Study Guide prepared by Catherine Bush

Barter Playwright-in-Residence

My Imaginary Pirate By Catherine Bush *Especially for Grades K-5 By the Barter Players, Touring January – March 2016

Barter Stage II – April, 2016

(NOTE: Standards listed below include those for seeing a performance of the play, and completing the study guide.)

Virginia SOLs English – K.1, K.8, K.12, 1.1, 1.8, 1.13, 2.7, 2.12, 3.2, 3.4, 3.9, 3.11, 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.7, 4.9, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.7, 5.9 Tennessee/North Carolina Common Core State Standards

English Language Arts – Writing: K.1, K.5, K.7, K.8, 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.8, 2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.7, 3.8, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9 Tennessee Fine Arts Curriculum Standards

Theatre – K.1, K.3, K.4, K.5, K.6, 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1, 4.3, 4.6, 4.7, 5.1, 5.3, 5.6, 5.7 North Carolina Essential Standards

Theatre Arts – K.A.1, K.AE.1, 1.A.1, 1.AE.1, 1.CU.2, 2.C.2, 2.A.1, 2.AE.1, 3.C.1, 3.C.2, 3.A.1, 3.CU.1, 3.CU.2, 4.C.1, 4.A.1, 4.AE.1, 5.C.1, 5.A.1, 5.AE.1, 5.CU.2

A Brief History Barter Theatre was founded during the Great Depression by Robert Porterfield, an enterprising young actor. He and his fellow actors found themselves out of work and hungry in New York City. Porterfield contrasted that to the abundance of food, but lack of live theatre, around his home region in Southwest Virginia. He returned to Washington County with an extraordinary proposition: bartering produce from the farms and gardens of the area to gain admission to see a play.

Barter Theatre opened its doors on June 10, 1933 proclaiming, “With vegetables you cannot sell, you can buy a good laugh.” The price of admission was 40 cents or the equivalent in produce, the concept of trading “ham for Hamlet” caught on quickly. At the end of the first season, the Barter Company cleared $4.35 in cash, two barrels of jelly and enjoyed a collective weight gain of over 300 pounds.

Playwrights including Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder accepted Virginia ham as payment for royalties. An exception was George Bernard Shaw, a vegetarian, who bartered the rights to his plays for spinach.

Today, Barter Theatre has a reputation as a theatre where many actors performed before going on to achieve fame and fortune. The most recognized of these alumni include Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, Larry Linville and Frances Fisher. The list also included James Burrows, creator of Cheers, Barry Corbin, and the late Jim Varney

Robert Porterfield passed away in 1971. His successor, Rex Partington, had been at Barter in the 1950s as an actor and in the 1970s as stage manager. Rex returned as chief administrator from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. In March 2006, he passed away.

Richard Rose was named the producing artistic director in October 1992. In that time, attendance has grown from 42,000 annual patrons to more than 163,000 annual patrons. Significant capital improvements have also been made. Including maintenance to both theatres, and in 2006, the addition of The Barter Café at Stage II and dramatic improvements to Porterfield Square.

Barter represents three distinct venues of live theatre: Barter Theatre Main Stage, Barter Theatre Stage II and The Barter Players. Barter Theatre, with over 500 seats, features traditional theatre in a luxurious setting. Barter Stage II, across the street from Barter Main Stage and beyond Porterfield Square, offers seating for 167 around a thrust stage in an intimate setting and is perfect for more adventurous productions. The Barter Players is a talented ensemble of actors, producing plays for young audiences throughout the year.

History is always in the making at Barter Theatre, building on legends of the past; Barter looks forward to the challenge of growth in the future.

Setting Various locations in the world of Jesse McCall, the deck of a pirate ship, a boy’s bedroom, a living room, a classroom, a playground and a desert island.

