man of la mancha curriculum - serenbe · pdf filea musical based on cervantes’s . don...

EDUCATION GUIDEBest suited for Students

Grades 6-12

A musical based on Cervantes’s Don QuixoteWritten by: Dale Wasserman | Music by: Joe Darion | Lyrics by: Mitch Leigh

A teacher guide for schools & homeschool groups preparing to see Serenbe Playhouse’s production of Man of La Mancha

Photo by: BreeAnne Clowdus

2 Serenbe Playhouse Academy

Georgia Performance

StandardsThis study guide addresses Georgia Department of Education Performance Standards for the following areas of academic study: Social Studies, English and Language Arts, Fine Arts and Foreign Language.

SSSocC3: Students will analyze social structure and interaction within society.

SSSocSC4: Students will analyze the function of social institutions as agents of social control across differing societies and times.

SSWG2: The student will explain the cultural aspects of geography.

SSWG6: The student will describe the interac-tion of physical and human systems that have shaped contemporary Europe.

SSWH9: The student will analyze change and continuity in the Renaissance and Reformation.

SSWH13: The student will examine the intel-lectual, political, social, and economic factors that changed the world view of Europeans.

ELACC9-10RL6: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, draw-ing on a wide reading of world literature

ELACC9-10RI6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

ELACC9-10RL9: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a

theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).

ELACC11-12RI4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and techni-cal meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

TAHSAI.11: Engaging actively and appropri-ately as an audience member in theatre or other media experiences.

TAHSAII.1: Analyzing and constructing mean-ing from theatrical experiences, dramatic litera-ture, and electronic media

MHSBC.9: Understanding music in relation to history and culture

MHSBC.8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts

MHSBC.7: Evaluating music and music perfor-mances

D5CO.1: Demonstrates and understands dance in various cultures and historical periods

MLI.CU1: The students develop an awareness of perspectives, practices, and products of the cultures where the target language is spoken.

3Man of La Mancha - Education Guide

Important historical events around Man of La Mancha

Timeline

1547

1550

1558

1564

1570

1571

1575

1580

1584

1588

1595

1597

1600

1602

1603

1605

1607

1615

1616

Events important to Man of La Mancha Year

Miguel de Cervantes born September 29

Cervantes joins Spanish Army

Cervantes wounded in Battle of Lepanto

Cervantes captured by pirates, held in slavery

Cervantes released

Cervantes marries Catalina de Salazar y Palacios

Cervantes imprisoned

Cervantes imprisoned again

Don Quixote (Vol I) published

Don Quixote (Vol II) published

Cervantes dies April 23

*Spain and England used different calendar systems which made April 23rd in these two countries actually 10 days apart

Spain at the height of its power

Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England

William Shakespeare born

English defeat the “invincible” Spanish Armada

Henry IV declares war on Spain Shakespeare publishes A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare publishes Hamlet

Spanish army surrenders to England

Elizabeth I dies

Jamestown, Virginia settled by the English

Shakespeare dies April 23*

Worldwide Events


About Man of La Mancha

Synopsis

Miguel de Cervantes, playwright, poet and government tax collector has been thrown into prison (along with his manservant and all of their worldly goods)

and is awaiting trial by the Inquisition for an offense against the Church. They are attacked by their fellow prisoners who set up a mock trial. If Cervantes is found guilty, he will have to hand over all his possessions. Cervantes agrees to do so, with the exception of a manuscript which the prisoners are eager to burn. He asks to be allowed to offer a defense, and the defense will be a play, acted out by him and all the prisoners.

Cervantes transforms himself into Alonso Quijana, an old gentleman who has read so many books on chivalry and thought so much about injustice that he has lost his mind and believes that it is his mission to go forth as a knight errant. Quijana renames himself Don Quixote de la Mancha and sets out to find adventure with his “squire” Sancho Panza.

His first adventure involves a windmill. Quixote mistakes it for a giant and attacks it, receiving a beating in the bargain. In a roadside inn (which Quixote thinks is a castle) Aldonza, the inn’s serving wench, is being harassed by a group of muleteers. When Quixote sees Aldonza, he believes her to be the lady Dulcinea to whom he swears eternal fidelity. Aldonza is confused and angry at Quixote’s refusal to see her as she really is.

Antonia, Don Quixote’s niece has gone with Quixote’s housekeeper to seek advice from the local priest. The priest soon realizes that the two women are more concerned with the embarrassment that the knight’s madness may bring than to his welfare. The equally self-centered Dr Carrasco, Antonia’s fiancé, is upset at the idea of a madman in the family and sets out (along with the priest) to cure Don Quixote.

