The Scarlet Letter Season

Transcription

1 The Scarlet Letter Season

2 About this Play Guide Theatre Calgary s Play Guides and Interactive Learning Programs are made possible by the support of our sponsors: Contents 2 3 The Basics Cast & Creative Team Who s Who? 4 Setting and Story The Play Guide for The Scarlet Letter was created by David Sklar Education & Outreach Coordinator This play guide is designed to enhance your experience and delve deeper into The Scarlet Letter. If you wish to avoid potential spoilers, we recommend enjoying this guide after seeing the production Explorations Directing Through a Feminist Lens, with Micheline Chevrier Puritanism Are We Still Living in a Scarlet Letter Society? A New Challenge for a Familar Face Terms to Know Connect with Us Questions? 14 Interesting Facts Theatre dsklar@theatrecalgary.com 16 Conversations Scarlet Letter Movie 17 Conversation Starters 18 Quotes from the Book The Scarlet Letter is recommended for ages The Symbols of The Scarlet Letter Further Reading Educational Exercises Sources Ave SE Calgary, AB T2G 5C theatrecalgary.com Front Cover Illustration: Andrea Ucini 1

3 The Basics Cast & Creative Team By Phyllis Nagy Adapted from the Novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne Master Brackett Paul Cowling Mistress Hibbins Bobbi Goddard Governer Bilingham Declan O Reilly Hester Prynne Heather Pattengale Arthur Dimmesdale Charlie Gallant Roger Chillingworth Christopher Hunt Pearl Kristen Padayas Director Micheline Chevrier Set & Costume Design Judith Bowden Lighting Design Harry Frehner Composer Allison Lynch Assistant Director Cristina Cugliandro Voice Coach Jane MacFarlane Fight Director Karl H. Sine Stage Manager Emma Brager Assistant Stage Manager Justin Born TC Mentee Sound Design Alixandra Cowman TC Mentee Directing Jay Northcott Head of Lighting Catharine Crumb Head Stage Carpenter Scott Morris Head of Sound Chris Jacko Head Dresser Rachel Michelle Sheridan 2

4 She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom. - Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter Setting The Scarlet Letter takes place 300 years ago, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is always summer. Who s Who Hester Prynne: A young seamstress who is a master of irony. She is neither sentimental nor self-pitying. Her defiant humour sees her through most situations. At the start of the play, Hester is accused of adultery and thus forced to wear the letter A on her dress. Pearl: Hester s daughter, the most unusual child in the world. She is reflected throughout the production in her late 20 s rather than as a child. Arthur Dimmesdale: A successful young minister who finds it difficult to trust anyone. Roger Chillingworth: A would-be physician who s slipped into an early old age. Governer Bellingham: Boston s governor. Well-meaning but pompous. Mistress Hibbins: Boston s witch, and sister to Governor Bellingham. Master Brackett: Boston s jailer. Kind, and the slightest bit slow on the uptake. 3

5 The Basics Synopsis ACT ONE The Scarlet Letter begins in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A woman, Hester Prynne, is being led from the town prison by Master Brackett and is wearing the scarlet letter A, which she created herself, on her chest. Hester s husband sent her ahead to America but he never arrived in Boston and is presumed lost at sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester has had an affair, and given birth to a daughter, Pearl. She will not reveal her lover s identity to Governor Bellingham, and for that reason, wearing the scarlet letter along with her public shaming is her punishment for her sin and secrecy. Hester is led to the town scaffold and demanded to reveal her lover s identity. Reverend Dimmesdale, beginning to feel unwell, pleads with her to reveal the man s identity but she again refuses to name him. Pearl, though an infant, is played by a young actor, and recounts the events to the audience with surprising clarity and intuition. One of the onlookers is Roger Chillingworth, a recent arrival in town who claims he came from the woods. In fact, he is the presumed dead husband of Hester and decides to remain in town and practice medicine. He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester and vows to seek his revenge and expose the man. Seven years pass, and Hester lives on the outskirts of town with Pearl. One day Mistress Hibbins, sister to the Governor, comes to visit Pearl and tries to take her into the woods to meet a mysterious Dark Man. It is also alluded to that Mistress Hibbins practices witchcraft. Roger Chillingworth, now living with Reverend Dimmesdale, begins to administer tonics to heal the reverend. However, Reverend Dimmesdale finds he is no better than before. Hester gains renown for her embroidery and sells garments to the townspeople, including to the Governor. Governor Bellingham is concerned for the upbringing of the child and debates whether to take her away from Hester. After much persuasion from Reverend Dimmesdale, Hester is allowed to keep her child - at least for the time being. Reverend Dimmesdale, however, appears physically worse and suffering from some unknown sickness. Chillingworth, suspecting Dimmesdale as the adulterer, administers more tonics to the ailing reverend. In a fit, Reverend Dimmesdale confesses he is full of sin but the townspeople seem to ignore him. Reverend Dimmesdale asks Hester and Pearl to climb atop the scaffold. They join him even as Reverend Dimmesdale refuses Pearl s request to publicly acknowledge her as his daughter. At that moment, a meteor crosses the sky, which some see as an A in the night. Hester sees that Reverend Dimmesdale is getting worse and decides it is time to create a division between the two men. ACT TWO Master Brackett, worried about Reverend Dimmesdale s health tries to fetch the doctor but the Reverend refuses by suggesting there is something deeper making him sick. Hester confronts Roger Chillingworth and tells him he must leave Reverend Dimmesdale alone. Roger Chillingworth, through cruelty and malice, forces Hester to beg for mercy on behalf of the Reverend. Hester arranges an encounter with Reverend Dimmesdale to warn him about Roger Chillingworth. The former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston. Both feel a sense of release, and Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale remove the scarlet letter and embrace. Pearl, playing nearby, does not recognize her mother without the letter. Pearl again asks Revered Dimmesdale to walk with them in town but again he refuses. Meanwhile, Hester has learned that Roger Chillingworth knows of their plan and has booked passage on the same ship. Reverend Dimmesdale, acting strangely out of character, verbally assaults Mistress Hibbins. Before the ship is set to sail, the townspeople gather for Election Day and Reverend Dimmesdale preaches his most passionate sermon ever. He mounts the scaffold with his lover and daughter, and confesses publicly, rips off his shirt and is thought to have a scarlet letter marked on his chest. He falls dead. Pearl informs the audience in an epilogue-style monologue, that Mistress Hibbins is hung as a witch, Chillingworth dies a year later leaving herself as sole heir. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Reverend Dimmesdale. 4

