2017 2018

PLAY GUIDE

Chapter Two Play Guide by Katherine Monberg, with contributions from ATC Learning & Education staff.

SUPPORT FOR ATC’S LEARNING & EDUCATION PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN PROVIDED

APS

Arizona Commission on the Arts

Bank of America Foundation

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

City of Glendale

Community Foundation for Southern Arizona

Cox Charities

Downtown Tucson Partnership

Enterprise Holdings Foundation

Ford Motor Company Fund

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation

JPMorgan Chase

John and Helen Murphy Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture

PICOR Charitable Foundation

Rosemont Copper

Stonewall Foundation

Target

The Boeing Company

The Donald Pitt Family Foundation

The Johnson Family Foundation, Inc.

The Lovell Foundation

The Marshall Foundation

The Maurice and Meta Gross Foundation

The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation

The Stocker Foundation

The WIlliam L. and Ruth T. Pendleton Memorial Fund

Tucson Medical Center

Tucson Pima Arts Council

Wells Fargo

About ATC …………………………………………………………………………………..…

Introduction to the Play ………………………………………………………………………...

Meet the Playwright ……………………………..……………………………………………..

Meet the Director: Interview with Marsha Mason ………………………………………………….

Meet the Characters ……………………………………………….……………………..……

Evolution of a Genre: Romantic Comedy………………………………………………………….

The History of “Dating” …………….…………………..…………………….…………………

Glossary ………………………………………………………………………………………

Discussion Questions and Activities ……………………………………………………………..

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Under new leadership, and now celebrating its 51st season, Arizona Theatre Company boasts the largest subscriber base of

any performing arts organization in Arizona, with more than 130,000 people each year attending performances at the

historic Temple of Music and Art in Tucson, and the elegant Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix. Each season of

carefully selected productions reflects the rich variety of world drama – from classic to contemporary plays, from musicals

to new works – as audiences enjoy a rich emotional experience that can only be captured through the power of live theatre.

Touching lives through the power of theatre, ATC is the preeminent professional theatre in the state of Arizona. Under the

direction of Artistic Director David Ivers in partnership with Managing Director Billy Russo, ATC operates in two cities –

unlike any other League of Resident Theatres (LORT) company in the country.

To inspire, engage and entertain - one moment, one production and one audience at a time.

ABOUT ATC

ATC shares the passion of the theatre through a wide array of outreach programs, educational opportunities, access

initiatives, and community events. Through the schools and summer programs, ATC focuses on teaching Arizona’s youth

about literacy, cultural development, performing arts, specialty techniques used onstage, and opens their minds to the

creative power of dramatic literature. With approximately 450 Learning & Education activities annually, ATC reaches far

beyond the metropolitan areas of Tucson and Phoenix, enriching the theatre learning experience for current and future

audiences.

The Temple of Music and Art, the home of ATC shows in downtown

Tucson.

The Herberger Theater Center, ATC’s performance venue in downtown

Phoenix.

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Mr. Ivers and Mr. Russo continue to work on strategic planning, creative thinking, and adventurous programming all aimed

at serving the current mission:

INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

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Chapter Two

By Neil Simon

Directed by Marsha Mason

Love always deserves another chapter. Neil Simon is widely regarded as one of

the most successful and performed playwrights in the world. Chapter Two is

his semi-autobiographical comedy about recently widowed writer George

Schneider, who is introduced by his press agent brother to soap opera actress

Jennie Malone. Both are trying to come to terms with starting from scratch, and

through their friends – who are determined to see the two happy again – the

pair meet and begin a whirlwind romance. The play was written as a tribute to

Marsha Mason, Mr. Simon’s second wife, who also received an Academy Award

nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for playing the lead role in the film.

Ms. Mason, who wowed Arizona audiences with her direction of last season’s

An Act of God, returns to ATC to direct this comedy filled with truth and

wisdom.

Show art by Esser Design.

Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter, is generally considered to be

one of the greatest writers that American comedy has ever seen. Simon was

born in July, 1927 to Jewish parents in The Bronx, New York. His father, Irving

Simon, earned his living as a garment salesman while his mother, Mamie,

worked mostly as a homemaker. Simon grew up in the midst of the Great

Depression, financial hardships and his parents’ marital strife providing an

unstable living environment: his father would often leave the family for months

at a time. In his youth Simon often sought out movie theatres as places of

refuge, which sparked his inspiration to venture into writing comedy. After

high school, Simon joined the Army Air Force Reserve and was sent to Colorado,

where he was assigned to Lowry Air Force Base and attended the University of

Denver in 1945. During his years in the Reserve he began his writing career as Playwright Neil Simon.

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a sports editor; after his discharge he worked in the mailroom at the Warner Brothers offices in Manhattan before teaming up

with his brother, Danny, as writers for radio and television scripts. Those first scripts led to bigger and better jobs, including

writing for The Phil Rivers Show and Sid Ceasar’s Your Show of Shows in the 1950s.

In the late 1950s, Simon began writing his own plays, the first of which was titled Come Blow Your Horn (1961) and ran on

Broadway for 678 performances. He followed his initial success with two more successful plays: Barefoot in the Park (1963)

and The Odd Couple (1965). The Odd Couple won Simon his first Tony Award, and catapulted him to immediate prominence

as one of the most popular Broadway writers of his time. Throughout his career he wrote more than 30 plays and over 20

screenplays, several of which were adapted for the screen from his own stage plays. His comedy came to encompass many

styles of humor including romantic comedy, dramatic comedy, and farce, and in 1983 he became the only living playwright to

have a Broadway theatre named after him.

Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers was awarded the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and his critical reception began to shift: he was

no longer regarded as simply a writer of comedy, but as a writer of great depth as well. The primary themes of his work

center around “the silent majority” and their experiences, and focus on characters that are ordinary and imperfect, but good

at heart. The key component of Simon’s works is his brilliant humor, both verbal and situational, that weaves a story of

depth together with comedic appeal and laughter.

Neil Simon has received more Tony Award nominations than any other writer in history, winning three of seventeen

nominations: Best Author for The Odd Couple in 1965, Best Play for Biloxi Blues in 1985 and Lost in Yonkers in 1991, as

well as a special Tony Award for contribution to theatre in 1975.

Street front and indoor views of Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre.

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Plays by Neil Simon:

• Come Blow Your Horn (1961)

• Little Me (1962) • Barefoot in the Park

(1963) • The Odd Couple (1965) • Sweet Charity (1966) • The Star-Spangled Girl

(1966) • Plaza Suite (1968) • Promises, Promises

(1968) • The Last of the Red Hot

Lovers (1969) • The Gingerbread Lady

(1970) • The Prisoner of Second

Avenue (1971)

• The Sunshine Boys (1972)

• The Good Doctor (1973)

• God's Favorite (1974) • California Suite (1976) • Chapter Two (1977) • They're Playing Our

Song (1979) • I Ought to Be in

Pictures (1980) • Fools (1981) • Brighton Beach

Memoirs (1983) • Biloxi Blues (1985) • The Female Odd

Couple (1986) • Broadway Bound

(1986)

• Rumors (1988) • Lost in Yonkers (1991) • Jake's Women (1992) • The Goodbye Girl (1993) • Laughter on the 23rd Floor

(1993) • London Suite (1995) • Proposals (1997) • The Dinner Party (2000) • 45 Seconds from Broadway

(2001) • Rose's Dilemma (2003) • Oscar and Felix: A New Look

at the Odd Couple (2004)

MEET THE DIRECTOR: INTERVIEW WITH MARSHA MASON

Director Marsha Mason.

Director Marsha Mason answered some questions about Chapter Two and her

return to ATC, after directing An Act of God from ATC’s 50th Anniversary Season

last year.

Q: What drew you to theatre?

A: It’s hard to say…the first memory I have is as a freshman in high school,

where I played a Jack-in-the-Box at a school production. When I popped out, the

first few rows of little kids went OHHHHHH! and I was hooked. I remember

playing and imagining myself as a nun or some kind of made-up character

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when I was a little girl. What has kept me entranced and intrigued about theatre is the magical relationship that the actor

has with their fellow actors and the audience. I love the adventure of finding myself in another character altogether and just

being that character for the length of time of the play. Another big part of why I do it is to help people experience their

emotions and inner thoughts.