Back at the inn, Don Quixote orders his squire to go to Aldonza and court her favor by asking for a token. Aldonza gives Sancho an old dishrag which appears to Quixote to be a silken scarf. The priest and Dr Carrasco arrive and vainly try to reason with Quixote, who suddenly sees a barber wearing his shaving basin on his head to ward off the heat of the sun. Quixote snatches the basin believing it to be the famous Golden Helmet of Mambrino which will make him invulnerable.

Quixote asks the Innkeeper to dub him knight. The Innkeeper agrees but only


if Quixote stands vigil in the courtyard. Aldonza, on her way to a tryst with the muleteer Pedro, sees Quixote and confronts him. Quixote explains why he behaves the way that he does. Pedro enters and hits Aldonza. Enraged, Quixote takes him and all the other Muleteers on in a huge fight. With the help of Aldonza and Sancho, the muleteers are all knocked out, but the noise of the scuffle has awakened the Innkeeper who throws Quixote out. Before he leaves the Innkeeper dubs him “Knight of the Woeful Countenance”.

Quixote announces that he must try to help the muleteers. Aldonza, whom Quixote still calls Dulcinea, is shocked but agrees to help him after the knight explains to her the laws of chivalry. She is subsequently beaten and carried off by the muleteers.

The Don Quixote play is interrupted when the Inquisition enters and drags off an unwilling prisoner. The play resumes with Quixote and Sancho encountering a band of gypsies who proceed to steal everything they own, including Quixote’s horse and Sancho’s donkey. The two are forced to return to the inn, where the innkeeper relents and lets them in out of pity.

Aldonza enters with bruises. Quixote swears to avenge her, but she begs him to leave her alone. Suddenly, another

“knight” enters. He calls himself the “Knight of the Mirrors” and insults Aldonza. He is promptly challenged by Don Quixote. The Knight of the Mirrors and his attendants carry shields with huge mirrors on them, forcing him to see himself as he really is. Quixote collapses in a faint. The Knight of the Mirrors removes his helmet—he is Dr Carrasco and this is his latest plan to cure Quixote.

Cervantes announces that this is the end of the story, but the prisoners are dissatisfied. They prepare to burn his manuscript. Cervantes asks for a chance to improvise and present one final scene.

Don Quixote has fallen into a coma. Antonia, Sancho, the housekeeper, the priest and Carrasco are all there. Quixote eventually awakens and reveals that he is now sane, remembering his life as Quixote as a dream. He is dying and asks the priest to help him make out his will. Aldonza enters — she can now not bear to be anyone other than Dulcinea. Don Quixote rises from his bed and calls for his armor so that he may set out again on another adventure. He collapses and dies.

The Inquisition enters to take Cervantes to trial and the prisoners return his manuscript to him.

Photos by: BreeAnne Clowdus


A guide to Man of La Mancha

About the Show

Setting:Year 1594. A prison in the city of Seville: the common room of a stone prison vault whose furthest reaches are lost in shadow. It has niches and crannies where the prisoners make their nests. Many additional, imaginary settings are visited within the story of Alonso Quijana/Don Quixote. In keeping with our outdoor, site-specific tradition, Serenbe Playhouse’s production of Man of La Mancha is staged in the winding paths of Serenbe’s Rock Labyrinth.

Cast & Characters of Man of La Mancha:Bryant Smith* (Miquel de Cervantes/Don Quixote) Miguel de Cervantes is a brilliant man, who has, up until this moment, been considered a failure on all fronts to every person in society. He is a poet, an author, an actor, and a playwright – but has been thought of as good-for-nothing at all of these endeavors and at life itself. Still, Cervantes has a belief in his work and a resourcefulness and charisma that allow him to transcend the squalor of his surroundings. Alonso Quijana, the character he dreams into existence, is a feeble old man who (also) dreams himself into someone different. We are told he is tall and thin, with hollow cheekbones. He reads romantic tales of

chivalry – and transforms into a knight of the chivalric age, Don Quixote. Don Quixote is brave and determined, even when he is fighting windmills, thinking they are giants. He sees the beauty and the bravery and the potential in all things. Quixote is a romantic with a vision of a far better and nobler world, where knights and chivalry rule the day. * Member of Actors’ Equity Association

Will Skelton (Manservant/Sancho) Cervantes’ manservant is enlisted to play the role of Sancho Panza in his story of Don Quixote. Sancho is Don Quixote’s loyal servant and biggest fan – despite often thinking that his master is straight-up crazy. Sancho is a grounded, simple, practical man. He is generally played by someone who is short. He is not a natural person you’d think to find on athletic adventures. He has served Quixote for many years and is devoted to him, even with all his idiosyncrasies. It is presumed that Cervantes based this character on his actual manservant, and thus the servant himself and Sancho Panza, who he plays, share similar qualities.

