The play Sisters, by Wendy Lill, is set in 20th century Nova Scotia at an Indian Residential School. The play focuses on a hopeful 17-year-old farm girl named Mary who was dating Louis at the time. Along with the present Mary who is currently in interrogation with, the duty counsel, Stein. She has been accused of torching down the Residential School, the place where she worked for fifteen years. There are various factors contributing to the impulsive reasoning behind Sister Mary’s act of burning down the Residential School such as, the actual truth to why she committed the sin, the contrast relationships with others that reflected upon her actions, and the overall punishment she should receive. Young Mary headed into the Residential School full of faith and ambition to devote herself to God’s true beliefs. She taught the Native children religion and music in class, which they all seemed to greatly enjoy. Although, it did not make up for all …show more content…
She had a marvelous voice when she sang and began to establish a more personal relationship with Sister Mary. Sister Mary provided a kind of motherly support and saw herself as a parental figure towards Alice. As for Alice’s biological parent’s, her father got sick and was pronounced to be dead in a short period time. But his daughter, Alice, was not permitted to leave the building in order to say farewell to her dying father. “I know it was wrong but I took her cakes. I sang to her and stroked her hair after her father died. She loved me for that. I was like her mother” (Sisters, 83). Mary truly believed Alice was talking lies when she mentioned having nightmares of the Residential School in the letter she had written. Young Mary did not entirely agree with some of the rules and punishments that were used against the children, which is one of the main reasons why she burned down the school. Especially considering Alice’s situation with her
One of the goals in the play is to raise awareness about domestic violence. This is done effectively through the events that are played out in the
Have you ever wondered how nuns in all the classic films always seemed so righteous? How they were always portrayed as a genuine devoted follower that would live without sin. Well Charles Busch’s play The Divine Sister directed by Kate Ingram, addresses that issue, as the nuns appear more human like and riddled with concealed identities. Kate Ingram is able to emphasize these with the script, aesthetic aspects, and the cooperation of the audience. With these human emotions being portrayed, the audience can connect and understand that everyone has some sort of secret that they are burdened with, and must eventually overcome.
The play The Rez Sisters is written by one of Canada's most celebrated playwrights, Tomson Highway. Highway was born in 1951 in northwestern Manitoba. He went on to study at the University of Manitoba and graduated from the University of Western Ontario, with honors in Music and English. Native Literature is inspired by 'contemporary social problems facing native Canadians today; alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, wife battering, family violence, the racism of the justice system, loneliness, rejection, youth awareness, as well as modern-day environmental issues.';(P. 172 Native Literature in Canada.) Highway once said, 'We grew up with myths. They're the core of our identity as people.';(P. 172 Native Literature in Canada.) I am going to focus on the image and identity of Native people as seen through the play The Rez Sisters.
The play is set in the 1920s when women started to receive clerical jobs and were expected to complete certain milestones in life. For example, in the scene labeled “at home” young woman – the main character – tells her mom that she is going to get married, because everybody does it, but then says she will not because she does not love Mr. Jones (Machinal). Ultimately her choice was to not get married, but in the end she does because her mom needs and wants her to get married for financial stability and the young woman feels that her destiny was to care for her mother. However, in the scene titled “prohibited”, the young woman starts deciding her destiny and chooses to cheat on her husband, Mr. Jones (Machinal). This is the moment when she realizes she can control her own destiny. That she does not have to be the happy housewife that society says her fate has to be. But there was still one problem, society still appeared to be in control of her destiny because she hasn’t decided on what her exact destiny would
Historically, America is known for its “melting-pot” culture. We used to take everyone who wants to become an American, just as the plaque on the Statue of Liberty says: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Lazarus). Sometimes, however, this process also removes any trace of their previous culture. A German-descendant is only a German by ancestry, and any part of them that also defined this was removed via assimilation. But there is also a broader context, beyond that of the “cultural assimilation” America performs for its immigrants. It is the “education” schools do for its children. This education has larger, more detrimental effects that the author wants to define beyond the message of “cultural assimilation.” Karen Russell shows, through the plot of St Lucy 's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, this process of education, its flaws and how it affects children.
In Act 1, “ Voices can be heard,” Winn shows how these girls express themselves through theatre and can act out different kinds of stories about their lives and the lives they aspire to have. She also proposes that the youth need to be heard in order to find their way in life. Winn explains “ this act will explore theories of play in order to understand its critical role in the lives of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated girls” (P.17). With this in mind, it is clear from the play that each one of these women's performances reflects their deepest desires for life out of jail. Also, it demonstrates how aware they are of why they ended up there, including the social issues and cultural influences that led them to their
Two things about this show immediately piqued my interest. First: Christopher Walken played the lead during the Broadway run of the play. I love Christopher Walken and, although UGA’s production of A Behanding in Spokane will obviously not star him, the fact that he was involved with it initially has endeared the play to me. Second: the show seems to be, from the brief descriptions I’ve read, delightfully twisted. According to Broadway.com, the play is about a man who is missing his left had, two con-artists who promise to sell him what they claim is that hand, and a racy, provocative hotel clerk. That extremely vague description only strengthened my interest in this show; I thoroughly enjoy darker, non “cookie-cutter” stories and can’t wait to learn how the man lost his hand and how all the characters fit together.
