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Pacific Conservatory Theatre Student Matinee Program

Presents

The Whipping Man By Matthew Lopez

Generously sponsored by

Tim Bennett

A Study Guide for Educators

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Welcome to PCPA

A NOTE TO THE TEACHER   Thank you for bringing your students to PCPA. Here are some helpful hints for your visit to the Severson Theatre. The top priority of our staff is to provide an enjoyable experience of live theatre for you and your students. Use the study guide to prepare your students prior to the performance.

Each study guide has grade level notations that will help you navigate to material you can use in your curriculum.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ETIQUETTE

Notable behavior is a vital part of theater for youth. Going to the theater is not a casual event. It is a special occasion. If students are prepared properly, it will be a memorable, educational experience for all. 1. Have students enter the theater in a single file. We suggest you have one adult for every ten to fifteen students. Our ushers will assist you with locating your seats. Please wait until the usher has seated your party before any rearranging of seats to avoid injury and confusion. While seated, teachers should space themselves so they are visible, between every ten to fifteen students. Teachers and adults must remain with their group during the entire performance. 2. Once seated in the theater, students may go to the bathroom in small groups and with the teacher’s permission. Please chaperone younger students. It’s important to know that due to the intimacy of our theater space, should you exit while the show is in progress, you will not be allowed to re-enter the theatre until a moment within the performance that would allow you to be reseated with minimal distraction. There are some shows that won’t allow you to re-enter until intermission or not at all during the second act. Once the show is over, please have students remain seated until the lead instructor / chaperone dismisses your students. 3. Please remind your students that we do not permit: • food, gum, drinks, backpacks or large purses • disruptive talking.

• disorderly and inappropriate behavior (stepping on/over seats, throwing objects, etc.) • cameras, radios, cell phones, audio recorders or electronics games. (Adults are asked to put cell phones on silent or vibrate.) In cases of disorderly behavior, groups may be asked to leave the theater without ticket refunds.

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4. Teachers should take time to remind students before attending the show of the following about a live performance:

Sometimes we forget when we come into a theatre that we are one of the most important parts of the production. Without an audience there would be no performance. Your contribution of laughter, quiet attention and applause is part of the play. When we watch movies or television we are watching images on a screen, and what we say or do cannot affect them. In the theatre the actors are real people who are present and creating an experience with us at that very moment. They see and hear us and are sensitive to our response. They know how we feel about the play by how we watch and listen. An invisible bond is formed between actors and a good audience, and it enables the actors to do their best for you. A good audience helps make a good performance.

5. Photographs and / or recording of any kind is forbidden in our theatre. However, there is a “Photo Opportunity” to be found in front of the theatre, with the show billboard on display. Feel free to take as many “selfies” or group pictures as you’d like. The Education and Outreach department of PCPA welcomes you as a partner in the live theatre experience from the moment you take your seats. We hope that your visit will be a highlight of your school year.

Matt Koenig and Derrick Lee Weeden

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HOW  TO  USE  THIS  STUDY  GUIDE The Study Guide is a companion piece designed to explore many ideas depicted in the stage production of The  Whipping  Man.    Although the guide’s intent is to enhance the student’s theatrical experience, it can also be used as an introduction to the elements of a play, and the production elements involved in the play’s presentation. Although many students are familiar with the general storyline, this specific stage adaptation presents a wealth of new questions for this generation to answer. Teachers and group leaders will want to select portions of the guide for their specific usage. Discussion questions are meant to provoke a line of thought about a particular topic. The answers to the discussion questions in many instances will initiate the process of exploration and discovery of varied interpretations by everyone involved. This can be as rewarding as the wonderful experience of sight and sound that The  Whipping  Man    creates on-stage. It is recommended that the play (available at either your local bookstore or for purchase online), be used in conjunction with discussion of the theatrical elements of the production.

Antwon D. Mason Jr. and Matt Koenig

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The Whipping Man Creative Team and Cast

Director

Mark Booher

Scenic Designer Abby Hogan

Costume Designer

Arnold Bueso

Lighting Designer Jennifer ‘Z’ Zornow

Sound Designer

Elisabeth Weidner

The Cast

Simon Derrick Weeden*

Caleb

Matt Koenig

John Antwon D. Mason Jr.