6 Explorations Directing Through a Feminist Lens, with Micheline Chevrier For over thirty years, Micheline Chevrier has worked in English and French language theatre all across Canada and abroad as a director, artistic director and dramaturg. As a director, she has worked at the Shaw Festival, the National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects, the Citadel, Imago Theatre and BeMe Productions (Barcelona and Munich), among others. In 2013, she became Artistic and Executive Director of Imago Theatre in Montreal. Chevrier has received many awards, including a Betty Mitchell Award for Best Direction. She has taught at The National Theatre School of Canada, University of Alberta, Concordia University, McGill University, York University, and Dalhousie University. Chevrier believes that Canadian theatre should celebrate the country s diversity. It should also explore the exciting challenges of living a full life. What sparked your interest in The Scarlet Letter? I have to confess that, when Stafford offered it to me, I was surprised. It didn t seem an obvious match to me but when I read Phyllis Nagy s adaptation, I understood why. It is very much a feminist lens on a man s story about women in the 17th century. It s also an interesting exploration through a variety of lenses whether it s gender or period. Also, I m starting to understand what Phyllis Nagy was investigating, which is the very beginning of her country, its foundation anchored in strict religious codes and how that came to shape America, as well as how women dare to be themselves in such a strict society. But mostly, the central character speaks to me. She s awesome! All the women are, in fact. They refuse to fit, to comply. They re not good, they don t bow their heads and do what they re told. Their behaviour is challenging the structure that rules them, and that s difficult for the men that run that society. Everyone is coming up against the tower of that world and, frankly, I don t think it has changed in most circumstances. I am very drawn by how we can bring a 21st century gaze to a 19th century novel about a 17th century story. Do you find you identified with the issues of religion and identity in the play? I m sure it s buried in me somewhere. I grew up in Quebec as a Catholic and there were very strict codes of behaviour. My parents were nowhere near as strict as their own parents but I still very much rebelled against it. I decided I didn t share some of their beliefs, I didn t accept what was being put forward. So maybe there was an unconscious part of me that identified with the women in the play. It does go beyond religion: as with the United States, religion and government were so intertwined in Quebec. I think it s interesting that Nagy and Hawthorne are examining and questioning that heritage. So maybe there is something in me that feels it viscerally. What is the biggest challenge in bringing this piece of literature to the stage? It s tricky. I think the biggest challenge is to resist putting on a historical piece, a museum play. I think Nagy has brilliantly used language to make it a contemporary conversation. For example, when we started to look at design, I thought, How do we make this a concrete world for the audience? I think there is a danger to assume that the conversation is no longer relevant. It s very relevant. So with the designer, Judith Bowden, we want to make sure the set we re building isn t creating a distance between the audience and the story. The story is happening now in various parts of the world. There is an immediate tendency to judge and label people. We need to remain in the present despite the 400-year gap. Will people recognize the parallels between the play and the society we live in? In ancient Greece, playwrights used the ancient city of Troy as a frequent setting to discuss the issues they were confronting in their own time and society. They were using stories from 700 years before because they were trying to broach sensitive, urgent issues. That distance is helpful because you don t feel under attack. At the same time, you have to be careful that the distance isn t too comfortable. We have to ensure that the audience 5

