STUDY
GUIDE
ROYAL MANITOBA THEATRE CENTRE 2017 REGIONAL TOUR PRESENTED BY:
LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC
by Arlene Hutton
STUDY GUIDE
Created by Sarah Farrant
CONTENTS
THEATRE ETIQUETTE ..................................................................................................................................... 3
CHARACTERS ................................................................................................................................................. 4
PLOT SYNOPSIS.............................................................................................................................................. 4
PLAYWRIGHT ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Biography .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Author’s Note............................................................................................................................................ 8
CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................ 8
Nathanael West & F. Scott Fitzgerald ....................................................................................................... 8
Nibroc Festival......................................................................................................................................... 10
Women in World War II .......................................................................................................................... 10
Leprosy & Epilepsy .................................................................................................................................. 11
GLOSSARY.................................................................................................................................................... 11
ACTIVITIES FOR EDUCATORS ....................................................................................................................... 14
Thinking about the Play .......................................................................................................................... 14
Slang Words ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Stigmas and Stereotypes......................................................................................................................... 15
Author Study ........................................................................................................................................... 15
Independent Writing............................................................................................................................... 15
Collaborative Writing .............................................................................................................................. 15
Monologue .............................................................................................................................................. 15
Applied Drama ........................................................................................................................................ 16
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS ..................................................................................................................... 16
RESOURCES ................................................................................................................................................. 18
2
THEATRE ETIQUETTE
“The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.” – Arthur Miller
Arrive Early: Latecomers may not be admitted to a performance. Please ensure you arrive with enough
time to find your seat before the performance starts.
Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices: Please TURN OFF your cell phones/iPods/gaming
systems/cameras. We have seen an increase in texting, surfing, and gaming during performances, which
is very distracting for the performers and other audience members. The use of cameras and recording
devices is strictly prohibited.
Talking During the Performance: You can be heard (even when whispering!) by the actors onstage and
the audience around you. Disruptive patrons will be removed from the theatre. Please wait to share
your thoughts and opinions with others until after the performance.
Food/Drinks: Food and hot drinks are not allowed in the theatre. Where there is an intermission,
concessions may be open for purchase of snacks and drinks.
Dress: There is no dress code at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, but we respectfully request that
patrons refrain from wearing hats in the theatre. We also strive to be a scent-free environment, and
thank all patrons for their cooperation.
Leaving During the Performance: If an audience member leaves the theatre during a performance, they
will be readmitted at the discretion of our Front of House staff. Should they be readmitted, they will not
be ushered back to their original seat, but placed in a vacant seat at the back of the auditorium.
Being Asked to Leave: The theatre staff has, and will exercise, the right to ask any member of the
audience to leave the performance if that person is being disruptive. Inappropriate and disruptive
behaviour includes, but is not limited to: talking, using electronic devices, cameras, laser pointers, or
other light- or sound-emitting devices, and deliberately interfering with an actor or the performance
(tripping, throwing items on or near the stage, etc.).
Talkbacks: All Tuesday evening performances and final matinees at Royal MTC feature a talkback with
members of the cast following the show. While watching the performance, make a mental note of
questions to ask the actors. Questions can be about the story, the interpretation, life in the theatre, etc.
Enjoy the show: Laugh, applaud, cheer and respond to the performance appropriately. Make sure to
thank all the artists for their hard work with applause during the curtain call.
3
CHARACTERS
May: Twenty-one or twenty-two. From a small town in Kentucky. She is sincere and honest in her
beliefs.
Raleigh: About the same age. From a nearby town. Just a good guy, slow to anger and quick to chuckle.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Scene One
Scene One is set on December 28th, 1940, on a train bound from
California to Chicago. The train is crowded, so Raleigh is relieved to
find a vacant seat next to May and he courteously asks if he can
“set a spell”. May is engrossed her in her novel, Magnificent
Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas. Raleigh gently teases her, labelling it
as a “romance” while she, taking him seriously, insists it is
“religious.” Raleigh then tells May that the porter had told him
there are famous writers on the train, Nathanael West and F. Scott
Fitzgerald. May of course is convinced he is continuing to tease her
because she knows for a fact that F. Scott Fitzgerald died a few days
ago. Raleigh clarifies that their bodies are in the baggage car.
