backstage series • www.PeoplesLight.org • Gossamer

The Novel and the PlayAuthor Lois Lowry wrote Gossamer as a novel and then

adapted her own story into the play that People’s Light isproducing. In Gossamer, two worlds intersect — the worldof humans and the magical world of “dream-givers” whocollect story fragments and memories from meaningfulbelongings and weave them together to deliver dreams to people. Littlest One is just learning to give dreams topeople. She and her teacher Thin Elderly visit an olderwoman and her new foster child — a young boy namedJohn — who has experienced violence in his past. LittlestOne brings John dreams and stories that help him movetoward a happier future.

The first edition of Gossamer by Lois Lowry was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006. It was reprinted as a paper-back with Yearling books, a division of

Random House, Inc., New York by arrangement withHoughton Mifflin in January2008. Lowry was co-commis-sioned by Oregon Children’sTheatre (Portland, OR) and First Stage Children’s Theatre(Milwaukee, WI) to adapt hernovel for the stage; the playpremiered in 2008. The play is not yet published.

About Lois Lowry Born in 1937, Lois Lowry enjoyed a world of books and

imagination from a young age. Lowry’s father’s job in themilitary prompted their family to move often — Lowry wasborn in Hawaii and spent time in New York, Pennsylvania,and Tokyo all by the age of eleven. Lowry married a Naval

officer and again moved frequently, settling in Maine with her four children. There she earned a graduate degree at the University of Southern Maine and began her career as a freelance journalist and photographer in theearly 1970s. Lowry published herfirst children’s book, A Summerto Die, in 1977. Now a grand-mother, Lowry divides her timebetween Cambridge, MA andMaine and continues to write avariety of books, including theAnastasia series and GooneyBird Greene stories as well aswhat she calls “stand alone”books. While her stories vary incontent and style, the main theme remains the same: the importance of human connections. Lowry haswritten more than 30 books for young readers and has been awardedthe prestigious Newbery Medal for Number the Stars in 1990 and The Giver in 1994. Gossameris Ms. Lowry’s first play. ★

Lois Lowry

Costume design for John

★ ★

backstage series • www.PeoplesLight.org • Gossamer

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foster care

what is foster care?

Foster care is the temporary placement of a child in a home away from his or her family.

what is the average length of stay for a foster child?

12 months.

when does a child leave a foster home?

Children are moved out of foster homes when parents are able to care for them again,when a suitable placement can be made with a relative, or when a child is adopted.

what is the average age of a foster child?

10 years old.

source: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm

DREAM WRITING ACTIVITYMake up a dream. Remember that dreams have their own logic

and may contain unpredictable things, one thing changing intoanother, unusual juxtapositions of place and time, and many kinds of characters — humans, animals, monsters, etc. For thisactivity, don’t write a dream that you have experienced; makeone up. Write your dream in present tense (Not “I saw” but “I see.”) The first line begins with “I am…”

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Costume design for Most Ancient

The Dream-Givers

Fastidious A veteran dream-giver, who considersLittlest One too erratic and curious

Littlest One The newest dream-giver

Most AncientThe wise and aged leader of the dream-givers

Thin ElderlyLittlest One’s teacher and mentor

Trooper

Dowager

Sinisteeds Bringers of nightmares

The Humans

The Woman Foster parent for John

JohnA young boy, who has temporarily been removed from his mother’s care

Young WomanJohn’s mother, who is trying to get back on her feet

John’s FatherHe has left the family, but appears in a dream

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Toby, the DogThe Woman’s loyal companion

* The Dream-Givers together form “the heap”The Sinisteeds together form “a horde”

backstage series • www.PeoplesLight.org • Gossamer

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Ceal PhelanFastidious

Chris FaithToby, the Dog

Justin JainTrooper

Cathy SimpsonThe Woman

Stephen NovelliMost Ancient

Daniel DychalaJohn

Maggie FitzgeraldLittlest One

Christopher MullenThin Elderly

Kristen O’RourkeDowager

James IjamesSoldier/Dream-Giver

Dave JohnsonDuane, John’s Father/Dream-Giver

Erin WeaverYoung Woman

FIRST-LINER IMPROVISATIONStudents pair up and decide who is “A” and who is “B.”

Person A is a new dream-giver. Person B is the new dream-giver’s teacher. Person A wants to convince his/her teacherthat she/he is ready for a new challenge. The teacher isn’t sure and wants to proceed cautiously. Person A begins the conversation with this line: “Please let me give the dream to the boy by myself this time.”

Hints: Both Person A and B put forward reasons for their positions. Both should avoid saying “no” because that stops thescene. Try to carry on the discussion until you reach a decision.

