?

SCENE 18

SCENE 28

52. What has Pleasant decided to do? Why is this confusing to Ash and Astrid?

75. How does Farhad try to communicate with and comfort Knox?

SCENE 19 53. What aid will the doctors try to give Knox after the accident?

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74. What does Farhad discover when he arrives at the house?

76. What is the difference between Ash’s imagined story and his own real life story as the play concludes?

FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF ASL The word “American” in its name may seem to indicate otherwise, but American Sign Language as we know it today actually originated in France and was brought to America by Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet in the early 19th century. While working as a traveling preacher, Gallaudet met a young deaf girl in Hartford, Connecticut named Alice Cogswell, whose father was deeply concerned about how his daughter would be properly educated.

Gallaudet attempted to teach Alice how to read and write but knew he needed help. While on a visit to France, Gallaudet met Laurent Clerc, a teacher at the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris. Clerc taught Gallaudet all of the deaf education methods he knew, including an early form of French sign language brought into wide use by Charles-Michel de l’Épée. De l’Épée was credited with adapting signs he saw French deaf individuals using to communicate into a system that integrated signs for concepts and ideas.

Clerc helped Gallaudet translate this French system into one that used an English-based vocabulary. Together, Clerc and Gallaudet created the first sign language in America, known as Old Signed English, and in 1817, Gallaudet persuaded Clerc to help him establish the first American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, called the American Asylum. Clerc became the first sign language teacher in America. As Gallaudet and Clerc continued their work with the school, they realized the sign language students used in class was different from the sign language they used outside of class. Gallaudet realized that this form of language was the “natural language” of the Deaf, and blended it with Old Signed English to develop a form of communication known today as American Sign Language. After Gallaudet’s death in 1851, his youngest son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, continued his father’s work in Deaf education. One of Edward’s goals was to establish the first Deaf college and in 1864 the National Deaf-Mute College was opened. In 1893, it was renamed Gallaudet College to honor Edward’s father, Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. In 1986 the school was renamed Gallaudet University and is now known as the only Deaf university in the world.

While some Deaf people consider ASL to be their first language, this is not true for all. I Was Most Alive with You portrays this schism between the role the language plays in Knox and Farhad’s lives.

While Knox is fluent in ASL, Farhad, whose parents opted to get him cochlear implants when he was young, is not. A cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that serves the function of the damaged inner ear. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. As a result, Farhad and his family felt that he did not need to learn ASL. For Knox, ASL communication is an important part of his identity, but he does not consider ASL to be his first language because his mother chose to try to teach him to lipread and speak English rather than embrace his deafness. “Knox sat me down and told me on no uncertain terms that sign will never be his first language no matter how proficient,” Pleasant reveals to Carla in Scene 9. Pleasant goes on to describe how ill-equipped she was to teach her deaf child to communicate and the frustrations that arose from her attempts:

The American Sign Language alphabet

PLEASANT: Hunched over all by my lonesome, how old was I twenty-two, poring through books how out of date were they then I didn’t know what ASL was I thought those people using their hands were retarded — CARLA: I know.

PLEASANT: I thought he should speak normally — CARLA: Of course.

PLEASANT: I thought lipreading was the gold standard.

(Scene 9) I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU CURRICULUM GUIDE

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QUESTIONS: 1. Research other countries that have their own dialect of sign language. Compare and contrast ASL with these other languages.

2. How do the grammar and vocabulary of ASL differ from spoken English? What rules of etiquette accompany ASL? 3. Research how to spell your name in ASL and practice signing it.

4. Research Gallaudet University. What programs of study does it offer? Who are its notable alumni and where have their career paths taken them?

THE BOOK OF JOB When writing I Was Most Alive with You, playwright Craig Lucas drew significant inspiration from the Book of Job, an ancient theological story shared by the Jewish Torah, the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and the Islamic Koran. While there are some variations in the characters and plot points, the basic story is the same in all three religions: a man named Job has received many blessings — health, wealth, and family — and gives thanks to God for all that is good in his life. He is an upstanding and honorable man who rejects temptations to do evil. But God decides to test Job’s faith and character by taking all of his blessings away to discover whether Job will maintain his piety or curse God for bringing misfortunes into his life. The story presents a key essential question: How do human beings respond to suffering?

As Ash recounts in Scene 5, Job’s story begins when “The celestial entourage came to stand in attendance before God. And the Accuser came as well. God asked His Accuser, ‘From where do you come?’ And the Accuser said: ‘I have been walking the earth.’ ‘Have you seen my servant Job?’ God asks; ‘There is no other like him, a blameless and upright man who fears me and shuns evil.’ The Accuser said, ‘Take away his bounty — his children, his cattle — you’ll see, he will curse you.’ God said, ‘I place all that is Job’s in your hands.

Only do not harm him.’”