7 You say you want to be in the land of I don t know. Most people would be terrified of that. Why seek it out? will be able to listen freely to the ideas being challenged or discussed, while not thinking that this was then, and now it s different. In the past you ve talked about how theatre should Explore the dangers of living a full life. What do you mean by that? I think it s difficult to live out who you really are. I remember when I did a play about Glenn Gould and I was asking David Young, the playwright, what he thought the play was about, and he said, Bravery. And I asked why. He told me that Glenn Gould was brave to be who he was in his life. He was many different things and he honoured who he was in each moment. He was difficult and odd and brilliant, and he dared to be that. To be fully himself. That stayed with me. I thought then, and still do, Am I really living out who I really am? Am I being honest? I find it hard, because sometimes that means you might upset someone. You might take a risk doing something and be disappointed. It might hurt, it might be painful and I think that when I do theatre, I look for stories that are going to challenge me. To look at the fullness of my life, where and when I am, who s around me and not be comfortable in an idea of my life or what I would like it to be. Theatre should push us to confront and not avoid. That s why this play speaks to me. I think the women in this play are daring to be themselves and that the men are using structures to actually hide from themselves. It s not that the women are better: the circumstances for both genders are different. What makes or allows us to say, No, I m going to take a risk and live it out? I am curious to analyze the structures that dictate, impede or encourage that questioning. Do you apply that thinking in the rehearsal hall? All the time. That s the gift of making theatre. I get to be in a room with amazingly smart, sensitive, intuitive people every single day who are rigorous workers. And we get to reflect and talk about humanity. It s hard work, don t get me wrong, but it s like wow! It s so amazing that we get to think, discuss and feel it all. It broadens my world and my knowledge, allows me glorious access to so many things. The rehearsal hall is a rich place for exploring many ideas and we get to play: try and fail and succeed. I remember when I started up with Yoga. One of my teachers said, Yoga: you can never GET it. It s not like you get the pose and you re done. It s about the practice. And I thought, I love Yoga! because I will never get it. It s not about succeeding or failing, it s about doing it. The practice of it. It s very freeing being in the land of I don t know. There is the potential for constant exploration and constant learning. It s never about being still or done. I was brought up to achieve in life and it s refreshing to learn that it s not about that. It s about actively being in a constant learning process. You ve had many successes in your career, but I m curious about a time you ve dealt with failure and how you overcame it. There ve been many! The hardest thing about failure is the outside voice. Failure should be the most normal thing in the world when you re living because that means that you re trying. It s really hard to shut the outside voice that is saying, It s your fault, you shouldn t have failed but you did! I ll tell you a massive failure of mine. When I lived in Ottawa, I was approached to work on the Celebrations on the Hill for Y2K, for the year They had hardly any money for such an important moment. And a lot of the budget had to be saved for the fireworks. So I, along a great team of artists designers, writers and puppeteers created a show. And I ll save you the details but it didn t go very well. It went very well in dress rehearsal the night before but you might not remember but with Y2K, people 6

8 Explorations continued from previous page predicted the end of the world, that all the computers would fail. Everybody had planned to stay inside, not venture out to celebrate but Europe got their New Year s before us and nothing went wrong! So, on the night, about 10 times the number of people expected, came. It created problems for the staging, technical breakdowns occurred not the best performance! And so, the organization in charge was looking for someone to blame. And they were eager to blame me as the director. And I said, You can if you like but I won t start finger pointing. We did everything we could. In the short time we were given, with the limited budget and with the unpredictable outcome. A friend called it an honest failure and I really liked that because we did work hard, we did everything we could, and it still didn t work for a variety of reasons. I was happy because I knew why it failed but couldn t have changed anything. It taught me how to deal with failure a bit better. Failure is about learning the lessons and not getting stuck in the guilt. That event was a monumental national failure and it was fantastic! What scares you? Strange to say but I am afraid of fear! The kind that paralyzes you. Being dominated by it. I ve tried really hard to keep that at bay. I m disappointed when I see myself or my colleagues, when in our work, we become fearful and let hesitation take over and limit our creativity, our imagination. What is the one thing you hope this play brings out? I hope people see that there are many ways to be brave and many ways to be honest. To see that structures can be questioned, dismantled and reimagined, that there is no one answer to how society must run. In the play, there are many layers. I believe the experience of this play is going to be more sensorial than intellectual. I hope people can allow the words, the story wash over them. And then reflect on the fact that we don t have to abide by what we set up. We can change it. We can question it. And we don t do that often enough. What s next for you? The company I m with, Imago Theatre in Montreal, is presenting Elsewhere, created by a small, emerging local company, Odd Stumble. It s about a young Canadian-Venezuelan who felt very much at a loss about the Venezuelan crisis. We are excited to expose people to something that s going on right now, and deserves the world s attention and care. Stuart Holmes, Kittens Reichert and Mary Martin in a publicity still for The Scarlet Letter (1917). Wikimedia Commons 7

