TABLE OF CONTENTS
Credits page
p. 3
Who Is Vertigo Theatre?
p. 4
About Going to the Theatre
p. 5
About the Playwright, Sharon Pollock
p. 6
Interview with the Playwright
p. 5
About the Play
p. 10
Origins
Characters
Setting
Playwright’s Production Note
Plot Synopsis
Historical context
Pre-show Activities
p. 14
Insight into Lizzie Borden
Extra, Extra, Read All About It!
A Woman’s Place
Dream Thesis
Post-show Activities
p. 17
Did You, Lizzie – Lizzie, Did You?
Small Town Gossip
Is All Life Precious?
Play Themes and Imagery
Student Play Report
Sponsor Information
p. 20
Teacher Evaluation
p. 21
Vertigo Theatre is committed to creating a welcoming atmosphere for schools and to assist
teachers and parent chaperones with that process. It is our wish to foster and develop our
relationship with our student audience members. It is our intention to create positive theatre
experiences for young people by providing study guides and post-show “talk backs” with our
actors and theatre personnel, in order to enrich students’ appreciation of theatre as an art form
and enhance their enjoyment of our plays.
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CREDITS PAGE
The Cast
Val Planche - Miss LIzzie / Bridget
Jan Alexandra Smith - The Actress / Lizzie
Robert Klein - Harry Wingate
Heather Lea MacCallum - Emma
Stephen Hair - Andrew Borden
Valerie Ann Pearson - Abigail Borden
Brian Jensen - Dr. Patrick / The Defense
Creative Team
Mark Bellamy – Director
Scott Reid – Set & Lighting Design
Michael Gesy – Sound Design
Dietra Kaylan – Costume Design
Marcie Januska - Stage Manager
Heather Rycraft - Assistant Stage Manager
Study Guide written by Roberta Mauer Phillips
For Vertigo Theatre
Suzanne Mott
General Manager
Mark Bellamy
Artistic Director
Nathan Pronyshyn Y Stage Producer
WHO IS VERTIGO THEATRE
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Vertigo Theatre operates out of Vertigo Theatre Centre and is located in the
heart of downtown at the Calgary Tower.
Housing two performing spaces, The Playhouse and The Studio, Vertigo Theatre
produces a mystery series (Vertigo Mystery Theatre) and presents theatre-foryoung-audience productions from across the country (Y Stage).
Vertigo Mystery Theatre is a unique opportunity for students to come together
and engage in an entertaining theatrical experience that promotes problem
solving. Appropriate for Junior and Senior High School students, Vertigo Mystery
Theatre allows students to study the literature of authors such as Agatha Christie
and J.B. Priestly while engaging in a shared cultural experience.
Y Stage provides young audiences and adults alike an opportunity to investigate
and rediscover our world. Y Stage is ideal for educating young people on the vast
scope of theatre as we feature a wide variety of performance styles including
physical theatre, mask, dance and spoken word. With five productions and an
additional show aimed specifically at teens, Y Stage truly has something for
students of all ages.
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ABOUT GOING TO THE THEATRE
Going to the theatre to see a play is a unique and wonderful experience. The sense of
being “right there” in the characters’ lives, the exchange of energy between actors and
audience, this cannot be found in front of television, films, computers, iPods or
Blackberries. In the theatre, the audience shares what the actors on stage are doing by
watching and listening. The actors on stage also respond to the audience and the way
they are reacting to the performance.
Some students may be coming to the theatre for the first time; others may need to be
reminded of appropriate audience behavior. The following is offered in the hope that
your students gain the most from their theatre experience.
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Stay with your group at all times and pay attention to your teachers, chaperones
and theatre personnel.
Once seated, stay put, watch and enjoy the play. If you absolutely must use the
washroom during the performance, please exit the theatre quickly and quietly.
You will be readmitted to the theatre at the discretion of the House Manager.
Please do not stand up, walk around or put your feet on the seat or stage in front
of you.
Remember, this is “live” theatre. If you even whisper to someone beside you
during the performance or in a blackout between scenes, you could disturb the
concentration of the actors doing their jobs, or other audience members’
enjoyment of the play.
