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CONTENTS:SYNOPSISPRINCIPALCHARACTERSTHEATRICALCONVENTIONSACTIVITIESCHARACTERSBIBLIOGRAPHYANSWER KEYSYNOPSIS:
The Boston Tea Party tells thestory of the American Revolutionin 55 minutes! Narrated andhosted by “Simple”, our maincharacter, the production is actu-ally seven plays in one.
Prologue:
The Town Crier
Simple sets the stage for the action to fol-low and introduces the characters: Mercy OtisWarren, our heroine; General “GentlemanJohnny” Burgoyne, our villain; and CrispusAttucks,our adventurer.
Play #1:
The Settlement of the Colonies
The Players act out the difficulties inEngland that led to the settlement of the NewWorld and alliances with the Native Americans.
Play #2:
The French and Indian Wars
This war created a debt for England.King George and others decided to tax thecolonists to pay for their protection.
Play #3:
The Tragedy of the Sugar Tax
Some of the earliest taxes involved themolasses-rum-slave trade which wasbased in New England.
Play #4:
The Stamp Act
This act was the first of the“Intolerable Acts” which caused thecolonists to object to “Taxation with-out Representation”.
Play #5:
The Tea Act and the Boston Massacre
Tea was the most important drinkto the colonists. This tax led to dis-content everywhere and the forma-tion of the Sons and Daughters ofLiberty.
Play #6:
The Blockade of Boston
The stakes get higher and the tensionbuilds as the Colonists realize that rebellioncould mean life or death.
Play #7:
The Blockheads of Boston
Simple must test his own patriotism andtake a stand after Paul Revere’s raid. TheRevolution begins!
The Boston Tea Party
Parent/TeacherStudy Guide
1
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS:
In this play with-in a play, as in many Seem-To-Be Players pro-ductions, actors play multiple characters. Achange in hat or clothing can transform onecharacter into another. The main characters are:
MERCYOTIS WARREN
— Arevolutionary"Daughter of Liberty". Mercy wrote as manypamphlets as Thomas Paineand was well known by Johnand Abigail Adams and otherrevolutionaries. Her husband,James, was a Minuteman,and her brother, James Otis,was the first to argue in courtagainst "taxation without rep-resentation”. Mercy wrote ahistory of the revolution, andshe also wrote plays, including
The Blockheads of Boston
, 1775, in which Simple is one of hercharacters. In our play, Mercy represents theheroic cause of the colonists. Our actress alsoplays the following characters: Pilgrim Wife,George Washington, James Otis & Sam Adams.
GENERAL"GENTLEMAN JOHNNY" BURGOYNE
— Areal life general in the BritishArmy, he was later famous for his defeat at theBattle of Saratoga. He fancied himself "the nextShakespeare" and wrote many plays, including
The Blockade of Boston
, in 1775. Mercy’s play,
The Blockheads of Boston
is a parody on theGeneral’s play. In our play, our actor playingJohnny represents the villainous Redcoats andalso plays the following characters: Redcoat,British Oppressor, Governor Hutchinson, PrimeMinister Grenville & Stamp Tax Collector.
CRISPUS ATTUCKS
— Adock worker inBoston. Formerly a slave, Crispus worked hardand bought his own freedom. Crispus was oneof five citizens killed during the Boston Massacreand was the first African-American casualty ofthat conflict. In our play, the actor Crispus alsoplays the following characters Mohawk Chief,Iroquois & Huron Warriors, British Thug, RoyalStamp and Paul Revere and the KINGGEORGE III puppet.
SIMPLE
— is a fictional char-acter come to life from thepages of one of Mercy’s plays.He is a prototype of an earlyAmerican Theatrical charac-ters also known as SampleSwitchel or Toby. Simple isthe "wise fool" and as such,both learns and teaches themost about the Revolution.He’s in the play but he doesn’t know the ending!Our actor also plays Pilgrim Husband, FrenchTrader, British Thug, Ebenezer Mackintosh,James Warren, Simple Mackintosh, Merchant,Sailor and becomes a Minuteman.