Q: What brought you back to ATC?

A: I had a wonderful experience directing An Act of God last year. David Ira Goldstein and his entire staff were – and are –

so supportive, positive, and helpful. The creative staff of the theatre was wonderful to work with, and it is so much fun to

have the opportunity to work with everyone again. David Ivers has also been terrific, and I look forward to meeting him.

Q: Chapter Two has been a big part of your life: It’s based in part on your relationship with Neil Simon, you starred in the film, and now you’re directing it for the stage. What’s it like to play a fictionalized version of yourself? What’s it like to direct a show that’s (a) based on your life and (b) that you’ve acted in (albeit, a film version)?

A: This production is the second time I have directed Chapter Two. I approach the work just like I do any other production. I

don’t have an attachment to it just because it’s based on a part of my life that is written from the man’s perspective. Jennie

is another character to me, and I approached playing her the same as all my work. My advantage was that I knew her

motivations very well!

Q: How does your past as an actor influence your process as a director?

A: Having been an actor for quite some time now, I know pretty well how most actors feel about directors. They don’t always

work or relate the same way with a director, and I know that. I also have worked with a lot of playwrights and done a lot of

plays, so finding the arc of a story and the character’s place in that arc is also familiar to me. Karl Malden once said in an

interview about directing, “I thought I could direct, but when I did I realized I wanted the actors to act their roles the way I

would do them, and that’s not good directing!” I never forgot that, and I follow the rule “do unto others.” My job as the

director is to focus the work so that the arc of the story is clear and the audience believes what they are seeing and hearing

while I make sure the actor is supported and cared for so that they can realize their potential in the role.

Q: What does the future hold?

A: I am scheduled to shoot another episode of The Middle at ABC in late September. I just finished playing Arlene in several

episodes of Grace and Frankie for Netflix, and I am working on two new plays with a playwright and hopefully directing them

next year!

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The union between comedy can romance can trace its roots back to the turn of the 17th century to the comedies of William

Shakespeare, whose plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1600) and Much Ado About Nothing (1600) provided a basic

formula that we still recognize in the romantic comedies of the contemporary age: two people meet, conflict occurs, and

the couple are reunited to the sound of metaphorical (or sometimes real) wedding bells.

MEET THE CHARACTERS

Actor David Mason, who plays

Geo rge Schne ide r i n ATC ’s

production of Chapter Two.

Actor Ben Huber, who plays Lou

Schneider in ATC’s production of

Chapter Two.

Actor Blair Baker, who plays Jennie

Malone in ATC’s production of

Chapter Two.

Actor Diana Pappas, who plays Faye

Medwick in ATC’s production of

Chapter Two.

George Schneider: A writer, recently widowed after a twelve-year marriage to Barbara.

Leo Schneider: George’s younger brother, a publicist. He is married to Marilynn and has two children.

Jennie Malone: An actress, recently divorced after a six-year marriage to Gus.

Faye Medwick: Jennie’s friend, married for eight years.

EVOLUTION OF A GENRE: ROMANTIC COMEDY

This basic premise from literature was first translated to the silver screen with the advent of film in the 1920s, in silent

films such as Sherlock Jr. (1924) and Girl Shy (1924). These films have been cited as some of the first romantic comedies

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The 1950s first introduced the sex comedy, which often highlighted professional rivals that grew into love interests, and

explored differences in gender behaviors and the expectations of men and women. This subgenre persisted into the early

1970s and paralleled sociological research of the day, especially the sexuality research by Alfred Kinsey that introduced the

concept of a female sex drive to the general public. Playboy magazine also emerged in the early 1950s, further

commercializing the concept of sexuality, and the film industry’s traditionally strict code of censorship was replaced with the

modern rating system, providing further momentum to the increasingly frank conversations of sexuality allowed in film.