Eating, drinking or chewing gum is not permitted in the theatre.
Feel free to talk quietly before the show. When the houselights go down at the
beginning of the play, this lets you know that we’re starting. It is at this moment
that the actors and technical staff do their final preparation for the opening
moment, so please let them do their work by being quiet and respectful.
Laugh if it’s funny, cry if it’s sad, think, watch, listen, feel, respond, and, above all,
applaud at the end. Let the actors and everyone else involved in the production
know in the curtain call that you had a good time and appreciated their work.
If you have a cell phone, iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, or any other electronic device,
please make sure it is turned off or leave it with the Front of House Manager until
the performance is over. If you feel the urge to text during the performance, just
don’t out of courtesy to your fellow audience members and the performers.
The use of cameras and recording devices in the theatre is strictly prohibited.
At the end of the performance and “talk back”, please wait for the ushers to
escort your group out of the theatre.
Above all else, have a good time!
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ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT, SHARON POLLOCK
Pollock’s stage plays, over 20 in number, are produced throughout Canada and
abroad. She writes for radio and television, has directorial credits at numerous
theatres across the country, and has led playwriting and theatre workshops
within and outside Canada. Her awards include a Canada Australia Literary
Award for her body of work, a Nellie Award for National Radio Drama, a Golden
Sheaf Television Award, and a Japan Foundation Award. She is the recipient of
two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Drama (1981 BLOOD RELATIONS;
1985 DOC), was short-listed for the same award in 1986 (WHISKEY SIX
CADENZA), and is a three time winner of the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Drama
Award, most recently in 2008 for KABLOONA TALK.
Since 2006 she has served as Dramaturge and artistic consultant with the
Atlantic Ballet Company of Canada, and in Nov. 08 returned from Prishtina,
Kosovo where she met with young Kosovar theatre artists and initiated, with
Jeton Neziraj, artistic director of the Kosovo National Theatre, an ongoing project
of collaboration, creation and exchange. Her reviews of Calgary theatre
productions “Pollock on Plays” can be heard on CBC’s Homestretch. In October
09 she’s slated to appear on Vertigo’ Studio stage playing Emily Murphy in
Calgary playwright Caroline Russell King’s HIGH AND SPLENDID BRAVERIES.
During her 40+ years in professional theatre Pollock has served as Head of the
Playwrights Colony at The Banff Centre of Fine Arts; the Associate Artistic
Director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Stratford Festival Theatre, and
Theatre Calgary. She was the Playwright in Residence at the National Arts
Centre; Alberta Theatre Projects; Theatre Calgary; and at Theatre Junction;
Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary, Theatre New Brunswick, and of Calgary’s
inner city storefront theatre, The Garry.
INTERVIEW WITH THE PLAYWRIGHT
What inspired you to write a play about Lizzie Borden?
I began the play to see if I could force myself to write a naturalistic play that had
unity of time and place with events occurring chronologically. That’s not my
preferred structure, but I set myself the task mainly because my father always
said that doing things you didn’t like to do was good for you. I thought it would be
good for me to write in a form I didn’t care for; it would hone my craft somehow,
like practicing scales on the piano. I choose Lizzie Borden as I’d read most, if
not all, that was ever written about her in the English language, thus any
research was already done. (It was a sort of leisure reading thing.) But once I
got started Miss Lizzie took over (if that doesn’t sound too precious) and the
characters, the story, and the way of telling it became something else altogether.
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Unity of time, place and setting got the axe, and Miss Lizzie spoke across time
and circumstance. I discovered as I wrote and rewrote that Miss Lizzie, though
out of our time, could speak to our time. She spoke to me, and for me, and I
could speak for her.
Is BLOOD RELATIONS a feminist play?
I dislike labels, and I would be better able to answer that question if I knew of a
play labeled whatever the male equivalent adjective would be to “feminist”. I
view labels like ‘feminist play” “gay play” “Asian Canadian play” as a way to set
those plays lower, less universal, than plays that are not so labeled. Does
anyone refer to DEATH OF A SALESMAN as a New York regional play? Or as a
patriarchal play?