CONSTITUTIONALCONVENTIONS VS. THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS:
When the Colonists began to organize, they hadmeetings called Conventions, Committees ofCorrespondence or Congresses. In these meet-ings the colonists established rules and proce-dures for the new country being born. Theatricalconventions establish rules and procedures for aspecific production. The theatrical conventionsyou will see in this production include:
1) Melodrama
— In traditional American Melodrama, conflict isspelled out in its simplest most "black and white"form, so that the audience perceives each char-acter and cause as good or evil. In realistic the-atre, we look at all the reasons for each deci-sion, while in Melodrama, the choices are muchclearer. Because of this, a tradition began in thelate 1800's and early part of the 20th century of"Booing" the villain and Cheering "Yay"the hero. Audiences also "Sigh" for the heroinewith sympathy. Simple, as the Toby narrator,gives the audiences the rules for this sort of par-ticipation.
2) Breaking the Fourth Wall
— In realistic theatre there is a fourth wall betweenthe actors and the audience. You can see theactors, but they can’t see you. In Melodramaand highly theatrical pieces like this one, theactors often speak directly to the audience,2
sometimes as their principal character and occa-sionally, even as the actor playing the character.This is called theatrical because everyone knowsvery clearly that this is "playing" a part ratherthan "being" a character.
3) Transformational Theatre
—Transformational theatre occurs whenever actors“transform” an idea or object with their imagina-tion into something different. The actors in TheBoston Tea Party don different hats and coatsand grab small prop pieces and "transform" intomany different characters. They establish wherethey are and what they are doing with simplestatements, knowing that the audience willaccept these like children at play.
4) Musical Theatre
— There are songs included in this play which arean artistic extension of the dialogue and action.This is part of American Musical Theatre tradi-tion. Actors speak or deliver the same informa-tion through a song and dance, which may behighly unrealistic but theatrically compelling andentertaining. Art meets education meets enter-tainment in a piece like The Boston Tea Party.
5) Puppetry —
KING GEORGE III is a puppet. There are otherprops, like a "Stamp" that almost makes theactor into a puppet. This production mixes pup-petry with live actors.
TIME LINE:Have your students create a timeline of the following events1600_________!___________!___________!____________!___________!_________1800POST PERFORMANCE DISCUSSION TOPICS:
Conflict:Most plays are based on conflict. While it might appear that the principal conflict in TheBoston Tea Party is between King George III and the colonists, students may identify other conflicts.After the play, answer these questions to explore conflict:What does Mercy Otis Warren think a play is about?What does Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne think a play is about?What does Crispus Attucks think a play is about?What is this play about?Who wins?Who loses?What does Simple learn and what do we learn about the beginnings ofour country?
Pilgrims land — 1620French and Indian War — 1754 to 1763Quebec Falls — 1761Sugar Act — 1764Stamp Act — 1765Repeal of Stamp Act — 1766Declaratory Act — 1766Townshend Acts — 1767British Troops land in 1768Boston Massacre — 1770Writs of Assistance — 1770Townshend Acts Repealed — 1770Except for Tea Tax — 1770Tea Act — 1773December 15th meeting, 1773Boston Tea Party, December 16th, 1773Coercive Acts, Intolerable Acts, Boston Closed, 1774Paul Revere’s Ride, Battles of Lexington & Concord, the warbegins!!!! 1775
3
ACTIVITES
FOR IMMEDIATE USE:
American Heritage Book of the Revolution, The.
Editor in Charge Richard M. Ketchum. New York: American HeritagePublishing Co., Inc., 1971.Booth, Sally Smith.
The Women of ‘76.
New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1973. Brenner, Barbara.
If You Were There in 1776.
New York: Bradbury Press, 1994.O’Neill, Laurie A.
The Boston Tea Party.
Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1996.
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:
Adams, John.
Correspondence Between John Adams and Mercy Warren.
New York: Arno Press, 1972Bliven, Bruce Jr.
The American Revolution.
New York: Random House, 1958.Carter, Alden R.
The American Revolution.
New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1992.Clyne, Patricia Edwards.
Patriots in Petticoats.
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1976.Dickinson, Alice.
The Stamp Act.
New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1970.Ellis, David.
The Saratoga Campaign.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969.Fritz, Jean.
Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?
New York: Putnam, 1982.Kent, Deborah.
The American Revolution: “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!”.
Hillside, New Jersey: Enslow, 1994.Olesky, Walter.
Boston Tea Party.
New York: Franklin Watts, 1993.Phelan, Mary Kay.
The Story of the Boston Tea Party.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1973.Smith, Carter, ed.
The Revolutionary War: ASourcebook on Colonial America.
Brookfield, Connecticut: The MillbrookPress, 1991.Steins, Richard.
ANation Is Born: Rebellion and Independence in America (1700-1820).