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1.
PROGRAM SUMMARY
PATHWAYS is a one woman
show written by Shirlene Holmes, Professor of Communications
and Theatre at Georgia State University, and performed
by well know Atlanta actor/director Brenda Porter.
In fast moving and always engaging scenes, Ms. Porter
becomes a series of feisty African American women
who have left their marks on history. They include
Stagecoach Mary, Ida B. Wells, Harriet Tubman, Bessie
Coleman and Barbara Jordan. They are sometimes funny,
always daring and they offer inspiration to young
women and men of today.
2. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
The specific objective of the performance of the
play, PATHWAYS, is to inform students about
some of the most engaging, dynamic and successful
African American women in our history, and to do
so through the emotionally engaging and accessible
medium of theatre. Through the theatre process,
audience members have the opportunity to identify
with the women presented, and to vicariously live
through some of their experiences. The end result
is that students become energized and stimulated
to find and follow their own paths of achievement.
3. VOCABULARY WORDS
| Culture |
Discrimination |
| Cultural Diversity |
Harassment |
| Multiculturalism |
Prejudice |
| Dominant Culture |
Abolitionists |
| Subordinate Culture |
Pioneers |
| Integrated |
Segregated |
| Feminism |
|
4. CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
On the high school and middle school level, this
performance, PATHWAYS, moves students toward
the goal of most Social Studies curricula, that
of helping students become participating citizens
of a democratic society. PATHWAYS engenders
student interest in their society, helps develop
a respect for the dignity and worth of all persons
and helps students to achieve a depth of understanding
of democratic ideals. PATHWAYS increases
student knowledge of the world, and promotes greater
awareness of its diverse ethnic and cultural elements.
It is particularly relevant to the disciplines of
Sociology, History, Political Science and Government.
In the performance, the topics of subcultures, social
issues, prejudice and discrimination are addressed.
5. PRE & POST ACTIVITIES
Possible pre-workshop activities:
| 1. |
Teacher could generate either
written assignments or discussion based on
the vocabulary words supplied here. |
| 2. |
Teacher could lead a discussion on the topic
of achievement in the face of
obstacles, enquiring of students about times
in their lives when the odds against
them achieving their goals seem overwhelming. |
| 3. |
Teacher could have students identify pervasive
societal forces that work
against their attainment of their goals (sexism,
racism, etc.), and have them give
examples. |
| 4. |
Teacher could frame questions to students
about how to tell whether or not it is
sexism/racism/etc. holding them back, or something
else (actual lack of
qualifications for the job, for instance). |
| 5. |
Teacher could lead a discussion on how this
show might relate to topics
being studied. |
Possible post-workshop activities:
| 1. |
The teacher could select other
historical figures from disenfranchised groups
and read excerpts from literature or history
texts to students and discuss. |
| 2. |
Teacher could assign students selections
from literature or history to present. |
| 3. |
Students themselves can look for suitable
selections in literature or in history. |
| 4. |
Students, in small groups, can generate
scenes about historical figures achieving
in the face of hardship, and act out the scenes. |
| 5. |
Students, in groups of four, can discuss
situations from their own lives that
involved achievement in the face of hardship.
They can then choose one situation and act
it out for the other students, perhaps with
several alternate endings. |
| 6. |
Students can write letters to Atlanta Street
Theatre or e-mail them about what they liked
and/or disliked about the performance, about
anything they learned from the performance
or with suggestions they have to make the
show even better. |
Addresses are:
Pathways Productions
c/o 2279 Newnan St.
East Point, GA 30344
bporterporter@yahoo.com
6. OVERVIEW OF ART FORM
Historically, theatre has been a way to engage,
inform, and sometimes change people in ways that
lecture can not. Through a process described by
Aristotle centuries ago, audience members enter
into a special realm when they enter theatre. In
the successful theatre experience, audience members
identify with one or more of the characters on stage.
They enter the skin of the character and travel
along with the character over the course of the
play. In that state of identification, they vicariously
experience and live through whatever the character
lives through. If the theatre piece is successful,
by the end of the show, audience members are transformed
in whatever way the character is transformed. Ideally,
the audience learns whatever the character has learned,
and has done so in an emotionally saturated way
that makes learning indelible and transformative.
Thereafter, because of the theatre experience, audience
members will see life and life situations a little
differently. Hopefully, audience members for PATHWAYS
will be inspired by the characters in the play to
find their own paths and to move forward on those
paths with courage and strength.
7. ABOUT BRENDA PORTER
Brenda Porter has a B.F.A. in theatre from the University
of Georgia and has been involved with theatre for
the past 20 years as an actor, director and instructor.
Please contact artist for complete resumes.
8. ACTING RESOURCES
Henig, Ruth Beall. Creative drama for the classroom
teacher (1993). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill,
Prentice-Hall. This textbook provides a step by
step guide to anyone new to the process of improvisation
who wants to incorporate it into their activities
with others.
Henig, Ruth Beall. (1992). Improvisation with
favorite tales. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
This book deals with classical tales. These tales
embody timeless interactions and provide rich opportunity
for translation into modern versions with modern
characters, settings and situations.
Johnson, Liz and O’Neill, Cecily,eds. (1984)
Dorothy Heathcote: collected writings on
education and drama. London: Hutchinson. This
collection writings of the famous Scottish proponent
of drama as a learning medium, includes descriptions
of the work.
McCaslin, Nellie. Creative drama in the classroom.
Latest edition. New York: Longman. This text is
another that guides the beginning director through
the steps toward successful improvisational work.
McCaslin was long associated with the New York University
School of Performance.
Spolin, Viola. Improvisation for the theater.
(1977). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
This is an indispensable handbook for anyone working
in the field. Spolin’s influence extends back
to the WPS Recreational Project and forward to the
work of her son, Paul Sills, who founded the first
improvisational theater in this country. Included
is a compendium of theater exercises, which are
conveniently listed separately and alphabetically
in the introduction.
Spolin, Viola. Theater games for the classroom.
(1986). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
This book is a treasure of theater games and exercises,
all organized in
an accessible way. Chapter 2 is devoted to warm-ups.
Wagner, Betty Jane. Dorothy Heathcote: Drama
as a learning medium. (1983). London: Hutchinson.
Here, Wagner describes Heathcote at work. Embodied
in the descriptions are many ideas as to how to
go about working with improvisation.
Wolf, Allan. Something is going to happen.
(1990). Iambic Publications. This “how to”
book is based on previously published poems. It
has great value for teachers who want to direct
students in the performance of their own poetry.
* Original study guide by Atlanta Street Theatre
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the Study Guide