PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES HOW DOES A PLAYWRIGHT WRITE A MONOLOGUE FROM A CHARACTER’S POINT-OF-VIEW? (Common Core Code: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.7)


Before watching Time and the Conways, students analyze a photograph to understand the historical and social context of the play.


DISCUSS


Distribute copies of this image HERE of soldiers returning home at the conclusion of WWI. What is happening in the photo? When is it happening, and how do you know? What can we tell about the world of these people based on their clothing?


WRITE


Ask students to choose one person in the photo and, working alone, write a monologue from the point of view of that character. You may want to put students in groups and have each member of a group choose a different person in the image. Questions to consider: How does the character feel about what’s happening? How long have they been waiting for this reunion, and what did they do while they were apart from their loved one? What kind of language do they use?


PERFORM REFLECT


Set up a stage area and re-create the photo as a tableau. Ask students to step into the position of the person for whom they wrote the monologue. Have students read their monologues one at a time.


How did the clothing influence what you wrote? What might happen later, when these people go home?


HOW DID YOUNG PEOPLE ENTERTAIN THEMSELVES BEFORE MODERN TECHNOLOGY? (Common Core Code: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.B)


Time and the Conways, set in 1919, begins with a twenty-first birthday party. In this activity, students create their own parlor games.


DISCUSS


As a group, generate a list of activities students might engage in at a birthday party. Ask students to determine which of the activities would not have been possible in 1919, and cross them off the list. Introduce the idea of parlor games, group games that could be played indoors at parties and required only simple objects.


CREATE PLAY REFLECT


Ask students to work in small groups to design their own parlor game. It can be based on a game they know or entirely new. Students should prepare to lead the class in the game.


Hold a 1919 party. Have each group lead the class in playing their parlor game.


How was the way you interacted in the 1919 party different from how you interact at a modern party? What did you like about it? What was hard about it?


20 ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY


FOR EDUCATORS


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