Note for teachers: All Writing Portfolio prompts have been designed to correspond with

WRITING PORTFOLIO
Kentucky Department of Education Core Content for Writing Assessment.

1. LITERARY WRITING Fund for the Arts

Members Agency

Is there an article of clothing you cannot live without?

Write a monologue concerning an article of clothing important to you. Describe the clothing in
great detail. What does it feel and look like? Does it have a certain smell? What has this clothing
item seen? What stories can it tell? Capture your audience by making them care about this piece
of clothing just as much as you do!

2. TRANSACTIVE WRITING
Study Guide
Pick a theatre production element that interests you before you attend Intimate Apparel (set, props,
lights, sound, or costumes). Getting the most out of the Study Guide for
After the production write a review focusing on the element you chose. Begin by describing the
overall environment of the production. Now consider how/when your production element was used.
Intimate Apparel
Did the choices made enhance or hinder the environment of the overall production? Be sure to
describe specific examples to enhance your argument. Our Study Guides are designed with you and your classroom in mind, with infor-
mation and activities that can be implemented in your curriculum. Feel free to
copy the study guide for other teachers and for students. You may wish to cover

Intimate
some content before your workshops and the performance; some content is more
3. PERSONAL WRITING appropriate for discussion afterwards. Of course, some activities and questions will
be more useful for your class, and some less. Feel free to implement any article,

Apparel
activity, writing portfolio exercise or post-show discussion question as you see fit.
How do you see yourself? How would you like others to see you?
Before the Performance:
Pretend a high school student from another country wants to be your pen pal. Write your first letter Using the articles in the study guide, students will be more engaged in the
describing yourself to this person. Consider your personal attributes and make sure to include what performance. Our articles relate information about things to look for in the show
is important to you. and information on the play and the playwright, Lynn Nottage. In addition, there
are articles on the Great Migration of blacks from the South to the North, life in
New York in 1905 and the corset’s role in women’s history. All of this informa-
tion, combined with our in-classroom workshops, will keep the students attentive
and make the performance an active learning experience.

After the Performance:

With the play as a reference point, our questions, activities, and writing portfolio
exercises can be incorporated into your classroom discussions and can enable stu-
dents to develop their higher-level thinking skills. Our study guide for Intimate
Apparel addresses specific Core Content, for example
AH-H 3.2.34 - Analyze and discuss how an individual’s culture experiences
affect writing, creating and performing in theatre.
AH-H 3.3.312 - Modern and Contemporary Drama-(Information on the
Playwright)
AH-H 3.1.34 - Identify skills and training necessary for a variety of careers
related to drama. (Careers in Theatre Article)
SS-H 4.3.2 - Human migration (Migration article)
SS-H 5.2.4 - Human migration (Migration article)

If you have questions or suggestions for improvements in our study guides,

Actors Theatre of Louiville ■ 316 West Main Street ■ Louisville, Kentucky 40202-4218 ■ USA contact Education Director Danielle M. Watts at DMinnis@ActorsTheatre.org
or 502-584-1265.
Box Office 502-584-1205 ■ Group Sales 502-585-1210 ■ Business Office 502-584-1265

ActorsTheatre.org Study Guide compiled by Jess Jung and

Jamie Bragg unless otherwise noted.
Play
Panama Canal

Approximately 800,000 ships have

passed through the Panama Canal since
its completion in 1914. Fifty-one miles in

Synopsis
length, the canal’s path pushes through
Central America’s Isthmus of Panama,
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. Its construction was a long,
dangerous process plagued by fatal
landslides and disease. However, the
canal’s completion is celebrated as one
In 1905 Manhattan, Esther Mills sews beautiful corsets for a living. Her the most successful engineering feats in
art and talent have earned her economic independence rare for an history. A ship sailing from the East to
unmarried woman of color and allows her access to diverse social the West coast of the United States will
worlds. In segmented Victorian New York, a black prostitute, a white save over 13,000 miles!
millionaire matron and an Orthodox Jewish merchant would never
meet, but through her work Esther befriends all three. Prostitute
Mayme and Esther both enjoy financial independence, but Mayme’s
race, class, and profession prevent her from becoming a concert pianist.
Society matron Mrs. Van Buren will lose her privileged life if she leaves
her loveless marriage. Fabric merchant Mr. Marks must choose between
his faith and his romantic attraction to Esther.