* Member, Actors’ Equity Association

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A note from the Director of The Whipping Man

Director of The Whipping Man, Mark Booher

The incredibly layered story touches on a multitude of themes including race, history, religion and family. PCPA’s Artistic Director Mark Booher is drawn to the play’s deep humanity. “In all the awful, painful, brokenness of it, there are feelings that we humans are bound to one another, even when we don’t want to be, even when there are profound realities and highly charged energies that would make our separation understandable. The reality that we are a family in many forms and that we’re going to have to reckon with what that implies. I enjoy and respect the historical specificity – which is different from historical accuracy – of the setting. It is so particular, and there is so much information available to us about this critical moment in American history, but it is not a historical record. The big pictures of history that we know about are full of fascinating anomalistic individual experiences that are often lost to ‘History.’ It is a play of rich and brutal situational context, but it is a play about the inner man – dignity, decency, hate, longing, brutality, honesty, goodness, love, devotion. It stands in the midst of many difficult questions about faith and family, war and slavery and freedom, wrong and forgiveness , body and spirit- and is brave enough not to offer simplistic answers or trite resolutions.”

 

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ELEMENTS  OF  THE  STORY

A  SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  PLAY

The play begins on Thursday, April 13, 1865, just five days after the American Civil War has ended. A wounded young Confederate soldier (Caleb DeLeon) has returned home, to find his family home in ruins. Ravaged by the war, it is now an empty shell of what was once a fine estate. Scorched and demolished by fire, all it’s riches 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 the DeLeon family returns.

Simon immediately notices the week-old bullet wound festering on Caleb’s leg and insists that amputation will be necessary, much to Caleb’s fear and disapproval. He refuses to be taken to a hospital, and insists Simon be the one to perform the amputation. Against his better judgment and full of doubt, Simon agrees.

As Simon begins to ply Caleb with whiskey and making preparation for the improvised surgery, a hooded figure presents itself in the broken doorway. This is John, another former slave of the DeLeon family and childhood companion of Caleb’s. John has taken to looting the abandoned houses around town and upon his return is surprised to find Caleb home.

Simon returns with a toolbox and more whiskey. Knowing that the amputation will take more then one man to perform, Simon asks John to help. But John is not as keen to help now that he is a freed man, claiming that the care of the DeLeon family is no longer his concern.

With some persuasion from Simon, John agrees to help in the grisly operation. As the scene comes to a close, John holds a panicked and distraught Caleb down as Simon takes a saw to his infected leg.

The next morning, as Caleb convalesces, evidence of John’s looting is lays scattered about the ruined home. He offers Simon “stolen” coffee and eggs to put a breakfast together for them. At this time, Simon reveals to John that he is waiting for Caleb’s father to return with his wife and daughter, because Mr. DeLeon had promised he’d give him money to start a new life if they were emancipated.

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That evening when Caleb wakes up in a great deal of pain, but he comes to terms with the events of the night before. They sup on a meal Simon has prepared, cooking up Caleb’s horse that died on his trek home. John informs the other two that it is the Sabbath and that it is almost Passover. As they pray before their meal, Simon and John notice Caleb does not join in prayer. This leads to a heated conversation that informs us, the DeLeon slaves have adopted the Jewish faith of their former owners.

Now a freed man, John challenges the idea of Jewish slaveholders by citing the Torah, while Simon remains loyal to the DeLeon’s, insisting they were all a family – slave and master.

John brings the discussion to a close by recounting they day he was taken to the Whipping Man to be disciplined. He reveals to Simon that on that day, Caleb asked to be the one to whip John. As the tension dies down, Caleb and Simon begin to prepare for their improvised Passover seder.

As the first act comes to a close, we discover that Caleb in fact on the run for desertion from the army, and that his father did not take Simon’s wife and daughter with him into hiding, but instead has sold them. The act concludes with the revelation that Caleb was in love with Simon’s daughter, Sarah, and John’s announcement that she was sold because she was pregnant with Caleb’s child.

The second act opens with Caleb reciting one of the many love letters he wrote to Sarah while at war. He expresses his love for her and his longing to return to her safely.

As the next scene begins, Caleb awakes up to John reading this same letter aloud. Angered that John has found his private letters, he asks how long he will keep silent about Simon’s wife and daughter have been sold. John is a bit duplicitous in his response, that if Simon finds out, he will go off to search for his family. This would leave nobody to tend to Caleb, and he would certainly die or be arrested by the officers when they come looking for him.

