STAGE!NOTES! · Page|2!! STAGE!NOTES! preparedbyBridgetGrace!Sheaff!!...
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Transcript of STAGE!NOTES! · Page|2!! STAGE!NOTES! preparedbyBridgetGrace!Sheaff!!...
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STAGE NOTES prepared by Bridget Grace Sheaff Mistakes Were Made by Craig Wright
Glossary for Mistakes Were Made……………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Shakespeare Kings………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
What it Takes to Produce……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
Principal Dates and Time Line of the French Revolution…………………………………………………………. 14
About The Play……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
About The Playwright…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
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Glossary for Mistakes Were Made
PLACE
Bastille (22) A fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-‐Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789 in the French Revolution, becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement, and was later demolished and replaced by the Place de la Bastille.
Fertile Crescent (13) The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-‐shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-‐arid Western Asia, and the Nile Valley and Nile Delta of northeast Africa. University of Chicago archaeologist James Henry Breasted popularized the term. Having originated in the study of ancient history, the concept soon developed and today retains meanings in international geopolitics and diplomatic relations.
Los Alamos (39) Los Alamos National Laboratory (or LANL; previously known at various times as Project Y, Los Alamos Laboratory, and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) is one of two laboratories in the United States where classified work towards the design of nuclear weapons is undertaken. The other, since 1952, is Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. LANL is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security (LANS), located in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The laboratory is one of the largest science and technology institutions in the world. It conducts multidisciplinary research in fields such as national security, space exploration, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing. Felix sarcastically asks Esther to call Los Alamos when he thinks the world is acting backwards.
New Brunswick (7) A city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is the county seat of Middlesex, and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, 27 miles southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River.
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Russian Tea Room (32) The Russian Tea Room is a Russo-‐Continental restaurant, located at 150 West 57th Street (between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue), between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower, in Manhattan in New York City.
Vienna Woods (31) The Vienna Woods are forested highlands that form the northeastern foothills of the Northern Limestone Alps in the states of Lower Austria and Vienna.
West Village (21) The West Village is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The area is roughly bounded by the Hudson River on the west and Sixth Avenue on the east, extending from 14th Street south to Houston Street.
Winchester Cathedral (38) Winchester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe.
PEOPLE
Atticus Finch (37) A fictional character in Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-‐winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer and resident of the fictional Maycomb County, Alabama, and the father of Jeremy "Jem" Finch and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. Lee based the character on her own father, Amasa Coleman Lee, an Alabama lawyer who, like Atticus Finch, represented black defendants in a highly publicized criminal trial. See also To Kill a Mockingbird
Billy Ray (37) Billy Ray Cyrus (born William Ray Cyrus; August 25, 1961) is an American country music singer-‐songwriter and actor. Having released twelve studio albums and forty-‐four singles since 1992, he is best known for his number one single "Achy Breaky Heart", which became the first single ever to achieve triple Platinum status in Australia. He is the father of Miley Cyrus.
Billy the Kid (12) William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. c.1859-‐1861-‐July 14, 1881), better known as Billy the Kid and also known as William Antrim, was a 19th-‐century gunman who
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participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier outlaw in the American Old West. According to legend, he killed twenty-‐one men, but it is generally believed he killed eight. He killed his first man in April 1, 1877, at around 17 years old. In Mistakes Were Made, Felix rapidly lists off famous people with “kid” in their name, including Billy the Kid.
Boo Radley (38) Arthur "Boo" Radley is a mysterious character in To Kill a Mockingbird who slowly reveals himself throughout the novel. Boo Radley is a very quiet, reclusive character and doesn't actively present himself until Jem and Scout's final interaction with Bob Ewell. The children of Maycomb believe he is a horrible person, due to rumors spread about a trial he underwent as a teenager. It is implied during the story that Boo is a very lonely man who attempts to reach out to Jem and Scout for love and friendship, for instance leaving them small gifts and figures in a tree knothole. See also To Kill a Mockingbird
Garth Brooks (38) Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart. In Mistakes Were Made, Felix jokingly suggests that Garth Brooks should also star in the musical adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Gregory Peck (37) (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) An American actor. One of the world's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play major film roles until the late 1970s. His performance as Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Felix talks about how Gregory Peck shut the door on the musical adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird years ago. See also To Kill a Mockingbird.