9 Explorations Puritanism Puritanism is a form of Christianity that originated in England in the early 16th century. Members were Calvinists who felt that the Protestant Reformation had not gone far enough to purify the Church of England. They sought to cleanse the church of what they saw as the corruption and excesses of Catholic rituals and idolatry, placing an emphasis instead on the Bible, individual conscience, and living a Godly life. After years of persecution and intolerance in England, Puritans began to set sail for the new colonies of America in order to set up their own model society based entirely on the ideals of the reformed church. They arrived at Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620 and at Massachusetts Bay near Salem ten years later. Between 1620 and 1640, approximately 20,000 Puritans settled in the New England colonies. The Puritan religion is based on a set of five essential beliefs that are derived from Calvinist theology. These five points are often referred to by the acronym TULIP: Total Depravity: The belief that all men are born enslaved to sin as a result of Adam s Original Sin against God. Unconditional Election: The belief that God has already predetermined, through his mercy, those who will receive eternal salvation. There is nothing one can do to earn one s way into His Grace through virtue, merit, or faith. Limited Atonement: The belief that the death of Jesus Christ atones only for the sins of those previously elected by God for salvation, and not for those of all mankind. Irresistible Grace: The belief that one cannot resist the grace of God. The willingness and ability to obey His will, abide by faith, and feel His presence are signs of being within His grace. Perseverance of the Saints: The belief that once someone has been saved by God, this cannot be reversed William Halsall. Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor Oil on canvas. Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth 8

10 Explorations Are We Still Living in a Scarlet Letter Society? In many ways our current society is a far cry from the one depicted in The Scarlet Letter. Despite how far we have progressed as a society, however, is it possible that, rather than moving forward in a straight line, we tend to travel in circles, re-treading the footsteps of the past? Throughout the past few years, women s rights and issues related to female disenfranchisement have taken center stage in the media and our collective consciousness. #Metoo brought the conversation into our daily lives and has shaken the secrecy and willful blindness that had previously protected powerful men in prominent positions. The debate regarding how we see women and how we as a society shape their experience, tell them how they should behave and control who or what they do with their bodies is still ongoing. The Scarlet Letter adds another voice to this discussion by challenging the audience to explore the ways in which women s desires are policed and punished for transgressing moral norms, such retribution often exacted with gleeful delight as exemplified by Hibbin s declaration I love a good scolding. Hester s world was, without question, a man s world. The Puritans of her day believed that Eve s role in the original sin exemplified women s moral weakness and thus left them more susceptible to temptation. Women could not participate in town meetings and were excluded from decision-making in the church, a major center of community life. Women were routinely portrayed as instruments of the devil during sermons and in public writings. Women could not own property or engage in business and had no parental rights over their children. If any woman was accused of immorality she could be whipped and forced to make a public confession in front of her congregation. A wife s word was only as good as her husband s. Much like in the play, by having no clear patriarch for Hester to lean on for support, she is left to the whims of her townspeople and their harsh judgments. As the play begins, the mob demands Hester s lover s name. We want the child s father. We want his blood, Hibbins cries out. Rather than giving into the mob, Hester remains silent and suffers by being publicly ostracised and condemned. While Hester s motives for remaining silent are initially unclear, one only needs to look to recent cases that have played out before the courts and the media to be made aware of the perils that can accompany naming an accused. How often have women who have accused men of impropriety been accused in turn, to be called a liar, a scorned woman, acting out for vengeance? As can often be the case, the accuser can be met with public scorn in equal measure as the accused. As an audience, The Scarlett Letter leaves us to ponder a series of questions: Would Hester s punishment have been lessened had she disclosed the identity of her lover? If she revealed the truth, would her accomplice in infidelity have been punished alongside her? Would she have been excused had she placed the blame upon a man? Although The Scarlet Letter explores these questions in the context of Puritan New-England, the underlying issues such as shaming and blame, remains a subject that is just as contentious today. Perhaps we haven t evolved as much as we think from the Scarlet Letter days. While we may not be burning women at the stake anymore, in many ways the mob rule of social media functions as a 21st century forum for public shaming. Ours is the age, after all, of viral videos where within less than 24 hours, one s school or office, family and friends can all be made aware of one s most humiliating acts while strangers add endless commentary, blaming the victim for their public humiliation: You should have known What were you thinking? Just as Hester is forced to wear the letter A to serve as a constant reminder of her misdeeds, so too does social media give rise to an inescapable humiliation since what goes online stays online forever, ready to pop up and ding to remind you. Perhaps we haven t evolved as much as we think from The Scarlet Letter days. Rather than asking the audience to pass judgment on Hester, The Scarlet Letter invites the audience to witness 9

11 firsthand the effects that result from the collective punishment of women deemed deviant by the society at the time. This witnessing itself can be an act of defiance by raising awareness of potential hypocrisies underlying our norms and conceptions of justice. Just as Hester refuses to concede to the demands of the mob, so too are people today calling-out the blind spots they see in our institutions and treatment of women. Challenges against one-sided dress codes, purity balls, and the prevalence of sexual assault against women, are reminders that the struggle, which Hester fought, has yet to become a battle fully won. This new adaptation, with a more focused lens on feminist issues, reminds us of the strides which women have made over the past two centuries. At the same time, however, it points to the long road ahead which remains to be travelled. The notions of shame still pervade our society. The Scarlet Letter opens up a conversation and forces us to face, head-on, the inequalities and hypocrisies, which inform societies policing of desire. Although The Scarlet Letter is written about a time period which we may like to believe is now in the rear-view mirror of history, our witnessing of Hester s unfolding plight forces us to question the extent to which women have agency in exercising their right without having to fear reprisal for breaking traditional conventions regarding what women should, and shouldn t do. Hugues Merle. The Scarlet Letter Oil on canvas. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore 10

