Abundance

By Beth Henley About the play: From the singular, uniquely American voice of Beth Henley, the Pulitzer Prize-

winning author of Crimes of the Heart, comes Abundance. This wickedly funny and deeply

touching tall tale follows the fortunes and misfortunes of Bess and Macon, two mail-order brides,

on their twenty-five year journey across the American frontier. An epic tale about bygone

America, both strange and strangely familiar.

Grade Recommendation: 9th

grade and up

Content Advisory: Includes suggestive content and depictions of domestic violence.

Topics:

Expansion of the Western Frontier

Sensationalist Revision of Events

Stories of Settlers

Women’s Rights

Tall Tales

Themes:

Opportunity and Opportunism

Starting Over

Expectations of Reciprocity

Friendship

Student Performance Series date:

Thursday, April 25 at 10:30 a.m.

Curriculum Standards

Student Performance Series performances and workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential

learning and support various combinations of Common Core standards in English Language Arts. They

may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on each

play’s subject matter.

The experience of seeing and discussing Abundance provides classroom links to the following Common

Core standards in English Language Arts:

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details

Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop

over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the

themes (Grades 9-10).

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the

course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex

account; provide an objective summary of the text (Grades 11-12).

Reading Literature: Craft and Structure

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and

connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and

tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal

tone) (Grades 9-10).

Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the

choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution)

contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact (Grades 11-12).

Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a

play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include

at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist) (Grades 11-12).

Student Performance Series workshops also support the following Connecticut state standards in theatre

for grades 9-12:

6: Connections. Students will make connections between theatre, other disciplines and daily life.

7: Analysis, Criticism and Meaning. Students will analyze, critique, and construct meanings

from works of theatre.

8: History and Culture. Students will demonstrate an understanding of context by analyzing and

comparing theatre in various cultures and historical periods.

About the Student Performance Series:

Our Student Performance Series packages include

1 free chaperone ticket for every 20 student tickets

Free study guides that include historical context, thematic analysis, questions for discussion, and

suggestions for learning activities (emailed to you in PDF format).

A talk back immediately following the performance. Hosted by a member of our education

department staff and featuring actors from the play, the talk back provides students with the

opportunity to ask questions and express their initial reactions to the play-going experience

through dialogue with artists and each other.

Pre- and post-show workshops are also available for an additional fee. Designed to help integrate the play

into your curriculum, our interactive workshops are led by a Hartford Stage teaching artist who visits your

classroom and gets students on their feet to explore the play’s major themes, plot points, and connections

to history and culture.

To book tickets for the Student Performance Series, please contact Chelsea Caplan, Education Sales

Coordinator at (860) 520-7244 or ccaplan@hartfordstage.org