BLOOD RELATIONS’ two leading roles are women’s roles and it deals with a
woman’s inability to conform or accept the authority of her society or of her
patriarchal family. It may resonate in a special way for some women just as
DEATH OF A SALESMAN may resonate for some men.
If a playwright’s intentions mean anything, I didn’t set out to write a feminist play.
The character and the story engaged me because of the questions it raised;
questions around character motivation and theatrical structure. Form and
content. So I don’t call BLOOD REALTIONS a feminist play. What others call it is
up to them.
The play is set in 1902, ten years after Mr. and Mrs. Borden were murdered.
You describe the flashbacks from 1892 as the “dream thesis” in which
events are jumbled together, not necessarily in order. Why did you choose
to structure BLOOD RELATIONS this way?
I like the challenge of theatrically shuffling past, present, future, external
locations, internal landscapes, inner thoughts and uttered words, while at the
same time trying to ensure the play’s accessibility to an audience. I’m attracted to
this kind of structure and form because I believe the way of telling a story
contributes to the meaning of the story.
The answer to “did she?” or “didn’t she?” held no fascination or motivation for me
in writing the play. The ambiguity that surrounded those questions did. The
playwriting question was how to weave ambiguity into the fabric of the play so
that both the manner of weaving and what was woven (that being ambiguity)
contributed to the overall meaning of the play.
Lizzie Borden’s friendship with Boston actress Nance O’Neil suggested a
structure, a way of telling that integrated ambiguity and played with the nature of
theatre itself. An actress plays the role of Miss Lizzie who assumes the role of
Bridget who watches (she’s an audience member within the play) as well as
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participates in the action (as an actress playing the role of The Actress who
assumes the role of Lizzie who watches (she’s also an audience member within
the play) and participates in the action. The characters, Miss Lizzie and The
Actress, are watched by individuals who have taken on the role of audience
members when they entered the theatre and, as audience, participate in this act
of theatre. (It’s like one of those boxes or figures that open to reveal a smaller
box or figure that opens to reveal a smaller box or figure, and so on.) These
multiple levels of role-playing enable or preserve the ambiguity of “did she?” or
“didn’t she?”
It’s a simple device in performance. But I believe it does create multi-levels of
meaning within the story and deepens the relationship between the principal
characters while expanding the realm of possibility of meaning and interpretation
for theatre artists and for members of the audience.
In addition, I intend the play’s structural elements to comment in a variety of ways
on what has just occurred in the play thus enriching or increasing the possible
meaning of the moment ex. a flashback introduced by a repeated phrase “The
truth is 32 is too old to daydream” with “The truth is she’s spoiled rotten”; or two
seemingly proper Victorian ladies dancing to Scott Joplin; or children’s voices as
an old man’s murdered. Sometimes the comment is ironic, sometimes comic,
sometimes it raises questions as to whether what we’ve regarded as the “truth” of
a moment is really only one interpretation or point of view of that moment. I want
these elements to enhance the audience’s sensory, emotional, and intellectual
engagement with the play in performance.
What is the truth about Lizzie Borden?
If I really know that I wouldn’t have to write the play. BLOOD RELATIONS is an
exploration of a possible truth. If recorded event is truth, and if the legal system
reveals truth, she was acquitted of any crime.
To me the evidence suggests that Bridget and Lizzie either committed the
murders together, or either one of them committed the murders with the
knowledge of the other. The fact that each of the women assured the innocence
of the other by their testimony in court is interesting. At that time, the courts were
more than ready to convict any Irish man or woman, particularly of the working
class, of any crime on little evidence. Had Lizzie Borden said the word, Bridget
would have been hanged faster than you can say, “took an axe”. The fact that
Lizzie didn’t turn on Bridget, and that Bridget supported Lizzie’s version of events
in court suggests a strong relationship between the two women (and possibly a
financial pay-off for Bridget which is often suggested with no definitive proof.)
What prompted you to move from acting to playwriting?
I’d worked 7 years as an equity actor and had never been in a Canadian play.