May confides that she is returning from California, where she broke
off an engagement. Raleigh discloses that he joined the service as a
flyer but has been discharged because he had what he describes as
“fits” on a couple of occasions. May is concerned that her family
will suspect she behaved indecently while in California, and Raleigh
is worried his own family will be ashamed of him for not flying as he
intended.
Preliminary costume design, May scene
1, Joseph Abetria
Raleigh and May discover they’re from neighbouring towns in
Kentucky, Woodbine and Corbin respectively. Raleigh is shocked to learn that May has never been to
Corbin’s Nibroc Festival even though she has lived there all her life. Instead, she says, she attends the
tent meeting which is at the same time of year.
Inspired by the fact that they’re “riding with two of the greatest authors of the century”, Raleigh
announces he’s going to New York City to become a writer. May, meanwhile, has attended Asbury
College and wants to be a missionary. Raleigh claims that, when he returns from New York, he’s going to
4
take May to the Nibroc Festival. He also invites her to accompany him to New York. She doesn’t believe
she’s brave enough and alternatively encourages him to ride the train back to Kentucky with her.
It’s not until nearly the end of the scene that the pair formally introduce themselves, at which time
Raleigh asks May again if she’ll go to the Nibroc Festival with him. May refuses because she believes the
name of the Festival to be heathen. Raleigh points out to her that “Nibroc” is just “Corbin” spelt
backwards. This revelation convinces May to consent to going with him if he comes back to Kentucky.
Scene Two
Scene Two is set in August 1942, just over a year and a half
later, at the edge of a large park. As a church bell chimes eight
o’clock, May enters quickly and angrily and takes a seat on a
park bench. She pulls a small bank bag out of her purse and
tosses it away (off stage). Raleigh emerges carrying the bag and
May is more startled to see him for the first time in over a year.
He says he has just come from the Nibroc Festival but that it’s a
“rinky-dink little git-together” and not the “big party” it once
was. He says he saw May in the judging tent, and that he had
never minded rationing until he tasted jelly and pickles without
sugar.
Tent revival meeting, by Mennonite Church
USA Archives [No restrictions], via Wikimedia
Commons
The two catch up. Raleigh says he’s been in Woodbine and,
before that, Detroit. May says she’s been teaching school in Lily, teaching Sunday School at Felt’s
Chapel, and learning to drive. As they talk, May corrects his poor grammar, for which she admonishes
him since he has read lots of books and wants to be a writer. Raleigh admits he doesn’t read much
anymore because, when he does, he feels like there’s too much he’s missing out on.
Raleigh asks May outright why she’s hiding from the preacher. May says that the preacher want them to
be missionaries and she is supposed to meet him at the train station that night. She explains that every
night, as he counts the offering, the preacher puts aside a few dollars for “his expenses” and that
tonight he kept all of the money. May believes that if he’s a true missionary, all of the money should go
back to the Church and that he should trust God to provide. Raleigh reminds her that God did provide by
having people make the offerings.
Raleigh had been working in Detroit but he couldn’t keep a job in a factory because he continued to
have fits brought on by blinking lights, initially on airplanes and then on assembly lines.
Raleigh reminds May that, a year ago, he had dinner with her family and that she was supposed to have
supper with his family. May steers the conversation towards reminiscing about how her brother, Charlie,
hid in the back seat of the Rambler Raleigh was driving and got carsick as Raleigh took the turns up the
mountains. Raleigh claims he knew Charlie was there, which is why he was driving up the mountains in
the first place. Meanwhile, May is convinced his intentions were to get her alone. When Raleigh
confronts her again as to why she wouldn’t join his family for dinner, she indirectly admits that it’s
5
because his daddy has Jake Leg from drinking. Raleigh accuses her
of “judging everybody in sight” and says that she “ought to be
over yonder at the judging tent, judging those sour pickles.”
