A Study and Resorce Guide by Zach Trebino

October 27 - December 18

Section I: About the Play

Setting and CharactersSynopsisAbout the playwright

Section II: About the Arden’s Production

Designer Profiles

Section III:Info, Activities, & Exercises

About Passover

Civil War Timeline

The Arden’s Production page 1

page 2

pages 3 - 5

page 7

pages 7 - 9

page 11

Reflections

page 12

About Jewish Confederates

page 13

page 17

Playwrighting Exercise pages 18 - 19

page 15

page 14

Glossasry

About Lincoln’s Assasination

Disscussion: Production Analysis

page 10

JEwish War Timeline page 16

John

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written by Matthew Lopez

directed by Matt Pfeiffer

Set design by David P. Gordon

costume design by Alison Roberts

lighting design by Thom Weaver

sound design by Christopher Colucci

stage managed by Stephanie Cook

Featuring:

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page 1

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page 11

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pages 18 - 19

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Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. as Simon

James Ijames as John

Cody Nickell as Caleb DeLeon

page 10

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Assistant directed by Eric Wunsch

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Characters

Setting

Where:The Ruins of a once grand home in Richmond, Virgina

When:Between April 13, 1865 and April 15, 1865

50’s, Elder servant to and recently freed slave of the DeLeon family, Jewish

20’s, an injured confederate soldier returning home after war, Jewish

20’s, former slave of the DeLeon family and childhood companion of

Caleb, Jewish

Simon

John

Caleb

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Thunder crashes as the young Confederate soldier Caleb DeLeon staggers back, wounded from the just-ended war, to find his family home wrecked in the carnage of battle and ransacked by looters. His family has fled to safer territory, but Simon, an elder and faithful former slave of the family’s, is staying with the house until reconstruction can begin and the family returns. Simon immediately notices the week-old bullet wound festering on Caleb’s leg and insists that am-putation will be necessary. Caleb diverts the conversation briefly to recapitulate what happened in Richmond while he was away at war, and Simon indulges in stories of destruction and desolation. Simon, however, promptly redirects their conversation and begins to ply Caleb with whiskey in preparation for the ampu-tation. Because of Caleb’s refusal to be taken to a hospital, Simon begrudingly acquiesces to performing an impromptu amputation in the living room of the family home.

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Simon goes to another part of the house in search of more whiskey when Caleb is startled by the presence of a shrouded man in the doorway. This man reveals himself to be John, another former slave of the DeLeon family and childhood companion of Caleb’s. John has taken to looting the abandoned houses about town and is just returning from his latest stealing rampage.

Simon re-enters with a toolbox and whiskey. Knowing that the amputation is too great a task for one man, Simon tries to employ John’s help, yet John lacks Simon’s loyalty since emancipation, arguing that it’s not their concern. Eventually, John agrees to assist, and the opening scene gruesomely concludes as John restrains the struggling, screaming Caleb while Simon takes a saw to his leg.

The next morning, John and Simon scrounge things together to assemble some kind of breakfast and monitor Caleb’s status. Simon tells John that Caleb’s father had promised he’d give them money to start their new life if they were freed.

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Caleb doesn’t wake up until that evening - still drunk and feverish from the previous day’s ordeal. By now, evidence of John’s excessive looting is everywhere. The house is full of lavish and unecessary goods. Simon prepares dinner for the trio, cooking up Caleb’s horse that died on his journey home. John informs the group that it is the Sabbath and that Passover is upon them. Simon and John notice Caleb’s unwillingness to pray, and they enter into an argument. John cites the Torah and challenges the notion of Jewish slaveholders, while Simon remains grateful and loyal to the DeLeon’s, insisting that they were all a family - slaves and masters. John ends the argument by recounting a trip to the Whipping Man where Caleb whipped John. As the tension dies down, Caleb and Simon begin to prepare for their improvised Passover seder.

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The act concludes with the revelation that Caleb is an army deserter and that Simon’s wife and daughter have been sold by Caleb’s father because Caleb was in love with Simon’s daughter, Sarah, and had impregnated her.

When we return to the DeLeon home, Caleb is awoken by John reading this same letter aloud. Simon returns from acquiring necessary items for the seder and informs Caleb and John that President Lincoln has been assasinated.