Laura Floyd (Prisoner/Aldonza) A fellow prisoner whom Cervantes is inspired to cast in the role of Aldonza in his Don Quixote story. Aldonza is a diamond in the rough. More literally, she is a woman who works at the tavern as a serving woman and, it is implied, a part-time prostitute. She has been used and abused for many years and as a result has a tough, rough, acerbic exterior. She is jaded and bitter and has given up both on the world and on herself. It is only Don Quixote who can see an inner beauty that makes him call her Dulcinea, the most beautiful lady he has ever encountered. Don Quixote tells her he has dreamed of

her his whole life, and though Aldonza scorns him and dismisses his chivalric oath as a taunt, she also yearns to believe what Don Quixote tells her. We as an audience must be able to see within this woman the Aldonza she shows the world and the Dulcinea inside she hides inside.

One of the challenges for our production of Man of La Mancha is that the actors rarely exit the stage. After all the whole idea of a dungeon is that you can’t get out! As you watch this production look for the places where the “extra actors” go in each scene.

Photos by: BreeAnne Clowdus


Randi Garza (Prisoner/Antonia) Alonso Quijana (Don Quixote)’s niece and Dr. Carrasco’s fiancée. She urges both the priest and the barber to burn all of her Uncle Alonso’s books, in the hopes that he will no longer dream of leading a chivalric life. Though she claims everything she does is in the best interests of her uncle, she is clearly plagued by what other people might think of her family relation to a lunatic. She has the narcissism of a young woman in love – but she is sincere in her remorse when she realizes the damage she has caused.

Daniel Burns (Prisoner/Padre) The kindly cleric who, though sometimes frustrated by Quijana’s madness, has great sympathy for the elderly man’s dreams of being Don Quixote. Sings the beautiful ballad, “To Each His Dulcinea.” When Dr. Carrasco almost calls off the marriage because of his objections to having a “crazy” like Quijana in the family, the priest cleverly persuades the doctor that this would be a great case through which to show his skill.

Brittany Ellis (Prisoner/Dr. Charrasco/Dance Captain) Antonia’s fiancée and Knight of the Mirrors. He dismisses Alonso Quijana as mad, and initially contemplates calling off his upcoming nuptials so as to avoid being related to a crazy man. Instead, he chooses to take Alonso Quijana on as a medical case and insists that he come home to be treated. The “treatment” and dissolution of Quijana’s dreams enfeebles him and contributes to his death. The doctor is self-absorbed and concerned very much with how others perceive him. He loves money, power and prestige. Don Quixote sees the doctor as “the Knight of Mirrors,” his mortal enemy.

Robert Lee Hindsman (Prisoner/Inn Keeper) A large and powerful man (within his own lower class), the Innkeeper is also kind. He indulges Alonso Quijana/Don Quixote’s whim and dubs him a “knight,” since Quixote believes that the Innkeeper is the keeper of a castle.

Lauren Chamblin (Prisoner/Maria) Maria is the Innkeeper’s wife in the Quixote story.

Allison Southwood (Prisoner/Housekeeper) Alonso Quijana’s housekeeper. Strong of body and of religious/moral conviction, she is extremely concerned over the mental and spiritual state of her master, who seems to be imagining himself to be an entirely different person than the man he is.

Austin Tijerina (Prisoner/Barber) The barber’s washbasin is mistaken by Don Quixote for the “Golden Helmet of Mambrino,” when he wears it on his head to keep the sun off. The barber is a pragmatic, practical man, and bewildered by Quixote’s antics.

Alex Towers (Prisoner/Fight Captain)

Man of La Mancha is a play within a play. As Cervantes begins to tell the story of Don Quixote he asks the other prisoners to help him “act out the story”. This means all of the actors on stage will play multiple parts. In Serenbe Playhouse’s production we have 11 talented actors playing a total of 42 roles! As you watch their performance notice the changes in an actor’s voice or in their posture that make each character different.


Themes to Look For

The power of theatre & storytellingCERVANTES: May I set the stage? I shall impersonate a man. Come, enter into my imagination and see him!

