Adjusting to the Afterlife

Welcome back to my blog. This post is for the second Action Project in the Humanities class, Drama. In this unit we continued to explore gender roles throughout history. We also read the play, A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. Because the play takes place in Norway we looked at how women were treated and their place in society in Norway. We also observed what was going on with the rest of the world during that time period. Leading up to the Action Project, we studied the different components of plays which important to its function and acting it out. This included stage directions, script formatting and story explanations. Using what we learned we had to write a script for a one minute clip in a movie or TV show. I chose to use Obi-Wan Kenobi's confrontation with General Grievous in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Following this, we began working on our Action Project. This AP requires us to bring Nora, a character from A Doll's House, a woman represented on a place setting in The Dinner Party art installation by Judy Chicago, and another person from a different time period and have them discuss their views on gender roles. This AP was done in groups of three so each person could have a character. After forming the script we had to act out the play. Down below is the script to our play and the video of it fully acted out, following. I hope you enjoy reading and watching, Adjusting to the Afterlife.

Adjusting to the Afterlife

Act 1

Opening Crawl

In an unspecified time, there is a place where people meet when they die. Here, we have two figures from different points in history meeting for the first time. They are both trying to adjust to their new life, and conversating about their past lives.

The scene opens with a conversation between two characters, Nora and Kassandra. Kassandra is an Amazon from Ancient Greece and Nora is a Norwegian woman from the 19th century. Their conversation is unclear. You can hear Nora’s voice getting louder as we focus on the conversation she's having with Kassandra about her life.

Nora

Oh, I didn’t really do many activities, I mostly stayed home and cleaned the house, cooked dinner, and played with my children. What about you? What kinds of things did you like to do?

Kassandra

I enjoyed hunting and training for possible threats.

Nora

Oh, wow that is certainly different from my life. If I even considered doing that sort of thing, Torvald would have my head.

Kassandra

That sounds dreadful, who is Torvald?

Nora

(Nora acts surprised) He is my husband, of course. With your age, don’t you have a husband?

Kassandra

Where I come from we do not have husbands. We choose to interact with males as little as possible.

Nora

How can that be? Do you not rely on your men to care or provide for you? You must have some men? What about children? How can you have children without a man?

Kassandra

We only need males to make a child and only daughters are raised. Sons are either killed or returned to their fathers. Husbands are merely dolls we have to play with.

Nora

Well that's rather oppressive, don’t you think?

Kassandra

Well, that's what they do to you. They treat you as if you don’t exist or if you are an object. They have no respect for you and have taken away your liberty. Women do not need men to survive.

Nora

I think they do. How else would you be able to stay home with the children which is what you should love most.

Kassandra

What you love most? What you love most!!(Kassandra changes her stance, standing her ground) Since when is gawking around a mostly empty house waiting for a few hours a day where you get to see what? An overworked husband who won't even notice the work you broke your back to do because he's probably too busy pointing out everything you could've done better?

Nora

Well maybe I like it inside that empty house. If it's for my family I believe it's all worthwhile.

Kassandra

Maybe that’s what you’ve been brought up to believe. Since you were little, all of your decisions have been made for you, causing you to rely on men your whole life.

Nora

(Narrowing her eyes, giving Kassandra a look) Thinking for myself would only allow me to stray from my destined path as wife and caretaker for my children.

Kassandra

You're just pathetic, that is your internalized misogyny speaking.

Nora

How dare you! I couldn’t see anything more fit for a woman of my stature.

Nora and Kassandra stop talking, they both are upset with how the conversation has turned. They sit in silence for a while.

Act 2

A few minutes after their conversation, Chip is walking by when they notice hostility between Nora and Kassandra. They wonder if there's anything they can do to help so they walk over to talk to them.

Chip

Hey, what brand of chip is slower than internet explorer? (slight pause)

deLAYS

(everyone sits in silence as they both look at Chip with their arms outstretched with wide eyes looking for joke validation)

Both Kassandra and Nora turn to look at Chip.

Kassandra

What

Nora

What is an internet?

Chip

You guys aren't from the 21st century are you…

Nora shakes her head no.

Chip

Well anyways...what seems to be the problem? You guys in the market for some couples therapy?

Nora

We are NOT a couple.

Chip

What is that supposed to mean? What century are you even from exactly?

Nora

I'm from the 19th century.

Kassandra

(Looks at Nora) Well that explains it.

Nora

(Looks back at Kassandra) Explains what?

Kassandra

You being from the 19 century. You have the ideals and opinions of someone from that time period.

Chip

Well what are your ideals and opinions, Nora?

Nora

Well, Kassandra and I were just having a conversation about the roles of women and how a society should function.

Chip

And how do you think it should work?

Nora

I think that men and women have their roles. The women should stay home with their children and clean and cook for their husbands. The men should provide for their families because that is what they are supposed to do.

Chip

And how would you say this differs from your thoughts on how it should work, Kassandra?

Kassandra

I think women do not need men to solely provide when women can do it themselves. We shouldn’t be made to work if it isn't what we want. Women are better than men.

Chip

If I could share my opinion, I think that anyone of any gender or identity can have the same opportunities as anyone else. We don’t have to follow specific roles designated to our gender. People can present themselves however they feel comfortable.

Nora

So I don’t have to take care of my children all of the time? What else can I do?

Chip

Nora, you can do whatever you want to do. If you want to be an archaeologist, you can. (Looks at Kassandra) Kassandra, you kind of need to chill out with your man hating perspective. You also don’t need to be a super tough warrior to prove yourself. If you want to be a dancer, go for it.

Kassandra

I think you're right. (Nora nods in agreement)

The scene ends with the three of the characters looking at each other nodding their heads until the scene fades to black.


Video:

Adjusting to the Afterlife

After finishing this AP I think that my group and I did a great job with it. Hearing everyone's ideas for the script was very nice and helpful and I think we combined all of our hopes and expectations into it. This project was really fun to do with my friends and they played their parts very well. I was the editor of the video but both of my groupmates were putting in their opinions throughout the way. Because of how much time we had to work with our play I think it turned out well. This class was fun as well and I'm excited for what's next. The links to my friend's blog posts are below so check them out if you want. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next post. 

DN - https://dngcelabschool.blogspot.com/2021/05/adjusting-to-afterlife-ap.html 

KH - https://khgcelabschool.blogspot.com/2021/05/adjusting-to-afterlife.html?m=1