When Simon returns with the items for the seder he informs Caleb and John that President Lincoln has been assassinated. This effects Caleb deeply and in a fit of grief and guilt apologizes to Simon, who assures him there is nothing to be sorry about. The seder is then celebrated, with Simon leading the proceedings. As the seder progresses, Caleb can no longer hold back the truth and tells Simon of what really happened to his family.

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Simon is infuriated with that John did not tell him about it when it occurred, but John explains he had been brought to the Whipping Man for trying to oppose the sale of Simon’s family. Only this time, John go loose from the straps and in a fit of rage, turned the whip on the whipping man, to the point of killing him. He turns to Simon for help, not knowing what to do next. Afraid to leave, and afraid a stay, he is in the same situation as Caleb, who is unable to run but knows his capture is inevitable.

As Simon prepares to leave to find his family, he describes Caleb and John as “two peas in a pod”. Simon rushes out of the house and John and Caleb are left alone in the house, enslaved together by their own deceit with nobody to free them.

Matt Koenig, Derrick Lee Weeden and Antwon D. Mason Jr.

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ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT MATTHEW LOPEZ

“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

Matthew Lopez, author of “The Whipping Man”

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Matthew Lopez is the author of The Whipping Man, one of the most widely produced new American plays of the last several years. The play premiered at Luna Stage in Montclair, NJ and debuted in New York at Manhattan Theatre Club. That production was directed by Doug Hughes and starred Andre Braugher. The sold-out production extended four times, ultimately running 101 performances off-Broadway and garnering Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards. Matthew was awarded the John Gassner New Play Award from the New York Outer Critics Circle for the play. Since then, it has been received over 40 productions worldwide. His play Somewhere has been produced at the Old Globe, TheatreWorks in Palo Alto and most recently at Hartford Stage Company, where his play Reverberation will receive its world premiere in 2015. His newest play, The Legend of Georgia McBride, premiered recently at the Denver Theatre Center for the Performing Arts. His play The Sentinels premiered in London at Headlong Theatre Company in 2011. Matthew currently holds new play commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Hartford Stage, and South Coast Rep. Matthew was a staff writer on HBO’s The Newsroom and is currently adapting Javier Marias’ trilogy Your Face Tomorrow for the screen.

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Excerpts from an interview with Matthew Lopez “As  a  writer,”  Lopez  says,  “I’ve  always  been  fascinated  by  moments  in  history  when  the  history  ‘ends’  —  the  quiet  after  the  storm  of  those  big,  grand,  calamity  moments.  I’m  interested  in  the  period  of  adjustment,  of  psychological  shift,  when  the  real  work  begins.  The  next  morning,  you  wake  up  and  the  world  is  different.  How  do  you  take  those  first  steps  for  Part  Two  of  your  life?    

“Slavery  always  fascinated  me,”  the  playwright  continues.  “It  was  America’s  Original  Sin,  filled  with  hypocrisies  and  moral  twisting  to  excuse  the  practice.  I  wanted  to  explore  that  in  my  work.  Then,  it  was  a  happy  accident,  a  Eureka!  moment,  when  I  discovered  that  Lee  surrendered  just  a  few  days  before  Passover.  I  couldn’t  believe  that  no  one  had  thought  to  write  about  and  dramatize  that.  I  took  all  those  elements  and  put  them  into  this  play.”    

Lopez,  a  33-­‐year-­‐old  Brooklyn  resident  grew  up  in  the  Florida  Panhandle,  what  he  calls  “the  real  South.”  His  Puerto  Rican  father  moved  to  the  States  in  early  childhood  and  later  served  in  the  U.S.  Air  Force.  Lopez’s  mother,  a  native  of  Queens,  came  from  a  Polish/  Russian  Orthodox  background.  Young  Matthew  was  baptized  as  a  Lutheran  and  raised  Episcopalian.  He’s  currently  at  work  on  a  play  about  a  Lutheran  minister  who  questions  his  faith  in  God.  “It  has  made  me  question  my  own  beliefs,”  Lopez  says.    During  his  adolescence,  his  parents,  both  schoolteachers,  were  amateur  historians  and  Civil  War  reenactors.  The  whole  family  became  Civil  War  buffs.  Lopez  got  the  inspiration  for  The  Whipping  Man  when  he  was  an  acting  student  in  a  playwriting  class  at  the  University  of  South  Florida.  “From  the  beginning,  I  wanted  to  have  a  Seder  in  the  play,”  he  says.  “I  got  a  Haggadah,  and  I  found  that  the  parallels  between  that  story  and  the  story  of  African  Americans  were  unending.  It  could  just  as  well  have  been  written  by  former  slaves,  coming  out  of  the  South.  My  goal  was  to  turn  a  common  history  into  a  shared  history.”  Throughout  his  multi-­‐year  writing  process,  Lopez  has  had  input  from  Jews,  consulting  with  scholars,  rabbis  and  Jewish  theater-­‐makers.  He  did  both  “historical  research  and  spiritual  research.”    “I  had  known  a  little  about  Passover.  My  uncle’s  wife  is  Jewish.  When  I  wrote  the  play,  I  hadn’t  been  to  a  Seder.  But  now,  I’ve  been  to  several.”                  Excerpt  from  an  interview  “Slavery  and  Freedom”  by  Pat  Launer  (May  2010)      