DISCUSSION: Have you ever read a story or seen a television show or movie that changed your opinion about something?

What was it?

Do you think a story can persuade people to change their minds?

Why or why not?

Truth versus Illusion/ Sanity and InsanityDR. CARRASCO: There are no giants. No kings under enchantment. No chivalry. No knights . . . these are facts.

QUIXOTE: Facts are the enemy of truth.

THE DUKE: A man must come to terms with life as it is!

CERVANTES: Maddest of all, [is] to see life as it is and not as it should be.

Don Quixote persists in seeing things the way he wishes them to be: a run-down inn is a castle; a ragged serving-girl is a noble lady; a tattered windmill is a fierce giant. Although he has his “facts” wrong, he does see the truth: outwardly Aldonza may be a ragged serving-girl, but inwardly she does become the noble lady “Dulcinea” that he believes her to be.

Contrast Aldonza with Antonia, Alonso Quijana’s niece. Although pious on the outside, inwardly she is only concerned about her inheritance and worried about the embarrassment her uncle’s behavior is causing the family.

The Quest/Idealism/HeroismTHE DUKE: I charge you with being an idealist, a bad poet, and an honest man. How plead you?

CERVANTES: An idealist? Well, I have never had the courage to believe in nothing.

When he began writing the play I, Don Quixote, Dale Wasserman knew that the most central theme he was trying to express was the power of idealism and the need for a goal, or quest, in every person’s life, to counteract the cynicism and bitterness so often found in the world.

ALDONZA: Why do you do these things?

DON QUIXOTE: What things?

ALDONZA: These ridiculous . . . the things you do!

DON QUIXOTE: I hope to add some measure of grace to the world.

ALDONZA: The world’s a dung heap and we are maggots that crawl on it!

DON QUIXOTE: My Lady knows better in her heart.

ALDONZA: What’s in my heart will get me halfway to hell. And you, Señor Don Quixote-you’re going to take such a beating!

DON QUIXOTE: Whether I win or lose does not matter.

ALDONZA: What does?

DON QUIXOTE: Only that I follow the quest.

The song that Quixote sings at this point, “The Quest (The Impossible Dream),” with its simple and direct message of belief in one’s dreams, is the essence of idealism. It’s no surprise that this song became immensely popular and was recorded by dozens, if not hundreds, of singers.


About the Authors

Miguel de Cervantes Born in 1547, Miguel de Cervantes is one of the greatest novelists of the Spanish language. He also wrote plays, poems and short stories. His masterpiece, Don Quixote, is one of the most important and influential books in the history of the modern novel.

In 1570 Cervantes joined the Spanish forces at Naples, Italy, and fought against the Ottoman Empire. He served in the famous Battle of Lepanto in 1571 where his left hand was permanently injured. Afterwards, Cervantes received letters of recommendation and obtained leave to sail back to Spain. During this journey his ship was captured by pirates. Cervantes was taken prisoner and lived in slavery for five years. At last, in 1580, Cervantes was ransomed by his family.

Upon returning to Spain, Cervantes looked in vain for a government position that would allow him to earn enough money to support his family and also pursue his main passion, writing. Eventually he took up several different contracts as a tax collector. This was hard and grueling work, traveling from town to town to collect payments of grain and crops from villages that were never too happy to see the tax collector arrive. Cervantes even got in trouble with churches who objected to his taxation, and once the government accused him of fraud and had him thrown into prison. In 1605 Cervantes published Part 1 of his novel, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. Although Cervantes would never earn very much money from his masterpiece, the book gave him an international reputation as a writer. Cervantes’ health was beginning to fail at this time, but he poured all his energy into publishing several more works before his death in 1616.

Dale Wasserman Dale Wasserman was born around 1914. The exact date is uncertain because Wasserman’s parents both died when he was young and his birth certificate has been lost. As a child Wasserman was moved to several different orphanages

and homes of relatives. At the age of 14 he ran away from home and lived what he called “a hobo life.” Wasserman described hobos as “wanderers who worked.” He spent many years riding the freight trains from town to town and working odd jobs wherever he could find them.

Wasserman had almost no formal education. He taught himself by stealing library books from one town and returning them to a library in the next town. When he was 19, he happened to get a job with a theatre group. After this he found several different jobs in different theatres, working as a stagehand, a technician, a director and eventually a playwright.