Hank Williams (38) (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) An American singer-‐songwriter and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential singers and songwriters of the 20th Century. In Mistakes Were Made, Felix jokingly suggests that Hank Williams should also star in the To Kill a Mockingbird musical.
Marie Antoinette (43) Marie Antoinette (baptised Maria Antonia Josepha (or Josephina) Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793), born an Archduchess of Austria, was Dauphine of France from 1770 to 1774
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and Queen of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1792. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I.
Miley Cyrus (37) Born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992, Miley Cyrus is an American singer, actress, and songwriter. Her father is country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. She held minor roles in the television series Doc and the film Big Fish in her childhood. In 2006, Cyrus rose to prominence as a teen idol after being cast in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana, in which she portrayed the starring character Miley Stewart. When Felix talks about the musical adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, Miley Cyrus is signed on to play the lead Scout.
Pacino (8) Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American actor and filmmaker. He is well known for playing mobsters, especially Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy and Tony Montana in Scarface, and often appeared on the other side of the law—as a police officer, a detective and lawyer. Felix says in Mistakes Were Made, “Yeah, like Pacino in ‘Buffalo,’ exactly.” In the 1980s, Pacino achieved critical success on stage while appearing in David Mamet's American Buffalo, for which Pacino was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
Pussy Galore (42) A fictional character in the Ian Fleming James Bond novel Goldfinger and, later, the film by the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. Felix says he is the theatrical equivalent of Pussy Galore, meaning he is very successful at pursuing what he wants.
The Sundance Kid (12) Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – November 7, 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the American Old West. Longabaugh likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker) after Parker was released from prison around 1896. Together with the other members of "The Wild Bunch" gang, they performed the longest string of successful train and bank robberies in American history. In Mistakes Were Made, Felix rapidly lists off famous people with “kid” in their name, including The Sundance Kid.
MISCELLANEOUS
The A-‐Team (40) Felix asks Esther to call the “A-‐Team” to fight the people taking over his movie set. The A-‐Team is an American action-‐adventure television series, running from 1983 to 1987, about a fictional group of ex–U.S.
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Army Special Forces personnel who, after being imprisoned as war criminals "for a crime they didn't commit", escape and, while still on the run from the army, work as soldiers of fortune.
Big Bang (14) The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model for the early development of the universe. The key idea is that the universe is expanding. Consequently, the universe was denser and hotter in the past. Moreover, the Big Bang model suggests that at some moment all matter in the universe was contained in a single point, which is considered the beginning of the universe.
C’est la vie (41) A French phrase meaning "That's life!" or "Such is life!" or "It is what it is!" It is sometimes used as an expression to say that life is harsh but that one must accept it.
Cincinnati Kid (12) The Cincinnati Kid is a 1965 American drama film. It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression-‐era poker player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best. This quest leads him to challenge Lancey "The Man" Howard, an older player widely considered to be the best, culminating in a climactic final poker hand between the two. In Mistakes Were Made, Felix rapidly lists off famous people with “kid” in their name, including The Cincinnati Kid.
Dead Seas Scrolls (8) The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 981 texts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at Khirbet Qumran in the West Bank. They were found inside caves about a mile inland from the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name. Felix references the Dead Sea Scrolls when he is talking about how deep the script he was reading was buried in his office.
Guillotine (16) An apparatus designed for carrying out executions by beheading. It consists of a tall upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade is raised to the top and suspended. The condemned person is secured at the bottom of the frame, with his or her neck held directly below the blade. The blade is then released, to fall swiftly and sever the head from the body. The device is best known for its use in France, in particular during the French Revolution, when it "became a part of popular culture" and it became celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-‐eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents.
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Hansel and Gretel (36) A well-‐known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic witch living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children save their lives by outwitting her. Felix says that this is the puppet show he saw at the library when he was little.
Jenga (31) Jenga is a game of physical and mental skill created by Leslie Scott, and currently marketed by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. During the game, players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then balanced on top of the tower, creating a progressively taller but less stable structure.
Little Match Girl (33) The Little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's dreams and hope, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical. Felix compares himself to main character by saying he is “helpless and alone and freezing.”
mook (14) A stupid or incompetent person.
