Playing with Fire
When:
Thursday, October 11, 2018 - 10:30am
Where:
Guthrie Theater
Location
Who: The Guthrie recommends that children be 12 years old or older but will admit children as young as 8 years old.
Children younger than 8 years of age will not be admitted.
How much:
Cost for Adults/Educators: $16.00
Cost for Children/Students: $16.00
Please register by: Tuesday, September 4, 2018 - 5:00pm
Description
Pre-Play Presentation
Please check in by 9:30am. A 30-minute pre-play presentation takes place before the start of every student matinee and exposes students to the creative process of one technical aspect of the production. Pre-show presentations run from 9:45am–10:15am.
Post-Play Discussion
A post-play discussion takes place for 30 minutes after the end of every student matinee. Moderated by a member of the Education team, they provide a space for students and actors to reflect on their shared experience and interact with one another.
Wurtele Thrust Stage
Adapted by Minnesota playwright Barbara Field from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (celebrating its 200th anniversary this year), Playing with Fire imagines a meeting between a dying Victor Frankenstein and his Creation in the Arctic Circle. As Frankenstein prepares to right his greatest wrong by confronting the Creature, scenes from their past are replayed and the line between good and evil is debated, revealing a powerful and agonizing question. Playing with Fire is a poignant thriller and an interrogation of the ethical limits of science and the human imagination.
Play Synopsis: At the North Pole, Frankenstein and the Creature meet in the culmination of a years-long chase and ritual of revenge. Frankenstein wants to avenge what the Creature has done to his family; the Creature wants to confront Frankenstein for creating and abandoning him. As they make a temporary and wary truce, their conversation encompasses topics that philosophers have wrestled with since God created Adam as scenes from their past are conjured and entwined. As a young, ambitious student, Victor Frankenstein pursued knowledge and used his keen mind to push the boundaries of science, ultimately creating and giving life to his Adam, whom he immediately rejects as a monster. Adam doesn’t know what being a monster means, but his painful education among other people soon teaches him. He recognizes he is an outcast, but he has an unbreakable connection to his creator that tests the bounds of love, responsibility, life, and death.
About the Playwright: Barbara Field is a Twin Cities-based playwright, co-founder of The Playwrights’ Center and the former literary manager at the Guthrie (1974–1981). The Guthrie has produced Field’s adaptations of A Christmas Carol annually from 1975 to 2009, as well as Great Expectations, Camille, Monsieur de Molière, Marriage, and Pantagleize. Her work has been produced across the country and in Britain, and she is the recipient of numerous awards, including Drama Logue and L.A. Drama Critics Choice awards and Bush, Schubert, McKnight and Minnesota State Arts Board fellowships.
Classroom Discussion Questions
- What does it mean to be human?
- How do we decide who and what is worthy of respect and decency?
- Is it possible for everyone, no matter their mistakes, to be redeemed?
Script Content Considerations: This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s celebrated novel focuses on the conflict between creator and his creation, and part of this conflict is at times symbolized by on-stage and off-stage gunfire. Toward the end of the play, Victor Frankenstein forcefully kisses another character without her consent.
by Barbara Field
based upon the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
directed by Rob Melrose
The following resources are available on the Guthrie’s website:
- Classroom activities provide educators ways to engage students on the themes and content of each student matinee production, based around the different creative skills involved in bringing a production to life. Available online for the 2018–2019 Season beginning August 15, 2018.
- Rehearsal scripts are available for each production and are to be used in the classroom for educational purposes only. Due to the exploratory nature of the rehearsal process, we can’t guarantee that the scripts we provide will exactly reflect the performance on stage. Most changes made in the development of a play for public performance are usually minor and do not affect the overall narrative in any significant way. Available for request September 1, 2018.
- Design sketches provide an inside look at a production’s costume and set designs. Available online after each production’s Sunday night preview performance.
- Play guides are compiled by the Guthrie’s resident dramaturgs and serve as an important context-building resource for the play. Available online after each production’s opening night.
- Performance content considerations address any content specific to the staging of Guthrie productions that students and teachers need to be made aware of in advance. Updated online after each production’s opening night.
- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) are created in response to student questions submitted to studentmatinees@guthrietheater.org and give students the opportunity to hear directly from a production’s creative team. Available online one week after each production’s closing night.
More information: www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2018-2019-season/
Payment information
Payment must be received by: Tue, Sep 4, 2018 - 5:00pm
- Please plan to send your payment the same day that you register.
The organizer will expect to receive your payment within 3 days of your date of registration — or by the payment deadline above, whichever comes first.
- Immediately after you register, you will be emailed payment instructions from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com.
Make sure your email filters recognize this address as a legitimate sender. If you don't receive this email, please check your spam, junk or bulk mail folder. Contact the organizer if you are unable to find it; if you receive no response to your email, please call the organizer.
You are not officially registered until the organizer receives your payment.
- When the organizer records your payment, you will be emailed a payment receipt from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com.
If you've sent your payment and haven't received a payment confirmation, please contact the organizer by email or phone.
- If the organizer doesn't receive payment within 3 days of your date of registration or by the payment deadline, whichever comes first, the organizer may remove your family from the registration list.