Wasserman wrote over 75 scripts for television, stage and film before his death in 2008. His most famous script is the musical play Man of La Mancha. This script was originally a non-musical television play entitled I, Don Quixote. I, Don Quixote aired in 1959 and was very popular with the television viewers. Years later, Wasserman collaborated with lyricist Joe Darion and composer Mitch Leigh to turn his script into a stage musical. Most people thought that a play about a Spanish writer who lived and wrote in the 16th century would never be a success on Broadway. When Man of La Mancha opened in 1965, it started out in a tiny theatre, but the play was so good that it began to draw huge crowds. It won five Tony Awards in 1966 and has gone on to become one of the world’s most popular musicals.

Dale Wasserman believed that an important key to the success of Man of La Mancha was the fact that the audience is asked to use their imagination to make the story come alive. He specifically didn’t want large, flashy special effects to be used on stage. As you watch this production notice that the character of Miguel de Cervantes uses only objects and furniture found in the prison cell or pulled out of his “theatre trunk” to act out the scenes from the Don Quixote story.

Dale Wasserman includes several different bits of information about Miguel de Cervantes in his script. He does this most often by having the character of Cervantes talk about his past.

As you watch this production notice how certain facts about Miguel de Cervantes’ history are woven into the dialogue.


Don Quiote the Novel

Don Quixote (El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha) was first published in Madrid in 1605 when Cervantes was 57. The book was an immediate best-seller, but despite its success, Cervantes received very little money from the book as he had sold the rights to his publisher. Six editions were printed in the first year of its release. Part II was published in 1615. A single edition containing both parts was published in 1617.

It is considered to be one of the greatest works of fiction ever written and is the most published and translated book after the Bible. Seven years after the first part appeared, it was translated into French, German, Italian and English. It was subsequently translated into English more than 19 times, and several abridged versions appear.

Don Quixote is a humorous novel filled with satire and what made it such a landmark work of literature was that it was written in the picaresco style of the 16th century. The first half of the novel is farcical and the second half is serious and philosophical. The novel also helped cement the modern Spanish language, because it was so influential. At the time of its writing, literature was in between the medieval chivalric romance and the modern novel and Don Quixote successfully straddled the two.

The character of Don Quixote was so popular that the word quixotic meaning “extravagantly chivalrous or romantic, visionary, impractical, impulsive and rashly unpredictable” (Dictionary.com) was incorporated into many languages.

Illustration 4 for Miguel de Cervantes’s “Don Quixote“ by Gustave Doré, 1863.

In addition to Man of La Mancha, there have been other renditions of Don Quixote:

Don Quichotte by Georg Philipp Telemann, Orchestral Suite

Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Camacho by George Philipp Telemann, Opera

Die Hochzeit des Camacho by Felix Mendelssohn, 1827 opera

Don Quichotte by Jules Massenet, 1910 opera

Master Peter’s Puppet Show by Manuel de Falla, puppet opera written in 1923

Don Quixote by Richard Strauss, tone poem

Don Quixote by Leon Minkus, ballet written in 1869


Castilla - La Mancha

La Mancha is a natural and historical region located on an arid but fertile, elevated plateau (610 m or 2000 ft.) of central Spain, south of Madrid, from the mountains of Toledo to the western spurs of the hills of Cuenca, and bordered to the South by the Sierra Morena and to the North by the Alcarria region.

La Mancha includes portions of the modern provinces of Cuenca, Toledo, and Albacete, and most of the Ciudad Real province. La Mancha historical comarca constitutes the southern portion of Castilla–La Mancha autonomous community and makes up most of the present-day administrative region.

The name “La Mancha” is probably derived from the Arab word al-mansha, meaning “the dry land” or “wilderness”. The name of the city of Almansa in Albacete also has the same origin. The word mancha in Spanish literally means spot, stain, or patch, but no apparent link exists between this word and the name of the region.

The climate is cold semi-arid, with strong fluctuations. Farming (wheat, barley, oats, wine grapes, olives) and cattle raising are the primary economic activities, but they are severely restricted by the harsh environmental conditions.

Miguel de Cervantes gave international fame to this land and its windmills when he wrote his novel Don Quixote de La Mancha. Cervantes was making fun of this region, using a pun; a “mancha” was also a stain, as on one’s honor, and thus a hilariously inappropriate homeland for a dignified knight-errant. Translator John Ormsby believed that Cervantes chose it because it was the most ordinary, prosaic, anti-romantic, and therefore unlikely place from which a chivalrous, romantic hero could originate, making Quixote seem even more absurd.

