October 27 - December 18
A Study and Resorce Guide
by Zach Trebino
Section I:
About the Play
page 1
The Arden’s Production
Setting and Characters
Synopsis
page 2
pages 3 - 5
page 7
About the playwright
Section II:
About the Arden’s Production
Designer Profiles
pages 7 - 9
page 10
Disscussion:
Production Analysis
Section III:
Info, Activities, & Exercises
About Passover
page 11
About Lincoln’s Assasination
page 12
Glossasry
page 13
Reflections
page 14
Civil War Timeline
page 15
JEwish War Timeline
page 16
About Jewish Confederates
page 17
Playwrighting Exercise
pages 18 - 19
About the Production
written by Matthew Lopez
directed by Matt Pfeiffer
Set design by
David P. Gordon
lighting design by
Thom Weaver
costume design by
Alison Roberts
sound design by
Christopher Colucci
stage managed by
Stephanie Cook
Assistant directed by
Eric Wunsch
Featuring:
John
Cody Nickell
Johnnie Hobbs, Jr.
as Caleb DeLeon
as Simon
James Ijames
as John
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Where:
The Ruins of a once grand home in Richmond, Virgina
When:
Between April 13, 1865 and April 15, 1865
Characters
Simon
50’s, Elder servant to and recently freed
slave of the DeLeon family, Jewish
Caleb
About the Play
Setting
20’s, an injured confederate soldier
returning home after war, Jewish
John
20’s, former slave of the DeLeon
family and childhood companion of
Caleb, Jewish
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About the Play
Synopsis
A c t
I
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 amputation 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 amputation. 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.
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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About the Play
Synopsis
A c t
I -
c ontinued
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.
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.
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About the Play
Synopsis
A c t
I I
Act II opens with Caleb
reading a love letter to the audience that he wrote to Sarah while
away at war. In it, he expresses
his deep love for her and his insatiable longing to return home to
her safely.
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.
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 Man
Playwright in Residence at the Old Globe (2011 - 2013)
Production History of The Whipping Man:
April 2006 - World Premiere at Luna Stage Company in Montclair, NJ
February 2009 - Production at Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, MN
May 2010 - West Coast Premiere at Old Globe in San Diego, CA
June 2010 - New England Premiere at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, MA
February 2011 - New York Premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, NY
September 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 between 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/
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Design Profiles:
Set
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.
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Design Profiles:
Costumes
Alison Roberts, the Arden Theatre’s
costume supervisor, deisgned the costumes
for The Whipping Man.
Simon:
Johnnie Hobbs, Jr.
Design Factoid:
Before costumes can be constructed, 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.
John:
James Ijames
Caleb:
Cody Nickell
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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 measurements. Here are the finished products:
Johhnie Hobbs, Jr. as Simon
James Ijames as John
Cody Nickell as Caleb
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Reflections:
Production Analysis
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.
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 audience to come to this sentiment?
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
What is Passover?
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. Traditionally, families gather for dinner on the first night of passover, a
meal which is called a seder.
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 sacrifice in days of yore.
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.
Karpas
MATZO
MAror
Discussion Questions
1) 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?
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 define tradition? Do you think tradition is important? Why or why not?
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President Lincoln’s Assasination
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assasinated while watching a production 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 Lincoln in the back of the head, right behind the left ear. Major 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 assassin 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.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alrintr.html
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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.
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.
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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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 commemorating 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 between 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?
2) What are some of the ironic implications of Jewish slaveholders?
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?
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 1861
The south secedes
April 1861
The attack on Fort Sumter marks the
start of the Civil War
January 1862
President Lincoln declares war on the
Confederacy
September 1862
Antitam: The bloodiest battle of the war.
Confederacy yielded to Union forces
July 1863
The Battle of Gettysburg is fought.
August 1864
Union General Sherman takes control of
Atlanta
April 1865*
Richmond, VA falls to Union forces.
April 14, 1865*
President Lincoln is assasinated at Ford’s
theater in Washington, D.C.
March 1861
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated
July 1861
The First Battle of Bull Run
May 1862
“Stonewall” Jackson defeats Union
forces at Shenandoah
January 1863
The Emancipation Proclamation
declares all slaves free in the eyes
of the federal government.
June 1864 - April 1865*
The Siege on Petersburg.
(It is in this battle that The Whipping Man’s CALEB gets injured).
November 1864
Lincoln is re-elected.
April 9, 1865*
General Robert E. Lee surrenders
to Union General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse
* Indicates that these events occur during or around
the time in which THE WHIPPING MAN occurs.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/tl1865.html
Above are photos of Richmond (where The
Whipping 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.
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Jewish history Timeline
1813 BCE
Abraham is born.
1429 BCE
Egyptian enslavement begins.
1314 BCE
Moses sees the burning bush.
1272 BCE
Yehoshua (Joshua) leads the Jews into
Israel
832 BCE
First Temple of Jerusalem is constructed.
516 BCE
SecondTemple of Jerusalem is built.
70 CE
Second Temple is destroyed.
1492 CE
Jews have been expelled from most Western Europen countries at this point.
1791 CE
French National Assembly grants full
civil rights to Jews.
1948 CE
State of Israel is declared.
http://www.akhlah.com/history_tradition/torah_timeline.php
1677 BCE
Isaac is prepared as a sacrifice to God.
1393 BCE
Moses is born.
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.
877 BCE
David becomes king of Israel.
492 BCE
First temple is destroyed by Babylonians.
1 CE
Jesus Christ is born.
500 CE
Babylonian Talmud is compiled
and recorded.
1654 CE
First Jewish settlement established in
North America (New Amsterdam).
1920 CE
England receives Mandate over
Palestine.
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Jews in the Confederacy
Jewish soldiers pose for a photo
at base camp in 1864.
Although we rarely hear this and it certainly isn’t in most of our history books, the largest 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 Antebellum 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 notable 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
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 assigned 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.
http://www.jewishmag.com/112mag/confederates/confederates.htm
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Playwrighting Exercise
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)
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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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