Reading The Dollar Woman a quarter at a time

Wondered what happened to English 1006 in the rush? Here it is, back again, with an entirely different identity.

I said some time ago that one of the things I do in English 1006, when it's possible, is to use a locally produced play as a text for a conversation about writing, literature, and performance. That's what we're going to do now.

Theatre New Brunswick's production of the classic play about a dark episode in New Brunswick's past, The Dollar Woman, is opening Wednesday night, in the Black Box Theatre, and running for the rest of the week. Students can get in to regular TNB productions for $10. There's also an early performance (a "sneak peek" they call it; like most previews, I think it's actually an open dress rehearsal), at 2:00 next Wednesday, to which STU students are specially invited (also $10). Attending one of those performances is a requirement for English 1006.

Here's how we're going to work with it. I've divided the play into four sections (it's a three-act play; because Act I is long, I cut it in half). Your responsibility, between now and Tuesday, is to read one of the sections (you'll be assigned one, in the usual "random" way), to keep a record of questions or issues that arise for you as you read, and post that as a sort of "reading journal" between now and class time.

There's a forum for this, linked from the English 1006 main page.

As you read, of course -- especially if you're reading one of the three later sections -- you'll have to be making some guesses about what came first, and who these people are, and what the issues are. Write such things down as you go. That's part of the point of the whole exercise. I expect that you may want to read what others who've read the same part have said about their section, if they post early.

During the first part of class on Tuesday we'll ask the people who read different parts to get together for a few minutes, and decide what the rest of us need to know about your section of the play -- what happens, who's in it, how it feels -- and then tell us. We'll do those in order (that is, those who read the first part of Act one will tell the rest of us what they know, and can guess, and are puzzled by; they'll be followed by those who read the second part, etc.)

If you want to read more of the play, feel free; it's on line for my Page and the Stage course, and there's a link to the online text from the main English 1006 page.

We'll treat the attendance at the production, and posting about it, as we would if it were an Occasion -- except, of course, that it won't count as an Occasion; it'll count as something you have to do for English.