After Raleigh compares May to a “prickly old blackberry bush” and
May compares Raleigh to “an old dead tree”, they apologize to
one another. May admits that she’s ashamed but Raleigh asserts
that she doesn't know what being ashamed is. He lists everything
he has been ashamed of including the the factory doctor’s
diagnosis of epilepsy. He begins to experience mild convulsions.
The convulsions scare May and she says, “They put people away
for having fits.” Raleigh tries to reassure her that it’s just the
epilepsy but she says “forgive me” and runs off as the clock strikes
the half hour.
Scene Three
Preliminary costume design, Raleigh
Scene Three is set in an early evening of May 1943. Raleigh and
scene 2, by Joseph Abetria
May are on a porch settee. They stare at the lumberyard as it
burns and brightens the sky. Raleigh compliments May on the dinner she and her Mama prepared. May
admits she’s not much of a cook but that it’s even harder with the rationing.
Raleigh says he should be leaving, as he has a train to catch tomorrow to New York City. May is surprised
and dismayed that he’s going so soon, since they haven’t even had a chance to catch up. She informs
him that she’s the principal over at Paint Lick High School now; the position pays her more money and
it’s not nearly as challenging as teaching fifty children in one classroom. The girls, she says, aren’t much
trouble. Raleigh, with a wink, begs to differ. May protests that it’s the boys who “go crazy.” She quickly
amends her statement, saying she didn’t mean that. Moreover, she says she wants to apologize for the
thing she said last time she saw him and for leaving him when the ambulance arrived.
May inquires if he received the letters she wrote him once a week while he was in the hospital because
he never replied to them. He said he did, but that he hadn’t received any since. May asks several times if
he wants to talk about his experience. She says that when Charlie was captured she wrote to Raleigh as
if she was talking to him and it helped her. He concedes that writing is therapeutic, which is why he did
write about it in an article called “A Prisoner in My Own War” that he sold to the Courier-Journal about
being in the crazy hospital when you’re not crazy. Raleigh then presents May, whose birthday is,
fittingly, in May, with an envelope and package. In the envelope is a story, inspired by May, called
“Charlie in the Back Seat” which he wrote and sold to The Saturday Evening Post. The package contains
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas.
May is astonished that Raleigh’s sickness doesn’t show on his skin. She says that, since he has leprosy,
he needs someone to take care of him. She says they should find some place in town, off Main Street,
where they can live. Raleigh asks if she’s asking him to marry her. She retorts that he’d have to do the
asking. Thus, Raleigh does; however, May won’t accept because she senses he’s laughing at her. He says
6
he’s overwhelmed that she’s willing to go to a leper colony anywhere in the world, knowing she might
catch it.
May explains that when she started writing Raleigh while he was in the hospital, even though he didn’t
write much back, she realized he was the only one she wanted to talk to. Despite May’s sentiment,
Raleigh cannot contain his laughter over May having confused epilepsy with leprosy. He explains that
epilepsy is the name they give to the fits and that his skin and nose are not going to fall off, as she had
been expecting. Raleigh asks May to marry him—now, and when she finally believes he’s not just
making fun of her, she says she will.
PLAYWRIGHT
Biography
Arlene Hutton is the pen name of Beth Arlene Lincks, a woman
with extensive theatrical experience both on and off the stage and
author of Last Train to Nibroc. She was born in Louisiana but spent
the first few years of her life in Mississippi, and then was raised in
Florida. However, it was Kentucky that her parents always referred
to as “home.” She received her B.A. in Theatre from Rollins College
and her M.F.A in Acting from Asolo Conservatory at Florida State
University. Upon her experience at Rollins, Hutton reflected, “What
was really important about the theatre department at Rollins was
that we did everything…. When I finally went to New York, I had a
set of skills I could draw on. I wasn’t just an actor.” Among many
things, she worked in the wardrobe department for 10 years on the crew of Saturday Night Live. As she
entered her 30s, despite no formal training, Hutton began writing. “I started writing plays so I could
create good roles for myself,” she recalled. Her first play was called I Dream Before I take the Stand,
which debuted in 1995 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is a one-act in which a defense lawyer crossexamines a woman during her testimony in a sexual assault case. Beth Lincks herself played the lead so
she listed Arlene Hutton as the playwright because she didn’t want the audience to be aware she was
both playwright and actor in the same production. Since the play received such glowing reviews, Hutton
decided to continued to publish under her pen name. She came to fame as a playwright when she wrote
Last Train to Nibroc in 2000 and it received a New York Drama League nomination for Best Play. What
started as a one-act was extended into a full-length and then into a trilogy including See Rock City (2005)
and Gulf View Drive (2009) because she, in her own words, “wanted to keep spending time with” May
and Raleigh. Her plays have been presented Off- and Off-Off-Broadway and at theatres across the US, in
London, Edinburgh and throughout the world.