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SCENIC DESIGN Scenic designer Abby Hogan was faced with the challenge of creating a singular unit set that depicts the remaining ruins of a once thriving and opulent plantation home in the American south, of the 1800’s. Each scene has its unique challenges. The play takes place over the course of a few days, and time changes from day light hours through late evening. There is also the challenge of filling the gutted home with furnishings that indicate the former slave, John, has been rummaging surrounding homes to fill the empty shell of the DeLeon estate. Ms. Hogan’s design is a “cut away” view of a home devastated by bombing and fire, in which our three characters reunite after a devastating war.

The “Scale Model” is the final design approved by the director, which will be built for our production. Set design by Abby Hogan.

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These are “front elevations” that will help define the finished look of the home interior.

Take note of the various design options that effect the doors and windows. The choice of wall treatment is also explored. These partial wall “elevations” are also how scenic painters develop the intricate details when painting the finished set pieces. Design by Abby Hogan.

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COSTUME DESIGN

Costume designer Arnold Bueso was faced with the challenge of costuming a cast of three actors in the fashion of the American South of 1865. One of which as a Confederate Soldier and two that are former slaves of the DeLeon plantation. Mr. Bueso met the challenge with a series of costume designs and “renderings” that help the director and cast understand the look and it’s significance to the play and character.

Costume rendering for “Simon” (actor Derrick Lee Weeden) in The Whipping Man. Design by Arnold Bueso

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Costume rendering for “John” (actor Antwon D. Mason Jr.) in The Whipping Man. Design by Arnold Bueso

Costume rendering for “Caleb” (actor Matt Koenig) in The Whipping Man. Design by Arnold Bueso

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The Civil War Timeline Note – casualties listed generally include those killed, wounded, captured, and missing. 1860

November 6: Lincoln elected December 1860-May 1861: Eleven Southern states secede and form the Confederate States of America, appointing Jefferson Davis president on February 4, 1861.

1861 March 4: President Abraham Lincoln inaugurated April 12-14: Confederates take Fort Sumter and begin the Civil War July 21: First Battle of Bull Run, Virginia; Confederate victory; nearly 5,000 casualties

altogether. 1862

April 6-7: Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee; Union victory, nearly 24,000 casualties altogether. April 18-28: Union forces take Fort Jackson, Fort St. Philip, and New Orleans. May 31-June 1: Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia; inconclusive, nearly 12,000 dead. April-July: Numerous other battles in the Richmond area, including Burnt Chimneys, Williamsburg, Front Royal; Seven Days’ Battles around Richmond (June 25-July 1); Mechanicsville, Gaines’s Mill, Malvern Hill. August 28-30: Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), Virginia; September 12-15: Battle of Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia; September 17: Battle of Antietam, Maryland; 10,000 Confederate soldiers and 12,000 Federal soldiers left dead on the bloodiest day of the war. Lee withdraws from Maryland on Sept. 18-19, but the battle is indecisive. December 13: Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia;

1863 January 1: Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect (announced Sep. 22).

May 1-4, 1863: Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia; Confederate victory. Stonewall Jackson shot by his own men (dies of pneumonia on May 10). July 1-3, 1863: Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lee retreats to Virginia after a Confederate defeat. About 50,000 casualties altogether. November 19, 1863: Dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, at which President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. September 19-20, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia; Union army retreats to Chattanooga while Confederate forces put that city under siege. Altogether, over 30,000 casualties. November 23-25, 1863: Battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Union victory; pivotal battle that made the 1864 Atlanta campaign possible by opening the “gateway to the Deep South.”

