Post-Show Discussion Activity

Dive into deeper reflection with companions, classmates, or yourself after your viewing of Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution. This activity is suitable for learners of all ages.

If engaging in this activity independently, consider taking notes or writing your reflections down. If engaging in this activity with a class or group, decide if you would like to answer every question in order, skip around, or select certain questions to spend time on. 

Discussion Questions

1. This play features over a dozen characters played by just a handful of actors. What design and acting choices support this duplicate casting (where one actor plays multiple roles)? How do these characters represent historical figures without being facsimiles or imitations? 
2. Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution is a nonlinear memory play. How does the interplay of time and place highlight or reveal particular themes in Carmichael/Ture’s life? 
3. After a dying Kwame is carried away by EMTs, May Charles presents one final memory: a powerful, blustery speech by Stokely Carmichael in 1966. What is the tone of these final scenes? 
4. May Charles moved to the United States in 1944, leaving Stokely and his siblings in Trinidad until 1952. How does her and Kwame’s relationship reflect family tensions, hurt, and love? 
5. This story is about a man and a movement. In what ways do the goals of Kwame, the political activist and leader, support or conflict with the needs and desires of Kwame, the man? 
6. Kwame Ture worked closely with innumerable figures in the civil rights movement, many of whom appear in the play. Still, the central relationship is between Kwame and his mother, May. How does this choice shape how the audience views Ture?
7. Many images and videos of the civil rights movement are in black and white, which can make them feel like they are of the distant past. How does the play, embodied by live actors and in living color, collapse the gap between past and present? 

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• This activity aligns with the following standards:
  • Illinois Arts Learning Standards 
    • Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
    • Anchor Standard 8: Construct meaningful interpretations of artistic work.
    • Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
  • Common Core State Standards 
    • CCSS.ELA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
    • CCSS.ELA.R.3  Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Posted on May 20, 2024 in Learning Guides, Productions