La Mancha. (2015, March 8). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:33, March 16, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_Mancha&oldid=650431432


Questions and exercises

Pre & Post Show

Questions for before the performance 1. How does the life of Cervantes compare to

that of the fictional Don Quixote?

2. Give an example from your real life of how you see things as you wish to see them, not as they really are.

3. Do you think that Don Quixote is really insane, or is he just an idealist, wanting to see good in all things?

Questions for after the performance1. How did the staging of the play in the Rock

Labyrinth affect your understanding and enjoyment of the play?

2. How does Cervantes utilize storytelling and the theatrical to achieve his goals?

3. What was a personal response that you had while watching the theatrical production Man of La Mancha that could not be replicated by reading Don Quixote quietly to yourself or aloud in a classroom?

4. Why do you think the writers placed the musical numbers where they did? Why was spoken dialogue not enough in those moments to convey the story and character development?

Classroom Exercises1. Discussion: Show students another

version of the Don Quixote story, (perhaps the ballet or the opera widely available on DVD). How does that compare to Serenbe Playhouse’s production of Man of La Mancha? What similarities or differences are apparent to students?

2. Classroom Activity: The action of the musical takes place in a prison cell where a collection of people are incarcerated for their beliefs. Using this premise, have the students develop a play within the classroom, using their colleagues for characters and classroom materials for props and set pieces. The theme of the play should be one that is totally outside the walls of the school and deals with freedom of thought and expression or idealism.

3. Writing Assignment: Have students write a letter to the Judge of Cervantes’ trial making the case that he should be freed from prison.

Useful Links: For more information check out these websites

400th Anniversary of Don Quixote http://www.donquijote.org

Animated Don Quixote www.quixote.tv

The Story of Don Quixote de la Mancha www.donquixote.com

The Don Quixote Exhibit http://www.gwu.edu/~bradyart/brady/donquijote.html

Cervantes 2001 Project http://csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/


Tips for your fieldtrip

How to be a Successful Audience Member

1. It is our hope that all of our student audiences will have an engaging and unforgettable experience during their fieldtrip to Serenbe Playhouse. You can expect that we will produce vibrant productions of compelling, classic stories and that our staff will do everything possible to ensure that your group has a pleasant experience.

2. Be sure to check the weather and dress so as to be comfortable in the current, outdoor temperature

3. Wear comfortable shoes

4. Feel free to react to the play! Our actors want you to laugh (when appropriate), cry, applaud and enjoy the performance.

5. Discuss the production and ask questions- after the show concludes. Talking during the performance is distracting to the performers, crew and your fellow audience members.

6. Turn your cell phone OFF. Texting, while a silent activity, is still a distraction to the performance.

Photos by: BreeAnne Clow

dus


About Serenbe Playhouse

Serenbe Playhouse believes that theatre is an art form with a unique power to illuminate the human experience; and does so by producing artistically rich, open-air theatrical performances for audiences throughout Greater Metro Atlanta. By reducing the barriers between audiences and the artists-in-residence, the playhouse provides numerous opportunities for engagement, conversation, and collaboration.

Serenbe Playhouse uses theatre as an artistic educational tool for both artists and audiences. A training ground for promising artists, the Playhouse offers high school, and college students active opportunities to work alongside emerging and established theatre professionals. Serenbe Playhouse adheres to the philosophy that theatre is a necessity, not a privilege. Through targeted assistance to schools and youth organizations, the Playhouse broadens access to art and culture, and encourages the involvement of under-served audiences throughout the region.

Serenbe Playhouse is a pioneer in modeling Green Theatre Practices by producing plays

with a commitment to social responsibility and environmental stewardship. All productions are performed outdoors, in concert with Nature; repurpose existing structures; and use natural light and 90% LED theatrical lighting. Sets are designed for disassembly and constructed with reclaimed and recycled materials with the goal of minimizing a production’s waste and impact on the environment.

Serenbe Playhouse was founded in 2009 under the executive and artistic direction of Brian Clowdus, an accomplished actor, educator, director and producer. He earned a BA in Theatre & Dance from Amherst College graduating Magna Cum Laude, an MFA in Acting from The University of South Carolina, and is a 2011 Fellow of the world-renowned Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. Established under the umbrella of their parent organization, The Serenbe Institute for Art Culture & the Environment, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Serenbe Playhouse operates with the support of a diverse working board of directors and community volunteers.

Photo by: BreeAnne Clowdus

man of la mancha curriculum - serenbe · pdf filea musical based on cervantes’s . don...

Documents