PIEDMONT COLLEGE
Courage!
“There may never be another war. I’ve got to join up
before it’s too late. An’ be a hero like in all the books!”
—Henry Fleming
Courage! is the story of
Henry Fleming, a young man
that seeks to be known as a
courageous hero, just like the
ones he reads about in stories.
The play is set in 1863-1864
during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln is
searching for young, brave
soldiers to fight for the side of
the Union. Henry believes that
enlisting in the army is his
opportunity to become a hero
and be praised by all: “An’
when I got back from the war
with my chest all loaded with
medals and my head all bandaged up from the fightin’…
the whole town would turn
out to cheer and yell out my
name.”
At the beginning of the play,
Henry joins the Union army
against his mother’s wishes
and marches off with the New
York 304th regiment.
Henry spends weeks marching
south toward Georgia without
shooting a single shot. Along
the way he wonders whether
he will be courageous in battle
or will he run.
Early one morning shots ring
out and the 304th is pinned
Another injured soldier witnesses Jim’s death and tries to
befriend Henry. But, Henry is
racked with guilt for running
and when this soldier collapses from his wounds Henry
leaves him to die alone. He
tries to get back in the battle
and live up to the example set
by these three soldiers but is
injured in the process.
This picture of a Union soldier was
used as inspiration for our
production of “Courage!”
down by enemy gunfire. One
soldier is even shot by a member of his own regiment.
Scared and confused, Henry
runs from the battle.
Henry soon comes face to
face with the horror of war
when he stumbles over a dead
soldier. He realizes that this
man gave his life for his country while he ran away.
Embarrassed, Henry next
encounters his friend, Jim
Conklin, who has been shot.
Henry tries to help Jim but he
is too far gone. Jim dies in
Henry’s arms.
Tormented by the memories
of the brave soldiers he abandoned, Henry is finally reunited with his regiment. His
fellow soldiers see Henry’s
wound and believe he was
hurt in battle. Henry cannot
bring himself to admit he ran
so he lies to them, letting
everyone believe he is a brave
soldier.
This lie compounds Henry’s
guilt and causes him to question himself and the man he is
becoming. How do you overcome fear? What does it take
to be courageous?
In the end, Henry realizes that
courage is not about overcoming fear, but the willingness to
stand up for what you believe
in spite of fear.
C O UR AG E !
November 20-24, 2013
in the
Blackbox Theatre
at the
Swanson Center for the
Performing Arts
on the
Piedmont College
Campus
I N S I D E T HI S
G U I DE :
Character Bios
2
GPS
2
Pre-Show Info
2-3
Post-Show Info
4-5
Resources
5
Further Study
6
Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign
Our production of Courage!
is set during General
Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, ending with the battle
of New Hope Church, one of
the battles that occurred as
Sherman marched to Atlanta. We used this location
to hopefully relate to the
audience and give them a
sense of how close these
battles really were to our
present day location.
The following is a timeline
of Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign up to the battle of
New Hope Church:
April 27 This is the earliest
generally accepted date for
the start of the Atlanta Campaign. Rear echelon troop
movement begins for the
Army of the Tennessee
(General John Birdseye
McPherson). Union scouts
probe troop strength at Tunnel Hill. Continued on page 5
Study Guide Created by
Kathy Blandin
Wesley Campbell
Kordai Harris
Matt McClure
Danielle Morgan
P AGE 2
Character Biographies
Henry Fleming
Henry is a young boy of 15. He enlists
in the Union army during the Civil War
so he can win a hero’s reputation and
come back home sporting a “red badge
of courage.” Henry romanticizes the
war assuming it is like the great battles
he has read about in books. The realities of war teach him that courage is not
a badge to be worn on the outside.
Courage is worn inside where only you
can see.
Young Boy
The Young Boy is one of Henry’s inner
voices. He represents the child inside
Henry who wants nothing more than to
slay dragons and save the princess.
Young Boy has a personality of his own
that we see as he deals with fear during
battle and the desire to return home
where it is safe.
keep him safe and sound, but she also
understands that her job as a mother is
to help her son become a man.
Young Girl
Jim Conklin
The Young Girl is also one of Henry’s
inner voices. She represents the feminine side of Henry who wants to take
care of the people around her. She tries
to calm both Young Boy and Henry
when they are afraid, gives Henry advice when he needs it, and urges him to
do the right thing.
Jim is an experienced soldier who befriends Henry. He is strong, self-reliant,
and willing to die for his country.