1864 March 9, 1864: Grant promoted to lieutenant general. June 9, 1864-March 25, 1865: Richmond-Petersburg campaign, in which Grant’s troops constructed trenches from Richmond to Petersburg in an attempt to cut off supply lines and put the cities under siege. July 30, 1864: Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia;

1865 March 3, 1865: Freedman’s Bureau formed. April 8-9, 1865: Battle of Appomattox Court House, Virginia; surrenders. December 18, 1865: Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery.

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President Lincoln’s Assassination

Currier and Ives depiction of Lincoln’s assassination

Left to right; Major Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Pres. Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while watching a

production of Our American Cousin at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D. C. This was the first assassination 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 assassination 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 assassinate 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

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Jews in the Confederacy

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 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.

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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 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.

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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?

Derrick Lee Weeden and Antwon D. Mason Jr.

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Vocabulary Artillery shells – projectile weapons. Gangrene – tissue necrosis (cell death) caused by infection, or insufficient blood circulation. The dead tissue would be removed by amputation. Now, antibiotics are commonly used to cure it. Spindle – a rounded rod tapered toward each end, suggestive of a spindle used in spinning thread. Ingratiating – establishing (oneself) in the favor or good graces of others. Shabbat Shalom – “May you have peace on your day of rest” Pesach – the Hebrew word for Passover, the Jewish festival commemorating the Exodus of the Jewish people out of slavery in ancient Egypt. It lasts for seven or eight days. Leviticus – the third book (out of five) of the Torah, the Jewish scriptures. Bondman/bondmaid – a male/female slave. Bullwhip – a rawhide whip with a short handle and long, plaited lash. Seder – a ritual feast that marks the beginning of Passover. Haggadah – a Jewish text written between 170-360 CE that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder and is meant to be read during the meal. Charoset – a sweet paste representing the mortar which the Jewish slaves used to cement bricks. It’s made from fruits and nuts, often walnuts and apples. Matzah – unleavened bread eaten during Passover, when leavened bread is forbidden. Hardtack – a simple cracker made from flour, water given as food to Civil War soldiers. Unleavened – bread that contains no leavening agent, such as yeast, and much more dense. Reveille – a signal sounded early in the morning to awake military personnel for duty. Brio – liveliness; vivacity. Minyan – the number of persons required by Jewish law to be present to conduct a communal religious service, traditionally a minimum of 10 Jewish males over 13 years of age. Frederick Douglass – an escaped slave who became a leader in the abolitionist movement, and published three autobiographies (1845, 1855, and 1881). Caleb Legree – a reference to Simon Legree, a cruel, greedy slave owner depicted in the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852). Appomattox – refers to the location where the major Eastern campaign of the Civil War ended, when Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865.

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FOOD TALK

The holiday of Passover has been celebrated annually by Jewish families for thousands of years. The Passover seder is a special ceremony performed before the festive meal. The purpose of the seder  is  to  teach  Jewish  children  the  story  of  the  Israelites’  Exodus  from Egypt. Certain prayers, certain blessings, certain questions  and answers are always spoken at the Passover seder.

Each of the foods  arranged  on  the  “seder  plate”  are  symbolic  and  help  the parents tell the story of how God rescue his people from slavery and brought them into the Promised Land.

Mazzot When  the  Israelites’  fled  Egypt  they  left  in  such  a  hurry  that  there  was  no  time  to  allow  the  bread  to rise so the bread they ate was a flat, hard bread (kind of like a cracker). Today this kind of bread is called mazzot. Jewish families eat only mazzot during the seder ceremony.

Shankbone The shankbone on the seder plate represents the sacrificial lamb which can no longer be offered at the  Temple.  The  shankbone  or  “forearm”  of  the  animal  is  used  because  it  gives  the  opportunity  to tell  the  story  of  how  God’s  “outstretched  arm”  brought  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt.  

Roasted Egg The roundness of the egg symbolizes the life cycle. It was a food traditionally eaten by mourners after returning from a funeral. On the seder plate the egg is a symbol of mourning for the destruction of the Temple. However, the egg can also symbolize the Jewish people themselves. Because the more an egg is cooked the harder it becomes, it is a reminder that the persecution the Jews endured made them a strong people.