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Author’s Note
The idea for the first scene of Last Train to Nibroc came to me while reading a biography of S.J.
Perelman, who was a brother-in-law to author Nathanael West. West died in a car accident in December
1940, and his body was shipped east by train. Also on the same train was Sheila Graham, for her
companion F. Scott Fitzgerald had also passed away, and it very likely that she was accompanying his
body across the country to Maryland.
I put two young people from Kentucky on that train, basing them very loosely on my parents, who in real
life had been falling in love at just about that time. Last Train to Nibroc is a patchwork quilt of family lore
and stories I heard as a child, all stitched together to tell the fictional tale of May and Raleigh. When I
wrote the one-act version, which is the first scene of the full-length, I had no idea how the details about
Raleigh and May would pay off later. Indeed, May was originally called “Mary.” An early typo amended it
to “May,” and I liked that better, not realizing that it would be important in Scene Three. When setting
up Raleigh’s epilepsy in the first scene, I also had no idea, until I read it on my computer screen, that
Raleigh would become ill at the end of Scene Two, or that May would misunderstand his sickness the
way she does. Moments like these were as much a surprise to me when I wrote them as they are for the
audience seeing the play.
It has been extremely rewarding to see the audience response to this little play. The senior citizens are
delighted to revisit their past, of course, but I have especially enjoyed the enthusiasm of teens and
young adults who gain insight into the lives of their parents or grandparents, discovering the “good old
days” were not so simple and that stories of love and forgiveness are universal to all ages.
Arlene Hutton
New York City
June 11, 1999
CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND
Nathanael West & F. Scott Fitzgerald
Arlene Hutton was inspired to write Last Train to Nibroc while reading that bodies of Nathanael West
and F. Scott Fitzgerald had been transported east on the same train in 1940. Just as this idea influenced
Hutton, it motivates her character, Raleigh, to pursue his ambitions of becoming a writer. Raleigh
announces to May, “We’re riding with two of the greatest authors of the century.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
and Nathanael West are both known for their critiques of the American Dream, a recurring theme in the
play.
8
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended St. Paul
Academy where, at the age of thirteen, he saw his first piece of writing appear in print—a detective
story published in the school newspaper. In 1913, Fitzgerald enrolled at Princeton University and refined
his skills as a writer by writing scripts for Princeton’s Triangle Club musicals, articles for the Princeton
Tiger, and stories for the Nassau Literary Magazine. Fitzgerald prioritized his writings above his studies
and was consequently put on academic probation. However, in 1917, he dropped out to enroll in the
U.S. Army. Panicked that he was going to be killed in the war without having fulfilled his dream of being
an author, Fitzgerald quickly wrote a novel called The Romantic Egoist. The war ended in November
1918, before Fitzgerald was deployed, and upon his discharge he moved to New York City. There, he
wrote This Side of Paradise and married Zelda Sayre, whom he had met while stationed in Montgomery,
Alabama. They had a daughter named Frances Scott Fitzgerald in 1921. Following the success of his
novel, Fitzgerald entertained an extravagant lifestyle. He supported his family financially by writing short
stories for publications such The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, and Esquire. Among them was “The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” In 1925, he published The Great Gatsby which is today considered an
American classic. Shortly after its completion, Fitzgerald’s began drinking even more excessively and
experiencing writer’s block. Zelda, meanwhile, was suffering from mental illness and was committed to a
sanitarium. Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940, at the age of 44, in Hollywood,
California.