Mother
Like all mothers, Henry’s mother does
not want to see her son fight in the war.
Her husband is dead and Henry is her
only child. She would do anything to
Cornelius Wilson
Wilson is a childhood friend of Henry
and they enlist in the army at the same
time. Wilson is a braggart and lashes
out at anyone he believes to be questioning his courage and ability to fight.
Both he and Henry learn a great deal
about themselves and what it means to
be a man.
Pre-Show Discussion
Before going to see Courage! you may
want to discuss the following questions
and engage in the pre-show activities as
an introductory experience for your
students. The purpose of this initial
discussion is to introduce students to the
world of the play.
Engage the children in the following
discussion, taking notes on their responses so that you can refer to them
after you see the show:
Courage
The title of the play we are going to see
is Courage!
What’s the first thing you think of
when you hear the word
“Courage?”
What are some examples of courage you have heard about? Can
you think of any other examples?
Does being courageous always
involve taking risks? Why or why
not?
The Civil War
Courage! takes place during the Civil
War.
What was the Civil War?
Who fought in the Civil War?
Why did this war take place?
Imaginary Friends/Inner Voices
What is an imaginary friend?
Did any of you have imaginary
friends when you were younger?
Tell us about them.
Why do people create them?
If you wanted to do a play and
show an imaginary friend, how
would you do that?
The play that you are going to see has
two inner voices who act like imaginary
friends. watch for them and we’ll discuss them in more detail after we see
the show.
Educational Objectives/Georgia Performance Standards
Grade 8—Theatre Arts
TAMS8.1: a-f Analyzing and constructing meaning from theatrical experiences, dramatic literature, and electronic media.
Grade 8—Georgia History
SS8H6: b The student will analyze the
impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Georgia.
TAMS8.2: a-e Developing scripts
through improvisation and other theatrical methods.
TAMS8.6: b & c Researching cultural
and historical information to support
artistic choices.
TAMS8.7: a & b Integrating various art
forms, other content areas, and life experiences to create theatre.
TAMS8.10: a & b Critiquing various
aspects of theatre and other media using
appropriate supporting evidence.
TAMS8.11: a-c Engaging actively and
appropriately as an audience member in
theatre and other media experiences.
C OUR AGE !
P AGE 3
Pre-Show Activity: Courage in Action
The following activity begins with students watching a video clip from a contemporary movie where the hero must
act courageously. We recommend any
of the following video clips which can
be found on the website WingClips.com:
Fighting a Troll from Snow White
and the Huntsman
I Gotta’ Save Bubba from Forrest
Gump
How many are left? from Glory
Still Scared from The Karate Kid
After watching this video, ask students
to write out their answers to the following questions:
What were the obstacles the main
character faced in the story?
How did this person deal with his
or her fears?
In what ways did this person show
courage?
What would have happened if this
person had failed to show courage?
What do you admire most about
the story or the character?
Theatre Etiquette
Divide students into groups of 3 or 4
and have the groups discuss the answers
to these questions.
Ask one person from each group to
share what they admire about the story
or the character with the entire class.
Pre-Show Activity: Courage Situations
On the board, write the phrase,
“It would take courage to…”
Hand out an index card to each
child and have them write a sentence or two about a problem that
requires courage to solve.
Collect the cards in a basket, shuffle them, and let each child pick
one card.
Have them use the back of their
card to suggest a solution to the
problem and why courage would
be necessary for its solution.
Allow students to share the situations and their solutions.
Finish this activity by discussing
the following question, “what do
you do to overcome your fears and
act courageously?”
Power is a fascinating thing.
Attending a play gives you a great
deal of power—the power, as an
audience, to help make a success
or failure of each production. That
is a responsibility that should not
be taken lightly.
There are several things to keep in
mind about the rules in a theatre:
Keep feet off the seats of the
auditorium.
No eating, drinking, texting or
smoking in the auditorium.
Turn off your cell phones.
No photographs during
performances.
No talking during the
performance.
Applause and laughter are
always welcome!
Our Play versus Stephen Crane’s Novel
Stephen
Crane’s Red
Badge of Courage is a classic
novel about
Henry Fleming, a young
Union soldier
fighting in the
Civil War.
Henry enlists
in the army
because he wants to be a Hero. He believes the greatest way to prove one’s
heroism is to get wounded and show the
world your “red badge of courage.”
Henry quickly learns that courage is not
a badge you wear on the outside but is
the ability to overcome fear and stand
up for what you believe.