From the beginning of Job’s story, the reader wonders whether these new circumstances will cause Job to reject his faith. Will Job continue to praise God despite his misfortune? Or will Job curse God for allowing him to suffer? Meanwhile, in I Was Most Alive with You, Craig Lucas offers up Knox, a character who has overcome significant struggles but who views those struggles as blessings that have brought meaning to his life. Knox is Deaf, gay, and a recovering alcoholic, all attributes that society has historically viewed as deviations from the norm at best and as major disabilities and defects at worst. Knox, however, has chosen to embrace these aspects of his identity and views them as blessings that give his life purpose. He is particularly passionate about his work as an ASL teacher. “I love it,” he signs in Scene 6 as Mariama translates. “Even with the cuts to funding and all the tests required by the state. It’s the greatest thing in the world. It’s — so gratifying, I wake up every day thinking, ‘Thank you, thank you.’” Even when his students are challenging, Knox is still grateful for the opportunity to do this work.

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He also takes pride in moving beyond his addiction and believes that these trials and tribulations have made him a better, stronger person. In Scene 7, Knox publicly expresses his gratitude: “I am grateful for my family. And for two, no, three things I used to think weren’t gifts at all: deafness; being gay; addiction. They are gifts . . .

Each brought me to some higher ground.”

In the play, Job is more than just the metaphor behind Lucas’ crafting of Knox’s story. As Knox’s father Ash and his writing partner Astrid search for source material for their next project, Astrid suggests that the Book of Job could prove fruitful ground for dramatic inspiration.

Ash is inclined to agree. “Oh, yeah, all his kids die, but he doesn’t curse God so he gets brand new kids, everything’s great. Hallmark Channel,” he remarks in Scene 5. “It’s a slam dunk, come on! We gotta go for it.” Ash’s analysis, however, is incomplete. In the Biblical story, Job initially maintains his devotion to God despite the deaths of his children, the destruction of his flocks, and a terrible skin affliction that covers him in boils. But after several days of silent grief and meditation on his circumstances, Job speaks words of anger and despair. As Astrid reads in Scene 22, “Job said, ‘Perish the day I was born. I wish I were not conceived. Wipe that night out of the calendar. Erase me.’” When an accident takes away Knox’s ability to teach ASL, the thing he felt gave his life meaning and purpose, Knox’s faith is also shaken. In Scene 26 he recalls that his time in recovery taught him to believe that “God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle” and that “the universe is random but your choices are not,” but just as Job demands a meeting to question God about why bad things were suddenly happening to him, Knox demands a meeting of his own. “I want to see God,” he says. “I won’t lie to Him. And I won’t lie about Him” (Scene 26).

When Job finally confronts God, God responds by asking Job a series of rhetorical questions. In Scene 29 of I Was Most Alive with You, Farhad retells this moment of the story through ASL, while others speak the words aloud:

“Where were you when I made the earth? Have you commanded the morning? Appointed the dawn its place? Have you walked the bottom of the ocean? Do you know where the light is kept? Where the snow and hail are stored? Does the rain have a father? From whose gut did the ice first come? Can you loose Orion’s reins? Who hid the dawn and gave the mind understanding? Does the hawk soar by your wisdom? Who are you? Where were you then?”

Job is humbled by God’s power and admits that human beings are flawed and limited; he knows little about the way in which the world was created and acknowledges that it was wrong of him to question God’s will. As a result, God rewards Job by restoring his health, increasing his wealth beyond what it was before, giving him new children, and granting him a long life. But what about Knox? Will he have the opportunity to question God about why his life has been upended? When he has lost all that he holds dear, can he maintain the belief that even bad things happen for good reasons?

QUESTIONS: 1. In Scene 2 of I Was Most Alive with You, Astrid describes the Book of Job as “practically the only thing that’s shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.” Read and research how Job’s story is told in each religion’s traditions. Compare and contrast the characters, plot points, and thematic emphasis of each version of the story.

2. In Scene 9, Pleasant tells Carla, “I wish we could all curse God and get on with it.” What does she mean by this?

3. Compare and contrast Knox’s emotions and actions following his accident with Job’s emotions and reactions to his own losses.

4. How does playwright Craig Lucas use the word “Bam” to tie together the Book of Job and Knox’s story in I Was Most Alive with You? 5. In Scene 28, Astrid claims that according to Job’s story, God “made the world to have bad things explode in our face randomly, he doesn’t micromanage everything.” Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? Or do you think events are completely random? Have you faced any challenges in your own life from which you learned an important lesson or that changed you for the better?

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Alcoholism is a disease that existed long before people knew how to treat it. In past efforts to manage some of the issues surrounding alcohol abuse, legislators passed laws restricting alcohol use. The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution instituted the period known as Prohibition that lasted from 1920 until 1933. During this time the production, importation, transportation, and sale of all alcoholic beverages was illegal. It is unclear whether the law was successful in reducing alcoholism;

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) logo

however, it is known that cirrhosis (a condition caused by longterm liver damage) death rates and arrests for public drunkenness decreased dramatically during the Prohibition era. Fourteen years after the law made its way into the Constitution it was repealed.