12 Explorations A New Challenge for a Familiar Face Heather Pattengale had delighted audiences playing Belle and Solicitor in A Christmas Carol for the past four years. She has frequented the Rosebud stage, starring in Mark Twain s The Diaries of Adam and Eve, The Christians, Outside Mullingar (Critter Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a play) as well as working with Fireside, Burnt Thicket, and The Shakespeare Company. Audiences will recognize you from A Christmas Carol. How will it be to play a very different role this time? I think that one of the main differences is that Hester is very complex whereas the two characters I play in A Christmas Carol are pretty straight-forward. From reading the script for A Christmas Carol, I was able to say, In this scene this is what this character wants. With Hester her reactions to her circumstances and what she is trying to get from other characters isn t as clear on a cursory reading. It requires more indepth imagination work on my part to fill those gaps. Also, in A Christmas Carol, there is a lot of levity and fun to play. There are a lot of quick little scenes that happen and parts that I am not involved with. I think with The Scarlet Letter, I ll be a little more involved and the scenes take more of a journey which is fun for an actor. What will be your biggest challenge with Hester? Wrapping my head around what she wants. What kind of things are governing her decisions, the way she approaches life and her Puritan community. What is expected of her and how she deviates from that. Also, I m thinking about her motivations and her decisions. It s not overtly clear in the writing. Sometimes, I ll pick up a script or be given a role and I immediately get a sense of Oh this is what this character is on about, I totally empathize with them. With Hester I ve had to do a little more digging. I ve been reading Hawthorne s novel. But I think my Hester is slightly different from the novel s Hester. I haven t quite understood her which is really is fascinating. What are you initial impulses when it comes to Hester? One of my biggest questions is in the description in the play which states, she is Neither sentimental nor self-pitying and has a defiant humour that sees her through most situations. Those are some big clues. What exactly does sentimental and self-pitying mean? And what is the opposite of that? I m trying to wrap my brain around that. I see the description but she is not without emotion. I know she feels strongly about her daughter and is upset about the thought of Pearl being taken away from her. What is the line between being emotional and sentimental? And when is it ok for her to feel emotion and when does she feel it crosses over into self-pity? She even says to another character that she despises self-pity. That has been one of thing biggest things I have been trying to figure out which I think will become clear in rehearsal. What is your biggest challenge as an actor? I am the opposite of Hester in some ways. I think I m prone to self-pity. I m an emotional person and I think that Hester is driven by logic. I have a logical bent but I usually like to quickly connect to my character s emotional journey. I m a sentimental person so I need to tone that down without making her cold or unfeeling. I think she has a balance even if she tries to stuff down her emotions. I believe they are quite present so navigating that will be my biggest challenge. What questions popped out when reading the script? There is a scene where she s with Pearl waiting for Governor Bellingham so she can give him her gloves. She keeps telling Pearl to come and stay with her, to hold her, to kiss her and it s a very odd conversation. I initially felt that Hester wasn t being kind to Pearl and I read it and re-read it and I kept going over this part of the scene. I found if you went further into the reading, Hester is actually waiting to talk to Governor Bellingham in order to plead with him to not take Pearl away. Once I remembered that I said, Oh that is painting this whole scene. No wonder she asks Pearl why she never calls her mother, because she is wondering, Other people don t 11

13 You ve recently given birth. Do you think theatres are set up to provide support for new parents with young children? think I am a fit mother, maybe Pearl would be better off is she was taken away. What do I feel for Pearl? What does Pearl feel for me? Once it was seen through that lens it started to make more sense. You work with Rosebud Theatre often. What do you appreciate about working with them? I live there. I went to school there and started to work with the theatre in quite a few different capacities. For the school, I ve worked in recruitment, I ve taught acting classes, written a few plays that have been produced and I get to act there quite regularly. There are some actors that get to make a living just by acting. But I have found that by living in Rosebud I am able to have a life as an artist and get to do a whole bunch of different things in my life. Whether it be teaching, writing or acting, and that is really exciting. It helps me get to be creative in number of different ways and I think that informs my work in the other aspects. By writing, I get to understand what a playwright is doing and that helps me in my acting. Getting to teach, I see young actors struggle with text so it s enlightening when I see a click and it makes sense to them. That is why I love being in this community and being part of a company. I get to work with a number of the same actors over and over. A Christmas Carol feels like a family in that a large portion of the cast and crew are the same every year. It is such a joy to come back every year. It s like a big reunion and it s the same thing in Rosebud. I develop and trust and short-hand language which makes the work quite fun. You can go a little deeper than with someone you just met. What has been your greatest struggle and how did you overcome it? I have so many! I m a fearful person. But a lot of the things I do or choose to do, I do them because they scare me. I suppose that is better than being paralysed by fear but it s still an awful thing to experience; to second guess my capabilities with things I like to do. I wish that I could operate with less fear and trust my abilities because I think my life would be longer. All the stress may shorten my life span! This show is the most fearful I ve felt in a very long time. I m very new at this. I think it s probably easier than it was a decade ago. People are more supportive. But it has been hard. Being an actor means the government considers me selfemployed. Being self-employed means I don t have all the EI deductions on my paychecks others might, but it also means I don t get to reap the benefits of a government subsidized parental leave. Therefore I went back to work writing a script two months after giving birth. I was acting in that play three months after that and that was difficult. It was a condensed rehearsal process and the breaks were quite short which wasn t enough time to breastfeed and go to the bathroom. Since there was a lot of personal history here in Rosebud, there was lot of grace. If I came back after a longer break, I felt that was understood. Yet at the same time, we had to get the work done. It was exhausting! I believe there is room for it and we ll see coming up. My spouse will be taking care of our child while I am in rehearsal. But not everyone can do that in the theatre world. If a group of theatre companies had some sort of central daycare where on breaks we could feed and see our children and then head back to rehearsal that would help a lot of people. What s next for you? I ll be directing my first show, which also terrifies me! But it will be back in Rosebud and it s by David van Belle called Easter Island. It s a onewoman show and I am very excited to be working on it. 12