Nathanael West, originally Nathan Weinstein, was the beloved son of middle-class Jewish parents.
Despite being an avid reader, he demonstrated little ambition in academics, evidenced by him
withdrawing from high school. He gained admission to Tufts College by forging a transcript. When
expelled from Tufts, he appropriated the transcript of another Tufts student, his cousin, also Nathan
Weinstein, to gain admission to Brown University where he earned his Ph.D. He sailed to Paris,
presumably to write, in 1926, but returned to New York in 1927 and secured a job as a desk clerk at the
Kenmore hotel. During these years, West wrote and rewrote his first novel, The Dream Life of Balso Snell
which was published in 1931. In 1933, he published Miss Lonelyhearts, on which he worked at the rate
of about one hundred words per day. He tried his hand as a Hollywood scriptwriter, during which time
he wrote A Cool Million and The Day of the Locust. Many critics consider it, along with F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s unfinished masterpiece The Last Tycoon, among the best novels written about Hollywood.
He met and married Eileen McKenney in 1941; eight months later, they were both killed in an
automobile accident while returning home from a hunting trip in Mexico.
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Nibroc Festival
While on the train, strangers May and Raleigh discover they’re from neighbouring towns, Corbin and
Woodbine.
Corbin, Kentucky is known for two things: the founding of Kentucky Fried Chicken by Harland Sanders in
1930, and the Nibroc Festival. The Nibroc Festival was then much like it is today, a time of concerts,
amusements, food, parades, and entertainment for the entire family. Corbin is a railroad, timber, and
farming center. Woodbine, Kentucky is located three miles south of Corbin.
Women in World War II
Last Train to Nibroc, which takes place during the years 19401943, is set within the context of the Second World War.
Throughout the play, both Raleigh and May have to adjust to
their wartime roles.
The Second World War transformed the role of women in
American society. In the spring of 1942, the U.S. government
implemented the Food Rationing Program. Rationing regulated
the type and amount of commodities that consumers could
acquire. Food, gas, and even clothing were all rationed. Sugar
rationing began in May 1943 with the distribution of “Sugar
Buying Cards.” Not only were women “making do with less,”
but they were doing more. The War withdrew men from the
workforce and women replaced them. During WWII, women’s
employment increased from about 5.1 million in 1939 to 7.25
million in 1943. The positions they held ranged from secretary
to teacher to mechanic to engine driver. Whether on the farm, By Unknown or not provided (U.S.
at the factory, or in uniform, women were making essential
National Archives and Records
Administration) [Public domain], via
contributions in capacities that were previously closed to them.
Wikimedia Commons
Propaganda promoted the patriotic and practical need for
women to participate in the war effort; this was epitomized in Rosie the Riveter, a fictional icon created
by the government to motivate women to get involved in industry. Their efforts, for example, in
manufacturing munitions, disproved the misconception that women were incapable of manual and
technical labouring. What should have been a shift towards equality was somewhat undermined by the
fact that, despite performing the same work, women only earned, on average, about 50% of men’s
wages. Furthermore, many were not permitted to remain in their positions after the men returned from
war.