The voters decided that the risks of legalization were worth the freedom to buy and consume this drug. Although once the law was overturned, a widespread sentiment persisted: people who suffered from alcoholism were “morally deviant.” Members of the medical community, with limited understanding of the disease, often recommended placing patients in mental institutions where they “purged and puked” their way through detoxification. Family members were given little reason to hope their loved one would overcome the disease. Society as a whole had little to offer an alcoholic at that time — many sufferers hid in the shadows without the expectation of help or support.

Bill Wilson and Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron, Ohio in 1935. Bill Wilson, an alcoholic, had been involved in the Oxford Group, a Protestant organization from which AA claims its roots. Wilson met Bob Smith, also an Oxford Group member, and helped him through a difficult period with his disease. After both men achieved sobriety by working together and remaining accountable to each other they decided to branch out, forming a new group, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The purpose of this organization was to work on overcoming the disease as opposed to focusing primarily on religious traditions and spirituality. This upset some members of the Oxford Group, but Wilson and Smith believed that in order for AA to remain true to its objectives, the traditional church hierarchy had no place in the work of recovery nor did their attention seeking practices which Wilson and Smith viewed as a threat to the success of individual members. In fact, as part of AA’s stated organizational structure, “anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.”

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SUICIDE PREVENTION: WHAT TO KNOW AND WHAT YOU CAN DO In I Was Most Alive with You, both Knox and Farhad have attempted suicide, a great cause of concern for those who love them. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States; death is a result of 1 out of every 25 suicide attempts. Due to the social stigma of losing a loved-one through suicide, the statistical data may be skewed due to under-reporting. Who is at risk and what can be done to address this epidemic and those who are in crisis?

In the United States: • The annual suicide rate is 12.93 per 100,000 individuals.

• Men die by suicide 3.5 times more often than women.

• On average, there are 117 suicides per day.

• White males accounted for 7 of 10 suicides in 2014.

• Firearms account for almost 50% of all suicides.

• The rate of suicide is highest in middle age — for white men in particular.

Consider some of the following warning signs or risk factors which could signal that someone you know needs help: • Talking about being a burden on others.

• Suggestion there is no reason to live.

• Feeling trapped.

• Saying he or she plans to take his or her life.

• Increased use of alcohol or drugs.

• Isolating oneself from family, friends and activities.

• Depression, anxiety, feeling humiliated.

• Giving away possessions and finding ways to “say goodbye” to loved ones.

If you believe you or someone you know is at risk for suicide, here’s what you can do: • Get help! Don’t keep the problem a secret.

• Talk openly about what this person is feeling… and listen!

• Don’t act shocked, dare the person to follow-through, or offer false promises.

• Take action! Remove weapons, dangerous drugs and medications, etc.

• Contact a suicide prevention agency for yourself and the person in crisis.

If you or someone you love is in need of help contact National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1800 273 TALK. For further information about help and treatment, visit the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention on the web at afsp.org.

All statistics are from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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The famous “Twelve Step” Program serves as the foundation for AA and the call to action for alcoholics who wish to conquer their addiction. Although religious undertones permeate the steps, AA widely accepts anyone who wishes to meet and battle alcoholism, regardless of gender, race, or religion. As is stated in AA’s Twelve Steps, “the only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.”

The following are the original twelve steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous: 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8 Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

QUESTIONS: 1. Is Farhad’s criticism of Alcoholics Anonymous fair? Do you think Ash’s allegiance to the organization is warranted?

2. Members of the D/deaf community are considered at higher risk for alcoholism and drug addiction than the general population.

Why might this be?

3. Which of the Twelve Steps make philosophical sense to you? Is there anything about the program that seems counterintuitive?

4. Members of Alcoholics Anonymous are matched up with a sponsor, another member of AA who offers guidance and serves as a support system, especially for someone on the verge of relapse. When you are struggling with a personal challenge, do you find it helpful to rely on a mentor or some other outside voice?

BARRIERS TO ACCESS The Huntington Theatre Company strives to create an inclusive theatre experience for all people, including those with disabilities.

To this end, the Huntington and theatres like it provide access programs aimed at helping audience members and artists with disabilities have a high-quality experience, both logistically in the theatre building itself and in their experience of the production once the lights in the house go down.

Common theatre accessibility programs include accessible seating, audio description, Braille and large-print programs, open captioning, and American Sign Language interpretation.

• Accessible seating refers to orchestra-level seats close to the stage, specifically reserved for patrons who are either unable to sit in upper sections due to vision-impairment or physical challenges, including wheelchair use.