The sexual revolution of the 1960s sparked the radical romantic comedies of the 1970s that introduced a new sense of

cynicism to the genre, which frequently contemplated the existence of true love, or the conspicuous lack thereof. This period

is important to the development of the genre because it first introduced inverted expectations, sometimes skipping the

“happily ever after” of the traditional romantic comedy and replacing it with more pragmatic appreciation that love does not

solve all of life’s problems.

Jobyna Ralston and Harold Lloyd in Girl Shy (1924).

to make their way to film, though the cleverness and wit of the

stories was somewhat difficult to capture in the title cards of

silent films. In the late 1920s, the introduction of “talkies” allowed

the expansion of romantic comedy by allowing the more refined

capture of the romantic tension and hilarity typical of the genre.

An early form of film romantic comedy was known as the “comedy

of manners,” which typically included a budding romance between

a wealthy and a not-so-wealthy person, a common storyline that

still appears in more modern examples of the genre. The 1930s

brought with it a new subgenre known as the screwball comedy with such films as Bringing Up Baby (1938) starring

Katharine Hepburn. This subgenre takes its name from the sport of baseball in which pitchers threw “screwballs,” or

pitches that would travel in unexpected directions to attempt to surprise and disorient the batters on the opposing team.

Typical screwball comedies also had recurring themes, particularly the inclusion of a female protagonist who drove the

dramatic action.

Finally, the neotraditional romantic comedy emerged in opposition to the cynicism of the radical romantic comedy, focusing

instead on themes of compatibility and love and deemphasizing sex and sexuality. All of these romantic comedy subgenres

play with common rom com themes, including relationships emerging from extreme or unusual circumstances, the

interrogation or reversal of traditional gender roles, and the pull of traditional storytelling conventions that are either

celebrated or inverted to heighten the wit, humor, and emotive character of the story.

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A common theme that runs through literature, film, and even real conversations is the elusive magic of the “first meeting,”

and the unexpectedly impactful set of circumstances that all align to facilitate the first spark of romance. The means of

meeting a prospective romantic partner in the contemporary world are many and varied, with an ever increasing number of

digital applications to help the process along – would you prefer a casual “just” lunch, a simple swipe of a cell phone

screen, a detailed OK Cupid profile, or a social event organized specifically for singles?

THE HISTORY OF “DATING”

However, while the “online” part of online dating may be a novel development, the arrangement of introductions with an eye

toward romance is hardly a new phenomenon: dating agencies can be traced back as far as the 16th century, when parish

vicars would draw up lists of compatible marriage candidates to match couples of similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

Stereotypical image of a date in the 1950s.

One of the first secular “dating” agencies opened in London in 1825,

though its patronage primarily consisted of men who had failed to

find a partner in their traditional social circles and sought a more

arranged introduction as something of a “last resort.” The word

“date” also didn’t enter common vernacular until the 1890s, when it

first appeared in a newspaper column in reference to the writer’s

girlfriend, whose “dates” on the calendar were being filled by other

potential suitors.

The concept of “dating,” which became increasingly popular in the 1900s, first introduced privacy to the process of

courtship, and marks the first time that interested romantic partners were no longer socially expected to have a chaperone.

Being alone with one another before marriage was generally regarded as inappropriate and promiscuous prior to the 20th

century.

The first incarnation of what we would recognize as a modern dating agency came about after World War II, during the

widespread economic prosperity of the post-war years that introduced a new era of leisure time and amusement. Dating

Clubs began to operate as social businesses, and matched profiles of candidates that were likely to get along based on

submitted photographs and limited personal information. As dating grew into a commercial business, the tradition of buying

things for a prospective partner was introduced, and still remains part of dating culture in the present day.

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The 20th century brought personal ads into mainstream media, though they were traditionally used in a non-romantic context

by people seeking friends or pen pals. It wasn’t until the 1960s that personal ads seeking romantic partners became more

socially acceptable, and grew into a favorite way to meet a potential partner, especially someone that might not be

encountered in one’s usual social circle.

Today, online dating is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, fueled by the recent proliferation of social

networking and the cell phone revolution of recent decades. It’s easier than ever to arrange meetings and introductions via

the plethora of dating apps available. While some regret the loss of that unexpected spark of romance from the chance

social encounters of previous eras, “dating” may never have been quite as serendipitous as tropes and traditions of the rom

com genre may suggest!