Nobel Prize (39) A set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901.
origami (38) The traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD (at the latest) and was popularized outside of Japan in the mid-‐1900s. It has since evolved into a modern art form.
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Pulitzer (21) The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-‐born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.
Streetcar Named Desire (8) A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. It was adapted into a movie directed by Elia Kazan starring Viven Leigh and Marlon Brando.
Supercollider (39) The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and most powerful particle collider, built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) from 1998 to 2008. Its aim is to allow physicists to test the predictions of different theories of particle physics and high-‐energy physics, and particularly prove or disprove the existence of the theorized Higgs boson and of the large family of new particles predicted by super-‐symmetric theories. Felix sarcastically asks Esther to call the people who run the Supercollider when he thinks the world is acting backwards.
Tale of Two Cities (43) A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks amongst the most famous works in the history of literary fiction. Felix compares the play about the French Revolution that he is trying to sell to A Tale of Two Cities.
Thermidor (16) Thermidor was the eleventh month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word thermal – coming from the Greek word "thermos,” meaning heat. Thermidor was the second month of the summer quarter (mois d'été). It started July 19 or 20. It ended August 17 or 18. It follows the Messidor and precedes the Fructidor. During Year 2, it was sometimes called Fervidor. Because of the Thermidorian reaction -‐ 9 Thermidor Year II -‐the overthrow of revolutionary radical Maximilien Robespierre and his followers in that month, the word "Thermidor" has come to mean a retreat from more radical goals and strategies during a revolution, especially when caused by a replacement of leading personalities.
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To Kill a Mockingbird (37) To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old. The book was made into the well-‐received 1962 film with the same title, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. The film's producer, Alan J. Pakula, remembered Universal Pictures executives questioning him about a potential script: "They said, 'What story do you plan to tell for the film?' I said, 'Have you read the book?' They said, 'Yes.' I said, 'That's the story.'"
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Shakespeare Kings Who Are Not Main Characters
Felix says: “Of course it’s the starring role, Johnny. He’s the king. How do you even have a play with a king in it where the king’s not the star? I don’t think that’s possible.” Here is a list of kings in Shakespeare who were not the lead characters:
• Cymbeline in Cymbeline
• King of France in All’s Well that Ends Well,
• The King of Navarre in Love’s Labor’s Lost
• Duncan in MacBeth
• King of Sicily in The Winter’s Tale
• King of Troy in Troilus and Cressida
• King Edward in Richard III
• King of Bohemia in The Winter’s Tale
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What It Takes To Produce
In Mistakes Were Made, the source of the dramatic conflict originates from Felix’s desperate desire to “finally create something meaningful.” He is so driven by his desire as a producer to create the perfect play that he effectively loses sight of everything around him. To the uninformed viewer, “producing” a play might not sound that hard compared to directing or acting in it, especially considering that, in the film industry, an “executive producer” can refer to someone whose only responsibility is supplying money to a film crew. But for an artistic theatre producer, like Felix, production is a long, arduous process that involves staying extremely organized and juggling the wants and needs of many, often very volatile, people.
PRODUCING IN THE REAL WORLD
Though clearly a dramatization, the characterization of Felix Artifex is accurate in the sheer number of people, types of professions, and amount of negotiation and planning required in order to get a modern Broadway or regional play on its feet. Here is a breakdown of the steps and considerations required by a modern theatre producer, much like those working at Artists Rep:
Picking a play. There is a reason many theatre producers have a strong background in artistic production, such as directing, and that is that the first step of producing usually involves picking out a script. Oftentimes, a director will have a particular play or actor that he/she has wanted to work with for many years, and the production process will begin when it seems financially and physically feasible to put on that play or work with that actor. A play must seem valuable in some way to be produced.
Securing space(s). You cannot produce a play without having a place to perform it, a place to rehearse, and, oftentimes, a separate central location for administrative tasks to take place (such as Felix’s office). At Artists Rep and other major regional theatres, spaces are owned by a theatre company, and therefore there is a permanent place to rehearse and perform, but smaller theatre companies often have to rent or share spaces.