• Audio description is a service provided for blind and visionimpaired patrons in which patrons use earpieces or headsets to listen to specially trained describers, who provide live descriptions of what is happening onstage that the patron may not be able to see.

• Open captioning is for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons.

This accommodation provides an electronic text display, similar to subtitles, positioned somewhere near the stage so that patrons are able to follow the text along with the action occurring on stage. The open captions include both the dialogue and sound effects that occur throughout the play. This service is a vital tool for deaf people who do not know ASL. • Braille and large-print programs allow blind and visionimpaired patrons to receive the valuable information about a production that is normally included in the playbill, including dramaturgical notes, artist biographies, and details about the play’s setting.

• American Sign Language interpretation is provided for Deaf patrons that primarily use ASL as a first language. Theatres hire a professional, experienced interpreting team to stand in front of the stage and interpret the dialogue and any sound effects that are involved in the play.

Another accommodation some theatres provide is tactile tours, which allow vision-impaired patrons to touch costume pieces, props, and other scenic elements to give them a sense of the textures and shapes used in the performance. Other theatres also offer “relaxed performances” for patrons diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In these special performances, harsh lighting, sudden sound effects, and other abrupt staging are modified to be less startling, and patrons are free to move about the theatre and make noise. Theatres with ASD-friendly performances will also create and distribute a document called a “social story” in advance, which provides very specific information for patrons with ASD about what to expect when they arrive at the theatre.

Wendy Watson, an ASL interpreter for the Huntington’s production of The Jungle Book

While accessible seating is a commonly available accommodation (as it is required for a theatre to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act), the rest of these accommodations are generally only provided at select performances at most theatres, if they are offered at all. The only accessibility services legally required by the Americans with Disabilities Act are accessible seating and assistive listening devices, and many theatres struggle to find the financial resources to expand their existing accessibility services or implement new ones.

QUESTIONS: 1. Research the Americans with Disabilities Act. What organizations and buildings are required to be compliant with this law? What building features are necessary for a performance space, such as a theatre, to be in full compliance? How many of these accommodations can you identify when you attend a production at the Huntington Theatre Company’s two venues: the Boston University Theatre and the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (where I Was Most Alive with You will be performed)?

2. Research theatres in America that provide accessibility accommodations beyond accessible seating and assistive listening devices. Which other services do these theatres provide? How did the theatres decide which services to offer?

Do they partner with any community organizations and programs to provide these programs?

3. What accommodations do concert halls, movie theatres, and museums in your area offer for disabled patrons? Compare and contrast those accessibility offerings with those of theatres such as the Huntington Theatre Company.

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Elbert Joseph as Tuc in Mother Hicks at Emerson Stage; Erica Spyres and James Caverly in Tribes at SpeakEasy Stage Company; Sabrina Dennison, Jacqueline Emmart, and Scarlett Redmond in Love Person at Company One Theatre. Photos by Craig Bailey / Perspective Photo.

DEAFNESS IN THEATRE In an early version of I Was Most Alive with You, playwright Craig Lucas included guiding words for any theatre considering producing the play, in which he stated that “inclusion for deaf audience members needs to be attended to in carefully considered and responsible ways in all productions of I Was Most Alive with You. Among many things, the play is about belonging, and there are quite a few communities dramatized within the action — Deaf, hearing, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, alcoholic, non, young, old, wealthy, and disenfranchised. Each of these [communities] has particular ways of speaking about their experience when likemembers are alone with one another, and ways they wish to see their demographic represented to a larger world.”

Lucas also adds in his Author’s Note that I Was Most Alive with You was created to be performed by deaf and hearing actors for deaf and hearing audiences.” His commitment to having deaf actors play deaf characters is notable, as artists with disabilities struggle for representation in the American theatre. In the November 2015 issue of American Theatre magazine, Howard Sherman, senior strategy consultant for the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, explains that “there was a time when people with unique disabilities could make a living because of their disability.

But the idea of looking at people with disabilities became socially unacceptable,” leading to a dearth of plays that feature these characters and stories, and a rise in the practice of casting the few works that did with actors who do not actually have that disability.

As theatre institutions work towards representation of diverse perspectives on their stages, inclusion of people with disabilities is a crucial component. Playwrights such as Craig Lucas, who require that the characters with disabilities in their plays be played by appropriate actors, play a particularly important role in this process as their works create new opportunities for performers and visibility for the communities they represent.

PLAYS A Taste of Sunrise, Mother Hicks, and The Edge of Peace - Also known as the Ware Trilogy, these plays by Suzan Zeder are set in the small town of Ware, Illinois, in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Several 20

I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU CURRICULUM GUIDE

characters appear in all three plays, including Tuc, a man who lost his hearing due to a childhood fever. The first play, A Taste of Sunrise, follows Tuc’s process of self-discovery through his relationship with his father, exposure to sign language at a Deaf school, and other characters, both Deaf and hearing, who populate the town. In Mother Hicks, the title character takes focus in a story about outsiders and “otherness,” while the third play, The Edge of Peace, portrays Tuc as an adult as he faces a choice between staying in Ware or leaving to join a Deaf community in Akron, Ohio. The trilogy was co-produced in the Boston area by Wheelock Family Theatre, Central Square Theatre, and Emerson Stage in 2015.