14 Explorations Terms to Know Affix To fasten, join, or attach. Adultery Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse Origin 14th century. Penance Punishment inflicted on oneself as an outward expression of repentance for wrongdoing. Scaffold A raised wooden platform used formerly for the public execution of criminals. Impertinence Lack of respect; rudeness. Sacrilege Violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred Embroidery The art or pastime of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Burrs A seed or dry fruit that has hooks or teeth Tonics Medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigour or well-being Vials A small container, typically cylindrical and made of glass, used especially for holding liquid medicines. Portent A sign or warning that a momentous or calamitous event is likely to happen. John Brown ascending the scaffold preparatory to being hanged. Wikimedia Commons 18th century floorspread embroidery. Wikimedia Commons Burrs. Wikimedia Commons 13

15 Explorations Interesting Facts Before they were stars Cynthia Nixon, of Sex and the City fame, debuted the New York production of The Scarlet Letter on October 11th, Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, was so embarrassed of his family, he changed his name. Hawthorne, who was born in Salem, Massachusetts, knew of his family s background. His great-great-grandfather William Hathorne arrived in Salem in As the Massachusetts Bay delegate, he whipped Quakers and had them dragged through town in order to get them to pack up and leave. His son, John Hathorne, was even worse. As a judge during the Salem witch trials of 1692, he reviewed more than one hundred accused witches, and found them all guilty. Hawthorne hated this legacy and dissociated himself from his family by adding the W to the spelling of his name. Hester and Dimmesdale s forbidden love may actually be based on a true story. In 1846, Hawthorne s sister-in-law, Elizabeth Peabody, published work about a Hungarian linguist, Charles Kraitsir. It was discovered that Kraitsir s wife had seduced several of his students at the University of Virginia. He left his wife and daughter in Philadelphia and fled to Peabody for help. Peabody responded by going to Philadelphia in an attempt to gain guardianship of the daughter. This didn t go over so well with his wife. She followed Peabody back to Boston and confronted her husband. In response, Peabody and Kraitsir tried to get her committed to an asylum. Reporters found out about the story and Kraitsir was mocked for hiding behind Peabody. Hawthorne watched as the scandal surrounding a woman s affairs played out on the public stage, right as he was starting The Scarlet Letter. The Puritans really did make people wear letters for adultery. According to a 1658 law in Plymouth, Massachusetts, people caught in adultery were whipped and forced to wear two capital letters namely A D cut out in cloth and sowed on their uppermost garments on their arm or back. If they ever took the letters off, they would be publicly whipped again. In the town of York (now in Maine) in 1651, near where Hawthorne s family owned property, a woman named Mary Batchellor was whipped 40 times for adultery and forced to wear an A on her clothes. She was married to Stephen Batchellor, a minister over 80 years old. Sound familiar? The novel is one of the first to feature a strong female character Hester Prynne is an honourable character who endures her exile with poise and strength. Although shamed as an adulteress, she becomes a seamstress and raises her daughter despite Governor Bellingham wanting to take Pearl away. As such, Hester is a complex character who embodies what happens when a woman breaks societal rules. Hawthorne was writing The Scarlet Letter directly after the first women s rights convention in New York in He was one of the first American writers to depict women s rights, women s work, women in relation to men, and social change, according to biographer Brenda Wineapple. 14