21 Club: An upscale restaurant in Manhattan that serves American

cuisine, a former prohibition-era speakeasy that is popular with elite

clientele and celebrities.

Alimony: Court-ordered provision for a spouse after a separation or

divorce.

Andrea Doria: The SS Andrea Doria was an Italian Line ocean liner made

famous in 1956 when she sank in one of the most infamous maritime

disasters of the 20th century after colliding with the SS Stockholm of the

Swedish American Line, killing 46 people.

Antagonism: Active hostility or oppression.

Art Deco: The predominant architectural and decorative style of the

1920s and 1930s, characterized by bold and precise geometric shapes

with bold delineations and strong colors.

As the World Turns: An American soap opera that aired on CBS for 54

years, from 1956 until 2010, created by Irna Phillips as the sister show to

Guiding Light.

GLOSSARY

Example of art deco architecture, the

Chrysler Building in New York City.

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Bambi: A 1942 Disney animated film based on a deer named Bambi. The

film received three Academy Award nominations for Best Sound, Best

Song, and Original Music Score.

Barbados: A country occupying the easternmost island of the West

Indies.

BP: A British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in

London, formerly known as British Petroleum, and one of the world’s

seven oil and gas “supermajors.” Today, BP is largely remembered for

direct involvement in several major environmental and safety incidents,

including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Catch-22: Satirical novel by American author Joseph Heller, set in World

War II, that follows the life of Captain John Yossarian of the U.S. Army Air

Forces, and which frequently invokes the paradoxical lose-lose situation

that the novel’s title has come to represent in the English language.

Clandestine: Kept secret or done secretively, often due to illicit actions or

circumstances.

Dallas Cowboys: Professional American football team of the National

Football League based in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in Texas.

Dickens: English writer and social critic Charles Dickens, generally

regarded as one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era and the

creator of some of the world’s best-known fictional characters.

Dismayed: To feel consternation and distress.

Writer and social critic, Charles Dickens.

American author, Joseph Heller.

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Doctor Zhivago: Originally a novel written by Boris Pasternak in 1957

and later made into a film of the same name in 1965, the story is named

after its protagonist, a physician and poet, and takes place between the

Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Russian Civil War that began in

1917.

Ecstasy: An overwhelming feeling of joyful excitement or extreme

happiness.

Equilibrium: A state of physical balance or a calm state of mind.

Exodus: A mass departure of people.

Extricate: To free someone or something from a difficulty or a constraint.

Field & Stream: A magazine founded in 1895 and which highlights fishing,

hunting, and other outdoor activities popular in the United States.

Flat: An apartment, usually on one floor and part of a larger building.

Giants: Professional American football team of the National Football

League, based in the New York metropolitan area.

Hindenburg: A German passenger airship best known for catching fire

and being destroyed during an attempt to dock at Naval Air Station

Lakehurst in New Jersey on May 6, 1937. There were 35 fatalities from

among the 97 people on board, and one ground worker was also killed.

The incident destroyed public confidence in airships, and marks the

abrupt end of the airship era.

Hors d’oeuvre: A small savory dish, typically served as an appetizer at

the beginning of a meal.

Ice Station Zebra: A 1968 suspense and espionage film from the Cold

War era, directed by John Sturges and starring Rock Hudson, Patrick

McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine, and Jim Brown.

Hors d’oeuvres.

The Hindenburg disaster.

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Inept: Having or displaying no skill, or the state of being clumsy.

Jane Eyre: A bildungsroman novel by English writer Charlotte Bronte,

published in 1847, and following the experiences of Jane Eyre as she comes of

age and falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester.

Jet lag: Extreme physical tiredness felt by a person after a long flight

across several time zones.

Knicks: Reference to the New York Knicks, an American professional

basketball team based in New York City which competes in the National

Basketball Association (NBA).

Maiden name: The last name that a married woman used from birth prior

to legally changing her surname upon her marriage.

Margaret Mead: American cultural anthropologist who was frequently

featured in the mass media during the 1960s and 1970s, and who

popularized the insights of anthropology in modern American and

western culture.