Tribes - Playwright Nina Raine was inspired to write Tribes after viewing a documentary about a Deaf couple who was expecting their first child and hoped the child would also be Deaf.

Raine explained in a September 2010 article for London’s Royal Court Theatre that this led her to see that parents take pride in passing on not just genes, but “a set of values, beliefs. Even a particular language. The family is a tribe: an infighting tribe but intensely loyal.” The resulting play focuses on a family with three children, one of whom, Billy, is deaf but was raised to read lips with no knowledge of ASL. Billy meets a hearing woman, Sylvia, who is in the process of going deaf but who knows how to sign and gives him his first exposure to the Deaf community, driving Billy to reassess his family’s lack of acceptance of his identity.

Tribes ran in London in 2010 and Off Broadway in 2012. It was produced by Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company in 2013, and directed by Huntington Theatre Company Associate Producer M. Bevin O’Gara.

Love Person - Written by Aditi Kapil, a playwright of Bulgarian and Indian descent, Love Person is a four-part love story written in a blend of ASL, Sanskrit, spoken English, and email exchanges. Kapil used four Sanskrit love poems as the backbone of the play, which focuses on issues of relationships, communication, and connection.

The play includes one Deaf character, a woman named Free, whose already turbulent relationship with her partner Maggie becomes increasingly complicated when she connects over email with a professor of Sanskrit at a local university. The play was produced

by Boston’s Company One Theatre in 2012 and was also directed by M. Bevin O’Gara.

Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in the Broadway play The Miracle Worker; Marlee Matline in the film version of Children of a Lesser God; Andy Mientus in Deaf West Theater’s Spring Awakening, photo by Kevin Parry.

The Miracle Worker - Perhaps the best-known play to prominently feature a deaf character, The Miracle Worker tells the true story of Helen Keller, who was left deaf and blind by a childhood illness.

Helen’s parents hired Anne Sullivan to serve as a governess and teacher for their daughter, who battled with the undisciplined Helen before making a breakthrough connection between language and hand signals. The play by William Gibson, is based on Keller’s autobiography and ran on Broadway from October 1959 through July 1961. It was produced in Boston by Roxbury Repertory Theatre in 2008.

THEATRES AND INITIATIVES National Theatre of the Deaf — Various Productions - The National Theatre of the Deaf, based in Connecticut, has been touring both the United States and overseas since 1967. Their productions feature both Deaf and hearing actors and are performed simultaneously in both ASL and spoken English. In addition to performances for the general public, the company’s work includes the Little Theatre of the Deaf, which focuses on performing folk and fairy tales for elementary school audiences while also teaching young people basic signs.

Children of a Lesser God - This play by Mark Medoff focuses on the romantic relationship between James, a speech therapist at a State School for the Deaf, and Sarah, cleaning woman at the school who has been Deaf since birth and has resided at the school since the age of five. Sarah refuses to speak or lip read, using only sign language for communication. The two fall in love as James tries to persuade Sarah to speak, but complications arise from their perspectives on sound and silence. The play ran at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, California, before transferring to Broadway in 1979. It has provided a showcase for several Deaf actresses, including Phyllis Frelich (whose relationship with her husband was an inspiration for the play), Elizabeth Quinn, Linda Bove, and Marlee Matlin, who won an Academy Award for playing Sarah in the 1986 film version.

Theater Breaking Through Barriers — Various Productions Founded in 1979 as Theatre b the Blind, this inclusive Off Broadway theatre company was originally created to provide performance opportunities to low-vision and blind writers and actors. Today, they are “dedicated to advancing actors and writers with disabilities and changing the image of people with disabilities from dependence to independence.” Their recent projects include “Power Plays,” an initiative that commissioned playwrights to write short works that specifically showcase people with disabilities.

Established playwrights Bekah Brunstetter, Bruce Graham, John Guare, David Henry Hwang, and Neil LaBute have all contributed new plays to the project.

Spring Awakening - This play was not written explicitly for deaf actors and does not include any deaf characters in its original form. But in 2015, Deaf West Theater (a theatre company based in North Hollywood, CA, that endeavors to enrich the lives of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals by providing access to professional theatre for Deaf artists and audiences) mounted a unique revival of the landmark 2006 musical by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, which was itself an adaptation of an 1861 play of the same name by Frank Wedekind. The production brought together a cast of both hearing and Deaf actors to perform the coming-of-age story about sexuality and self-discovery. Deaf West’s interpretation dual-cast Deaf and hearing actors alongside each other in the same roles, and integrated American Sign Language into the choreography.