Financing the play and developing a budget. This is what most people think of when they hear the word “producer,” and, indeed, finding the money to put on a show is one of a producer’s biggest tasks. Broadway, film, and larger for-‐profit theatres rely heavily on investors: wealthy individuals or companies that have enough money to risk on making a profit on a show they think may be successful. Donation campaigns are crucial for mid-‐sized and smaller non-‐profit theatres where individuals or organizations desiring to support the arts give money to the theatre. Advertising and pre-‐sales also play a large role. Finally, national and local grants can provide necessary funding for theatres and must be applied for carefully and diligently.
Hiring the creative and backstage/production team. A play needs a director, stage manager, production manager, and people to run the show backstage and operate the technical aspects. In smaller theatres, these roles may be consolidated or simplified; in larger theatres, more
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people can afford to be hired and there may be multiple assistant directors, stage managers, and production assistants. In some cases, as seen in Mistakes Were Made, a play may be in development and a playwright may also need to be hired as part of the creative team.
Hiring designers. The play needs lighting design, sound design, prop design, costume design, and set design. In larger theatres, these roles are usually hired individually and can often comprise multiple people working as a team.
Hiring the administrative and marketing team. Especially as theatre companies grow, they will need to hire people with skills in marketing, sales, outreach/education, box office, house management, etc. At a company like Artists Rep, much of the administrative team is hired on a permanent basis, so once those individuals are hired, they remain with the company show after show. But the hiring of these people must still be overseen, and, in the case of a new theatre company, you must start from scratch. Marketing, in particular, is paramount to the success of a show.
Casting the show. Every play needs actors. As in the case of Mistakes Were Made, sometimes a producer, director, or playwright will have a specific name in mind they want to work with; a “Johnny Bledsoe.” In most cases, though, the cast must be found by advertising some kind of casting call and setting up an audition period. This can involve its own specific hiring process; film companies and large theatres have their own casting director, or hire an outside agency specifically dedicated to managing the casting process.
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Principal Dates and Time Line of the French Revolution
First phase: Harvests have failed and starvation stalks France, the peasantry is in open and continuing revolt across the country.
June-‐July 1788: Insurrection at Grenoble. 8. August 1788: Louis XVI convokes État-‐général on suggestion of former finance
minister Jacques Necker, to hear grievances.
5. May 1789: Opening of the État-‐général at Versailles. 17. June 1789: Representatives of the tiers état form a National Assembly
swearing not to leave until a new constitution is established. 23. June 1789: King rejects Resolutions of the tiers etat. 9. July 1789: National Assembly declares itself Constituent Assembly. 12. July 1789: Necker is dismissed. 50,000 citizens arm themselves with pikes
and form National Guard. 14. July 1789: Armed citizens storm and capture the Bastille.
15. July 1789: Lafayette appointed Commander of National Guard. 17. July 1789: ‘Great Fear’ begins as peasants revolt across France.
5-‐11. August 1789: National Assembly decrees abolition of feudalism. 26. August 1789: National Assembly decrees Declaration of the Rights of Man and
the Citizen 5. October 1789: Women lead delegation to King in Versailles demanding bread.
After scuffles, they are fobbed off by the King. 6. October 1789: King returns to Paris.
2. November 1789: Constituent Assembly decrees expropriation of Church property. 16. December 1789: National Assembly legislates for departments, etc.
28. January 1790: Removal of civil disabilities against Jews. 13. February 1790: Suppression of religious orders and vows.
19. June 1790: Abolition of nobility and titles. 14. July 1790: Civil Constitution, subordinating the Church to the civil
government, inaugurated by Louis XVI.
18. August 1790: First counter-‐revolutionary assembly at Jalès. 30. January 1791: Mirabeau elected President of the French Assembly. 2. March 1791: Abolition of Royal guilds and monopolies.
15. May 1791: Black citizens of French colonies granted equal rights. 21. June 1791: Louis XVI attempts to flee to Varennes but is recognised and
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forcibly returned to Paris.
15. July 1791: Assembly declares King inviolable and restores his prerogatives. 17. July 1791: National Guard fires on crowd protesting against restoration of
the King. 13. September 1791: King formally accepts Constitution. 30. September 1791: Constituent Assembly dissolves.