Mets: The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team

based in the borough of Queens in New York City and who compete in the

National League of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Mount Sinai: Reference to Mount Sinai Hospital, located in Manhattan,

New York City.

Paramount: Paramount Pictures is an American film studio based in

Hollywood, California, the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world

and the second oldest in the United States.

Pâté: A paste or spread made of pureed or finely chopped liver, meat,

fish, or game and usually served as an hors d’oeuvre.

Pâté.

American cultural anthropologist, Margaret Mead.

Logo of the New York Knicks of the NBA.

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Pearl Harbor: United States naval base in Hawaii, largely known for

being the location of a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese

Navy Air Service against the United States on the morning of December 7,

1941, during World War II.

Porter: A person employed to carry luggage, especially at a railway

station, airport, or hotel.

Posterity: All future generations of people.

Pumpernickel: A type of dark, dense German bread made from coarsely

ground whole-grain rye.

Repartee: A conversation or speech characterized by witty comment sand

quick replies or quips.

Speed dating: An organized social activity in which people seeking

romantic relationships have a series of short, timed conversations with

potential partners to determine whether there is mutual interest.

Star Wars: An American space opera epic franchise, centered on the film

series created by George Lucas.

Syntax: The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed

sentences in a particular language.

The African Queen: A 1951 British-American adventure film adapted

from the 1935 novel by C.S. Forester.

The bends: Slang term for decompression sickness, a condition arising

from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body

when a diver rises too quickly to the surface.

Tom Stoppard: Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter, knighted

in 1997, who has written prolifically for film, TV, radio, and the stage.

Twain: Mark Twain was the pen name for Samuel Clemens, an American

writer, humorist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and publisher.

Writer and humorist, Mark Twain.

Playwright and screenwriter, Tom Stoppard.

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Valium: A benzodiazepine medication that typically produces a calming

effect, and is used to treat conditions including anxiety, seizures, and

alcohol withdrawal.

Via Veneto: One of the most famous, elegant, and expensive streets in

Rome, Italy.

Watergate: Reference to the Watergate scandal, a major political

scandal that occurred when President Richard Nixon’s administration

attempted to cover up their involvement in a break in at the Democratic

National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1972.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS & ACTIVITIES

Discussion Questions

1. The two main characters are dealing with loss. What are some different ways people grieve a loss in their life?

2. How do you cope with change or loss in your personal life?

3. Have you ever used art as a creative outlet to deal with difficulty in your life or to process things? If yes, how so?

4. The play originally takes place in the 1970s. How did this production portray dating practices in modern times?

5. How has dating and romantic comedy changed over the years?

6. Which character did you connect with the most and why?

7. How do the characters change throughout the play? What characteristics indicate these changes?

8. Chapter Two is about second chances. Do you think Jennie gave George too many chances? Why or why not?

9. Neil Simon used his own life for inspiration when writing this play. Who are some other authors and artists who have

done this?

President Richard Nixon, central figure in

the Watergate scandal.

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Activities

1. Neil Simon based Chapter Two off of his real life experiences. Pick a moment in your life that you could create a short

play about. First, jot down the images you associate with that memory. In groups or as a class, share these images and

create tableaus or frozen pictures to recreate these images. Use this to explore how to stage your personal stories.

2. Watch the film version of Chapter Two and discuss the differences in the play and the movie, then come up with your

own idea for a scene. Write that scene as a moment in a play, then rewrite it as a moment in a movie. Share your scenes

and talk about how storytelling changes depending on the medium.

3. Have your students discuss the depiction of dating, love and relationships in the play Chapter Two (written in 1977)

and compare that with the dating culture and stories we see today. Noticing what is the same and what has changed, have

your students write their own adaptation of the play from their perspective on relationships in 2017.

4. Every director interprets a script differently and brings new staging ideas to the play. Find a copy of the script for

Chapter Two at a local library or order it online. Split your students into groups and distribute different scenes from the

play. Ask your students to be the director of this scene and stage it however they want. Perform these scenes for each other.

Talk about how the staging choices effect the story.