At thirty-five Esther has no suitors, but yearns for physical and emo-
tional intimacy. Her landlady, Mrs. Dickson, urges Esther to marry
respectably, but the seamstress corresponds with George Armstrong, a
Barbadian laborer who is helping build the Panama Canal. Esther, illit-
erate, asks her clients to write in her stead, and as the correspondence
grows more passionate, George proposes to Esther and moves to New
York to marry her. But each has misled the other, and both are disap-
pointed by the person they’ve married. Race and immigrant bias prevent
George from finding work, and he struggles with his role of provider.
Desperate, he asks Esther for her entire savings. He gambles away the
money and abandons her. Esther moves back to the boarding house and
begins to rebuild her dreams.
Post-Show
Discussion Questions
Cast of Characters: The idea that there is something wrong with a woman if she
is not married resonates throughout Intimate Apparel.
Esther Mills 35, African American seamstress Consider Ester, Mrs. Van Buren, and Mayme. How do each
of these women either accept or reject this idea? Is this opin-
Mrs. Dickson 50, African American proprietor ion still relevant in today’s society?
of boarding house for unmarried women
At the end of the play Ester is left alone smiling at her sewing
Mrs. Van Buren 30s, white wealthy socialite machine. Why is this image important? What do you think
Ester’s future holds?
Mr. Marks 30s, Romanian Jewish immigrant,
textile merchant

Mayme 30s, African American prostitute and Top: Spirella factory floor, 1910.
Opened in 1909, the workforce
dance hall performer consisted entirely of women.
Above: Wedding corset, 1905.

George 30s, black laborer from Barbados

CAREERS IN THEATRE
Margret Fenske, Costume Shop Manager
Margret Fenske, Actors Theatre’s Costume Shop Manager,
surfaced from a sea of petticoats and overcoats to share
memories of her many years of costuming, and particular-
ly of her nine years at Actors.

Margret found a passion for costuming at an early age. At

seven years old, she entered a series of contests to design
clothes for characters in a favorite comic strip, and she
won several times. Her mother, a gifted seamstress,
encouraged Margret to play with fabric left over from
sewing projects.

Margret still loves playing with fabric. Though she spends

much of her day ordering supplies and recording purchas-
es, she particularly enjoys costume construction. Margret
is a draper, the person who brings to life the designer’s
ideas. The designer decides what colors, textures, and
shapes will clearly communicate the director’s interpreta-
tion of the play. The designer then draws the costume and
gives that drawing, called a rendering, to the draper. The
draper studies this rendering and recreates the design
three-dimensionally by arranging cloth around a man-
nequin, gathering and pinning the material into the
desired shape. This shape, known as the mock-up, is the
draft for the final costume. The draper marks each pleat
and dart with a laundry pen or tape, and then unpins the #15 from The Migration Series
This season’s production of Intimate Apparel brings the Another cause was lynching. It was found that where there had
fabric, removing it from the mannequin and laying it flat
sewing machine from costume shop to stage. Like been a lynching, the people who were reluctant to leave at first
on the table. Guided by the marks on the fabric the drap- left immediately after this.
Margret, for protagonist Esther Mills sewing is both the
er cuts the pattern for the actual costume. Draping is chal- ’
source of her income and her art. Playwright Lynn
lenging; the mock-up must not only visually recreate the
Nottage makes tailoring and corsetry central metaphors,
rendering, it must be a functioning garment that allows
and describes Esther’s beloved fabrics in sensual detail.
the actor full physical expression.
Margret is delighted to be working on a production that
so thoughtfully explores her craft, and the stitchers and
Costumers prefer the term “building” to “sewing.”
designers have been talking about Intimate Apparel “since
Margret says the substitution cuts to the heart of her
the beginning of the year.” The shop is busy browsing spe- New York City, 1908
work: “There’s a lot more artistry in bringing something
cialty catalogs and Internet sites for delightful relics like
to life from the ground up than going out to the mall,
spoon busks (curved pieces of wood or whalebone slotted
buying a dress, and changing the hem or sleeves. The eyes
into the bodice to keep the back straight). Margret is
light up when it’s a build; there’s more input, more things
always excited when the fabric and trim orders arrive. “It’s
people get to do to make it special.” Margret relishes espe-
like Christmas! But all the stuff has to be inventoried . . .
cially challenging builds; among her favorite historical
so it’s a little while before we get to play.”
fashions are the “intricate carved sleeves” of the 1830’s;
“the patterns are just wild,” Margret says, and she loves
“the challenge of figuring out how they did what they did
. . . doing the research and finding out how it was done in
the first place.”
A New York Evolution
A little elbow grease can transform a person from rags to riches. This Many “old” New Yorkers were frightened of these vast changes. School
“American Dream” gained traction at the turn of the 20th century when became the target institution in which to enforce traditional American
industrial innovations generated thousands of new jobs. People from ideals. By 1909 70% of NYC’s schoolchildren had been born abroad.
around the world left their homes to take part in massive new commer- The public school system was determined to Americanize immigrant
cial and retail industries in the United States. Their first stop: New York children through steady doses of American history, manners, and
City. hygiene. New York School Superintendent William H. Maxwell:

