For plays in our Chicago Playworks or Theatre School Showcase seasons, The Theatre School prepares a Teacher Guide and/or a Curtain Raiser for use in your classroom. Our intention is to create connections between our performances and all areas of the elementary school curriculum for Chicago Playworks and the high school curriculum for The Theatre School Showcase. Also included are a variety of activities, discussion topics and assignments that teachers may use in their classes. The Teacher Guide is sent to everyone who purchases tickets for a group; they are also available to patrons on request.
Before the Teacher Guide is published, we release the Curtain Raiser, a shorter guide presenting some background material on each production in our season for teachers and parents.
Teacher Guide: Playworks
| Title |
Run Date |
Credits |
Teacher Guide |
| A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings |
01/12/08 |
by Gabriel García Márquez
adapted for the stage by Nilo Cruz
directed by Carlos Murillo, teacher guide by Kelly Hires |
In Spanish: 
In English: |
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| Alice in Wonderland | 01/13/09 |
by Lewis Carroll
adapted by Sharon Holland
music by Mark Elliott
directed by Sean Graney, teacher guide by Leslie Cunningham |
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| The BFG | 01/13/07 |
by Roald Dahl, adapted for the stage by David Wood, directed by Ernie Nolan, teacher guide prepared by Kelly Kerwin and Leanne G. Medeiros | |
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| The Boxcar Children | 01/14/06 |
by Barbara Field, adapted from the novels by Gertrude Chandler Warner, directed by John Jenkins, teacher guide prepared by Caitlin Hansen | |
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| Bridge to Terabithia | 01/14/97 |
adapted by Katherine Paterson and Stephanie S. Tolan, music by Steve Liebman, teacher guide by Catrina Dickens |
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| Bud, Not Buddy |
03/31/09 |
by Christopher Paul Curtis
adapted Reginald André Jackson
directed by Phyllis E. Griffin, teacher guide by Elizabeth Schmeski |
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| Charlotte's Web | 10/08/96 |
adapted by Joseph Robinette, teacher guide by Barry Brunetti |
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| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | 10/03/00 |
by Roald Dahl and Richard George, from the book by Roald Dahl, directed by Rachael Slavik, teacher guide by Jason A. Brown |
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| Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans: A Salsa Musical | 03/29/05 |
books and lyrics by Karen Zacarias, music by Debbie Wicks La Puma, directed by Lisa Portes, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide prepared by Lenora Inez Brown and Elizabeth A. Schramm, spanish translation by Enrique San Miguel | |
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| Coyote and His Brothers | 01/12/99 |
by Lin Wright and the original cast of the production, based on Pima Indian Legends by Anna Moore Shaw, teacher guide by Robert Hines III |
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| Duke Kahanamoku and the Surfnappers | 03/27/01 |
by Eric Overmyer, directed by Ric Murphy, teacher guide by Mara Salerno |
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| Einstein is a Dummy | 03/29/07 |
book and lyrics by Karen Zacarías, music by Debbie Wicks La Puma directed by Phyllis E. Griffin, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide prepared by Jessica Galli | |
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| The Kingdom of Grimm | 03/28/06 |
books, music and lyrics by Douglas Post, musical arrangements by Mark Elliott and Jeff Richards, vocal arrangements by Mark Elliott, keyboard programming by Jeff Richards, directed by Barry Brunetti, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide by Evan M. Fillon |
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| The Giver |
04/1/08 |
by Lois Lowry, adapted for the stage by Eric Coble, directed by Ernie Nolan, teacher guide by Elizabeth Schmeski |
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| Grimm Tales | 03/28/00 |
adpated by Carol Ann Duffy, dramatized by Tim Supple for the Young Vic Company, directed by Ric Murphy, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide by Sharon Willems |
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| The Highest Heaven | 01/15/04 |
by Jose Cruz Gonzalez, directed by Lisa Portes, teacher guide prepared by Rob Cohn, Dramaturg | |
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| Icarus Blue | 01/14/03 |
by Naomi Iizuka, directed by James Ostholthoff, teacher guide by Libby Ford |
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| The Little Prince | 10/05/99 |
books and lyrics by Arthur Perlman, music by Jeffery Lunden, based on a book by Antoine De-Saint, directed by Besty Hamilton, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide by Frank Merle |
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| Mango Leaf Magic |
11/01/05 |
by James Ambrose Brown, directed by Ann Wakefield, teacher guide prepared by Lyssa Cook | |
| The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See | 04/01/03 |
a musical play by Sheila Ruskin and David Wood based on the verses and stories of Edward Lear, directed by Ann Wakefield, teacher guide by Ernie Nolan |
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| Peter Pan | 10/24/97 |
a musical based on the play by James M. Barrie, music by Mark Charlap, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, additional music by Jule Styne, additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, teacher guide by Mary Chasen |
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| Ramona Quimby | 10/07/03 |
dramatized by Len Jenkin, directed by Trudie Kesller, teacher guide prepared by Ernie Nolan, Dramaturg | |
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| Rip Van Winkle | 01/13/00 |
adapted by Frederick Gaines, from the story of Washington Irving, directed by John Jenkins, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide by April Adams |
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| The Secret Garden | 01/13/98 |
