Topics for Discussion and Writing Activities Based on the play Awake and Sing
Think back to how you heard the music. Why was
the music in the show? How did you respond to the music?
What do you think the story has to say about our
own time?
about the world. What do they each believe? Discuss
the differences and similarities between their values.
Which are good decisions and which are not? Why
does the make the decisions he does? What might he
have done differently? What would have happened
if he had made different choices? Answer the same
questions for Hennie.
son. Does she do what you think a mother should do
under the circumstances? Why does she act as she
does? Answer the same questions for Myron.
wife has told you that your baby is not yours. What
would you do?
orphan during the Depression, and your aunt and
uncle want to send you to Cleveland. What would
you do?
T These activities are meant to appeal to differ-
ent learning styles and for use with smaller
groups. Different activities allow for written,
visual, oral or aural responses to the play.
Activities for those who like to LISTEN
GOLDEN OLDIES
The Lincoln Center Theater production of Awake and
sing! is set in 1935. Songs are often closely associated
with a particular era. Songs that were popular in 1935
might be very different from songs that are popular
today.
*Research music from the 1930's. Find as many songs
as you can from the time. Present your songs to
the class and talk about how they relate to the time
period and the play, and what the songs convey.
Think about both the music and the lyrics. Arrange
your songs to make a musical play with a beginning,
middle, and an end.
RAPPING WITH THE BERGERs
Clifford Odets wrote Awake and sing! in totally up-to-
the-minute language of the time. Contemporary artists
use contemporary language in many ways. Rap and
hp-hop often tell stories using bold language and clever
phrases.
*Pick one key scene from Awake and Sing! and create
a rap re-telling.
* Or, Following the play scene by scene, write a hip hop
song that gives an overview of the whole story of Awake and sing!.
Activities for those who like to LOOK
POSTER
Posters can be used to advertise a production. The
way they are designed may give you an idea of how the
theater piece will be presented.
* Create a poster for Lincoln Center Theater's produc-
tion of Awake and Sing! based on the impressions you
got from seeing their production.
*Choose a quote from the play that you think tells
something important about Awake and Sing! Use it as
a headline to create a poster.
BEHIND THE SCENES
The Lincoln Center Theater designers were inspired
by the original sets and time period of Awake and sing!.
Some theatrical productions find inspiration in research
or history, others in art or pure imagination.
* Do historical research and select your own inspira-
tion for designs for Awake and Sing! present images
from your research to the class along with your
reason for those choices.
*Or Find an artist whose work you think represents a
look that would be appropriate for Awake and sing!.
Research the artist and present his or her artwork to
the class, along with your reasons for choosing
the artist.
*Or create a totally original design for your own
production of Awake and Sing!. Explain how and
why you think your design is appropriate for this
play. present your design in sketches, collages,
models or another form.
CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN (OR WOMAN)
Costumes can reveal much about certain characters. In
Awake and sing! Hennie dresses differently before and
after her unhappy marriage.
* Find a costume or parts of a costume that would
make you seem different from the way you usually
appear. How does that item change you? How might
people treat you differently because of this costume?
present your costume and ideas to the class.
* Draw a picture of a character from Awake and Sing!
and label the different parts of his or her costume, explaining
how these items affect the character's personality and actions.
* Or create your own costume design for Awake and Sing!
complete with drawings, collages or clothing to show what
the different characters would wear. Present your designs to
the class, explaining your choices.
Activities for those who like LANGUAGE
DEBATE
The characters in Awake and Sing! make many choices
that effect the action of the play.
* Think about Bessie's decision to marry Hennie to Sam. Does
she act as she should? Could she have taken other actions?
What would have been the results? Ask your classmates about
their opinions about the decisions Bessie makes throughout the
play. Discuss your answers to these questions. Debate your point
of view with a classmate who disagrees with you.
* Or think about Hennie's decision to marry Sam, and then leave
him and her baby. Does she act as he should? What would have
been the results if she had made different choices? Ask your classmate
their opinions about Hennie's character. Debate your point of view with
a classmate who disagrees with you.
* Or choose another issue, character, or theme from the play and follow
the same steps.
FAMILY MATTERS
Awake and Sing! is fundamentally the story of a family. This family
is deeply interdependent . Three generations all live together. Morty
sends five dollars a week to support his father. Although Hennie and
Ralph are both young adults, their mother decides whom they can or
cannot marry.
In pairs or groups, act out any of the following scenarios. You can
improvise--set the scene and make up the action and dialogue as you
go--or script the scene and then perform it.
* A parent lies to a teenager's boyfriend or girlfriend to break the couple
up.
* A parent lies to a teenager's friend to bring them close together.
* A parent insists that a teenager who works give most of the earnings to
the family.
* A parent insists that a teenager is making the wrong choices.
Discuss the issues and choices that came up in the scenes. What would have
happened if the parent of the child had made different choices?
OFFSTAGE DRAMA
At the end of Awake and Sing! Hennie and Moe Axelrod run off together.
Write a short story or one act play about what happens next. Or write
about what Ralph does next.
YOU BE THE CRITIC
Write your own review of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Awake
and Sing! What did you think were the messages of the play and the strengths
and weaknesses of the production? Be sure to be specific about what you
noticed about the production choices, the play, the performances and the sets,
lights, costumes and music.
NEWS FLASH
* Write a tabloid article describing the main events of the play. Include
interviews
with witnesses. Add a juicy headline, then illustrate with drawings or a photo
collage.
* Or design a whole neighborhood newspaper, with news stories, gossip columns,
advice columns, horoscopes and anything else you can think of, all relating to
the
action and characters of Awake and Sing!
CORRESPONDENCE
Each of the characters in Awake and Sing! has a distinct point of view,
and each
has a unique relationship with each of the others. No one in the play is all
good or
all bad.
* In a group of four, read Act Two, scene one, in which Bessie intercepts
Blanche's
call to Ralph and lies about it. Share responses to the scene. Write down as
many
quotations from the play as you can find to support your ideas about what
happens
in the scene.
Then create a packet of four letters about the scene from Bessie, Jacob, Morty,
and
Ralph. Each member of the group will write one letter. The letters must use
lines from
the play to support what you say.
* A letter from Bessie to Ralph, about what happened.
* A letter from Jacob to Bessie about what happened.
* A letter from Morty to Bessie about Ralph's choices.
* A letter from Ralph to Blanche explaining what happened.
Then read the letters out loud to the class and lead a discussion. The group
should explain
the choices they made in presenting the character's opinions.
Ideas for Posters
Family Issues
Students will work on computers to do digital designs for posters of the play
(Playbill cover), stressing the issues that plague the family, as well as family
today.
Aim: 1)To identify the issues
2) How are these issues different/similar to those of families today?
3) Collect visuals that illustrate the issues you have identified. Use museum
files--
photographs, etc. You may also use text and background lettering.
4) Color should be an important part of your piece. Color should express mood.
a) Read excerpts from play
b) Discussion of 1930’s “Bronx”
c) Four sessions with teaching artist
Background for Play: Great Depression
Procedures:
Brainstorm your central theme--
1) Background 1930’s—Bronx, NY (look for pictures, clothing)
2) American Jewish--1930’s
3) Portrayal of the characters in order of importance
Symbolismà
Example: cards—Communism—Karl Marx
4) Illustrate a quote from the play