Canadian actors put on a variety of accents as they performed in plays from
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other times and places. Our voices were silenced and stories seen through the
lens of the Canadian experience went untold on our stages. I saw the making of
theatre as a political and social act. Much as I often felt like making bombs in the
basement it seemed a better idea to try to touch people’s emotions and engage
their brains with theatre that entertained but hopefully stimulated certain
questions about how we live our lives. So I turned to writing plays.
You have countless awards and are revered as a playwright. What would
you say your most significant accomplishment is?
I hope I’m not revered. I think being revered is like being dead. Only worse
because you’re still alive. I think my most significant accomplishment is surviving
through the lush and the lean years, still writing, still learning, still trying to figure
out why people do what they do, why the world is the way it is, why I am the way
I am.
What advice would you offer to student playwrights?
Engage with life outside your own zone and circle. Keep writing. Don’t let that
inner Voice of Judgment block creation. Learn from failure. Keep writing.
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ABOUT THE PLAY
Origins
In 1976, Sharon Pollock’s play, MY NAME IS LIZABETH, was produced at the
Vancouver Playhouse with Ms. Pollock playing the title role of Lizzie Borden. The
revised version, BLOOD RELATIONS, premiered professionally at Theatre 3,
Edmonton, Alberta, on March 12, 1980. It has since been produced at theatres
across Canada, the United States, Australia and Japan.
Characters
Lizzie Borden is the play’s central character. She will play Bridget, the Borden
family’s Irish maid in the flashback sequences. Ten years after the murder of her
father and stepmother, a crime for which she was tried and acquitted, Lizzie lives
with her sister, Emma. Stubborn and eccentric, Lizzie refuses to follow the
prescribed rules for women in the late 1880’s, believing that people should be
permitted to follow their own paths, regardless of what others think.
The Actress is Lizzie’s friend and the two have an intense relationship. When
she presses Lizzie for the truth about the murders, Lizzie proposes they play a
game in which she will play Bridget, the maid, and the Actress will assume the
role of Lizzie in the flashback sequences.
Harry Wingate is Lizzie’s stepmother’s brother. He is a womanizer and a
conniving businessman who tries to convince Lizzie’s father to hand over money
and property to him and his sister.
Emma Borden is Lizzie’s older sister who has raised her since their mother’s
early death. Loving and meek, Emma does not understand Lizzie’s free-spirited
ways.
Andrew Borden is Lizzie and Emma’s father. As the man of the house, he is the
one with all the decision-making power. When Lizzie is good and obedient, he
treasures her; however, when she asserts herself and challenges him, he can be
brutal.
Abigail Borden is Lizzie’s stepmother. Since she married Mr. Borden, a widower
with two young girls, her relationship with Lizzie has never been good. She is
harsh and critical, telling Lizzie she must do what is expected – get married,
move out and have her own family. Abigail is a scheming manipulator, just like
her brother, Harry.
Dr. Patrick, the Irish doctor, is a good friend to Lizzie. Sympathetic to Lizzie’s
hopes and dreams, he is puzzled by her need for freedom. In the courtroom
flashback sequences, he also plays the part of the Defense, arguing for Lizzie’s
innocence.
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Setting (playwright’s notes)
The time is late Sunday afternoon and evening, late autumn, in Fall River,
Massachusetts in1902; the year of the “dream thesis,” if one might call it that, is
1892.
The playing areas include (a) within the Borden house: the dining room from
which there is an exit to the kitchen; the parlour; a flight of stairs leading to the
second floor; and (b) in the Borden yard: the walk outside the house; the area in
which the birds are kept.
Production Note (as described in the script)
Action must be free-flowing. There can be no division of the script into scenes by
blackout, movement of furniture, or sets. There may be freezes of some
characters while other scenes are being played. There is no necessity to “get
people off” and ”on” again for all the characters, with the exception of the Actress
and Miss Lizzie (and Emma in the final scene) are imaginary, and all action in
reality would be taking place between Miss Lizzie and the Actress in the dining
room and parlour of her home.
The Defense may actually be seen, may be a shadow, or a figure behind a scrim.
While Miss Lizzie exits and enters with her Bridget business, she is always a
presence, often observing unobtrusively as “herself”, when as Bridget she takes
no part in the action.