In the novel you learn about Henry’s
inner journey through a narrator, but
narrators on stage can be boring because
all they do is talk. In our play, we find
out what Henry is thinking through two
characters, Boy and Girl, who are
voices inside Henry’s head. The conversations between Henry and these inner
voices reveal Henry’s thoughts to the
audience.
Another difference between the novel
and our play is the fact that several dead
soldiers speak directly to Henry. These
dead soldiers help Henry understand
that we cannot give in to our fears and
doubts but must focus on our beliefs
and do whatever it takes to stand up for
those beliefs.
A play also makes it possible to visually
show places and ideas which are only
described with words in a novel. Our
play uses slides and video clips to show
the audience all the different places.
Henry travels and helps to reveal his
inner thoughts and fears.
P AGE 4
Post-Show Discussion
Discuss Courage! with your class using
the following questions as a guide (you
may want to refer to the notes you took
during the pre-show discussion):
Lying
In Courage! Henry lies to his fellow
soldiers:
What was the lie he told?
Why did he tell this lie?
Was he justified in telling this lie?
In real life, is it ever justifiable to
tell a lie?
What consequences did Henry face
for lying?
In real life what are the conse-
quences for lying?
Henry confesses his lie to his
friend, Cornelius Wilson, and is
forgiven. Would you have forgiven
Henry? Why or Why not?
Dead Soldiers
Several dead soldiers come back and
talk to Henry during Act 2:
Why do the dead soldiers come
back to life?
What do each of the dead soldiers
want Henry to learn? (Decayed
soldier, Tattered soldier, Jim Conklin)
Can you think of another story
where dead people come back and
speak to the living? Why do playwrights and authors use this kind
of character?
Inner Voices/Imaginary friends
What do Boy and Girl represent in
the play?
Why does Henry have inner
voices/imaginary friends?
How do Boy and Girl help Henry?
What is an inner voice?
Do any of you have an inner voice
or imaginary friend? How do they
help you?
Post-Show Activity: Letters Home
Give the following instructions to
the students in your class:
Imagine you are one of the
soldiers in the play Courage!
Write a letter to a loved one
discussing the battles that you
have seen, your fellow soldiers, camp life, and the feelings you have about the war.
Now divide the class into small
groups and ask each student to
share their letter with the group.
Ask each group to choose the letter
which would be best to act out in a
scene. (Usually the letters that
contain the most dramatic action
are the best to choose.)
Have each group create a scene
based on the letter they have selected. The scene must have a
clear beginning, middle, and end.
Have the groups rehearse their
scene several times.
Gather the whole class together
and you, the teacher, read each
The characters Boy, Mother and Girl
from Courage!
letter aloud and allow the group to
share that scene.
Discuss how the scenes were similar to and different from the letter.
Shadow Puppets
Puppeteers putting on a
Shadow Play in China.
One of the multimedia elements in
Courage! is the use of shadow puppets to illustrate Boy and Girl’s childish notions about war.
attached to the head, the arms, and
other parts of the body which are
jointed so that they can appear to
walk and move.
Shadow puppets are an ancient Southeast Asian theatrical tradition.
Shadow puppets are flat, cut-out figures which are held between a light
source and a screen. In this way the
puppets cast a shadow on the screen
which the audience views from the
front.
There are a number of soldier shadow
puppets in Courage! which engage in
intense battle. Through the use of
shadow puppets we can show soldiers
doing things on stage—like flying
through the air after a mortar explosion—that would be difficult for a
live actor to do on stage.
The puppets are manipulated by sticks
C OUR AGE !
P AGE 5
Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign
orders a cavalry sweep of the area.
Wheeler's cavalry find almost no Union
soldiers in front of Rocky Face Ridge.
May 12 Outflanked, Johnston withdraws to Resaca.
May 14 Battle of Resaca, Day 1 - Almost 100,000 men pour out of Snake
Creek Gap west of the tiny Georgia
town of Resaca. Fighting occurs along
the entire line although the heaviest
fighting occurs to the north of the city.
May 15 Battle of Resaca, Day 2 - Engagements continued along lines around
Resaca. Hood's Corps and Joseph
Hooker's Corps bear the brunt of today's
fighting. Reports of Union troops at
Lay's Ferry force Johnston to withdraw.
See Resources for a link to the interactive
map (above) detailing Sherman’s Campaign
Continued from page 1
May 1 Skirmish at the old Stone
Church, east of Ringgold, Georgia. This
date is the "official" date of the start of
the Atlanta Campaign, listed as such in
the Official Records.