The seder is then celebrated, with Simon leading the proceedings. As the dinner progresses, it grows harder and harder for Caleb to resist telling Simon of his family’s fate. Finally, Caleb reveals that they’ve been sold.

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Act II opens with Caleb reading a love letter to the audi-ence that he wrote to Sarah while away at war. In it, he expresses his deep love for her and his insa-tiable longing to return home to her safely.

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Simon grows infuriated with John for not telling him this when it occurred, but John had been brought to the Whipping Man for trying to oppose the sale of Simon’s family. Yet this time, John escaped from his bounds and whipped the whipping man, ultimately killing him. Simon rushes out of the house to search for his family, and John and Caleb are left alone in the house, forever enslaved by their own deceit.

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Playwright biography:Matthew Lopez

Produced Works and Their Premieres:The Whipping Man (Luna Stage Company, April 2006)Tio Pepe (Public Theater, Summer 2008) Missed Connections (Ars Nove, January 2010)Alien Monstrer Bowling League (Ars Nova, February 2011)Reverberation - STAGED READING (Manhattan Theater Club, February 2011) Somehwere (Old Globe, Fall 2011)

Awards:2011 John Gassner Playwriting Award for The Whipping ManPlaywright in Residence at the Old Globe (2011 - 2013)

Production History of The Whipping Man:April 2006 - World Premiere at Luna Stage Company in Montclair, NJFebruary 2009 - Production at Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, MNMay 2010 - West Coast Premiere at Old Globe in San Diego, CAJune 2010 - New England Premiere at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, MAFebruary 2011 - New York Premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, NYSeptember 7 – October 2, 2011 - Jewish Ensemble Theatre, West Bloomfield, MI*October 27 – December 18, 2011 – Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia, PA (Philadelphia Premiere)*

Mathhew Lopez: on PLaywrighting & THE WHIPPING MAN

“I was drawn to the Civil War because it provided two calamities in one event: war and slavery. How do you go from being a slave all your life to being free? What are the psychological mechanics of that? I wanted to write about slaves who have just recently been set free. But how does that shift work? For Caleb, the white character in the play, the question was: what do you do after four years of war and your home is destroyed? How do you rebuild not just your infrastructure, but your way

of life, particularly when it was your very way of life that started the war in the first place?”

“Sadly, I think the only thing that could truly support a life in the theatre for a young playwright is a career in television. But I’m trying!”

“I’ve always been fascinated by those moments that the history books skip over: the valleys be-tween the peaks of historical events.”

“I am at an exciting time in my career where the work I’ve done all these years is finally starting to be recognized and I am starting to be taken seriously as a writer. That feels good. If it doesn’t

exactly keep me in groceries, at least it keeps me in good spirits.”

http://berkshireonstage.com/2010/05/11/interview-matthew-lopez-explains-his-new-play-the-whipping-man/ -6-

Design Profiles:Set

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David P. Gordon designed the set for The Whipping Man. This design marks his 26th for the Arden. He even won a Barrymore award for Outstanding Scenic Design for his design for the Arden’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Design Factoid:The DeLeon’s house has been partially destroyed by fire and warring conflict, so the set for the Arden’s The Whipping Man needs to be distressed (or made to look like it’s worn and broken). Unfortunately, you can’t start off by building a broken set (otherwise it wouldn’t be safe for the actors); you need to make it look like it would have before any of the destruction occurred, and through layers of paint and other nifty design techniques, create the appearance of destruction.

Design Profiles:Costumes

Alison Roberts, the Arden Theatre’s costume supervisor, deisgned the costumes for The Whipping Man.

Simon:Johnnie Hobbs, Jr.

John:James Ijames

Caleb:Cody Nickell

Before costumes can be con-structed, the designer creates costume renderings (seen here) that are then shown to the director, who provides input and guides the costume designer further before the costumes are made.

Design Factoid:

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Design Profiles:Costumes

The costume designer then takes those renderings and creates the actual costume pieces (according to the actors’ physical measure-ments. Here are the finished products:

Johhnie Hobbs, Jr. as Simon

James Ijames as John

Cody Nickell as Caleb-9-

Reflections:Production Analysis

1) On walking into the theater, how did the set make you feel? Do these feelings support the world of the play and its events?