In Ways with Words by Shirley Brice Heath we read about the author’s ethnographic study in the South during desegregation. The purpose of Heath’s study is to examine the ways people from different communities in the textile region raise their children. The way the children are raised according to Heath, affects the language development and the way these children learn to read and write in the school setting. In my paper I want to examine the way the church relates to the cultural differences in Roadville and Trackton. Cultural differences have ultimately created two separate learning styles. Reading Heath’s study creates curiosity as to how one book, the Bible, can be translated by two cultures in such differing ways that, “In short, for Roadville, Trackton’s stories would be lies; for Trackton, Roadville stories would not even count as stories” (Heath, 189).
In “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan mother from Lancaster, Massachusetts, recounts the invasion of her town by Indians in 1676 during “King Philip’s War,” when the Indians attempted to regain their tribal lands. She describes the period of time where she is held under captivity by the Indians, and the dire circumstances under which she lives. During these terrible weeks, Mary Rowlandson deals with the death of her youngest child, the absence of her Christian family and friends, the terrible conditions that she must survive, and her struggle to maintain her faith in God. She also learns how to cope with the Indians amongst whom she lives, which causes her attitude towards them to undergo several changes. At first, she is utterly appalled by their lifestyle and actions, but as time passes she grows dependent upon them, and by the end of her captivity, she almost admires their ability to survive the harshest times with a very minimal amount of possessions and resources. Despite her growing awe of the Indian lifestyle, her attitude towards them always maintains a view that they are the “enemy.”
The play A Streetcar Named Desire is considered to be one of playwright, Tennessee Williams’ best work. However, this production is of high importance because it took place at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre which is on Broadway. This specific theater named after Ethel Barrymore, was built by the Shubert Organization and opened in 1928. It is special because it is the only theatre that the Shubert’s built that is still used today. It is interesting to note that producer, Irene Selznick, and director, Elia Kazan, ended up choosing a final cast that consisted of unknown performers filling large roles. This can be considered a pretty large risk but it ended up working out in their favor and the play was a huge success. Marlo Brando became a huge well-known star after his time spent working for Elia Kazan as character, Stanley Kowalski. Brando received a lot of praise from the public, including a nomination for an Academy Award. In a review of the first night of the performance written by Brooks Atkinson, Tennessee Williams’ work is described as “one of the most perfect marriages of acting and playwriting. For the acting and playwriting are perfectly blended
In the Old World, these children did not have the opportunity to attend school, thus this restricted their knowledge base to only the knowledge of the community. To many immigrants, schooling and education was of the utmost importance as it provided the potential for upward mobility for the entire family: “He could send his children to school, to learn all those things that he knew by fame to be desirable” (Antin, 161). Often times, the older children would have to work, and would in turn become stuck in the Old World, in order for the younger ones to go to school. This allowed the younger children to escape into the New World and in turn embody the promises of a better life in America. Mary Antin’s family was no exception. While, Mary was allowed the privilege of receiving an education, the same privilege was not given to her older sister Frieda, who had to work in a factory making garments in order to help support the family: “[Mary] was led to the schoolroom, with its sunshine…while, [Frieda] was led to a workshop, with its foul air, care-lined faces, and the foreman’s stern command” (Antin
In her play in one-act, “Mine Eyes Have Seen”, Alice Dunbar-Nelson explores a belief that was prevalent in the early twentieth century; where a black man’s race and service to his country required his life. Chris, the younger brother in the play, has come to face the decision to accept his draft to the U.S. military or to exempt himself in order to support his crippled brother Dan and his frail and limp sister Lucy. Chris constantly questions Dan why would he fight in a war that was not his, and Dan proudly states that “Our men have always gone, Chris. They went in 1776 … 1812 ... 1861 … they helped work out their own salvation. And they were there in 1898” (5). Nelson’s text uses Christianity and patriotism to help describe poverty-stricken African-Americans as proud citizens of America as they were drafted to fight for
She uses God to avoid and challenge heteronormativity. In almost all aspects of her life she engages in her religion. While her cousins think it is silly to deny a boy and tell them “I am a temple of the Holy Ghost” (O’Connor 238) the child is proud to be able to make this claim. The presence of Christ is a positive influence in the child’s life that fuels her movement away from heteronormative society. Catholicism leads the child to be able to find meaning in herself instead of assigning her worth to how other people, especially men view her. The child is full of faith that she decides rather than being a doctor or engineer, her goal is to be a saint. However, because of her current life situation she decides the only way she can accomplish this is being a
This poem is about two sisters; one who is in China, and one who is in America. There are many similarities and differences between the two sisters.
In the play the four main characters hate life. They resort back to the past by drinking and drugs. They remember the past as a better life and that is why they do it. Mary is the only one that comes off as normal out of the four. She is the special one even though she is the most tragic. She used to have big dreams and strong belief in her faith. She wanted to become a professional piano player and sister of god. It all fell apart when she fell in love and got married. It was her marriage that destroyed her bi...