Post-Show Activities POST-SHOW ACTIVITY #1: How do we respond to the conflicts of the play?
Imagine you are a good friend of one of the characters in Look Back in Anger and they write you a letter asking for advice: Alison wants advice on what to do after she’s returned to the apartment and found Helena and Jimmy together Helena wants advice on what to do when she arrives at the apartment and fi nds Alison in an unhappy marriage Jimmy wants advice on how to deal with the anger and frustration he feels towards society
Write: Activate: Reflect:
Write a letter back to your friend. What should your friend do and why? What did you observe in the play that leads you to give that advice?
Using the advice you’ve given in your letter, work with a partner to improvise a scene in which you give your friend advice.
If you are playing a character from Look Back in Anger, listen to your friend’s arguments and try to offer counter- arguments. Can you change your partner’s mind?
Re-read the letter you wrote to your friend. Do you still agree with the advice you gave? Why or why not?
POST-SHOW ACTIVITY #2: How does a playwright write about current events?
In Look Back in Anger, Jimmy Porter rages at the middle class way of life and at his own limited economic opportunities. Jimmy lived in a time of great cultural shift, when the rigid class system was ending and England was no longer a world superpower.
Read: Write: Activate:
Read a few news articles from a local or national newspaper. What economic and social problems are people struggling with now? What has shifted in American culture in the past few years?
Choose one person quoted in the newspaper and write a monologue from his or her point of view, as if the person is speaking to a close friend or family member. What economic or social issues are they angry or frustrated about? What has changed—or not changed—in their life as a result? How do these events affect this person directly?
Exchange monologues with a partner and prepare a staged reading of the monologue. What do you know about the character from the monologue? How does this character feel about what’s happening in the world? How do their feelings infl uence how they speak and move?
Share monologue readings. Reflect:
What issues were repeated in monologues? Do you share those concerns? How did the characters express their feelings through their voices and bodies?
UPSTAGE LOOK BACK IN ANGER
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