The Dream-Givers

The Others

Rosemarie McKelveyCostume Design

Joshua SchulmanLighting Design

Christopher ColucciSound Design

David BradleyDirector

Pat SabatoStage Manager

Wilson ChinSet Design

For cast bios, please see the Gossamer program on the People’s Light website:www.peopleslight.org.

★★

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The SetThe set design combines and juxtaposes

dreamy images of nighttime that reflect theDream-givers’ world with the harsher physicalreality of the city where the human characterslive. The set’s main structural elements are sections of scaffolding. These evoke a physicalcity life, but they are also filled with beautifullights and lanterns to evoke the psychologicalworld of the dream-givers.

Talking with the Lighting DesignerJoshua Schulman has an MFA in Lighting

Design from Boston University and was the recipient of the 2008 Barrymore Lighting DesignAward for his work on Art at Delaware TheatreCompany. Joshua has designed for Arcadia University, The Wilma Theater, Hotel Obligato,Azuka Theatre, Theatre Horizon, Rebecca DavisDance Company, Tower Hill School, DelawareTheatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company,The Media Theatre Company, Inis Nua TheatreCompany, and Flashpoint Theatre Company.Joshua has also designed for The Cira Centre and Boathouse Row Re-Lighting projects.

See his work at his website:http://web.mac.com/joshuaschulman/iWeb/Lighting%20Designer/Homepage.html

What is the job of a Lighting Designer?

I like to think of the Lighting Designer’s job as being the glue that binds the visual elementstogether. The lights are an integral part inblending the scenery, costumes, and actors into one world onstage.

What about lighting design excites you? I consider each project, each production, a big puzzle. I love the discovery of uncovering the pieces, of fitting them together. I see each play as a three-dimensional moving puzzle and the art is in the discovery of making the puzzle work.

What excites you about Gossamer?

The magic of the play, and how we are going to make that magicflicker into and out of existence onstage. The Dream-givers live bothin their own world and in ours (the world of humans). I am excitedabout the collaboration between the other designers and myself increating a believable world where this is possible. I have worked with costume designer Rosemarie McKelvey and sound designer Chris Colucci before and am looking forward to collaborating withthem again, as well as working with the set designer Wilson Chin,who I haven’t worked with before.

What is the design concept for Gossamer?

Overall, the design is meant to be subtle, to really help establishand highlight the magic of the story. The lighting design, specifically,will have a dance-like feel, with the angles of the lighting instrumentsmeant to isolate specific spots onstage rather than lighting the wholestage all at once. The lights will work to motivate the magic and shiftbetween worlds. All of the design elements will work together as if ina dance, depending on who is leading. At one point, lights might leadthe shift between worlds, at another point sound might lead, or theset or costumes but they will all be working together to achieve themagic that is the play.

What are some of the challenges that the designteam has encountered?

How far to push the magic. In terms of the nightmare moments of the play, how do we suggest a hint of a night-mare to the audience ratherthan simply showing them? We are playing with selectiverevelations in the design. ★

Set design by Wilson Chin

production history

Lowry’s play adaption of Gossamer has been produced at the following places:

• premiers: First Stage Children’s Theatre in Milwaukee, WI (September 2008)and Oregon Children’s Theatre (November 2008)

• New York University’s New Plays for Young Audiences series (June 15-22, 2008)

• Adventure Stage in Chicago, IL (November 7-December 5, 2009)

• People’s Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, PA (April 29-May 23, 2010) FA

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Portraying a DogIn Gossamer, Chris Faith will be performing the role of

Toby, the Dog. We asked him about how he is approachingthis role.

What previous animals have you played?

I played a pig in a musical version of George Orwell’sAnimal Farm and I played “Rat” in Cinderella, the People’s Light Panto in 2008. But this is the first timeI’ve played a role that doesn’t have any lines.

But the role will include making some sounds, right?

Yes; Toby’s sounds will be fun to discover in rehearsal.

How are you preparing for the role?

My “source of study” is my dog Gracie, a toy poodle, who hasbeen with my family for 8 years.I grew up with dogs and am adog person. I’m studying Gracie’s

physicality — how she moves,why she moves, when she

moves. Every movement is for a reason. Dogs havesubtle facial expressions.There’s so much going on in their eyes.

What do you anticipatewill be challenging?

I will be trying to strike abalance of dog and human inthis role. Human facial expres-sions are much broader thandog’s. But the audience needs to get enough from me to seehow Toby is responding toeach situation. I will look forthe happy medium betweenhow humans express things in our faces and how dogs do.

Listening will be huge. Listening is always important

in acting. But, this time, I will be learning how to listen withanimal ears. What does Toby hear? What affects him? Dogsare sensitive to volume, inflection, and rate of speech as well as the words they are familiar with.

Tell us your thoughts about the dog’s relationship with John, the boy.