Plot
The play takes place on a late Sunday afternoon and evening in 1902, Fall River,
Massachusetts. Miss Lizzie and the Actress are in the parlour of the Borden
house. They clearly have a close relationship. As they talk about the Actress’s
glamourous life in the theatre world in Boston, the Actress reports that some kids
playing skip rope behind the theatre were singing, “Lizzie Borden took an axe,
Gave her mother forty whacks. When the job was nicely done, She gave her
father forty-one.” The Actress then presses Lizzie to tell her the truth about the
murders of her father and step-mother, “Did – you – Lizzie – Lizzie – did - you?”
Even though Miss Lizzie had been acquitted, the truth has remained ambiguous.
Miss Lizzie proposes that they play a re-enactment game in which the Actress
will play her, and Lizzie will play Bridget.
The flashback “dream thesis” sequences begin with Lizzie’s trial that took place
ten years before in 1892. The Defense questions Lizzie as Bridget, who
describes the Borden family and a visit from Harry, Mrs. Borden’s brother. Harry
inappropriately talks to Bridget as if she were a sexual object. It also becomes
clear that the purpose of his visit is to convince his brother-in-law, Mr. Borden, to
sign over more money and property to either him or his sister. Lizzie appears and
Harry leaves to split wood. He knows Lizzie is on to his financial schemes.
Emma, Lizzie’s older sister appears. When Lizzie wants to talk with her about the
purpose of Harry’s visit, Emma does not want to deal with the reality of the family
farm, which is in financial ruin, or Harry’s schemes to get his hands on what
should be their inheritance.
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Mrs. Borden comes down for breakfast and Lizzie leaves to feed her beloved
pigeons in the shed. It is clear there is no love lost between them. Mrs. Borden
refers to Lizzie as spoiled and unladylike. When Mr. Borden appears and is
questioned by Emma about the purpose of Harry’s visit, he tells her it is none of
her business. He changes the subject to the widower, Johnny MacLeod, who is
interested in Lizzie, insisting that Emma tell Lizzie about it. Emma leaves in a
huff, refusing to be the family mediator and taking the abuse for it.
The scene shifts to Lizzie and Dr. Patrick talking flirtatiously outdoors. When he
jokingly suggests that Lizzie run away from home, she invites him to run off with
her, even though he is married. Their fun is interrupted by the appearance of
Harry, who tells Lizzie it’s time for lunch. Lizzie ignores him. Harry then reports to
Mr. and Mrs. Borden that Lizzie has been flirting with the doctor. He and Mrs.
Borden gang up on Mr. Borden, saying he can’t control his own daughter. He
says, “…the truth of the matter is, if Lizzie puts her mind to a thing, she does it,
and if she don’t, she don’t.” Finally, Mr. Borden says he’ll talk to her.
Back in the courtroom, Lizzie expresses how she has always felt she was born
without “a magic formula for being a woman … I was born … defective.” The
Defense returns. “Do you believe Lizzie Borden capable of these acts? I can tell
you I do not!!”
Mr. Borden tries to persuade Lizzie to see the widower MacLeod. Lizzie knows
he also has three small boys, arguing, “He’s looking for a housekeeper not a
wife.” She does want to leave the house, but refuses to get married to do it. Mr.
Borden scoffs at her idea of learning to keep the books at his office. The
confrontation escalates with Mrs. Borden goading Lizzie as well, ending with Mr.
Borden slapping Lizzie and sending her to her room.
Lizzie overhears Harry’s business with her father. Harry wants the fallow farm put
in Mrs. Borden’s name and leased to him. He will conduct horse auctions and
buggy rides on the property, giving Mr. Borden twenty per cent. When Harry
leaves, Lizzie confronts her father. His rage erupts and he directs it at Lizzie’s
beloved pigeons, killing them with an axe. Act One ends back in 1902, with Lizzie
saying that she loved her pigeons.
Act Two returns to Lizzie and the Actress’s 1892 re-enactment. It is the following
day. When Emma tells Lizzie she is going away for a few days, Lizzie accuses
her of running away from reality. She explains that with the farm being signed
over to their stepmother, they will be cut out of their father’s will and left with only
a small monthly allowance. Emma leaves with Lizzie saying, “I want to die, but
something inside won’t let me … inside something says no.”