1. October 1791: Legislative Assembly commences. 9. November 1791: Civil marriage and divorce instituted. Assembly orders
all émigrés to return under pain of death. 11. November 1791: King vetoes Assembly’s ruling on émigrés. January-‐March 1791: Food riots across Paris.
9. February 1791: Property of émigrés forfeited. 20. April 1792: France declares war on Austria, but French army flees at sight of
the enemy. 20. June 1792: Jacobin Insurrection, again thwarted by gestures by the King, but
Jacobins continue to defy the Assembly. 25. July 1792: Duke of Brunswick publishes call for allied attack on France.
10. August 1792: Jacobin masses storm the Tuileries Palace, massacring the Swiss Guard, and the King imprisoned.
19. August 1792: Lafayette flees to Austria. 22. August 1792: Royalist riots in the Vendée, Britanny; armies suffer setbacks at
Langwy and Verdun. Second phase: Henceforth the struggle is between bourgeois and proletariat, rather than nobility and bourgeoisie.
1. September 1792: General mobilization, citizens sent to the front.
2. September 1792: Danton instigates the massacre of about 1,200 Royalists held in Parisian prisons.
20. September 1792: French forces defeat the invading force at Valmy. Henceforth the Revolution would enjoy victory in its military conflicts.
21. September 1792: The Convention elected by the Legislative Assembly commences, abolishes monarchy; day one of the Republican Calendar.
19. November 1792: “Edict of Fraternity” offers aid to “subject peoples.”
11. December 1792: Trial of the king begins. 21. January 1793: Louis XVI executed.
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1. February 1793: France declares war on Britain and Holland.
25. February 1793: Food riots in Paris. 6. April 1793: Committee of Public Safety established. 24. April 1793: Marat put on trial for complicity in September massacre but is
acquitted. 4. May 1793: Maximum price of bread imposed. 27. May 1793: Uprising of Paris Commune against the Convention 2. June 1793: Expulsion of the Girondists (the party of compromise) from all
offices. The Commune of Paris becomes the center of power. 24. June 24, 1793: Jacobin Constitution accepted by the Convention.
13. July 1793: Marat, “the people’s friend,” murdered by Charlotte Corday. 17. July 1793: Corday executed amid popular outrage.
1. August 1793: Metric system of measures adopted. 23. August 1793: Levée en masse (conscription) decreed.
4-‐5. September 1793: Popular riots in Paris. 17. September 1793: “Law of Suspects” initiates the Terror.
14. October 1793: Marie-‐Antoinette tried and executed. 23. October 1793: Republican Calendar decreed. 24. October 1793: 22 Girondists tried and executed.
10. November 1793: Festival of Liberty and Reason.
24. March 1794: Robespierre, the Committee of Public Safety and Jacobin Club denounce the Hébertists and Dantonists on framed-‐up charges and execute all the popular leaders. Robespierre becomes virtually the dictator.
18. May 1794: Robespierre decreed the new religion of the Supreme Being. 8. June 1794: The day of inauguration of the Supreme Being. 10. June 1794: (22 Prairial) procedures for mass trial and execution implemented.
Victims will go to the guillotine now in batches of 50 or 60 at a time. An estimated 2,750 are executed of whom the great majority are poor.
27. July 1794: (9th Thermidor) Convention calls for arrest of Robespierre. Robespierre attempts insurrection which flops, is arrested and executed. After about 150 of his supporters are done away with, the Terror is over.
Third phase: The reaction. Limit on price of bread removed. Reactionary gangs beat up
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revolutionists in the streets.
12. November 1794: Jacobin Club is suppressed by the Convention. 1. January 1795: The Churches re-‐open for Christian worship. May-‐June 1795: White Terror instituted in the South.
8. June 1795: The Dauphin dies in prison, Comte de Provence assumes title of Louis XVIII.
22. August 1795: Constitution of Year III approved, establishing Directory. 5. October 1795: Royalists attempt a coup and Napoleon Bonaparte makes his
name suppressing the move with grapeshot. The popular party gains strength, Gracchus Babeuf is its spokesperson, holding running meetings at the Pantheon.
26. October 1795: The Convention dissolves itself in favor of a dictatorship of the Directorate.
2. February 1796: Napoleon assumes command of French army in Italy. 26. February 1796: Directorate bans popular meetings at the Panetheon.