They have in common that they’ve both been throughrough times. The woman found Toby abandoned on herdoorstep in a rainstorm. He was probably neglected, perhapsabused. At first Toby is wary of the boy. He sees and hearsthat the boy is aggressive and talks roughly.

Dogs are in tune with human moods. They are very perceptive animals. It takes a while for Toby and the boy to sniff each other out — they have to figure out whetherthey can trust each other. ★

Costume design for Toby, the Dog F

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Gossamer epigraph

Lois Lowry used the quotation below as the epigraph for her novel gossamer:We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life isrounded with a sleep.

~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest (IV, i)

David BradleyDirector

David has been a company member at People Light since 1991. Most recently, David directed the PhiladelphiaYoung Playwrights 2010 ProfessionalProductions at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre and opened the new season ofthe National Constitution Center’s playLiving News (for which he is Artistic Director). His two dozen People’s Light productions includeDoubt, Young Lady from Rwanda, The Crucible, He Held Me Grand, A View from the Bridge and many plays for theFamily Series, including three Pantos and The Giver, alsofrom a Lois Lowry novel. David works in Philadelphia andbeyond as a director, arts educator and consultant, often focusing on the intersection of the arts and community/civicengagement. He’s co-founder of LiveConnections, which creates music programs for underserved youth at World Cafe Live, has directed frequently for Indiana Rep, and has been a consulting artist for the Animating DemocracyInitiative of Americans for the Arts. David is president of the board for Philadelphia’s Shakespeare in Clark Park. ★

backstage series • www.PeoplesLight.org • Gossamer

backstage series • www.PeoplesLight.org • Gossamer

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Costume design for Littlest One

In a speech for the Yale/Freud Symposium (October 21,2006), author Lois Lowry told about an early inspirationfor Gossamer. Lowry heard this story from her brother.The brother had gone to visit their mother in the hospital;at the time their mother was very confused. There, he sawhis mother crying and saying, “Dorothy’s baby has died.”Dorothy was a friend of their mother’s who had lost a baby50 years earlier. Lowry’s brother asked, “Mother, are youseeing Dorothy? Are you with Dorothy? Or are you just

remembering her?” The motherreplied to him, “In the Dreamworld,it doesn’t matter.” Those wordsstayed with Lowry and she laterdecided to write a book about the Dreamworld.

Lowry spoke further about Gossamer in an interview for Kidsread.com. Copyright © 2006Houghton Mifflin Company. © Copyright 1998-2010, Kidsreads.com.

What were your inspirationsfor Gossamer?

I’m so interested, always, in how the bits and pieces ofour lives go together, how they form a narrative, andhow important they are to us ... I dealt with that,the importance of ourmemories, in a book called The Giver, and in the personal memoircalled Looking Back,as well. But thoughts

about memory werehaunting me, still, when

I sat down to write the book that would be called Gossamer.

Do you remember your dreams?

Some. Especially those that recur. I even have a favorite,in fact: so much so that when it recurs I actually think —while deep asleep — “Oh, great, this dream again! I love it!” But at the same time, I suppose that, like most people,most of what I dream disappears on waking. If that weren’ttrue, the whole concept of dreams would not be so endlesslyfascinating and mysterious.

In Gossamer, you choose descriptive words (Littlest,Thin Elderly, Fastidious) instead of traditionalnames. Can you talk a little about why you did this?

In the first draft of Gossamer, Littlest actually had a “real” name. Along the way, it disappeared: it no longer felt right, it felt too human. I began to perceive that ... the dream-givers would be more ethereal, would lack some of the more prosaic human elements: names, houses,pets, and hobbies ... They are really unencumbered exceptfor spirit. I suppose they could be described as pure spirit.Littlest reminds me of my own small grandchildren, and of all little ones whose heads are so full of thoughts,and who are so curious and intent on figuring out theirplace in the world. ★

Speech and interview used with the permission of the author.

The two young actors in Gossamer, Daniel Dychala (age11), who plays John, and Maggie Fitzgerald (age 13), whoplays Littlest One, gave us some of their ideas about dreams.

Daniel: Dreams are uncontrollable, but it’s kind of likeyour mind ...

Maggie: has a reason for it.

D: Your mind picked it. The brain has so many layers.

M: Dreams are things you want to hear and nightmaresare things you don’t want to hear but you’re blatantly told you have to.

D: You need to dream. Sometimes when you have dreams,it’s like an epiphany — it kind of hits you: “That’s what I gotta do.”

M: In dreams you can see things that you already knew in a different way. ★

backstage series • www.PeoplesLight.org • Gossamer

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Dream-giver drawing by Mark Donohue

Memory and imagination play a big part in Gossamer.The Dream-givers collect memories from objects found in their humans’ homes, and then pass on the memoriesin fragments to the humans to create dreams. The dreamsinclude fragments of songs, past experiences with lovedones, and significant places. Littlest One and Thin Elderlybestow these joyful fragments from the past as a way to strengthen John and The Woman against nightmares.

