Jan. 23–Feb. 11, 2018

THE MAGIC PLAY

by Andrew Hinderakerdirected by Halena Kays

PLAY GUIDE

IN THIS PLAY GUIDE

THE MAGIC PLAY

PLOT SUMMARY

CHARACTERS / SETTING

GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY (CONT.)

WRITING PORTFOLIO

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

ABOUT THIS PLAY GUIDEThis play guide is a resource designed to enhance your theatre experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture the teaching and learning of theatre arts, and to encourage essential questions that lead to an enduring understanding of the play’s meaning and relevance. Inside you will find information about the plot and characters within the play, as well as articles that contextualize the play and its production at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Oral discussion and writing prompts encourage your students to reflect upon their impressions, analyze key ideas, and relate them to their personal experiences and the world around them. These prompts can easily be adapted to fit most writing objectives. We encourage you to adapt and extend the material in any way that best fits the needs of your community of learners. Please feel free to make copies of this guide, or you may download it from our website at actorstheatre.org. We hope this material, combined with our pre-show workshops, will give you the tools to make your time at Actors Theatre a valuable learning experience.

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If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our play guides, please contact Jane B. Jones, Education Director, at 502.584.1265 x3045.

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COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

NATIONAL CORE ARTS STANDARDS

TH.Re7.1 Perceive and analyze artistic work. TH.Re8.1 Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.TH.Re9.1 Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.TH.Cn10.1 Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art. TH.Cn11.1 Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.

THE MAGIC PLAY STUDENT MATINEES AND THIS PLAY GUIDE ADDRESS SPECIFIC EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:

316 West Main StreetLouisville, KY 40202-4218

ARTISTIC DIRECTORLes Waters

MANAGING DIRECTORKevin E. Moore

EDUCATION DIRECTORJane B. Jones

EDUCATION MANAGER Betsy Anne Huggins

EDUCATION MANAGER Janelle Renee Dunn

RESIDENT TEACHING ARTISTSLiz FentressKeith McGillTalleri McRaeLetitia Usher

EDUCATION/TEACHING ARTIST APPRENTICESAbigail Miskowiec Zoe Rosenfeld

PLAY GUIDE BYB et s y A n ne Hu g g i n s

GRAPHIC DESIGNJen Williams

THE MAGIC PLAY PLOT SUMMARYA successful magician takes the stage to perform card tricks and share personal anecdotes, under the illusion that he’s in control. But this time, the deck might be stacked against him. For there are some memories that, once conjured, can’t be made to disappear—and sometimes sleight of hand can’t summon the magic we need most. Filled with surprising twists and dazzling spectacle, The Magic Play is an exhilarating and poignant exploration of love, loss, and the importance of letting go.

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THE CHARACTERSTHE MAGICIAN: A stage magician performing a magic show, which is interrupted by the appearance of--and the Magician’s memories of--the Diver and the Father.

THE DIVER: A mysterious figure from the Magician’s past.

THE FATHER: An older magician performing in a Reno, Nevada casino.

THE SETTINGA magic show. But like a good magic trick, there’s more than initially meets the eye.

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ACT: A magician’s performance; the standard tricks and illusions performed in a magician’s signature style.

AGENCY: The capacity of people to make their own decisions and choices.

BLUEPRINTS: The design plans for the production of an object.

CLICHE: A word or phrase that has lost meaning or relevance due to overuse.

CONJURE: To call upon a spirit to appear.

CRAPS: A casino game where gamblers bet on the outcome of rolled dice.

CUT: Dividing a deck of cards, often used to shuffle the deck.

DAI VERNON: A Canadian magician, known as “The Professor,” who is famous for his ability with sleight-of-hand magic. Dai Vernon’s relationship with his son parallels the Magician’s relationship with his father.

DUPE: To deceive or cause someone to believe something that is untrue.

DUPLICATE: To create an identical copy of an object.

FACE: The side of a card with a character on it, such as a Jack, Queen, or King. “Face” can also be used to describe the character or number side of any card.

FACILITY: The ease of being able to do something well.

GIG : A short-term job, often used to describe a one-off event for performers.

HACK: A worker unskilled at a specific task.

HUSTLER: A person who uses deceitful or dishonest methods to earn money.

ILLUSION: In magic, a performance that is believed to be accomplished through deception.

LAKE TAHOE: A large freshwater lake on the border of Nevada and California, about an hour outside of Reno, Nevada.

MANGLING YOUR PASS: A term for messing up, derived from football.

MANIPULATIVE: Influencing the behavior or emotions of others for one’s own purposes.

MGM: A casino in Las Vegas.

GLOSSARY

Gamblers playing craps at a casino.

Magician Dai Vernon performing a card trick.

Face cards in four suits: Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts.

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MISLEADING : Giving a wrong or false impression.

PLANT: An audience member known to the performer, who has agreed to fulfill specific tasks during a show.

PATTER: The scripted, fast-paced speech by a performer during a routine, often used to distract the audience.