Mr. and Mrs. Borden and Harry come down for breakfast and Harry and Mr.
Borden plan to go to town to conduct business, after which Harry plans to leave.
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Lizzie, knowing their plan to sign the papers in town, unsuccessfully begs her
father not to go. The scene fades to another talk between Dr. Patrick and Lizzie.
They have a peculiar conversation about whom he would save if he could only
save one of two people dying in an accident – an old person or a young person,
a bad person or a good person. Lizzie accuses the doctor of not making
decisions because he’s a coward. She states, “I’m not a coward!!”
Back at home, Lizzie talks to Mrs. Borden about her father killing her birds with
an axe. Uncomfortable, Mrs. Borden goes upstairs, carrying a basket of Lizzie’s
clean clothes. Lizzie follows, describing how she would kill someone as they exit.
The scene changes and Mr. Borden is home. Lizzie, telling him how much she
loves him, helps him get comfortable and encourages him to take a nap. When
he’s asleep, Lizzie approaches him with a hatchet as the stage darkens.
Back in 1902, the Actress moves into the shadows as Emma confronts Lizzie
about their disgraceful relationship. Emma again asks Lizzie if she committed the
murders ten years before. Threatening her with “something sharp”, Lizzie states
that if she is guilty, Emma is as well since she raised her and taught her
everything.
The play ends with the Actress deciding Lizzie really did commit the murders.
Lizzie replies, “I didn’t. You did.”
Historical Context: Lizzie Borden
On August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden discovered her father’s body in a downstairs
room of the family house. She called upstairs to Bridget Sullivan, the family’s
maid, to inform her. Later, while neighbours attended to Borden, Sullivan
discovered the body of Lizzie’s stepmother. Both victims had been killed by
multiple blows with a hatchet, and although a broken hatchet was found by
investigators in the basement of the house, the hatchet was never proven to be
the murder weapon. In the absence of other evidence, such as bloody clothing or
a murder weapon, the jury acquitted Lizzie Borden after one hour’s deliberation.
The notoriety of the murders and trial led to speculation in the following years
about who the murderer really was.
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PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES
Insight into Lizzie Borden
Sharon Pollock has created a complex, conflicted woman in the character of
Lizzie Borden in BLOOD RELATIONS. Lizzie longs to escape the confines of
society and her family’s expectations, yet she is trapped in the cage of her life.
Examine the following script excerpt for an insight into one side of Sharon
Pollock’s Lizzie Borden.
MR. BORDEN:
You resemble your mother.
LIZZIE:
I look like my mother?
MR. BORDEN:
A bit like your mother.
LIZZIE:
But my mother’s dead.
MR. BORDEN:
Lizzie –
LIZZIE:
I remember you told me she died because she was sick … I
was born and she died … Did you love her?
MR. BORDEN:
I married her.
LIZZIE:
Can’t you say if you loved her?
MR. BORDEN:
Of course I did, Lizzie.
LIZZIE:
Do you hate me for killing her?
MR. BORDEN:
happened.
You don’t think of it that way, it was just something that
LIZZIE:
Perhaps she just got tired and died. She didn’t want to go
on, and the chance came up and she took it. I could understand that …
Perhaps she was like a bird, she could see all the blue sky and she
wanted to fly away but she couldn’t. She was caught, Papa, she was
caught in a horrible snare, and she saw a way out and she took it …
Perhaps it was a very brave thing to do, Papa, perhaps it was the only
way, and she hated to leave us because she loved us so much, but she
couldn’t breathe all caught in the snare …
Extra, Extra, Read All About It!
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The New York Times headline for August 5th, 1892 read: “ BUTCHERED IN
THEIR HOME: Mr. Borden and His Wife Killed in Broad Daylight.” The first
paragraph read:
FALL RIVER, Mass., Aug. 4 – Andrew J. Borden and his wife, two of the oldest,
wealthiest, and most highly respected persons in the city, were brutally murdered
with an ax at 11 o’clock this morning in their home on Second Street, within a few
minutes’ walk of the City Hall. The Borden family consisted of the father, mother,
two daughters, and a servant. The older daughter has been in Fair Haven for
some days. The rest of the family has been ill for three or four days, and Dr.