10
Leprosy & Epilepsy
When Raleigh tells May he has been diagnosed with epilepsy, she mistakes it for leprosy. Although the
terms sound similar, the two conditions are very different.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by a slow multiplying
bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. The disease causes discoloured skin sores that, in severe cases,
can lead to disfigurement and deformities. In addition to the skin, leprosy can affect the peripheral
nerves, respiratory tract, and eyes. Complications of leprosy can include blindness, infertility, kidney
failure, and paralysis. Despite common beliefs, leprosy is actually not that contagious. You can catch it
only if you come into close and repeated contact with nose and mouth droplets from someone with
untreated leprosy. On average, it takes approximately 3 to 5 years for symptoms to appear after initial
contact with the bacteria; however, some people to do not develop symptoms until 20 years later.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by sudden, brief seizures lasting from 10 seconds to 5
minutes. A person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they have one or more seizures that were not caused by
a known and reversible medical condition such as alcohol withdrawal or extremely low blood sugar. A
diagnosis of epilepsy can be related to brain injury or family tendency; however, epilepsy can develop in
any person at any age. Even if the cause of one’s epilepsy is unknown, medical professionals can usually
identify factors (often called “triggers”) that precipitate or provoke seizures, like missed medication, lack
of sleep, illness, psychological stress, consumption of alcohol, drug use, nutritional deficiencies,
dehydration, menstrual cycle or hormonal changes, and flashing lights. Common symptoms during a
seizure include confusion, loss of awareness, loss of consciousness, unusual sensations, loss of vision,
numbness, difficulty speaking, inability to swallow, repeated blinking of eyes, lack of movement,
tremors or twitching, unexpected loss of control over urine or stool, sweating, change in skin colour,
difficulty breathing, and heart racing. Epilepsy can usually be controlled through medication but some
cases resist treatment.
GLOSSARY
Ashbury College: a Methodist church school in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Baptist: a member or adherent of an evangelical Protestant denomination marked by congregational
polity and baptism by immersion of believers only.
Baptized: to have been initiated into the Christian religion through the religious rite of having water
sprinkled on one’s forehead or being immersed into water, symbolizing purification or regeneration and
admission into Christian Fellowship.
Boarding house: a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights. Boarders
typically share washing and dining facilities and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be
provided.
11
Buggytop Shelton: a well- known bootlegger in Corbin, Kentucky, who made and sold moonshine up
through the 1940s.
Catsup: ketchup.
Delicate: pregnant.
Dixie Dog: a restaurant on Main Street in Corbin, famous for its hot dogs with chili.
Doze: to fall into a light sleep.
Feller: a man who is the lover of or love interest of a woman.
Fetch: go for and then bring back (someone or something); retrieve.
Flapper: fashionable young women in the 1920s intent on enjoying themselves and typically
characterized by having short hair, wearing make-up, smoking, drinking, and dancing.
Florence Nightingale: (1820-1910) Florence, known as the Lady with the Lamp, was an English nurse,
famous for her work during the Crimean War. She helped to raise the status and quality of the nursing
profession and founded a training school for nurses in London.
Goody two-shoes: a person who is uncommonly good; an obviously innocent or virtuous young woman,
often used contemptuously or mockingly.
Handkerchief: a small, usually square, piece of cloth used for personal purposes such as blowing the
nose.
Hanky: handkerchief.
Heathen: pagan; irreligious or uncivilized.
Hillbillies: derogatory term for people who live in the rural, mountainous areas of the United States,
especially in Appalachia and the Ozarks.
Itching: to have a strong desire to do something or for something.
Infantry: the part of the army with soldiers who fight on foot.
Jake Leg: Jake was a cure-all medicinal tonic made from an extract of Jamaican ginger. For decades it
was sold over the counter safely and profitably, as its 70% alcohol base made it an easy way to get
around Prohibition laws or avoid liquor taxes. But in 1930 the manufacturers decided to water Jake
down to increase profits. Their diluter of choice was an industrial solvent that was highly toxic to the
spinal cord, partially paralyzing 50,000 people. Jake leg or Jake walk was a dead giveaway that the victim
had been imbibing this popular drink.
Johnstown Flood: occurred on May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam collapsed upstream of the town
of Johnston, Pennsylvania, killing 2,209 people.
“Lamb of God”: a hymn sung at revival meetings during the call to the altar, also known as “Just as I
Am.”
12
Lloyd C. Douglas: (1877-1951) an American minister and author known for novels such as Magnificent
Obsession and The Robe.
Magnificent Obsession: a 1929 novel by Lloyd C. Douglas in which a rescue crew resuscitates Robert
Merrick after a boating accident. The crew is thus unable to save the life of Dr. Hudson who was having
a heart attack at the same time on the other side of the lake. Merrick then decides to devote his life to
making up for the doctor's, and becomes a physician himself.