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17 Conversations The Scarlet Letter Movie Night 1 The Scarlet Letter Starring Demi Moore, Gary Oldman and Robert Duvall. This loosely-based adaption from the book is directed by Roland Joffe Feature Film R 135 min. Director Roland Joffe 2 Easy A A high school student, Olive Penderghast, helps a friend avoid bullying by pretending to have slept with him. As other people seek her out to help raise their social standing, Olive gets a reputation and sees how far it can go Feature Film PG 92 min. Director Will Gluck 3 The New World Starring Colin Farrell as Captain Smith and Q orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas, this romantic story takes us back when Europeans started to settle in the Americas, which signalled a direct threat to its indigenous population Feature Film PG 135 min. Director Terrance Malik 4 The Crucible Starring Daniel-Day Lewis and Winona Ryder based on the play by the same name. The story focuses on a Salem resident s attempts to frame her ex-lover s wife, rumoured-to-be doing witchcraft during the 1692 witchcraft trials. Rumours, gossip and revenge take over the town with tragic consequences Feature Film G 124 min. Director Nicholas Hytner 16

18 Conversations Conversation Starters Why do you think Pearl is portrayed as a grown women instead of a child throughout the play? How would you explain Hester s choice to embroider the letter A for herself? Why do you think Governor Bellingham is ambivalent about commending his sister s witchcraft but willing to judge Hester so readily? Do you agree with the actions Hester takes to refuse to name her lover? What advice would you give her? What would you cite to defend Dimmesdale s reluctance to come forward? Based on what you know, how would you explain Dimmesdale s sickness? Why did Hester choose to give into Chillingworth s demands near the end of the play? If the Dark Man was to come out of the woods what do you think he would look like? Describe in detail his appearance. Dimmesdale states, Children are not replications of their parents while Chillingworth retorts, No. But they are cast from their shadows. Which do you believe is most true? Why or why not? Can you think of a time when one of your friends was attacked publicly for saying or doing something? What did you think about it? What, if any actions did you take? 17

19 Conversations Quotes from the Book No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom. We dream in our waking moments, and walk in our sleep. She could no longer borrow from the future to ease her present grief....if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom... 18

20 Conversations The Symbols of A Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter is considered to be the first symbolic novel in American literature and Phyllis Nagy s adaption provides many of the same structures that made the novel an instant classic. In the book, as well as the play, symbols come in the form of words, images, ideas, beliefs and even characters. Symbols make Abstract concepts more concrete and complicated things plainer and simpler. 1 The Scarlet Letter One of the most striking visual images in the play is the red letter A that Hester is forced to wear. The intention behind the letter is to bring shame and suffering on Hester for committing adultery, a transgression against God and her community. By being forced to wear it at all times, everyone will know what she has done and she will be marked as an outsider for the rest of her days. However, at the beginning of the play, Hester embroiders it herself. She creates it and attaches it to her body. It is as if she is owning her punishment and dictating the terms of how it should look. She chooses to make the most beautiful A possible. Through respect and reverence, she transforms what could be a mark of shame and revulsion into a symbol of pride. Hester chooses to keep the letter on her body at the end, since it has taken on a different meaning. For her, and then for the townspeople, who have grown to admire and respect Hester, the A is a source of pride and admiration. Her quiet power has transformed what could have been a terrible punishment for the rest of her days. Character names The characters of Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth have hidden meanings in their names. First, Hester s last name, Prynne is related to the word prurient which means having or showing excessive interest in sexual matters. By having an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale, Hester succumbs to her passions. As well, her first name sounds similar to Hestia, a Greek goddess of home, family and the state. By helping those in need, Hester brings goodness and strength to the darkness. When she refuses to name and condemn her lover, she is demonstrating courage and resilience. Much like the Hestia, Hester is a woman full of strength, competence and courage. Reverend Dimmesdale plays on the words Dim meaning not bright and Dale meaning an open valley. While outwardly appearing as a man of God, he suffers from cowardice and hypocrisy for failing to admit his sin. He undergoes years of pain with the knowledge that Hester has been removed from society, while he continues to preach about morality and values. His pain goes as deep as a valley. His initials A.D. can also be referring to the word adulterer. Any time Roger Chillingworth comes around, you may get a chill down your spine, which is exactly the intention of the author. Chilling, meaning frightening, is how Roger interacts with Hester. He is unkind, cold and chilly. To the townspeople, he is an aid, a doctor, trying to help Dimmesdale back on his feet, but inside his intention is cruel revenge. The worth that he finds in pursuing his revenge, by harming Reverend Dimmesdale, is his sole focus. Once Reverend Dimmesdale dies, his whole mission ends and he is left bitter and alone. Pearl Sometimes, characters can even be symbols. Pearl is the embodiment of Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale s sin. For that reason, Pearl is not allowed to join the community, be with other children or even attend school. She must be exiled to the fringes with her mother for fear of the promotion of godless values. Governor Billingham even suggests removing Pearl from Hester s care because according to him, the mother s sin will infect the daughter. However, by remaining beyond the proximity of the townspeople, Pearl is given a freedom no one else is allowed to obtain. She is wild and free-spirited and seems to represent a source of liberty and independence. 19