2) What was the moment in the play that affected you the most? Why?

3) Who did you sympathize with in the play’s conclusion? How does the play position the audi-ence to come to this sentiment?

Now that you’ve seen the Arden Theatre Company’s production of The Whipping Man, use these questions to facilitate your personal reflection on and inter-personal discussion of the production.

4) Are any or all of these characters morally or ethically compromised by their actions? Can their unethical actions be justified? How?

5) Which design element (costumes, set, lights, or sound) was the most effective in creating and conveying the reality of the world of the play? What about the play’s emotional temperature? Its themes?

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Passover (or Pesach):Ritual and Tradition in The Whipping Man

Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and is celebrated for seven or eight days. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays. Tradition-ally, families gather for dinner on the first night of passover, a meal which is called a seder.

What is Passover?

What Happens during a Seder?The story of the Exodus from Egypt is retold during this meal using a special text called the Haggadah.

Seder means “order,” and the ritual is, indeed, quite structured. The dinner consists of 15 steps, each with important significance for the commemoration of the end of the enslavement of the Jews in Egypt. Some of the steps featured in The Whipping Man include: - The eating of Karpas (parsley or celery) which are dipped in salt water. - The salt water symbolizes the tears shed by Jews while enslaved in Egypt. - The eating of Matzo (unleavened bread). *We see Simon substitute military issued hardtack for matzo in their seder ceremony in The Whipping Man* - The eating of Maror (bitter herbs) - like horseradish or endive.

Discussion Questions1) What do you think the Maror symbolizes?

2) If you had to assemble a seder from the things in your lunch bag, what would you use for each item (Karpas, Matzo, and Maror)? Why?

MATZO

MAror

3) Can you think of any other meal-rituals that you and your family participate in? Like what? What do the things and events of those meals symbolize?

4) Tradition and remembrance are two major aspects of the passover ritual. How do you de-fine tradition? Do you think tradition is important? Why or why not?

What’s in a name?Pesach may be derived from the verb pasach, meaning He passed over, in reference to God passing over the homes of the

Jews during the final of the ten plagues of Egypt. Pesach may

also refer to the lamb of goat designated as the Passover sacri-

fice in days of yore.

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Karpas

President Lincoln’s Assasination

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assasinated while watching a pro-duction of Our American Cousin at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D. C. This was the first assasination of an American president. This happened to be during Passover and was also on Good Friday (the Friday before Easter in the Christian religions).

He was shot by a well known actor, John Wilkes Booth. Booth’s assination was the only successful part of a conspiracy aimed at impelling the remaining confederate soldiers to take up arms despite Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9th. The plot included plans to simultaneously assasinate the Secretary of State, William H. Seward, and the vice-president, Andrew Johnson, but Seward was merely wounded and Johnson’s would-be assassin abandoned the plan.

After sneaking into the Presidential box, Booth shot Lin-coln in the back of the head, right behind the left ear. Ma-jor Henry Rathbone, who was attending the play with the president and his wife, attempted to prevent Booth from escaping and suffered two stab wounds at his hands. Booth jumped from the box to the stage, breaking his leg, and shouted, “Sic semper tyrannis!” which is Latin for “Thus always to tyrants!” The president survived until the next morning, but his wound was certainly mortal. He died around 7:20 am on April 15th.

Booth and one of his conspirators fled to Maryland. They remained in hiding at a local farm until the Union soldiers

on a manhunt for the presidential assas-sin arrived. They surrounded the barn

in which Booth and his cohort were hiding. When Booth refused to come

out, the soldiers set fire to barn. Booth scrambled out of the barn. A soldier

named Boston Corbett was behind Booth and shot him in the back of the

neck, severing his spinal cord. He died two hours later.