Missionary: a person undertaking a mission, especially a religious mission.
Moonshine: Moonshine is any kind of alcohol, usually whisky or rum, which is made in secret to avoid
high taxes or outright bans on alcoholic drinks.
Over yonder: in or at that indicated place (“over there”).
Paddle: an implement made of wood used to strike someone in the buttocks as punishment, typically
held with one hand.
Pegged: to have figured a person out.
Plantation: an estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident
labour.
Porter: a railway employee whose role is to assist passengers at stations and to handle the loading,
unloading, and distribution of luggage and parcels.
Prohibition: the nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale
of alcoholic beverages in the United States between 1920 and 1933.
Saved: having accepted Jesus Christ as one’s personal savior and believing in eternal life.
Sharecrop: land upon which a tenant farmer lives and works for a portion of the profit.
Snappy-looking: fashionable or stylish.
Spell: an indeterminate period of time .
Spill: to divulge a secret or personal information.
Switch: a flexible rod used for corporal punishment, often made from wood such as birch and willow
lashed against a bottom or back.
Tent Meeting: meetings held in tents during which travelling preachers would preach to communities.
Rambler: American automobile company.
Rinky-dink: not very large or important; old-fashioned.
Valise: a small suitcase.
13
ACTIVITIES FOR EDUCATORS
Thinking about the Play
The following questions can be used for class discussion, responses, or in some cases, essay topics.
1. What are the predominant character traits of Raleigh and May? How are the characters similar?
How are they different?
2. How do Raleigh and May change throughout the play? Who changes the most?
3. Do you think it’s fair of May to judge the Nibroc Festival without having been? Do we need to
participate in things in order to know we shouldn’t?
4. Are there any contradictions or inconsistencies in May’s morality? Do you think it’s right, for
instance, that she won’t steal from the congregation but she’ll use a paddle on school children?
5. Do you think it’s reasonable for the preacher to take a portion of the offerings for his own
expenses?
6. Why do you think Raleigh drives up the mountains after having dinner with May’s family?
7. How is humour used effectively in the play?
8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a play with only two characters?
9. In reference to Last Train to Nibroc, Arlene Hutton surmised, “Its popularity has a lot to do with
the economy. The play is two characters and a bench.” Why would this make the show
appealing to produce?
10. When asked, “What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?” Arlene Hutton
advised, “Learn to do everything – act, direct, make costumes, build sets – and do it for other
people’s plays.” Why do you think this was her suggestion?
11. Why do you think Arlene Hutton titled the play Last Train to Nibroc?
12. What surprised you about your visit to the theatre?
13. How is attending a play different from going to a movie?
14. What would you change about the staging of the play?
15. What is a lesson or message you took away from the play?
Slang Words
As a class, make a list of slang words and phrases heard in the play such as over yonder, set a spell, feller,
etc. Ask: What does the slang used by Raleigh and May reveal about each character? Then, generate a
list of slang words and phrases used today. Ask: What can your use of slang reveal about you? When is it
appropriate to use slang today? When is it not appropriate?
14
Stigmas and Stereotypes
As a class, discuss the stigmas surrounding conditions mentioned in the play, including Jake leg, epilepsy,
and leprosy. Ask: Are either May or Raleigh guilty of stereotyping or being influenced by stigmas? Then,
discuss other stigmas and stereotypes relevant today.
Ask: Do assumptions tell us anything definite about a categorized individual? How can assumptions
affect your behaviour towards others? Is making assumptions the same as judging?
Author Study
Ask students to conduct research about the life and works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and then write a short
biography (or, alternatively, read them the biography provided). Ask them to note any similarities
between the events of his life and the events of either Arlene Hutton’s life or the lives of Raleigh or May.
Independent Writing
Give students the choice between the following two writing assignments:
1. Write the article “A Prisoner in My Own War” as if you are Raleigh.
2. Write the short story “Charlie in the Back Seat” as if you are either Raleigh or May.
Collaborative Writing
In the summer of 2008, Arlene Hutton and Craig Pospisil wrote a play via email. Have the students
collaboratively write the first scene of a sequel to Last Train to Nibroc in a shared document in pairs or
as a class.