Bowen, the attending physician, thought they had been poisoned.
In 2009, a newspaper account of such a horrific crime would be shocking; in the
early 1890’s, they were unfathomable. And the idea that the murderer could
possibly be Borden’s daughter, Lizzie, took days to register with the police
despite all the evidence that pointed directly to her. How could a woman of her
upbringing possibly commit such a heinous crime?
Interpretations of true events can inspire fascinating art, which can take many
forms. A few examples are the song, American Pie, about the death of Buddy
Holly; Picasso’s painting, Guernica, depicting a war crime; the books In Cold
Blood, Helter Skelter and A Mighty Heart; the films, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde
and The Assassination of Jesse James; and, of course, the play, BLOOD
RELATIONS.
What recent or current events do you find interesting enough to inspire an artistic
interpretation? Work individually or in groups to create musical compositions,
movement/dance pieces, poems, artwork, stories, videos or theatrical scenes
based on events that pique your curiosity and interest.
A Woman’s Place
Isabella Mary Beeton (1936 – 1865) was the English author of Mrs. Beeton’s
Book of Household Management. This book is referred to in BLOOD
RELATIONS as a resource for questions of etiquette and the role of women. In
the preface, Mrs. Beeton explains why she wrote the book: “I have always
thought that there is no more fruitful source of family discontent than a
housewife’s badly cooked dinners and untidy ways. Men are now so well served
out-of-doors, at their clubs, well-ordered taverns, and dining houses, that in order
to compete with the attractions of these places, a mistress must be thoroughly
acquainted with the theory and practice of cookery, as well as be perfectly
conversed with all the other arts of making and keeping a comfortable home.”
Presenting a contemporary man’s point of view in the play is Lizzie Borden’s
stepmother’s brother, Harry in conversation with Lizzie’s father: “Now Andrew,
I’ve spent my life raisin’ horses and I’m gonna tell you somethin’ – a woman is
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just like a horse! You keep her on a tight rein, or she’ll take the bit in her teeth
and the next thing you know, road, destination, and purpose is all behind you,
and you’ll be damn lucky if she don’t pitch you right in a sewer ditch!”
In the 21st century, it may appear that the role of women has changed drastically
since Victorian times; however, there are still cultures in which men demand
obedience from women. The following quote is from Nance O’Neil, an American
actress of stage and silent movies in the early 20th century, on whom the
character of the Actress in BLOOD RELATIONS is based. Use the quote as the
basis for a class discussion or debate on the topic:
“Tradition has made women cowardly.”
Dream Thesis
Sharon Pollock has called Lizzie’s re-enactment of the 1892 murders ten years
prior the “dream thesis.” The play avoids realism and defies logical time
progression. There aren’t clear entrances and exits. The actors weave in and out
of the present and the past. There are three real characters on stage, Lizzie, her
sister Emma and the Actress. The others are pulled up from memories of the
1892 event. This gives the scenes with Mr. Borden, his wife, her brother Harry,
and Dr. Patrick a hazy, hallucinatory quality; they are the ghosts of Lizzie’s
memory.
Our own dreams can be ambiguous, random and bizarre. Sometimes when we
awaken from a particularly vivid dream, it can initially be difficult to differentiate
between what is real and what is not.
In small groups, brainstorm to come up with stories of the strangest dream you
could ever imagine. You may wish to share dreams you have actually had, or
create your own dream story. Write your stories down and then present them to
the other groups using your voices to “paint the word pictures” as dramatically as
possible.
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POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES
Did You, Lizzie – Lizzie, Did You?
Did Lizzie Borden, in fact, murder her father and stepmother? On the basis of the
play you have seen, Sharon Pollock’s take on the subject, and further research
you may be interested in doing, what do you think? Did she get away with
murder?