-12-http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alrintr.html

Glossary of Names and Terms

Translation of Prayers: “Baruch atah adonai elohenu melach haolam mechaye hametim” Who ressurects the dead

“Baruch atah adonai elohenu melach haolam shelakel nehaye biduaro” Who keeps His word

Shabbat (sabbath): 7th day of the Jewish week and the day of rest in Judaism

Charoset: a dish made from apples, nuts, and cinnamon that is eaten during the seder and symbolizes the mortar made by enslaved Jews in Egypt

Rabbi: In Judaism, Rabbis are teachers of Torah and leaders of Judaic congregations

Minyan: A group of ten Jewish adults required for special religious obligations

“Next year in Jerusalem”: a statement made at the end of every Seder to commemorate the freed Jews aspirations to return to their holy city in Israel

Siege of Petersburg: Months of strategic trench warfare that led to the Confederate surrender

General Robert E. Lee: Commander of the Confederate Army. He turned down Lincoln’s offer to be commanding general of the Union army in 1861 because his home state was Virginia.

Nat Turner: An American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia in August 1831

Gangrene: A life-threatening condition that arises when a mass of body tissue dies as a result of injury or infection

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General Ulysses S. Grant: Union commander responsible for many important victories during the war, including Vicksburg and the Battle of Shiloh.

“Stonewall” Jackson: Infamous Confederate general, excelled in the battles of Bull Run and Antietam

William T. Sherman: a Union General (declared by historians to be the first ‘modern’ general). He embraced a “total war” ideology and has been both lauded and criticized for the”scorched earth” of Georgia and the Carolinas as a result of his campaigns.

Reflections:JEWISH EXODUS AND EMANCIPATION OF AMERICAN SLAVES

“In researching the end of the war and the very eventful month of April 1865, I came across a reference to the fact that Passover began that year on April 10, the day immediately following Lee‘s surrender at Appomattox. This meant that as Jews across the nation were celebrating this sacred ritual commemo-

rating their ancestors’ freedom from bondage in Egypt, a new kind of exodus was occurring all around them. The result, I hope, is an inexorable link between the African- American and Jewish imperatives of

reminding successive generations about their people‘s past. There has always been a conversation be-tween Black and Jewish histories in the United States. It is a conversation based, I believe, on a similar

history. In The Whipping Man, that similar history becomes a shared one.” Matthew Lopez, author of The Whipping Man

Discussion Questions

1) What are some similarities and differences between the enslavement of Jews and the enslavement of Africans in America?

3) What is gained from the irony inherent in the simultaneity of the emancipation of American slaves and the celebration of Passover between former slaves and their owner? How does this force us, as an audience, to reflect differently on these events?

2) What are some of the ironic implications of Jewish slaveholders?

4) How does linking African American history and Jewish history affect the relationships within the play?

5) How do you think the play wants us to feel about Jewish slaveholders? About slavery in general?

6) Why might a play like The Whipping Man be important and relevant for contemporary society? What current issues in politics, ethics, and international relations are paralleled or echoed by events and themes in The Whipping Man? On the other hand, how is this play ill-suited for the present moment?

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Civil War Timeline

JANUARY 1861The south secedes

March 1861Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated

April 1861The attack on Fort Sumter marks the

start of the Civil War July 1861The First Battle of Bull Run

January 1862 President Lincoln declares war on the

ConfederacyMay 1862

“Stonewall” Jackson defeats Union forces at Shenandoah

September 1862Antitam: The bloodiest battle of the war.

Confederacy yielded to Union forcesJanuary 1863

The Emancipation Proclamation declares all slaves free in the eyes

of the federal government.July 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg is fought.June 1864 - April 1865*

The Siege on Petersburg. (It is in this battle that The Whip-ping Man’s CALEB gets injured).

August 1864Union General Sherman takes control of

Atlanta

November 1864Lincoln is re-elected.April 1865*

Richmond, VA falls to Union forces.April 9, 1865*

General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Grant at Appo-

mattox CourthouseApril 14, 1865*

President Lincoln is assasinated at Ford’s theater in Washington, D.C.

Above are photos of Richmond (where TheWhipping Man takes place) in the aftermath of Grant’s siege. Just like the DeLeon’s house was decimated from the battle, so too was much of Richmond and much of

the South left in ruins.

* Indicates that these events occur during or around the time in which THE WHIPPING MAN occurs.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1865.html-15-

Jewish history Timeline

1813 BCEAbraham is born.

1677 BCEIsaac is prepared as a sacrifice to God.

1429 BCEEgyptian enslavement begins. 1393 BCE

Moses is born.

