Research

1. Read at least one or two stories by Katherine Mansfield.

2. Read Katherine Mansfield’s letters and journals, especially those relating to the period 1922–1923.

3. Read some of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and the poems by other poets mentioned in the play.
4. Find out more about G. I. Gurdjieff or his student Ouspensky, who helped disseminate his work.

5. Find information about ‘constructionist’ art, especially the work of Sonia Delaunay.

6. Find out more about feminism, especially as it is written about and practised in Australian society. Try to find examples of different kinds of feminism and how it is affecting society through changes of attitudes and through legislation, and how feminism is itself evolving with changes in society.


Questions for discussion

1. What is important about Wayne’s remark in Act One Scene One, ‘When I recite Emily Dickinson, I am Emily Dickinson’?

2. What are the differences between Audra and Rahel?

3. In Act One Scene Eight, the Man says he wants to go home, and Wayne says he does not feel at home anywhere, except with the Man, who seems to come from the ‘real world’. What are some of the implications of this dialogue between them?

4. What do the characters Vera, Lidia and Asanov each contribute to the action and ideas of the play?

5. What are some of the ways in which Gurdjieff helped Katherine? What are the limitations of his assistance? Why might he think women are limited in what they can achieve? What are the limitations of Gurdjieff’s teaching about self-knowledge, as it is represented in the play?

6. What do you understand about the relationship between Katherine and Murry as it is represented in the play?

7. Katherine’s last lines in the play are taken from different parts of Katherine Mansfield’s journal, and end with the entry for 8 January 1921. What effect do they have on the ending of the play?

8. The title of the play is taken from the journal entry for 27 December 1920: what are some of the implications of the title, even if you did not know where they came from? See also Act One Scene Three (p.6).

9. Construct in plasticine or another modelling material, the set for Act One Scene Ten, positioning the characters for the opening of the scene as you think appropriate. Write notes to explain the effect your design intends to make.

10. Write notes, or an essay, on the implications of the poetry used in the play. Comment also on its effect on an audience who might only hear the lines in a production, without knowing their background.