Bitter Herbs The bitter herbs on the seder plate commemorate the condition of the Israelites in Egypt. The words from the Jewish Mishnah read: “Because  the  Egyptians  made  the  lives  of  our  forefathers  bitter  in  Egypt,  as it  is  said:  ‘And  they  made  their  lives  bitter  with  hard  service,  in  mortar  and  bricks,  and  in  all  kinds  of  work  in the  field;  in  all  their  work  they  made  them  serve  with  rigor.’”  

Charoset or Haroset A paste made from fruit, spices, wine and mazzah meal. The charoset is the only sweet food on the seder plate. The mixture is supposed to resemble the color of clay. It represents the mortar that the Jews used to make bricks in Egypt.

Karpas Vegetables such as potatoes, celery or parsley may be used for this part of the seder. The vegetable is  dipped  in  salt  water  and  then  eaten  to  remind  the  participants  of  “the  tears  of  slavery.”  

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CIVIL WAR RECIPE: HARDTACK (1861)

Hardtack.

The Ancient Romans had them. Nelson’s troops kept barrels of them in their naval vessels. And these cracker-like squares were a staple ration for American soldiers on both sides of the Civil War.

Though they’re called different things in different cultures, this basic recipe has been a staple for militaries around the world for centuries. Made of flour and water, and sometimes a bit of salt or sugar, they are sturdy, filling and will last a long time if kept dry. Indeed, some soldiers kept a few as souvenirs after the war, and they are commonly on display in Civil War museums over 150 years later.

A naval blockade kept wheat imports from reaching Confederate states, and so much of the hardtack rationed to soldiers earlier in the war was leftover from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Meanwhile, government bakeries in the north were supplying hardtacks to Union troops, who were rationed nine to ten each, per day.

Eating one will make it difficult to imagine how any human being could consume that many hardtacks each day. The dryness sucks out any moisture from your mouth. The heavy wafer in your hand feels just as heavy in the stomach. They are so dense, soldiers used to use them as small plates. And, of course, the flavor is incredibly uninteresting – you’re basically just eating flour. And that, of course, is the point of making them. Where other food blogs often just post old recipes, I’ve always insisted on making whatever I post – firmly believing that much about what you can learn about the history of the food comes from the actual making and eating of it.

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Thanks to John Billings’ memoir of his life as a Union soldier, Hardtack and Coffee (1887), we have a very accurate description of what Civil War hardtack rations were like: What was hardtack? It was a plain flour-and-water biscuit. Two which I have in my possession as mementos measure three and one-eighth by two and seven-eighths inches, and are nearly half an inch thick. Although these biscuits were furnished to organizations by weight, they were dealt out to the men by number, nine constituting a ration in some regiments, and ten in others; but there were usually enough for those who wanted more, as some men would not draw them. While hardtack was nutritious, yet a hungry man could eat his ten in a short time and still be hungry. When they were poor and fit objects for the soldiers’ wrath, it was due to one of three conditions: first, they may have been so hard that they could not be bitten; it then required a very strong blow of the fist to break them; the second condition was when they were moldy or wet, as sometimes happened, and should not have been given to the soldiers: the third condition was when from storage they had become infested with maggots.

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2 cups flour 1/2 tablespoon salt (optional) 1/2 to 3/4 cup water Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Combine flour with salt in a mixing bowl. Add water and mix with hands until the dough comes together. Roll out on a table to about 1/3 inch thickness. Use a knife to cut 3×3 squares from the dough. Place on baking sheet, and use a dowel (see note above) to make 16 evenly-spaced holes in each square. Bake for at least four hours, turning over once half-way through baking. Cool on a rack in a dry room.

Mix until dough comes together Roll out dough to 1/3 inch thickness

Cut into squares Poke holes in square Bake in oven

Remove to cooling rack Hardtack

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SLAVE  WHIPPING  AS  A  BUSINESS  

 Slavery,  is  defined  and  referred  to  as  a  business  practice  in  which  individuals  are  

owned  by  others,  who  control  the  general  conditions  of  their  lives,  including  where  they  live,  what  they  eat,  their  work,  daily  duties  etc.  

Slavery  has  been  in  existence  throughout  history,  spreading  through  almost  every  culture,  nationality  and  religion,  from  ancient  times  to  the  present  day.    The  practice  of  the  slave  trade  is  associated  with  the  most  cruel  and  dehumanizing  treatments.  Since  the  enslaved  people  are  considered  nothing  less  then  properties  in  the  custody  of  their  owner,  they  ware  treated  in  the  most  bizarre  manners  that  has  no  human  consideration  attached.  