Characters Jesse McCall – a nine year old boy with a vivid imagination Janet McCall – Jesse’s mother Henry McCall – Jesse’s father One-Eyed Jack – Jesse’s imaginary pirate Red-Legs Ricky – The Outlaw Pirate Mrs. Alma Pierce – Jesse’s 3rd grade teacher

The Crew of Jesse’s Ship

Mr. Jones – the first mate La Pugh – the helmsman Brawny Bart – the master gunner

The Crew of Red Legs Ricky’s Ship

Socrates – the first mate

Students in Mrs. Pierce’s Class

Cheryl Buckingham – fiercely righteous, lacks imagination Jeff Kalinosky – has a bad thumb-sucking habit Phoebe Petrucco – vivid imagination, wears glasses

Note: Cast Size and Doubling of Actors This production of My Imaginary Pirate features only six actors, with some actors playing more than one role. Doubling of actors requires distinction between characters. In this production, characters will be distinguished by costume, voice and other physical character traits.

Synopsis Jesse McCall has moved to a new town and is having trouble making friends at school. But Jesse isn’t lonely; he’s too busy going on adventures with his imaginary pirate, the Terrible One-Eyed Jack. Jesse and One-Eyed Jack are determined to find the buried treasure, but run into all sorts of trouble; the Outlaw Pirate, Red Legs Ricky, is trying to steal their treasure map, Jesse’s mom is trying to come to grips with an imaginary pirate living in her house and Jesse’s teacher Mrs. Pierce is trying to each her class their multiplication tables! But everything works out in the end and – with a little help from his dad and One-Eyed Jack – Jesse comes to realize that friendship is the greatest treasure of them all.

Biography of the Playwright – Catherine Bush

Catherine Bush was born in Battle Creek, MI on July 25, 1962. She moved with her family to Kentucky when she was 13. She attended Eastern Kentucky University, where she received her degree in Industrial Technology. While designing vacuum cleaners for Whirlpool in Danville, KY, she discovered an ad for her community theatre and the rest, as they say, is history. She moved to New York City to pursue acting, which eventually led to a career in playwriting. She has been Barter Theatre’s playwright-in-residence since 2007. Her produced plays include: The Other Side of the Mountain, The

Quiltmaker, Comin’ Up A Storm, Wooden

Snowflakes, Tradin’ Paint, Where Trouble Sleeps,

Walking Across Egypt, I’ll Never Be Hungry Again (book & lyrics), The Frankenstein

Summer, unhINGEd, The Executioner’s Sons, The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig,

and Just a Kiss, which was a finalist for the 2007 Steinberg Award presented by the American Theatre Critics Association. Plays for Young Audiences: Cry Wolf!, Sleeping

Beauty, Rapunzel, The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Legend of

Sleepy Hollow, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, My Imaginary Pirate,

The Call of the Wild, The Princess and the Pea, Aesop’s Fables, The Red Badge of

Courage. Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mother Goose: The Musical,

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Jingle All the Way, Old Turtle and the Broken Truth,

and Antigone.

www.catherinebushplays.com

Vocabulary Words

starboard

Jolly Roger

alee

gills

buccaneer

scoundrel

loyalty

forsake

distraction

oath

transfer

imaginary

treasure

multiplication

arithmetic

policy

wench

hostage

plank

phase

introduce

kidnap

desert island

promotion

landlubber

plunder

gunslinger

WORD SEARCH Find the following words below: Jesse McCall, One-Eyed Jack, Phoebe, desert island, Mrs. Pierce,

buried treasure, Red Legs Ricky, friendship, walk the plank,

imagination, pirate ship, hopscotch, Barter Theatre, Cheryl, sword

fighting, multiplication, spider ring, Jeff

O P G M E B E O H P G D B M R

N I N R L V U A F M N I U D E

E H I S Y W S F V A I L R K D

E S R P R M E P L M T P I N L

Y D R I E J E S A I H I E A E

E N E E H L I G P O G R D L G

D E D R C T I L P S I A T P S

J I I C R N I S X X F T R E R

A R P E A C C P E H D E E H I

C F S T A O E Z F Y R S A T C

K E I T T G S L G Q O H S K K

D O I C C A O P N V W I U L Y

N O H F V K Q L G H S P R A A

N J E S S E M C C A L L E W P

G E R T A E H T R E T R A B F

Color the pirate ship!

The following are to be completed after watching the performance.