The production ran on Broadway from September 2015 through January 2016, and featured actor Russell Harvard. A national tour is currently being planned.

Mixed Blood Theatre — The Disability Visibility Project According to their website, Mixed Blood Theatre “aspires to be the theatrical destination for audiences and artist with disabilities.”

In addition to providing extensive accessibility services, including handicap parking, elevators, and tactile tours, as well as ASL interpretation, audio description, and captioning for most of their mainstage productions, Mixed Blood has also created the Disability Visibility Project, “an initiative focused on improving the relationship between the American theatre and disability.”

With the help of medical and disability specialists, as well as 40 theatre professionals, more than half of whom identified as people with disabilities, the company curated a list of plays that feature characters with physical and/or mental disabilities. Mixed Blood then provided funding in support of professional productions of three of the plays, with the requirement that actors with disabilities be employed to portray those characters.

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A UNIQUE PRODUCTION ROLE: DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC SIGN LANGUAGE

QUESTIONS:

The creative staff working on the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of I Was Most Alive with You includes many of the same roles and responsibilities as any other professional theatre production. There is a director (who in this case also happens to be the playwright) and designers of scenery, costumes, lighting, and sound, and of course the actors who will perform the play. But the team for I Was Most Alive with You also includes Sabrina Dennison, who fills the unique role of Director of Artistic Sign Language (Caity Eller serves as Assistant Director of Artistic Sign Language).

In an interview for the Huntington Theatre Company’s Spotlight magazine, Dennison explained that to do the job, “you need to be Deaf, fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), and it’s highly recommended to have some theatre background. The Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL) has multiple tasks [combining] script analysis, training actors and interpreters, translation, public relations, and working in rehearsal.” Another major function of this position is to provide a deaf perspective on the production — offering suggestions that assist the director in making his or her vision most effective for D/deaf audiences. She will also give D/deaf audience members the name signs of characters in the play, and sometimes provide background on the characters or other contextual information that will help them to understand the story. “My job as a Director of Artistic Sign Language is to make this play as clear as possible, giving as much access to the Deaf audience” as possible, she says. “My vision of this play is to try and create something that allows the hearing and Deaf communities to see and hear together.” together.

1. Read and research one of the plays listed above that was written to include D/deaf characters. How does the deafness of one or more characters factor into the plot? What complications and connections does it create? What literary symbolism does it impart? Among the actors who have played these roles, which are D/deaf and which are not?

2. I Was Most Alive with You is not the first work by Craig Lucas to feature ASL. His 1988 play Reckless includes a character who pretends to be deaf and mute. Read Reckless and compare and contrast the use of ASL in this play with its use in I Was Most Alive with You or one of the other plays in this article. What role does the use of American Sign Language as a mode of communication impact the characters’ relationships in Reckless?

How does it influence the plot?

3. In addition to her work producing the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of I Was Most Alive with You, Huntington Associate Producer M. Bevin O’Gara also directed SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of Tribes and Company One’s production of Love Person, two other plays that prominently feature D/deaf characters and plot lines. Research O’Gara’s work on Tribes and Love Person. In interviews and program notes, what does she say is important about these plays? What artistic challenges did these productions present? How have these experiences inspired, influenced, and informed her work since then?

4. a. Research Deaf West Theater’s mission and artistic approach. In addition to Spring Awakening, what other theatrical works have they reinterpreted for Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences? What performance techniques do they utilize? What aesthetic values characterize their productions? b In October 2015, United Kingdom-based news outlet The b.

G Guardian asked five Deaf patrons and one hearing ASL interp preter to watch and review Deaf West’s production of Spring A Awakening.

Read the article, located at http://www.theguardian. c com/stage/2015/oct/29/spring-awakening-broadway-deaf-viewe ers-give-verdict and answer the following questions: 1. What parallels did they draw between the original story of Spring Awakening and the story of the Deaf community?

2. What aspects of the production’s artistic choices and actors’ performances did they find successful? What did they think was lacking in the production that would have helped them to understand it better?

Director of Artistic Sign Language

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Sabrina Dennison

3. Read published reviews of the show written by hearing theatre critics and compare and contrast them the Deaf audience members’ reviews. What elements of the performances did each group focus on? Where did they diverge in regard to what was of importance to them? Based on these reviews, draw some conclusions about the needs of hearing and Deaf audiences alike when it comes to productions that aim to creatively integrate American Sign Language in a meaningful way.

The I Was Most Alive with You shadow interpreting team: Monique Holt, Amelia Hensley, Christopher Robinson, and Joey Caverly. Photo by Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots

5. Research the National Theatre of the Deaf’s history, mission, and impact on Deaf culture. How is the company connected to the original Broadway production of The Miracle Worker? What communications accommodations that are in frequent use today are the direct result of the National Theatre of the Deaf’s work?