The mass market originated in 1901 when Charles Schwab and J.P. “[The New York Public School System] is the melting pot which converts the
Morgan combined their small steel companies to create the US Steel children of immigrants…into sturdy, independent American citizens.”
Corporation. Steel companies that had previously competed individual-
ly for business now united creating an oligopoly dominating the steel Fresh industry also altered the shape of New York. Instead of buying
market. As a proven catalyst for economic growth, consolidation became goods at small private markets, New Yorkers swarmed newly fabricated
a prudent and popular business venture. When the electrical current department stores. Additionally, steel frame construction and the eleva-
replaced steam belts in factories, mechanical production increased expo- tor (invented in 1853 by Elisha Graves) paved the way for the skyscraper.
nentially. As the market grew, the assembly line was born, and thousands The former New York skyline, peaked with the spires of Gothic style
of new jobs were waiting to be filled by eager immigrants. Cathedrals, was now dominated by tall corporate edifices.

Between 1900 and 1915 fifteen million immigrants flooded into the city. The first plan for the New York subway system was composed in 1900.
They were from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, 7,700 immigrants, primarily of Irish and Italian decent, dug through
Hungary, Turkey, and more. Richard Williams of the Wall Street Journal their city’s soil to construct twenty plus miles of underground train tun- #1 from The Migration Series
wrote: nels. On October 27, 1904 the subway became the latest, greatest inno- During the World War there was a great migration North by Southern Negroes.

“The Flood gates are open. The dam is washed away. The sewer is unchoked.
vation in public transportation. Within the next four years one million
New Yorkers were riding the subway per day.
Terms
Europe is vomiting.”
The combustion of new inventions, markets, and faces produced at the Harlem Renaissance
By 1900 Manhattan’s heaving city blocks were the most populated in the turn of the 20th century was the forefront of the modern city. Power A great flourish of African American art,
world. Most immigrants lived on the Lower East Side. Twenty or more shifted, businesses boomed, thoughts combined, and new innovations in writing, and music that developed in
bodies crammed into one-bedroom apartments. Children slept four to a technology rocked the face of the United States. In short, the New York Harlem, New York during the 1920’s.
bed while many adults were forced to sleep in shifts. However congest- City familiar today was born. Also known as the “New Negro
ed, many immigrants found comfort in their tight-knit communities. Movement.”
Pockets of foreign lands bustled within a new atmosphere:

“Though I was in America, I lived in practically the same environment

which we brought from home. Of course, there was a difference in our joys,
Activity
in our sorrows, in our hardships … but on the whole we were still in our vil-
lage.” Visit the following website to view the
— Rose Chen, Jewish Immigrant “Migration Series”
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/odonnell/w1010/
New York evolved. Millions of people and hundreds of cultures meshed edit/migration/migration.html
together. New faces bubbled together. As the previous image of America
faded and a new question surfaced: what is American? Choose your favorite painting. Now pre-
tend you can step into the artwork. Use
your five senses to journal this experience.
What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and
feel? Where are you? Are their other char-
acters in the scene? Who are they? Finally,
take a moment to reflect on the images you
encountered. What would it have been
like to be a part of the Great Migration?
JACOB LAWRENCE
Between 1890 and 1900 the black population of New York City tripled,
between 1910 and 1920 the population increased another 66%, and Terms
between 1920 and 1930 it grew another whopping 115%. At the turn
of the century, African Americans of the South left their jobs, homes,
Oligopoly
and sometimes families to find better opportunities in the North. Their
journey has been dubbed the Great Migration and is a landmark in A market dominated by a small number of businesses.
American history. Painter Jacob Lawrence captures the hope, struggle,
and determination of this remarkable journey through his “Migration Consolidation
Series.” To become united into one whole.