10. May 1796: Leaders of Babeuf’s “Conspiracy of Equals” arrested. 7. September 1796: 100s of supporters of Babeuf attack palace of the Directorate but
are routed.
27. May 1797: Babeuf and his supporters are convicted but take their own lives. May 1797: Elections produce a Royalist majority. Elections in 1798 and 1799
produce a more radical result and are annulled by the Directorate. 18. June 1799: Directorate resigns.
9. November 1799: (18th Brumaire) Napoleon Bonaparte named “First Consul,” now the effective dictator.
2. December 1804: Napoleon consecrated as Emperor.
From the Marxist Internet Archives
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About the Play
PRODUCTION HISTORY: Mistakes Were Made received its world premiere at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago in 2009 featuring Oscar Nominee Michael Shannon and directed by Dexter Bullard. It made its Off Broadway premiere at the Barrow Street Theatre, with the same cast and director, in November 2010. It made its West Coast premiere at Cygnet Theatre in San Diego in Fall 2012.
REVIEWS: "Wright has long proven himself one of the theater's best dialogue writers, and the script is filled with many a gem worth remembering and repeating…it would be a mistake to miss MISTAKES WERE MADE and the extraordinary performance at its center." —TheaterMania.com.
"Craig Wright's MISTAKES WERE MADE is ninety furious, fulminating, very funny minutes of American hucksterism in extremis…What distinguishes it is Wright's savory language, his antic pessimism, his lyric ear for colloquial emotional distress." —New York Magazine.
"An exquisite piece of comic writing…I won't be missing anymore of his plays, and neither should you." —The New Yorker.
"I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and so often at the theater. Gentlemen, my hat isn't just off; it's yet to come to earth…Wright is clearly distilling a career's worth of showbiz experience in Artifex. Nevertheless, the character transcends his milieu. Everyone knows an Artifex. MISTAKES WERE MADE finally makes that knowledge into a supremely enjoyable experience." —BackStage.
"Wright's play is a doozy—a deceptively deep, fiendishly mapped look at warped priorities, artistic compromise and the hunger for success, with show biz (what else?) as the animating fixation…[an] ever-‐escalating farce of warped thinking, deranged egos and the sweaty, megalomaniacal quest for the spotlight…" —Chicago Sun-‐Times.
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About the Playwright
Recent productions: Mistakes Were Made at A Red Orchid Theatre, Hartford Stage, and the Barrow Street Theater; Blind at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre; The Gray Sisters at Third Rail Rep; The Unseen at Actors Theater of Louisville and, upcoming, at Stages Rep, with Lady, which was commissioned by and received its world premiere from the Northlight Theatre and was subsequently produced at Rattlestick and around the country; Grace, premiered at Woolly Mammoth theatre (nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play); Recent Tragic Events, debuted at Woolly, and was produced at Playwrights Horizons (finalist for the American Theatre Critics New Play Award and the Helen Hayes Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play); and Melissa Arctic, a contemporary adaptation of
The Winter's Tale, premiered at the Folger Theatre (2005 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play).
Other productions: Main Street, commissioned and premiered by the Great American History Theatre; Orange Flower Water, produced at Steppenwolf (Chicago Sun-‐Times named it one of the Best of the Year); Molly's Delicious, debuted at the Arden Theatre (Barrymore nomination for Best New Play) and at Arizona Theatre Company; The Pavilion, dozens of productions around the country including an extended run at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre (Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding New Play).
Publications include Main Street and The Unseen by Playscripts, Inc.; Molly's Delicious by Dramatic Publishing; The Pavilion, Orange Flower Water, Grace, and Recent Tragic Events by Dramatists Play Service.
Mr. Wright received an Emmy nomination for his Six Feet Under episode, “Twilight”; and served as writer and producer for Lost; Brothers & Sisters; United States of Tara, and his own series on ABC, Dirty Sexy Money. His alternative rock band The Tropicals' first release, Live At The Jungle, was named one of the Top 10 local releases by every leading Twin Cities newspaper and weekly. As a member of the band Kangaroo he has released two albums, Phantom and the brand new Skyscraper Spaceship. A graduate of United Theological Seminary, Mr. Wright lives in Los Angeles.