According to some some sources, Lizzie was the only suspect, with means,
motive, and opportunity. What ended up saving her was the horrendous violence
of the murders. The possibility of such a civilized, well-brought up, middle class
woman hacking two people to death was unthinkable. After only one hour of
deliberation, the all-male jury found Lizzie Borden not guilty.
What if the play, BLOOD RELATIONS, ended with Lizzie confessing to the
Actress and her sister, Emma? Using what you have learned when you saw the
play and perhaps did your own research, compose and perform Lizzie’s
confession monologue.
Small Town Gossip
Lizzie Borden was acquitted in the courtroom but not in her town of Fall River
where she was ostracized. No one wanted anything to do with her.
Create scenes based on how you think the local townspeople of Fall River might
have reacted in the days during her trial and subsequent acquittal. Would the
male and female perceptions be similar or different? What might people be
saying? Create two different conversations – in the dress goods store where the
women have gathered, and in the lunchroom of the mill where the men work.
Keep the scenes to no more than four characters and try to present as many
points of view as possible.
Is All Life Precious?
Think back to the scene near the end of the play in which Lizzie says the
following to her stepmother:
“Did you know Papa killed my birds with the axe? He chopped off their heads.
It’s alright. At first I felt bad, but I feel better now. I feel much better now …. I am
a woman of decision, Mrs. Borden. When I decide to do things, I do them, yes, I
do. How many times has Papa said --- when Lizzie puts her mind to a thing, she
does it --- and I do …. It’s always me who puts the slug poison out because they
eat all the flowers and you don’t like that, do you? They’re bad things, they must
die. You see, not all life is precious, is it?
What did you think would occur in the story after that point in the play? Is all life
precious? What did you think when Lizzie asked Dr. Patrick if he could only save
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one of two people injured and dying in an accident would he choose the bad
person or the one trying to be good? What are the ethics of this dilemma? If you
were a doctor, what would you do? Do you recall any other moments in the play
in which the question “is all life precious?” is explored?
Play Themes and Imagery
What would you say are the main themes in the play, BLOOD RELATIONS?
What predominant images do you recall that may have been used to illustrate
those themes? For example, why are the pigeons important in the story? What
does the hatchet represent? Do you recall any other images that contributed to
the rich tapestry of this play, either in the lines spoken or any technical aspects
such as lighting, music or sound?
The next time you attend a play, read a book or poem, see a film, or visit an art
gallery, try to pay specific attention to the imagery. Often that is where the
emotional connection to the work is found. True art speaks to the hearts, souls
and minds of its audience.
Student Play Report
We would love to know what your students thought of our production of BLOOD
RELATIONS. Please encourage them to write and send us copies of their play
reports. If they wish to be entered into a draw to receive 2 tickets to one of our
upcoming productions, they must include the following:
First name
Last name initial only
Grade
School name
Teacher contact name
School phone number
Date of the performance attended
Please fax to 403-263-1611or email play reports to
nathan.pronyshyn@vertigotheatre.com
Once the draw is done, we will contact the teacher and the school to let the
student know. The winning student may then get in touch with us regarding how
and when to pick up the tickets.
You may have your own format for student play reports. If not, may we suggest
the following be included:
First name, school, and when you attended Vertigo Theatre’s production of
BLOOD RELATIONS.
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Have you attended any other live theatre performances before?
Did you know anything about the play before you saw it? What were you
expecting?
Did the production meet your expectations?
Was there anything in the play you did not quite understand?
Was each character believable, or was there something that didn’t ring quite true
for you?
If you could play one of the characters, which would you choose and why?
Did each of the technical elements – set, costumes, lighting, sound, music,
special effects, enhance or detract from the production for you?
What do you think you’ll remember most about the play and why?
What message do you think the playwright meant to convey in this play?
If you could change anything about the production, what would it be?
Would you recommend that your friends and family go out and see this
production?
Note: If you or your students are interested in finding out more about Vertigo
Theatre, please visit our web site at www.vertigotheatre.com where you may also
sign up for our e-newsletter.
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Evaluation Form
Your Feedback is very important to us! Our series are growing rapidly and the
information you provide will help us to determine future programming, booking
procedures and educational content. Return by fax to 403-263-1611. Thank you
for helping us continue improving our series!
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