1314 BCEMoses sees the burning bush. 1313 BCE

Exodus begins: Moses leads the Jews out of Egypt. He also experiences the

revelation at Mt. Sinai and brings down 2nd set of tablets.1272 BCE

Yehoshua (Joshua) leads the Jews into Israel

877 BCEDavid becomes king of Israel.

832 BCEFirst Temple of Jerusalem is constructed.

492 BCEFirst temple is destroyed by Baby-

lonians.516 BCESecondTemple of Jerusalem is built.

1 CEJesus Christ is born.70 CE

Second Temple is destroyed.500 CE

Babylonian Talmud is compiled and recorded.1492 CE

Jews have been expelled from most West-ern Europen countries at this point.

1791 CEFrench National Assembly grants full

civil rights to Jews.

1654 CEFirst Jewish settlement established in North America (New Amsterdam).

1920 CEEngland receives Mandate over

Palestine.1948 CE

State of Israel is declared.

http://www.akhlah.com/history_tradition/torah_timeline.php -16-

Jews in the Confederacy Although we rarely hear this and it cer-tainly isn’t in most of our history books, the larg-est ethnic group to serve the Confederacy was made up of first-, second- and third-generation Jewish lads. Old Jewish families had settled in the South generations before the war. Jews had lived in Charleston, S.C. since 1695. By 1800, the largest Jewish community in America lived in Charleston, where America’s oldest synagogue - K.K. Beth Elohim - was founded. By 1861, a third of all the Jews in America lived in Louisiana.

In the end, more than 10,000 people of Jewish faith fought for the Confederacy. As Rabbi Korn of Charleston related, “Nowhere else in America - certainly not in the Antebel-lum North - had Jews been accorded such an opportunity to be complete equals as in the old South.” For example, General Robert E. Lee allowed his Jewish soldiers to observe all holy days, while Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman issued anti-Jewish orders.

Many Southern Jews became world-renowned during this period. Moses Jacob Ezekiel from Richmond fought at New Market with his fellow cadets from the Virginia Military Institute and became a noted sculptor. His mother, Catherine Ezekiel, said she would not tolerate a son who declined to fight for the Confederacy. Some of the more no-table among the officer corps also included Abraham Myers, a West Point graduate and a classmate of Lee’s in the class of 1832. Myers served as quartermaster general and, before the war, fought the Indians in Florida. The city of Fort Myers was named after him.

Abraham Myers wrote in his memoirs, “We were not fighting for the perpetuation of slavery, but for the principle of States Rights and Free Trade, and in defense of our homes which were being ruthlessly invaded.”

The Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia has an as-signed plot known as the Soldier‘s Section. It contains the graves of 30 Jewish Confederate soldiers who died in or near Richmond. It is the only Jewish military cemetery outside of the State of Israel.

Jewish soldiers pose for a photo at base camp in 1864.

Abraham Myers

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Just like Matthew Lopez used real events in novel ways to construct the characters and events of The Whipping Man, so too can you pull from your knowledge

of history and your own experiences to create exciting and dramatic scenes. Through his research, Matthew Lopez discovered that the end of the civil war, the freeing of the slaves,

and the assasination of President Lincoln coincided with Passover in 1865. You can discover such interesting coincidences too!

Answer the prompts below to begin to construct a scene rooted in reality.

1) State a shocking or revolutionary event from history (or your own experiences). Include the date if you can.

2) What other things occur around that time of year? (If it’s winter, maybe Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Or if it’s summer, maybe the 4th of July.)

3) What do these two occurrences have in common? (Think in terms of themes and events)

Playwrighting Exercise

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3) What do these two occurrences have in common? (Think in terms of themes and events)

4) Name 2 people who might, in some way, be involved in both of these events at the same time.

5) What do these people look like? (Short, Tall, Skinny, Hairy, etc.)

6) How do they move? (Slowly, Rapidly, Aggresively, Weakly, etc.)

7) How do they speak? (Stuttering, Yelling, Whispering, Lisping, etc.)

8) Now, on a separate piece of paper, begin writing dialogue by having one character ask the other a question about this shocking event. Keeping in mind the things you discovered through your thinking and writing above, let your two characters have a conversation and see where it takes you!

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