Shipwrecked! - Actors Theatre of Louisville

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About Shipwrecked! An Entertainment Play Guide This play guide is a standards-based resource designed to enhance your theatre experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture the teaching and learning of theatre arts and to encourage essential questions that lead to enduring understandings of the play’s meaning and relevance. Inside you will find: • Historical/contextual information. • Vocabulary and worksheets that lay the groundwork of the story and build anticipation for the performance. • Oral discussion and writing prompts that encourage your students to reflect upon their impressions and to analyze and relate key ideas to their personal experiences and world around them. These can easily be adapted to fit most writing objectives. • Bridgework, which connects theatre elements with ideas for drama activities in the classroom. • Integrated curriculum for your lessons. We encourage you to adapt and extend the material in any way to best fit the needs of your community of learners. Please feel free to make copies of this guide, or you may download it from our website: www.actorstheatre.org. We hope this material, combined with our pre-show workshops, will give you the tools to make your time at Actors Theatre a valuable learning experience. Actors Theatre Education Steven Rahe, Education Director Jacob Stoebel, Education Coordinator Lee Look, New Voices Coordinator Julie Mercurio, Education Intern Jeffrey Mosser, Education Intern Stowe Nelson, Education Intern Study Guide compiled by Rachel Lerner-Ley, Julie Mercurio, Jeffrey Mosser, Stowe Nelson, Steven Rahe and Jacob Stoebel. The Hearst Foundation, Inc. Table of Contents Page 3: Synopsis/Character List Page 4: The Real Rougemont (and Margulies) Page 5: Call of the Sea Page 6: Victorian Era Page 7: Theatre in Louis' Day Page 8: Map/Quiz: "Do You Have What it Takes to Survive a Shipwreck?" Page 9 & 10: Bridgework/Cross-Circular Activities Page 11: Other Reading/Glossary Page 12: Themes & Discussion Page 13: Writing for Portfolio Page 14: Allusions/Work Cited Page 15: Upcoming Events Kentucky Core Content: Shipwrecked! An Entertainment matinee and study guide address specific • AH-1.3.1: Students will analyze or evaluate the use of technical elements, literary elements and performance elements in a variety of dramatic works. • AH-2.3.1: Students will analyze or evaluate how factors such as time, place and ideas are reflected in drama. • AH-3.3.1: Students will explain how drama/theatre fulfills a variety of purposes. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our play guides, please feel free to contact Jacob Stoebel at (502) 584-1265.
Synopsis/Character List An old man hobbles onstage and declares, “I’m about to tell you a story. A fantastic and amazing story! A story all the more remarkable because every word of it is true.” So begins Shipwrecked! An Entertainment. From there, we are drawn into Louis’ world. We see him as a sheltered young boy, engrossed in Robinson Crusoe and Arabian Nights. That young boy grows into a restless young man who takes his first step towards independence. He leaves his home at the age of sixteen, bound for Australia on a pearling expedition. The journey is arduous but the outlook is bright. Until a great storm arises and the ship is capsized. All the men, save Louis, are drowned. Days later, Louis (along with the ship’s dog Bruno) washes up on dry land. He is safe but alone. From there, his story grows more fantastic. He does gymnastics on the beach to pass the time. He rides on the backs of sea turtles. He meets and marries an Aboriginal woman, visits her tribe and is made their king. He longs for home and eventually is rescued. Thirty years after leaving London, he returns home. Upon his return, Louis sells his amazing story to Wide World Magazine and becomes an overnight celebrity. His hero status is threatened when people begin to question his claims. Are Louis’ adventures real or just a figment of his imagination? Did he really do all those amazing things? Will Louis be vindicated or will his reputation be sullied forever? Cast of Characters Despite the many characters found in Shipwrecked!, the play can be performed with as few as three actors. Our production uses three actors (who portray Louis, Player # 1 and Player #2), four Puppeteers, and three Foley Artists (who create live sound effects). Louis de Rougemont the main storyteller we follow from boyhood through old age, as he reenacts a life filled with amazing adventures. Player #1 portrays or gives voice to Louis’ Mother, Capt. Jensen, Yamba (an Aborigine princess, later his wife), Fitzgerald (a magazine editor), a Society Lady, Albert’s Mother, Queen Victoria (a queen), an Octopus Expert, a Map Maker, a Reporter, a Librarian. Player #2 portrays or gives voice to a Barkeep, Bruno (a dog), Gunda (Yamba’s father, a tribal chief), Bobo (Yamba’s brother), an Australian Prospector, a Society Lady, Albert (a boy), a Turtle Expert, a Wombat Expert, Dr. Leopold (an alienist), a Pickpocket, a Newsboy, a Reporter, a Lawyer. Various Pedestrians, Shipmates, Pearl-Fishers, Children, Peddlers, Prospectors, Tribesmen, and Women, Club Members and Hecklers. 3
Page 1: Play GUIDE! FEBRUARY 3 - 28
Page 5 and 6: Call of the Sea The mysteries of th
Page 7 and 8: Theatre in Louis' Day At the turn o
Page 9 and 10: Bridgework Building Connections Bet
Page 11 and 12: Other Reading/Glossary Terms and Vo
Page 13 and 14: Writing for Portfolio Personal Writ
Page 15 and 16: Upcoming Events Two hundred years a

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