6. What unique challenges can arise in the process of mounting a production that includes both hearing and Deaf performers?

Consider all stages of the process: Casting, rehearsals, technical and dress rehearsals, performances, post-show forums and discussions, and publicity interviews. How do theatres address these challenges?

7. Read American Theatre magazine’s recent articles that focus on disabled performers and stories onstage: “Ready Willing and Able” by Allison Considine (November 2015) and “A Fierce Kind of Love’ for People of All Abilities” by Katherine Fritz (April 2016). What concerns about inclusion and accessibility are articulated by the people quoted in the articles? What does the magazine’s inclusion of these two articles so close together imply about theatre field’s concerns and interests?

SIM-COM AND SHADOW INTERPRETING Theatres that produce plays featuring a significant amount of dialogue in ASL will often integrate one of two interpretation techniques into the performance: simultaneous communication, also known as sim-com, and shadow interpreting.

Sim-com is the practice of communicating with both spoken language and manually coded (signed) language at the same time. Deaf West’s production of Spring Awakening is an example of a theatre performance that employed sim-com, as some actors performed their lines in both spoken English and ASL. Though it may initially seem like a simple concept, sim-com is actually a rather complicated and controversial practice, and there are a variety of opinions about its effectiveness. ASL has its own grammatical structures that are different from those in spoken English, similar to the way grammar differs between other

spoken languages such as Spanish, Russian, and Arabic — each comes with its own rules. It is not possible to simultaneously communicate in the written and spoken versions of two different languages (spoken English and typed Russian, for example), so one language, generally the person’s first language, will be favored.

In sim-com, the result is often clearer communication in spoken English and broken communication in ASL, which many members of the Deaf community feel devalues their language.

The script of I Was Most Alive with You contains dialogue that is deliberately crafted to blend sim-com, ASL, and spoken English as a reflection of individual characters’ ASL fluency. In addition to this intentional blending of communication styles, the Huntington Theatre Company’s production will also utilize shadow interpreters.

While many patrons, both hearing and Deaf, are familiar with interpreters who are separate from the action as they interpret from one corner of the stage, shadow interpreting places the interpreters onstage alongside the actors, often wearing similar costumes to those worn by the characters whose words they are interpreting. Fully integrating the interpreters into the world of the play associates two performers with the same character and allows the Deaf audience to focus solely on the action onstage, just like any other audience member.

QUESTIONS: 1. In their reviews of Deaf West’s Spring Awakening for The Guardian, what criticisms did the Deaf audience members make of the production’s use of sim-com (see question #4 under “Deafness In Theatre”)?

2. Compare and contrast shadow interpreting with the approach to ASL interpretation that theatres typically use for accessible performances (see “Barriers to Access” article on page 19 for more details).

3. How does the process of communicating in sim-com differ from blended language communication such as Spanglish?

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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE The rehearsal process for a play that includes both hearing and Deaf actors presents some unique challenges in the rehearsal room. Interpreters need to be on hand to ensure clear communication between the director and the cast, as well as among the cast members themselves. As some cast members have limited or no ability to hear their co-stars, it is extra important that the cast form a strong ensemble with emphasis on trust, awareness, and focus onstage.

The following activities will allow small groups to explore ensemble work that requires an extra degree of awareness: LEVEL 1: Three participants must continuously move around the space — no stopping. At all times, one person must be walking upright as they normally do, one must be slumped over, and one must be crab walking. If one person decides to change their position, the other two must adjust to maintain the required three physical positions.

Playwright Craig Lucas and Russell Harvard.

Photo by Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots

LEVEL 2: Repeat the previous exercise, adding improvised dialogue. Give participants some basic given circumstances (the 5 Ws) to start from. Their standing, slumping, crab walking, and constant movement must be justified by the dialogue.

LEVEL 3: Three participants who must work together to accomplish a task. For example: wrapping a gift, assembling a child’s toy. At all times, one person must be blind-folded, one person must be wearing ear plugs, and the third must keep their hands tied behind their back.

PARTNER WORK: BLIND WALK Have students pair up and select in their pairs who will be partner A and partner B. Partner B will be blindfolded and partner A will lead them around the room using one hand on their shoulder to guide them and a double tap on the shoulder to stop. Once each pair has made it through the room safely they will switch roles and repeat the activity.

Wrap Up Questions: • What was the most difficult part of being blindfolded? Of guiding your partner?

• How did you and your partner communicate?

• When you were blindfolded, how did you adjust to not being able to see?

• Did anything happen that you did not expect?

• Compare and contrast the dynamic between you and your partner with that of a visuallyor hearing-impaired person and the non-impaired people with whom they interact.

SET DESIGN One of the goals of Craig Lucas’ I Was Most Alive with You is to produce a theatrical experience including deaf actors, hearing actors, and ASL translators. Create a design of the stage that includes a set area for the interpreters to be seen throughout the play so that deaf audience members can follow along with the interpreters and the action of the play.