After the Civil War, the South became a dangerous place for its black res- Melting Pot
idents. Although slavery had been abolished, discrimination continued Term used to describe the process of different cultures blending
to be a harsh fact of life. After WWI, the South was given control of its together. It was first coined by Israel Zangwill’s play The Melting
legal system. This control was greatly abused. Jim Crow Laws (estab- Pot (1908).
lished in 1880) segregated public spaces, including public transporta-
tion, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. More blacks were tortured
and/or lynched during these years than any other time in history. In the Ideal
Born in 1917, Jacob Lawrence was younger than artists of the Harlem
North, industrial production soared and workers were needed to fill the Renaissance. He was, however, greatly influenced by their contributions A model of excellence.
assembly lines. Factory owners pointed towards the South for cheap to Black American culture. He has been labeled an “expressive cubist”
labor. Many blacks saw the North as a grand land in which to create a using strong, abstract form, delineated through strict lines and bold col- Steel Frame Construction
better life. The great migration began. New hope swelled within com- ors. Gave buildings a steel skeleton. This skeleton transferred the sup-
munities and soon entire families left their homes to create another in port of the building from the walls to the inner frame, making it pos-
the North. It wasn’t long, however, before harsh realities of this new envi- His signature “Migration Series” captures the journey of the African sible to build multiple levels. Steel frame construction was first seen
ronment set in… American from the North to the South. Lawrence began work on the in Chicago and New York in the 1880s.
series untraditionally: not in his art studio, but in the library. There he
When I was home de researched the history of the Great Migration and composed a story told Edifice
Sunshine seemed like gold. through a series of captions. Each caption was then used as inspiration
A large building.
When I was home de to create the painting it accompanied. When the series was completed a
Sunshine seemed like gold. year later, sixty paintings were displayed, depicting a story of great strug-
Since I cam North de
While damn world’s turned cold.
gle and change.
Activity
— “Po’ Boy Blues”, Langston Hughes, 1932 The story begins and ends in a train station. Fatigue is apparent among
a dreary, crowded atmosphere. “The Railroad stations were at times so over Find one unique quality regarding your heritage to share with your
Many Northerners felt threatened by their new neighbors. Black com- packed with people leaving that special guards had to be called to keep order,” class. It could be a family recipe, historical event, family tradition,
munities or neighborhoods formed within northern cities. Although safe but, “…the migrants kept coming.” Lawrence uses a ladder and other or ceremony…whatever interests you. Have pride in your family his-
within their communities, hatred still lurked outside. Being caught out- means of vertical movement throughout the work. For example, one tory!
side of one’s neighborhood at the wrong time of day could lead to fatal painting in the series is a dark, empty staircase. The flight is narrow,
consequences. Protection by the police was a fleeting hope as many brown, bleak; it gives the viewer a sense of claustrophobia. However, a
police officers were just as violent as their civilian compatriots. door at the top of the stairwell provides hope to another passage. In
black tradition, a “ladder” represented progression. Here, Lawrence uses
Factory work was also brutal. Long hours and unsanitary facilities often these images to link the past with the future — the North with the
made work more dangerous than rewarding. Nevertheless, those who South. He courageously depicts the harsh realities of each environment,
were employed were lucky. Industrial production produced a swell of and by doing so, expresses the strength of the migrating generation. An
European immigrants looking for the same opportunities. Many black event once overlooked in American history was exposed. It provoked a
workers were displaced. discussion of culture, class, and heritage — a discussion still relevant
today.
Times were changing and as Northern cities found themselves in a state
of flux, African Americans found themselves becoming further and fur- Viewing Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series” is not simply viewing a
ther marginalized. Black culture was turned upside down. Black com- compilation of artworks. Instead, it is viewing a piece of American his-
munities became airtight pouches filled with both the old and new tory…
New York City, 1908
visions of the African American. Southern mixed with Northern, rural
with urban expelling dynamic new innovations in the arts. “Crossroads, bus stations, and train stations — moments of transition — it
certainly was a moment of transition in the history of America and for the
race … And I want to say this too: I don’t think the blacks in making a
movement just contributed to their own development. It contributed to
American development.”
— Jacob Lawrence
LYNN
Corset
Further Reading:
Inventing the American Woman: A