21 The Dark Man There are recurring references to a Dark Man in the play, but we never actually see him. What could the people be referring to? Could it be another person brought to shame by the town and sent into exile much like Hester? Mistress Hibbins suggests Pearl meet with them and tries to take her there. It appears that this mysterious figure is an allusion to all dark and evil purposes - a sort of devil in waiting. The townspeople are always frightened that they could take them if they went into the forest. But what if the Dark Man is the darkness we all have in ourselves? The fear and pain and uncertainty we face every day and battle in our own minds. There is also a suggestion from Mistress Hibbins that since Pearl is such a unique child, her father may be the Dark Man. Since we eventually find out that Reverend Dimmesdale is Pearl s father, there are hints that he has corruption and evil inside of him. Meteor At the end of Act one, a meteor is seen crossing the night sky. Everyone in town sees the unique event, but the interesting thing is how they perceive its meaning differently. While Dimmesdale goes up to the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, he is frightened by the event, which he interprets as a symbol from God indicating he is guilty of a terrible sin. He even tries to convince Master Brackett there was no meteor in the sky, by saying, If you cannot point your finger to something it does not exist as a way to deflect his own guilt. However, the townspeople regard the meteor as something entirely hopeful. Master Brackett says the A was a message from God, welcoming a general that died the night before. When it comes to visual symbols, people tend to see what they want to see in them. Can you think of any other symbols that were present in the play? l7edvt4zne1qaivtro1_500.jpg T.H. Matteson. The Scarlet Letter Oil on canvas. Hester Prynne & Pearl before the stocks. The Scarlet Letter - edition: James R. Osgood & Co, (1878). 1 Lei, Nan. A Brief Study on the Symbolic Meaning of the Main Characters Name in The Scarlet Letter index.php/tpls/article/viewfile/tpls /437. Yangtze University, China

22 Conversations Further Reading FROM THE CALGARY PUBLIC LIBRARY The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter, a graphic novel by Manga Classics, brings Nathaniel Hawthorne s novel to life for young adult readers. This richly illustrated book makes the powerful story even more accessible for those who enjoy this format Fiction Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work By Sarah Bird Wright This book opens a window into the author s life and works and offers insight into the circumstances which drove Hawthorne to write The Scarlet Letter and the very personal events that helped to shape his renowned novel Non-fiction When She Woke, A Novel By Hillary Jordan In this reimagined tale of The Scarlet Letter, the main character Hannah Payne awakes to find her skin colour has been genetically altered to the colour red as a punishment for ending her pregnancy. Abortion is considered a crime in this dystopian society. Publicly shamed, she must find ways to shield herself from the community s stigmatization and discrimination. The House of the Seven Gables By Nathaniel Hawthorne The House of the Seven Gables is another wellknown American classic by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is a psychological drama that deals with crime and retribution, social and moral values, hate and love. The story follows the Pyncheon family and their struggle to overcome a hundredyear-old curse Fiction 2011 Fiction Click on the book covers to check their availability at your local library! 21

23 The Witches: Salem, 1692 By Stacy Schiff The Witches is a historical account based on transcripts and original files of the Salem Witch Trials. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff, the book explores the nine months of panicked hysteria that spread through the superstitious colonial town and led to the many trials and the hanging of ordinary men and women Fiction Death of an Empire: The Rise and Murderous Fall of Salem, America s Richest City By Robert Booth Death of an Empire is a mixture of history and historical true crime and provides a fascinating glimpse into the rise and fall of Salem, the home town of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Known for the witch trials of 1692, Salem grew to be a wealthy city and an important port that connected America to the outside world. A sensational murder trial played a large role in the diminishment of this famous city Fiction American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work By Susan Cheever Susan Cheever reveals five literary lives of the mid-19th Century. Remarkably concentrated in Concord, Massachusetts, the authors of The Scarlet Letter, Little Women, Moby Dick and other classic titles, formed a close community that challenged the ideas of the time. This book explores the relationships between the writers and the influences that shaped their works Non-fiction 22

24 Conversations Educational Exercises Mock Trial (60 MINUTES) Preparation Select a character from the play, The Scarlet Letter, or if you prefer, volunteer one of your students for a contemporary setting. Provide background regarding the issue or character that will be the main focus of the trial: Ex: Will Dimmesdale be accused of letting Hester take the fall? Will you accuse Mistress Hibbins of Witchcraft? Or if you prefer and if you class is mature enough, pick one student and accuse them of say, stealing a book (even if this isn t case). Give your students the ability to prepare a defence, a prosecution and learn how to make and defend arguments. Explore several different roles from a witness, jury members, the accused, lawyers who prosecute or defend the accused. Teacher should be the judge. This way you have control of the pacing, topics and veto power if it gets off track. Review some relevant vocabulary and explore how a trial runs (see page 24) Set-up: Divide the classroom in their respective roles. Below is a diagram that will help you set up the classroom. Judge Review the steps in the trial 1. The Prosecutor s Statement 2. The Defendant s Statement 3. The Prosecutor Calls Witnesses (and defendants have an opportunity to cross-examine) 4. The Defense Calls Witnesses (and prosecution has an opportunity to cross examine) 5. The Prosecutor s Closing Statement 6. The Defendant s Closing Statement 7. Deliberation of the Jury 8. The Verdict Audience Section Audience Section Lesson: Assign your student with their roles. Introduce the trial. Follow an agreed-upon format for a trial in which each side shares their case. Witnesses offer testimony and cross-examination if desired. 23