Monologue
Ask students to write and perform a monologue as if they are a character in a state hospital. Encourage
them to explore how that character would be thinking and feeling. Students should research what
conditions a patient would experience in American state hospitals of this period.
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Applied Drama
Ask students to research the appropriate way to respond to an epileptic seizure. Ask them to apply what
they have learned in a scene that can educate others. You may wish to consider asking them to perform
it as a “What to Do vs. What Not to Do” piece. Remind students of the importance of being sensitive
when addressing physical, emotional and mental health conditions.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Drama (Senior Years)
Creating (CR): The learner
generates, develops, and
communicates ideas for creating
drama/theatre.
Connecting (C): The learner
develops understanding about
the significance of the dramatic
arts by making connections to
various times, places, social
groups, and cultures.
Responding (R): The learner uses
critical reflection to inform
drama/theatre learning and to
develop agency and identity.
English Language Arts
Explore Thoughts, Ideas,
Feelings, and Experiences
Comprehend and Respond
Personally and Critically to Oral,
DR-1: The learner generates
ideas from a variety of sources
for creating drama/ theatre.
DR-C1: The learner develops
understandings about people
and practices in the dramatic
arts.
DR-C2: The learner develops
understanding about the
influence and impact of the
dramatic arts.
DR-R1: The learner generates
initial reactions to drama/
theatre experiences.
DR-R2: The learner critically
observes and describes drama/
theatre experiences.
DR-RW: The learner analyzes and
interprets drama/ theatre
experiences.
DR-R4: The learner applies new
understandings about drama/
theatre to construct identity and
to act in transformative ways.
1.1.1: Express Ideas - Question
and reflect on personal
responses, predictions, and
interpretations; apply personal
viewpoints to diverse situations
or circumstances.
2.1.1: Prior Knowledge - Analyze
and explain connections between
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Print, and Other Media Texts
Manage Ideas and Information
Celebrate and Build Community
previous experiences, prior
knowledge, and a variety of
texts.
2.2.1: Experience Various Texts Experience texts from a variety of
forms and genres and cultural
traditions; explain various
interpretations of the same text.
2.2.2: Connects Self, Texts, and
Culture - Examine how personal
experiences, community
traditions, and Canadian
perspectives are presented in
oral, literary, and media texts.
2.2.3: Appreciate the Artistry of
Texts - Discuss how word choice
and supporting details in oral,
literary, and media texts
[including books, drama, and oral
presentations] affect purpose
and audience.
3.2.5: Make Sense of Information
- Identify a variety of factors that
affect meaning; scan to locate
specific information quickly;
summarize, report, and record
main ideas of extended oral,
visual, and written texts.
5.2.2: Relate Texts to Culture Explain ways in which oral,
literary, and media texts relate
topics and themes in life.
5.2.3: Appreciate Diversity Reflect on ways in which the
choices and motives of
individuals encountered in oral,
literary, and media texts provide
insight into those of self and
others; discuss personal
participation and responsibilities
in a variety of communities.
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RESOURCES
http://arlenehutton.com/bio/
http://aszym.blogspot.ca/2009/12/i-interview-playwrights-part-99-arlene.html
http://www.rollins.edu/magazine/stories/beth-lincks.html
http://www.merriam-webster.com
http://taproottheatre.org/wpcontent/uploads/Study%20Guides/2005%20Study%20Guides/LastTrainToNibrocStudyGuide.pdf
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-johnstown-flood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Obsession
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/arts/docs/dramatic_arts_9-12.pdf
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/ela/docs/s1_framework/s1_fulldoc.pdf
http://www.biography.com/people/f-scott-fitzgerald-9296261
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/d/the-day-of-the-locust/nathanael-west-biography
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs101/en/
http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/epilepsy-101/what-epilepsy
https://www.britannica.com
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/at-a-glance/womenin-ww2.html
http://www.striking-women.org/module/women-and-work/world-war-ii-1939-1945
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii
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