PROJECTION DESIGN I Was Most Alive with You offers many representations of faith, inclusion, and suffering, but what do these abstract concepts look like?

Research how each of these themes is represented in media such as videos, posters, advertisements, etc. Choose one of the play’s themes and use your research to create a 5 minute PowerPoint presentation that explores how that theme is represented in our society. What similarities exist among these representations? Are there differences based on medium, intended audience, or geographical reach?

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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES QUOTABLE MOMENTS

“Idle hands, devil’s playground.” – Farhad

Choose one of the quotes, on right, from I Was Most Alive with You. Write an essay analyzing the quote’s meaning. Consider the following:

“So all the little children with cancer and women marched into the gas chambers somehow didn’t love God right?” – Pleasant

• Which character said it?

“Where did we come up with the idea that there are Gods?

What’s wrong with life that we’re not enough.” – Farhad

• Does the character mean it literally or is there an unspoken subtext?

“Faith doesn’t prevent suffering, it prevents man from thinking he’s God.” – Ash

• What does this statement reveal about the character’s way of looking at the world?

• How do the character’s actions support or contradict the quote?

• Do other characters seem to agree or disagree?

• How does the quote contribute to the forward progression of the scene and of the plot as a whole?

• How does the quote’s expression in spoken English, ASL, or sim-com contribute to its meaning within the scene?

“The only people originally from America are Cherokee.”

– Farhad “Now this is what I call, my husband would call, a man of good faith, when jokes are made to make people more comfortable.” – Carla “I have a theory that people tell you who they are in the first three minutes but we assume they’re joking or we miss all the warning signs. They say ‘I’m insane’ and we laugh but they are insane.” – Pleasant “Writers shamelessly exploit loved one’s humiliating exploits but are otherwise dull.” – Pleasant “One of his teachers introduced him to some deaf kids who signed, but as soon as his parents heard about implants, they got him one, which worked … his new Deaf friends didn’t like that he did that.” – Knox “You think entertainment has a responsibility to minorities.”

– Carla “Some people do everything possible to be good and every single thing is still taken away from them and the world still has no compunction about crushing them to dust.” – Pleasant “Don’t you ever wonder if we would all still love you for you without the gifts you’re always giving us?” – Pleasant “Is believing in a higher power the same as knowing what happens is always for good?” – Astrid “Feelings aren’t facts.” – Knox “I never knew what people meant when they said “Soul?”

“Spiritual?” It’s all the brain. We’re machines.” – Carla “I like it when people don’t pretend to know what they can’t know.” – Mariama “The greatest luxury, they say … Being told what to do.”

– Mariama “What would you say to someone who survived the tsumani but lost their family?” – Astrid “That’s all faith is: bridging that little jump between what you can know and what you feel. Your small still voice.” – Ash

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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES QUOTABLE SOURCES Following his author’s note in the script of I Was Most Alive with You, Craig Lucas includes the following quotes. Select one and address the following in a brief essay: • What does the quote mean to you? Do you agree with the idea(s)?

• What do you know about the author of this quote?

• Do you think the quote is “inspirational?” How might the sentiment have inspired Craig Lucas to write this play or be the foundation for this work?

• How does the meaning of this quote relate to the play?

• Which character(s) or plot point(s) demonstrate the main idea of the quote?

• Why did Craig Lucas share this quote with the readers of his play?

“The outside world is too small, too clear-cut, too truthful, to contain everything that a person has room for inside.” – Franz Kafka “Life, as we find it, is too hard for us; it brings us too many pains, disappointments, and impossible tasks. In order to bear it we cannot dispense with palliative measures … There are perhaps three such measures: powerful deflections, which cause us to make light of such misery; substitutive satisfactions, which diminish it; and intoxicating substances, which make us insensible to it.” – Sigmund Freud “Nothing is more whole than a broken heart.” – Rabbi Nachman

INTERPRETIVE ANALYSIS: ASL MUSIC VIDEOS Playwright Craig Lucas wrote the role of Knox specifically for deaf actor Russell Harvard, whose acting credits include productions of Spring Awakening (Broadway) and Tribes (Off Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre), as well as the 2007 film There Will Be Blood and the FX television series “Fargo.” In addition to acting, Harvard is also passionate about music and creates ASL music videos of contemporary songs, which can be viewed on his YouTube channel. Lucas integrated this work into I Was Most Alive with You at the beginning of Scene 10, which opens with Knox dancing as he signs the song, “Phoenix” by indie pop band The Shears.

• Look up the lyrics to “Phoenix.” What is the song about?

What does this song represent in the play?

• How do the D/deaf and hard-of-hearing experience music?

The Shears

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• Visit actor Russell Harvard’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/ user/zephyreros, and watch some of his ASL music videos.

How does he incorporate the energy and style of the music into his interpretation?

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