True and False Write T if the statement is True and F if the statement is False. 1. ____ Jesse McCall’s imaginary pirate is named One-Eyed Jack.

2. ____ Because of his mother’s job, Jesse and his family move around a lot.

3. ____ Cheryl wholeheartedly believes in imaginary pirates.

4. ____ Jesse’s mom is afraid of spiders.

5. ____ At school, Mrs. Pierce is teaching her students simple arithmetic.

6. ____ Jesse and One-Eyed Jack are searching for a sunken ship.

7. ____ Mrs. Pierce fought Red Legs Ricky off with her pointer.

8. ____ Jesse thinks Phoebe has pretty eyes.

9. ____ When Jesse’s dad was little, he had an imaginary friend named Corey the Clown.

10. ____ When Jesse finds the buried treasure, he discovers a chest full of gold coins.

Matching!

Draw a line connecting the name on the left with its description on the

right:

Mrs. Pierce likes to play hopscotch

Jeff the Outlaw Pirate

Phoebe sucks his thumb

Cheryl third grade teacher

Red Legs Ricky has no imagination

Questions/Activities

1 Jesse McCall has an imaginary friend, a pirate named One-Eyed Jack. Do you have – or have you ever had – an imaginary friend? What makes/made that friendship so important to you? Why was One-Eyed Jack so important to Jesse? Do you think Jesse’s teacher, Mrs. Pierce, ever had an imaginary friend? Why or why not? Do you think your teacher would like it if you brought and imaginary pirate to school? Discuss. 2. One-Eyed Jack leads Jesse on all sorts of adventures – fighting pirates, digging for buried treasure, etc. Pretend you have an imaginary pirate for a friend. Write a story about an adventure you would take with your

pirate and then draw a picture to illustrate it.

3. Jesse is about to start his first day in a new school. What kind of changes have you experienced in your life? (i.e. new school, new baby in the family, moving to a new house or city) Is change good? Bad? Both at the same time? Discuss.

Compare and Contrast! Consider Jesse’s classmates Cheryl and Phoebe:

Cheryl Buckingham Phoebe Petrucco

Write a paper comparing and contrasting their

relationship with Jesse McCall. Which one

would you want for a best friend?

4. Define the vocabulary words found on the bottom of Pg. 4 then write sentences using them. Remember: anyone reading your sentence should be able to understand the word from the context in which it is used.

6.

Research and Oral Presentation

Working in groups, pick one of the topics below, research it,

and using visual aids, etc., present it to your class!

the Jolly Roger

Blackbeard

Pirates in Literature the cutlass

buried treasure

sea shanties

5. What is the treasure Jesse discovers at the end of the play? Do you think he was disappointed? Why or why not? What is it that you most treasure in your life? How important are your friends, family, health, etc.? Discuss.

6. Jesse’s mother is afraid of spiders, a fear known as “arachnophobia.” As a class, write a list of the things you are afraid of, then using the internet, look up the proper term associated with each fear. What sorts of things do your fears keep you from doing? Discuss.

7. My Imaginary Pirate is a story made up from the playwright’s imagination. Some plays are adapted from books. Read one of the books from the Suggested Reading List found at the end of this study guide. Then divide the class into groups and assign each group a scene from the

story. Have each group adapt their scene into the scene for a play. Design the appropriate costumes, props and set needed. Now have each group present their scene in chronological order. Is the story told? How different is your play from the story you read? How difficult is it to take a piece of literature and turn it into a play?

8. Organize your own treasure hunt! Breaking into groups, design your own treasure map – complete with clues and illustrations – that another group will be able to use to find the “buried treasure.”

9. Write a letter to your favorite actors from this production. Tell them what you liked about the play, their performance, etc. Mail your letters to:

The Barter Players c/o Barter Theatre P.O. Box 867 Abingdon, VA 24212-0867 ATTN: My Imaginary Pirate

Suggested Further Reading/Links

Other Pirate stories: How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long On a Pirate Ship by Sarah Courtauld and Benji Davies Archie and the Pirates by Marc Rosenthal See Inside Pirate Ships by Rob Lloyd Jones and Jörg Mühle.