How Humans Store MemoriesThe human brain stores sounds, images, and smells in

multiple ways, and in different parts of the brain. Neuronspass information through the brain by sending neuron signals to each other with the help of synapses. Imagine if you had a friend in the house across the street from youand the two of you decided to send messages to each other with flashlightsignals. Just as the flashlight signals would allow you to communicatethoughts to your friend, the brain synapses allow neurons to send messagesto other neurons in the brain.

Visual information can be stored as Working Memory (also known as Short-Term Memory) in the Frontal Cortex, Emotional Memory in the Amygala, Long-Term Memory in the Hippocampus, and Habits and Skills in the Cerebellum.

Imagination and MemoryImagination allows humans to solve complex problems by recalling

and combining information and memories in new ways. We use it to solve problems while we are awake in our daily lives and in the creation of dreamswhile we sleep. We also use it recreationally, from creating an imaginaryfriend when we are little, to playing sports in high school.

In Theatre School at People’s Light, the imagination is at the center of our classes on improvisation and acting. This winter after an introduction to Gossamer, the students in one of our sections of the Theatre Workshop for Grades 4-6 imagined and drew themselves as Dream-givers. They notonly used their imaginations to create the actual images, but also used different colors, shapes, pens, crayons, markers, and highlighters to giveeach Dream-giver an original design. ★

Source: “Memory: Why We Remember, Why We Forget.” National Geographic. November 2007. Vol. 212. No. 5

CHILDHOOD MEMORY: A WRITING ACTIVITY

In Gossamer, memories help the characters in difficult times. Memoriesare elusive — often we can only remember fragments of what happened.

To brainstorm: Write out as much as you can about one of your very early memories. You may write it in a first person narrative, as a list, or make a drawing.

Then, using your brainstorm for reference, answer the followingquestions about your memory:

What is one word that describes the sound of this memory?

What is one word that describes the color of this memory?

What is one word that describes the taste and/or smell of this memory?

What is one word that describes the feeling of this memory?

Finally, using the information you have gathered, write the story of thismemory, incorporating as many specific details as you can.

Dream-giver drawing by Natalie Besier

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Significance of Dreams in Ancient Cultures

Babylonians believed good dreams were sent by the gods, and bad dreams were sent by demons.

Assyrians believed in dreams as omens and that bad dreams required action to correct the problem.

The ancient Egyptians believed that dreams served as oracles. The best way to receive divine revelation wasthrough dreaming and thus the Egyptians would induce or “incubate” dreams.

The Greeks took up the Egyptian belief of “incubating”dreams and had very specific pre-sleep rituals to performin order to purify themselves to receive dreams.

The Romans took dreams very seriously. Emperor Augustus Caesar ruled that anyone who had a dreamabout the state was, by law, to proclaim it in the

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Guide written by Amy Lipman, Sara Waxman andNancy Shaw of the Education Department at People’sLight. Costume Designs by Rosemarie McKelvey. Set design by Wilson Chin. Play Artwork by Margraffix Design (illustration by Morganstern). Guide Design by Gary Brooks of Hollister Creative.

Copyright © 2010 The People’s Light & Theatre Company. All rights reserved.

Supplies Needed:

• Various small objects (a doll, a sea shell, a ball, an exotic coin,a miniature shoe, etc.) The more colorful and visually dynamicthe objects, the better.

• A large bag to hold the objects, preferably black and not see-through. It is best if the students do not see the objectsbefore they pick them from the bag.

The Activity:

Students sit in a circle. The teacher has each student pick an object from the large bag. The students take a few minutes to look at and hold the object. (This first part should be done individually without talking.)

The teacher moves around the circle and asks each student totell the story of the object (the students are making up the storyon the spot). Often it is helpful if the teacher models the activityfirst — choosing an object and improvising a story about it.Where did it come from? How did the student find or obtain the object? What is it used for? (The students are welcome toidentify the object however they choose. For example, a studentmight pick out a rolling pin and say that it is an instrument forwrapping string around.)

After all the students have had a chance to introduce their objects, the group can discuss what they noticed about the objects and stories in the circle. Were there any stories theywanted to hear more about? Were they surprised by what some of the objects could do?

SIGNIFICANT OBJECT: IMPROVISATION ACTIVITY

marketplace. The Romans believed that dreams were derived directly from the gods and could reveal their wishes.

The ancient Hebrewsdifferentiated between good dreams (from God) and bad dreams (from evil spirits) and tried to induce dreams in order to receive divine revelation. ★

Source:http://library.thinkquest.org/26857/historyofdreams.htm

Costume designfor a Sinisteed