You will be notified by an email from admin(at)homeschoolrecess(dot)com should this unfortunate event occur.
If you are unable to send payment immediately, please contact the organizer to make other arrangements. This protects the organizer from non-payment due to payment instructions blocked by overly aggressive spam protection.
- If you need to cancel your registration, please do so via an email request to the organizer.
Non-payment is not an acceptable way to cancel your registration. If you wish to cancel, please be respectful of the volunteer organizer's time and send an email request.
If you fail to send a cancellation request by the cancellation deadline, you will remain responsible for reimbursing the organizer for the cost of your family's participation.
- To help the organizer identify you in the registration database, please include your username and field trip number along with any requests. This information can be found in your payment instructions email message and on the registration form on this page.
Cancellation information
Cancellation deadline: Tue, Sep 4, 2018 - 5:00pm
* TO CANCEL BEFORE THE DEADLINE: (1) Please let the organizer know as soon as possible via email. * TO CANCEL AFTER THE DEADLINE: (1) Let the organizer know as soon as possible via email. (2) No refunds can be made as the organizer has already paid for your tickets. (3) To avoid empty seats, please attempt to transfer your tickets to another family. (3a) Any reimbursements should be handled privately between you and your substitute. (3b) Please let the organizer know about the substitution. * TO CANCEL ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: (1) It is not cool to just not show up. Please let the organizer know if you are unable to attend — via email, text message or voice mail. (2) To avoid empty seats, please attempt to find a last-minute substitute for your family.
Additional information
Please arrive by:
* Please plan to be early to avoid being late due to inadequate maps, confusing road signs, road construction, heavy traffic, parking difficulties, inclement weather, or uncooperative children. Allow for plenty of time to find parking, visit the bathrooms and otherwise be prepared to be seated promptly. * Please check in by 9:30am for the Pre-Show Presentation. * Each seat at the Guthrie is reserved so you must sit in the assigned seat printed on your ticket. No one is allowed into the auditorium without a ticket; each theatergoer should have his or her own ticket in hand upon arrival. Children must have student tickets and adults must have chaperone tickets. Ushers will escort everyone to their assigned seat. * Latecomers will be seated during an appropriate break in the action, determined at the discretion of the Guthrie. No refunds, exchanges or adjustments are made for late arrivals.
Where to meet:
* We do not meet as a group. The organizer will mail your paper tickets to you 1 to 2 weeks prior to the show. Please be sure to provide your mailing address in the comment field when you register.
Food policy:
* Food, gum, and candy are not allowed in the auditorium during student matinees. Beverages, however, are welcome in the theater – in plastic or paper containers, please.
Alternate plans:
* During inclement weather, allow extra travel time. The Guthrie does not cancel performances due to inclement weather. After the cancellation deadline, no refunds or exchanges can be made if you are unable to attend your scheduled performance for any reason, including weather. In the unlikely event that the Guthrie cancels the performance, any refunds will be solely at the discretion of the Guthrie Theater.
Parking information:
* Parking is available in the city-owned Riverfront Ramp directly across from the Guthrie on South 2nd Street, just east of Chicago Avenue. Riverfront Municipal Ramp clearance is 7 feet. Parking rates are subject to change, but expect to pay about $7. * The Mill Quarter Parking Ramp entrance is on South 2nd Street, west of Chicago Avenue. Ramp clearance is 7 feet. Parking rates are subject to change, but expect to pay about $7. * Additional ramps and lots are located throughout the neighborhood. Fees vary. More information at mplsparking.com * Double parking is not permitted on S 2nd St at any time. Do not block the pedestrian crosswalk or the service entrance. * Additional information on parking can be found at guthrietheater.org/plan-your-visit/directions-parking/
Directions:
* The Guthrie is located in downtown Minneapolis on the west bank of the Mississippi River. See guthrietheater.org/plan-your-visit/directions-parking/ for more information. -- From southbound I-35W, take the Washington Ave exit (exit 17C). Turn right onto Washington Ave, then right onto 11th Ave S. Turn left onto S 2nd St and go 2 blocks. The Guthrie will be on your right. -- From eastbound I-94, take the N 4th St exit (exit 230). Turn left onto 3rd Ave S then right onto S 2nd St and go 4 blocks. The Guthrie will be on your left. -- From northbound I-35W, take the 3rd Ave/Washington Ave exit (exit 17C). Turn left onto Washington Ave then right onto 11th Ave S. Turn left onto S 2nd St and go 2 blocks. The Guthrie will be on your right. -- From eastbound I-394, take the 3rd Ave N/Washington Ave exit (exit 9C). Take the Washington Ave ramp. Turn right onto Washington Ave then left onto Chicago Avenue. Turn right onto St 2nd St. The Guthrie will be on your left. -- From westbound I-94, take the 5th St exit. Turn righto onto 11th Ave S then left onto S 2nd St and go 2 blocks. The Guthrie will be on your right. -- The nearest MetroTransit bus stop for the Guthrie is the Route 7 or Route 22 stop on the corner of Washington Ave at Chicago Ave. For light rail, use the Downtown East/Metrodome Station stop. Visit metrotransit.org for more information.
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