Controlling  the  behavior  of  slaves  was  a  priority  in  the  slave  trade  business.  In  order  to  secure  a  large  profit  at  a  public  sale,  the  buyer  would  be  assured  the  slave  had  been  “broken”  or  stripped  of  independent  will.    The  main  method  used  to  “break”  or  “control  the  behavior  of  slaves  was  to  have  them  whipped.    The  whippings  and  beatings  were  mostly  horrific  and  as  bad  as  you  could  imagine.  The  number  of  lashes  depended  on  the  seriousness  of  the  offence.  It  was  common  practice  for  slaves  to  be  whipped  daily;  whippings  and  other  torture  acts  were  a  form  of  mind  and  body  control.  A  way  to  re-­‐assert  the  dominance  of  their  masters  and  also  demoralize  the  slaves,  keeping  them  subservient  and  bent  on  their  labor.  No  condition  made  an  exception  for  any  slave,  the  young,  old,  male,  female,  even  pregnant  women  were  lashed  whenever  occasion  called  for  it.  In  the  case  of  pregnancy,  a  hole  might  be  dug  for  the  pregnant  woman  to  rest  her  belly  while  being  whipped.  Whipping  grew  so  common  during  slavery  that  it  became  a  business,  whereby  there  were  commercial  and  professional  “whipping  men”  to  whom  offending  slaves  were  sent  to  receive  as  many  strokes  as  instructed  by  the  owner.  

The  Whipping  business  was  mostly  done  within  the  “slavers”  market  and  slave  traders.  Slave  owners  that  did  not  possess  the  constitution  to  discipline  their  own  slaves,  mostly  women  and  refined  gentlemen,  would  send  their  slave  to  “the  yard”  with  a  note  explaining  the  offence  and  discipline  requested.    

For  this  service  the  owner  was  charged  a  certain  sum  for  each  slave,  and  the  earnings  of  the  traders  from  this  source  formed  a  very  large  part  of  the  profits  of  his  business.  

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PRESHOW DISCUSSIONS FREEDOM  -­‐  Slavery  and  freedom  are  major  themes  of  The  Whipping  Man.  What  does  freedom  mean  to  you?  What  would  it  be  like  if  your  freedom  was  taken  away?  What  would  you  be  willing  to  do  to  restore  your  freedom?  

RELIGION  -­‐  It  was  common  for  slave  owners  to  teach  religion  to  their  slaves  in  the  1800s.  In  The  Whipping  Man,  Judaism  is  practiced  by  everyone  in  the  DeLeon  household.  How  do  you  think  having  a  shared  religion  affected  the  relationships  between  slave  owner  and  slave?   TRADITION  -­‐  The  characters  in  The  Whipping  Man  honor  the  Passover  Holiday  by  organizing  a  Seder,  which  serves  as  a  symbolic    Celebration  of  freedom.  How  do  you  celebrate  freedom  in  your  life?  

POSTSHOW DISCUSSIONS  DESIGN  -­‐  What  did  you  think  of  the  over  all  design  of  the  show?  Consider  each  element;  set,  costumes,  lighting,  sound,  Props.  How  did  they  inform  your  understanding  of  the    play? What themes did the design help suggest or establish?    CHOICES  -­‐  At  the  end  of  the  play  each  character  must  choose  what  to  do with their new sense of freedom. What kinds of choices  do you think each man will make? Why? Who might be  the best equipped to survive?   LIES  -­‐  Why  did  both  John  and  Caleb  resort  to  lying  to  the  other  characters? Was their lying justified? Why or why not?  How  would  you  behave  in  their  set  of  circumstances?  

POST SHOW ACTIVIES

NARRATIVE Write a journal entry from the perspective of a recently freed slave. What does freedom mean to you? What do you wish to do with your freedom? What are your fears? What are your dreams? INFORMATIVE Research  the  Passover  Seder  and  explain  the  significance  behind  the language, the food and each step of this annual Jewish  celebration.  

ARGUMENTATIVE Review  and  consider  the  challenges  recently  freed  slaves  would  Have  encountered  after  the  Civil  War.  Select  one  challenge  and explain why you think this challenge would be the largest,  most substantial obstacle facing recently freed slaves. Offer  evidence and examples to support why your argument is the  strongest.