NOTTAGE perspective on Women’s History

1865 to the Present
Glenda Riley
Whether set in 1905 Manhattan, the court
of Louis XIV, or post-colonial Mozambique,
It’s easy to see why Lynn Nottage made However, while many used the corset as an The Corset
Lynn Nottage’s plays explore societal
forces acting on communities: race and corsetry a central metaphor for Intimate escape from a limited societal role, others Valerie Steele
Apparel. Throughout history, corsets have found corsets emblematic of the role itself.
gender bias in Intimate Apparel, terrorism
reflected cultural perceptions of body and iden- Because lower- and middle-class women could
in The Por’ Knockers, post-colonial unrest in
tity. By reshaping the body the corset forms an now afford cosmetic enhancements, these
The Black New Yorkers: 400
Mud, River, Stone and domestic violence alternative sense of self that the wearer presents women were now held to standards of fashion Years of African American History
in Poof! Her deeply sympathetic characters to the world. that once applied only to the aristocracy. Their The Schomberg
often come from broken communities and, upper-class counterparts had servants to assist Illustrated Chronology
in an effort to rebuild, they reach out to oth- The corset’s construction and function have or completely manage household duties, leav-
ers unlike themselves, finding intimacy and varied widely over time. The first, worn by ing the aristocratic woman free to pursue fash-
support in relationships that cross ethnic Renaissance aristocrats, provided a firm base ion and other leisure activities. Lower- and A Tyranny of Change: America in
and ideological barriers. Nottage holds for elaborate court fashions. Victorian corsets middle-class women were expected to put on the Progressive Era: 1890-1920
degrees in writing from Brown and Yale also supported clothing, but unlike their the identity of leisured ladies while still main-
John Whiteclay Chambers II
Universities, but she contends that her jour- Renaissance counterparts, 19th century corsets taining efficient households. Beauty became a
radically reshaped the body. Stiffened fabric wifely duty comparable to cooking and clean-
ney as a playwright began at her mother’s
was tailored to cinch the waist and give the illu- ing. In popular ladies’ magazines, matron A Very Different Age: Americans
kitchen table. Her childhood home in columnists warned that a dowdy or prudish
sion of larger breasts and buttocks. Further of the Progressive Era
Brooklyn was filled with articulate, socially shaping the stiff fabric were stays, inserts of wife drives her husband to infidelity, and thus
engaged women from many walks of By Steven J. Diner
bone or metal fitted into vertical slots that fol- urged married readers to use lingerie as mar-
life—nurses, teachers, activists and artists. lowed the curves of the corset. No woman riage aids. Though Mrs. Van Buren derives per-
These women joined her mother and could corset herself unassisted; her mother, sonal satisfaction from her lingerie, she also Journey to Freedom: The African-
grandmother around the kitchen table, and husband, or maid laced the garment tight wears it to win emotional and physical intima- American Great Migration
she would listen to the stories they shared. around the torso, molding the woman’s body cy with her increasingly distant husband.
into the desired hourglass shape. This figure, Esther does not wear lipstick and a revealing
By Maurice Isserman
She still lives in her Brooklyn childhood
home, where she is raising her own fami- with the breasts and hips of a mother and the corset to fulfill her own sexual desires. Instead,
ly. And family stories continue to compel
waist of a child, was the feminine ideal. Such a she creates a false identity that she hopes will Jacob Lawrence: The Migration
woman was both maternal and delicate; she win George’s love. Series
her: the original inspiration for Intimate
nurtured children and was in turn protected by
Apparel is the life of Nottage’s great- her husband. Though women still shape their bodies to con- Introductory Essay
grandmother, Ethel Boyce, a seamstress in form to societal standards of beauty, Pilates and by Henry Louis Gates
turn-of-the-century New York who, like But as Intimate Apparel explores, corsets were support hose have replaced lacing and stays. Yet
Esther, married a Barbadian immigrant she not simplistic tools of the patriarchy. Many the corset is still a potent symbol of sexual dis-
met through correspondence. women embraced the corset as a means of covery and social repression; famously,
exploring identities outside of the narrow roles Madonna has chosen to wear corsets to com-
Nottage writes plays, because unlike nov- they were forced to play in real life. Like Mrs. ments on these themes. Given the advances in
elists or poets, in theatre collaboration is Van Buren, many respectable society matrons fashion technology, the garments worn by the
essential. The playwright’s words “get inter- wore revealing lingerie to feel “naughty,” to women in Intimate Apparel may seem archaic,
express forbidden sexual fantasies; Mrs. Van but the corset’s role in shaping a woman’s iden-
preted by a director, by actors, by design-
Buren enjoys that her corset makes her look tity remains strong.
ers and finally by an audience.” In this
like “a tart from the Tenderloin.” For other
way her words are spoken through “the women, fashion satisfied fantasies of an
voice of many artists.” Her childhood love empowered and graceful life. Prostitute Mayme Jeunne fille au corset rose by Eugène Vidal

of conversation informs her writing and wears her corset to look like a Fifth Avenue
style of working now, and inspires her heiress; to her, a corset represents wealth, pres-
favorite description of her career: a play- tige, and respectability. Esther’s corsets enable
wright “skillfully introduces a topic at a Mayme to live in such a fantasy, and Esther
dinner party. It’s fascinating to listen to how dreams of a salon in which working class
people respond to an idea, how they build women will feel like ladies.
upon it, deconstruct it, twist and turn it until
it becomes their own.”