May 2 Skirmish at Lee's Crossroads,
near Tunnel Hill and near Ringgold
Gap.
May 4 This is one of the generally
accepted dates for the start of the Atlanta Campaign. General George Henry
Thomas (Army of the Cumberland)
[US] begins to move slowly east along
the Western and Atlantic Railroad from
Ringgold. Union troops in all departments begin to move into position for
what will be the final summer of war.
Skirmish at Varnell (Prater's Mill).
May 8 Fighting commences along
Rocky Face Ridge west of Dalton, specifically at Mill Creek and Dug Gap.
Fighting along this spine of high mountains continued until May 10.
May 9 McPherson's Army of the Tennessee runs into stiffer-than-expected
rebel resistance as he moves towards the
Western and Atlantic Railroad bridge
near Resaca. In hostile territory, the
general decides to dig in and await reinforcements. Sherman spends the night at
the Clisby-Austin house in Tunnel Hill.
Moving south after disembarking at the
Red Clay depot, Schofield's Army of
the Ohio encounters Joseph Wheeler's
Confederate Cavalry near Varnell.
May 11 Carter Stevenson awakes to
silence. He communicates that his men
cannot find any soldiers immediately
west of Rocky Face to Johnston, who
May 17 Rome falls. After a small
skirmish at Adairsville Johnston sets up
at Cassville. Sherman mistakenly ends
up at Kingston.
May 23 Sherman leaves the Western
and Atlantic and heads south from
Kingston. In 1844 the General visited
the Tumlin Indian Mounds near Cartersville, Georgia. The W&A cuts through
Allatoona Pass east of Cartersville,
which Sherman remembers and avoids.
May 25 Battle of New Hope Church-Johnston, forced by Sherman to abandon his stronghold in the Allatoona
Mountains, moves to block the Union
advance on Atlanta meeting Sherman's
Army at a small church some 25 miles
NW of Atlanta.
Resources
Shadow puppet information—Theatre: The Lively Art by Edwin Wilson and Alvin Goldfarb, 8th edition.
Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign (including an interactive map to significant battles)—http://www.history.com/topics/atlantacampaign/interactives/shermans-march
What is Courage? Curriculum—http://www.ket.org/education/guides/bullying_program9.pdf
Theatre Etiquette—http://contemporarydramanewsletter.contemporarydrama.com/public/blog/244294
Gerogia Performance Standards—https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/BrowseGPS.aspx
Theme-based video clips for teaching—WingClips.com
Free ebook download of Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage—http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73
Comprehensive information about the Civil War—http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war
Middle School curriculum on the Civil War—http://www.civilwar.org/education/teachers/curriculum/civil-warcurriculum/middle-school/lesson-plans-middle.html
African American Heritage Site at SNCA
Piedmont College Theatre
Swanson Performing Arts Center
At
Piedmont College
Office Phone: 706-778-3000
Box Office: 706-778-8500 x1355
E-mail: [email protected]
The Piedmont College production of Courage!
incorporates slides, videos and shadow puppets to
create a multi-layered, multimedia presentation.
We would like to extend a special “thank you” to
the African American Heritage Site at the Sautee
Nacoochee Center for allowing us to film on the
grounds and inside the Nacoochee Slave Cabin.
Courage! tells just one of the many, many stories
of the Civil War. We encourage you to visit the
Heritage Site and learn about the history of
Americans of African descent during the antebellum period in Northeast Georgia.
The African American Heritage Site brings history to life at the Sautee Nacoochee Center. Living history demonstrations celebrate the common
customs, crafts and cultural traditions of early
Native, African and European Americans who lived in the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys.
Framed by nineteenth century landscaping and antebellum artifacts at the Heritage Site,
the Nacoochee slave cabin (circa 1850) provides a focal point for the story of a people
whose labor contributed in countless ways to life in Northeast Georgia.
Brochures and interpretive features enhance self-guided tours. Visitors participate in
hands-on folk life activities at seasonal celebrations, festivals, special events, and tours
by appointment. Visit the website to learn more about efforts to preserve this rare slave
dwelling and share the unique stories of the people who lived there.
The African American Heritage Site
is located on the campus of the
Sautee Nacoochee Center
283 Hwy 255 N
Sautee Nacoochee, GA 30571
706.878.3300
“Courage is not
the absence of fear,
but rather the judgment that
something is more important
than fear.”
—Meg Cabot