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, adapted by Pamela Sterling, teacher guide by John Reents |
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| The Selfish Giant and Other Wilde Tales | 04/02/02 |
the world premiere of an adpation of Oscar Wilde's Complete Fairy Tales by Carolyn Hoerdemann, directed by Ric Murphy, teacher guide by Elisabeth Ford |
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| Sideways Stories from Wayside School | 10/31/06 |
adapted by John Olive from the novels by Louis Sachar, directed by Brandy Austin, teacher guide prepared by Evan M. Fillon and Caitlin Hansen | |
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| Still Life with Iris |
10/28/08 |
by Steven Dietz
directed by John Jenkins, teacher guide by Matthew Ducey |
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| Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home | 10/08/02 |
by Lisa Evans, directed by Phyllis E. Griffin, teacher guide by Mark Perry |
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| Steal Away Home | 10/06/98 |
by Aurand harris, based on the novels by Jane Kristof, teacher guide by Karen Anderson |
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| Tales as Old as Africa |
10/30/07 |
written and directed by Ann Wakefield, teacher guide by Ernie Nolan |
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| There's a Boy, in the Girls' Bathroom |
01/15/06 |
by Louis Sachar, directed by Damon Kiely, teacher guide prepared by Elizabeth A. Schram | |
| Threadheads | 03/30/99 |
by Dean Corrin from an idea by David L. Avcollie, music adapted and arranged by Mark Elliott, directed by David L. Avcollie, musical direction by Mark Elliott, teacher guide by Mary Chasen |
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| Tokoloshe
| 11/02/04 |
by Pieter Scholtz, directed by Ann Wakefield, teacher guide prepared by Gretl Satorius | |
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| Tuck Everlasting | 04/01/97 |
adapted by Mark Frattaroli, teacher guide by Mary Chasen |
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| The Wrestling Season | 02/02/04 |
by Laurie Brooks, directed by John Jenkins, teacher guide by Lenora Inez Brown,
Becky Perlman,
Max Graham,
Rachel Shteir |
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Teacher Guide: Showcase
| Title |
Run Date |
Credits |
Teacher Guide |
| A Bright Room Called Day | 02/06/97 |
by Tony Kushner, teacher guide by Alyssa Dyksterhouse |
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| The Grapes of Wrath | 05/21/99 |
adapted by Frank Galati, from the novel by John Steinbeck, directed by Michael Maggio, teacher guide by Lisa Marie Messier |
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| Hedda Gabler | 04/28/00 |
by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Christopher Hampton, directed by Patrice Egleston, teacher guide by Mara Salerno |
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| Misalliance | 11/07/96 |
by George Bernard Shaw, teacher guide by Brock Goldberg |
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| A Murder of Crows | 02/15/02 |
by Mac Wellman, directed by James Ostholthoff, teacher guide by Megan Breen |
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| Othello | 10/07/05 |
by William Shakespeare, directed by Henry Godinez, insider's guide prepared by Evan Fillon and RJ Hodde | |
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| The Perpetual Patient | 05/15/98 |
by Keith Reddin, teacher guide by Alyssa R. Dyksterhouse |
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| Sight Unseen | 11/03/00 |
by Donald Margulies, directed by Peter Hobert, teacher guide by Sharon Williams |
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| Six Degrees of Separation | 03/06/98 |
by John Guare, teacher guide by Mary H. Chasen |
Mary
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| Yerma | 04/20/01 |
by Federico Garcia Lorca, translated by W. S. Merwin, directed by Henry Godinez, teacher guide by Megan Breen |
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Teacher Guide: Curtain Raisers
| Season |
Shows |
Curtain Raiser |
| 2008-2009 |
Still Life with Iris, Alice in Wonderland, Bud Not Buddy, Streetcar Named Desire, Dancing at Lughnasa, Urinetown, MFA09 |
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| 2007-2008 |
Tales as Old as Africa, A Ver Old Man with Enormous Wings, The Giver, Hamlet, Burial at Thebes, The Hedi Chroniclesl, Kosi Dasa |
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| 2006-2007 |
The BFG, Cloud Nine, Einstein is a Dummy, Life's a Dream, Like a Cow or an Elephant, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, The Trial |
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| 2006-2007 |
The BFG, Cloud Nine, Einstein is a Dummy, Life's a Dream, Like a Cow or an Elephant, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, The Trial |
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| 2005-2006 |
The Boxcar Children, The Kingdom of Grimm, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Mango Leaf Magic, Othello, Pentecost, Two Trains Running |
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| 2004-2005 |
Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans, Dinner at Eight, Insurrection, Saint Joan of the Stockyards, Tokoloshe, There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, Under Milk Wood |
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| 2003-2004 |
Flyin' West, The Highest Heaven, Lapin Lapin, Marisol, Pinocchio 3.5, Ramona Quimby, The Servant of Two Masters |
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| 2002-2003 |
Assassins, Don Juan Comes Back from the War, Icarus Blue, The Owl and the Pussy Went to See, Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home, The Three Sister, Waiting for Godot |
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| 2000-2001
| Anna Karenina, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Duke Kahanamoku vs. the Surfnappers, Jungalbook, Noises Off, Sight Unseen, Yerma |
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If you have any questions about our season or resources for teachers, please feel free to contact:
Linda RM Jones, Group Sales Representative, (312) 922-0999
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