Shoehorn Sonata -Activities and writing tasks

Activities

1. Re-read the notes on characterisation [see Structure and characterisation]. Prepare

your own character outlines for Bridie and Sheila. Allow one to two pages for each.

On the left-hand side list the important points you have noted about each woman.
Opposite, give the evidence from the text to support this point. The evidence could
be lines or phrases of dialogue, their actions, current or past, or their body language as
described in the text.
2. As you re-read each scene, write a very short summary (no more than three sentences)
outlining the spine of the scene, that is, the most important actions in this scene
which propel the play along. Ask yourself what would be lost if this scene had to be
cut out.

Then write out in full (to help you recall them) two of the main quotations from this
scene which you would want to use in explaining it.

If you do not have sufficient time to do all of the fourteen scenes, do at least five of
the ones you think are the most memorable.

3. Re-read the section, Making drama out of reality. Find five examples of Mistos use
of documentary photographs in the background of scenes. List them, and for each
provide three quotations from the accompanying scene, which link with the images
shown.

Explain how Misto uses the photographs for emphasis, and what you think the effect
on the audience would be.

4. What was the Shoe-Horn sonata in the play? What other significant parts did the
Shoe-Horn play in the story? In what ways is it used symbolically?
5. Many unfamiliar words and concepts are used by Misto to add to the feeling of reality
in the play. Opposite each of those given below, write its meaning as used in the play:

saki

Belalau

Lavender Street

tenko

Changi

dengue

troppo
 loin cloth

6. The subject of The Shoe-Horn Sonata is a grim and tragic one, but Misto lightens
the play with some humour. Find three moments in the play when you think an
audience would laugh, and try to work out why. Are any humorous lines or actions
placed near (juxtaposed with) moments of high tension and stress? Why would this be
done?
7. Music is used in the play to give the sense of the historical period, and also to create
an emotional tone. Find three songs used in the play, listen to them, and explain why
they are appropriate in the scene theyre featured in?

Writing tasks

8. The last line of the play reads:

It is the music of joy and triumph and survival.

In what sense is this a play about the triumph of the human spirit?

9. Conflict is the soul of drama. What are the main sources of conflict in this play, and
how are they finally resolved?
10. Imagine you are Sheila. In your motel room the evening after the final taping, write
your diary entry. You should explain what has happened during your visit to
Melbourne, and the impact the events and revelations have had on you.
11. You are asked to direct Scene Eight of The Shoe-Horn Sonata for your schools
annual drama day. Write the briefing talk you would give to your actors and stage
crew at your first meeting with them, explaining what impact you want this scene to
have. You will need to include a brief introduction to the plays action so far.
12. I do not have the power to build a memorial. So I wrote a play instead.

How successful is this play as a memorial to the Australian nurses and other women
taken prisoner?
[Look up the dictionary definition ofmemorial before you plan your answer.]

13. Imagine it is two years in the future. You are a young backpacker travelling in an
Asian country. You have been imprisoned on a false charge of drug smuggling. At the
end of the first week, write in your travel diary an account of the pressures you are
feeling, and the inner resources you have which you hope will make it possible for
you to survive until your family and the Department of Foreign Affairs can organise
your release.

Group Activities

14. Hot seat.One member of the class is chosen to play Bridie; another, later, plays
Sheila. Other members of the class fire questions at Bridie orSheila, particularly
establishing their motivations, their reactions to the reunion with other survivors, their
feelings at the conclusion of the play, their worst moment--and any other relevant
questions. The person in the hot seat must stick to what is established in the play or
what is clearly compatible with it.
15. Scenes with commentary. A class is divided into threes and scenes are allotted. Each
group is to act out for the class the scene or a significant part of it. Some class time is
spent rehearsing the scenes; the commentary is prepared as homework.

Each group then presents its scene. Students give a short introduction to explain
where the scene comes in the play. A detailed commentary is given after the
presentation, focussing on the main concerns of this scene, the character development
shown, the language used and the music, props, and projected images that would be
used in a professional production.

16. Quiz show [a good end of term activity]. Each student prepares two factual questions
on the play (e.g. Who said this?) for homework. The class is then divided into two
teams. In turn, each team asks the members of the opposing team one question. If the
allocated person answers it, the score is one point; half a point if another member of
that team answers. The quiz may run more smoothly if each teams collection of
questions is prepared on computer.