RAISING THE CLAIM: When a magician adds to the promise of how the trick will end, often making seemingly impossible or risky claims that raise the audience’s expectations.

RENO: Known as “The Biggest Little City in the World,” Reno is the second-largest city in Nevada. Like Las Vegas, it’s known for its casinos, gambling, and stage shows.

SCHEMING: Making secret, often underhanded, plans.

SELF-WORKING: A trick in which a magician follows a set procedure, often speaking the steps of the trick out loud to the audience. Self-working tricks are often based on a mathematical principle of how cards in a standard deck will repeat if the deck is cut.

SLEIGHT OF HAND: Fine motor skills used by magicians to perform close-up magic, especially card tricks.

SLOTS: Slang for a slot machine, a coin or token-operated gambling machine.

STANDARD DECK: A set of playing cards containing 52 cards, divided into four suits, and labeled numbers 2-10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.

SUIT: A category of cards. There are four suits in a standard deck of cards: Clubs, Spades, Diamonds, and Hearts. Traditionally, Clubs and Spades are black, and Diamonds and Hearts are red.

TRIALS: In sports, the pre-competition matches that decide which athletes will proceed in the competition.

TRICK DECK: A set of cards that has been altered by a magician for use in sleight-of-hand magic.

WARM-UP: Stretches and exercises completed before beginning a workout or athletic competition.

GLOSSARY

The Reno Arch, which welcomes visitors into the city.

A row of slot machines in the casino.

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WRITING PORTFOLIO

NARRATIVE: CCRA.W.3In The Magic Play, the Magician’s act is interrupted by the Diver and the Father, whose presence radically changes the direction of the Magician’s carefully planned routine. The Diver and the Father appear both in memories and in fantasy projections created by the Magician’s imagination. How do memories, the things that we imagine, and the stories we create for ourselves impact our lives? Write a short story in which a character’s current actions are interrupted by a memory or fantasy. How does the memory or fantasy enhance or change the actions of the central character?

INFORMATIVE: CCRA.W.2Write a review of the performance of The Magic Play that you saw at Actors Theatre of Louisville. What parts of the play (the actors’ performances, the set, props, costumes, lighting and sound design, etc.) were your favorites, and why? How effective were these elements in telling the story? Back up your claims with evidence and details from your experience of watching the performance. Then, make a copy and send it to the Education Department at:

Actors Theatre of Louisville c/o Jane B. Jones316 West Main StreetLouisville, Kentucky 40202

We will share your thoughts with the creative team.

ARGUMENTATIVE: CCRA.W.1There is a long-standing tradition of magicians closely guarding the secrets of their performances. Yet many performers have made a career out of revealing these secrets, against the wishes of their fellow performers. In The Magic Play, the Magician says, “There’s a reason magicians so carefully guard their secrets. It’s not because they’re sacred. It’s because they’re ugly and crude.” He argues that secrecy protects the beauty of the illusion. Where do you stand in this argument? Do you want to know a magician’s secrets, even if it means that the illusion is ruined for them and others? Or do you value the magician’s code of secrecy? What is gained, and what might be lost, from learning how an illusion is performed? In an essay, argue for your position on the worth of a magician’s code of secrecy or the value of exposing the tricks up a magician’s sleeve.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS1. The Magic Play is not a typical stage production; it

blends elements of a magic show with a traditional theatrical performance. Volunteers may be asked to join the Magician onstage, and sometimes the Magician will ask for your help in putting on the show in other ways. However, there will be times the show plays out as a more typical theatrical production. How do you expect these different ways of engaging with the story to be communicated to the audience? How will a participatory element change your experience at the theatre?

POST-SHOW QUESTIONS 1. Spoiler alert! The final illusion in the play is

improvised by the Magician in every performance; the volunteer from the audience is not a plant, and their requested magic trick is unique to them. The Magician must enact a potentially impossible trick at the whim of the audience. During your performance, what trick was requested? Was it a real piece of magic, or an impossible wish? Was the Magician successful at accomplishing the trick, or did it fall flat? How did the final illusion impact the performance? How does the knowledge that the trick is improvised change your impression of the show?

2. The Magician begins The Magic Play by asking the audience to turn off their phones and clarifies his request by stating, “If you have all now turned off your phones…You’re saying you have faith that whatever’s about to happen will be worth being unreachable.” In our tech-driven world, being without your phone can seem very challenging, even if it’s only temporary. What are the benefits of putting down your phone at the theatre, and why is it so hard for some people? Can you imagine ways that cell phones could be a part of the performance, and not a distraction?

2. A magic show asks for the audience to take a leap of faith and put their trust in the performer, but as the Magician notes, the audience has “no reason to trust me.” In The Magic Play, the audience sees the relationships between the Magician and the Diver, and the Magician and the Father, from both characters’ perspectives. Who did you end up trusting, and why? Did you believe that the Magician was always trustworthy?