DIRECTED BY SUZANNE BEALNOVEMBER 2-20, 2016

BY BESS WOHL

REP StageREGIONAL THEATRE IN RESIDENCE

Howard Community College10901 Little Patuxent Parkway

Columbia, MD 21044

Tickets: 443.518.1500WWW.REPSTAGE.ORG

TABLE OF CONTENTSThe Play

About the Playwright.........................................................................................3Structure...............................................................................................................6Themes.................................................................................................................7References.........................................................................................................11Questions for Discussion...............................................................................10

The Production From the Director............................................................................................18 Design.................................................................................................................19 Cast.....................................................................................................................22 Theater Etiquette..............................................................................................23

REP Stage presents

AMERICAN HERO

DIRECTED BY SUZANNE BEAL

2 . American Hero AUDIENCE GUIDE

PREPARED BY:

Lisa A. WildeDramaturg

Zheyan DamavandiGraphic Design

REP STAGE STAFF:

Suzanne Beal & Joseph RitschCo-Producing Artistic Directors

Valerie LashFounding Artistic Director

Zheyan DamavandiBusiness Manager

Lisa A. WildeResident Dramaturg

Jenny MaleResident Fight Director

From the Dramaturg

BY BESS WOHL

The American dream—a belief that with enough hard work and enterprise anyone, including recent immigrants can make it big in the free enterprise capitalist American economy unencumbered by the protectionist government policies in so many other parts of the world. And for some, particularly in the earlier part of the twentieth century, it worked. The children of immigrants went to public schools then to colleges and were able to live a lifestyle far more comfortable than their parents or their families in their country of origin.

Fast forward to the beginnings of the twenty first century, where corporations and franchised stores and restaurants have replaced small local enterprises. Some of these original businesses—the McDonald’s restaurants and Subways of the country—had their origins as Mom and Pop businesses then went on to unprecedented national success. And now these franchises offer a new path to the American dream, offering immigrants a fast track to a visa through a 1990 federal program if they purchase a franchise that will create ten new jobs for Americans but not allowing for any kind of business autonomy and ensuring that corporate headquarters reaps large financial benefits. The average franchisee, on the other hand, clears less than $50,000 year, so the only real way to make a profit is to own multiple franchises.

Further down the economic chain are the workers at these franchises, including the “sandwich artists” Bess Wohl lists in her dedication to American Hero. With a minimum hourly wage and almost always part-time in nature, these jobs were typically filled by teenagers who were not relying on them to support families and were typically fairly uncommitted. However, with several financial recessions and major corporate layoffs in the past decades, more “adult” workers are moving into these jobs, like the character of the former banker with an MBA in Wohl’s play. Recent college graduates are finding fewer paths to the American dream. However, the businesses themselves and the corporations that run them are ill-disposed by design to people trying to make a full-time job from this work. How can these workers then become the hero of their own stories rather than a cog in a larger company machine? —Lisa A. Wilde

REP Stage presents

AMERICAN HERO The Play

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AMERICAN HERO

About the PlaywrightBIOGRAPHY

Bess Wohl’s plays include Small Mouth Sounds, American Hero, Barcelona and Touched. They have been produced or developed at theaters in New York and around the country, including Second Stage, Ars Nova, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, People’s Light and Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, The Contemporary American Theater Festival, Vineyard Arts Project, The Pioneer Theatre, The Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Northlight Theater, TheaterWorks New Works Festival, The Geffen Playhouse, The Vineyard Arts Project, Ojai Playwright’s Conference, the Cape Cod Theatre Project and the New York International Fringe Festival (award for Best Overall Production).

Currently, the world premiere of her play, Small Mouth Sounds, is enjoying a sold-out run at Signature Theatre in New York, directed by Obie-award winner Rachel Chavkin. Her original musical about the adult entertainment industry, Petty Filthy, in collaboration with the composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilians, also premiered off-Broadway, and was recently nominated for the Lucille Lortel award for Outstanding Musical. Her play, Barcelona, had its west coast premiere at LA’s Geffen Playhouse in early 2016.

She also writes for film and television. She is currently in post-production on Broad Squad, an original pilot for ABC. She is also at work on a new feature for Disney, and has written two features for Paramount Pictures: The Luxe (based on the book) and Virginia (the true story of mob queen Virginia Hill). Her screenplay adaptation of her play, IN, was included on Hollywood’s Black List of best scripts. She has also developed original television pilots for HBO, USA, FOX and the CW.

Her work has been supported by a MacDowell Fellowship, PlayPenn, the Sewanee Writer’s Conference and Ars Nova. She has been the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Hartford Stage and Center Theatre Group. In her previous life as an actress, Bess appeared onstage in New York and regionally, and in numerous films and TV shows where she has given birth, solved crimes, committed crimes, been wrongly accused, and come back from the dead.

She is a graduate of Harvard, Magna Cum Laude, where she studied with Seamus Heaney and Jamaica Kincaid and was awarded the Rona Jaffe Writing Prize and the Tennessee Williams Scholarship. She earned her MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where she was a recipient of the Rebecca West Scholarship. She is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.

4 . American Hero AUDIENCE GUIDE

INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT BESS WOHLBy Adam Szymkowicz, August 2011

Adam Szymkowicz: What are you working on now?

Bess Wohl: In the past few weeks, I’ve been in rehearsals for my play, Touch(ed) at the Williamstown Theater Festival, rewriting and tweaking a lot. I’m also currently writing the book for Pretty Filthy, a new musical, with the composer/lyricist Michael Friedman about the adult entertainment industry. It’s a commission from Center Theater Group and The Civilians. Finally, because even playwrights need to make a living, I’m writing a feature for Paramount Pictures based on the bestselling book series, The Luxe, and will be developing TV for CBS this fall.

How does your acting inform your playwriting and vice versa?

I actually first started playwriting while I was getting my MFA in acting. There was a little student-run space called The Cabaret, and I began writing plays for my actor classmates and producing them in the theater there. (The Cabaret also served booze, which probably helped those first plays go down easier...) Wanting to create great parts for actors was the initial spark that made me start writing. Nothing pleases me more than seeing an actor find a way to be great, with the help of words I’ve written.

On a deeper level, what draws me to writing is the same thing that drew me to acting—it’s all about character. In both art forms, I hope to get inside characters and create living, breathing people. I try to write parts that actors will want to play, and lines that I think would be fun to say. What I’ve had to subsequently learn, as a writer, is how to be in charge, critical and decisive. As an actor, you’re trained to be continually open and pliable, to “always say yes.” As a playwright, you have to be able to articulate a clear vision and must stay in control of the story that is being told. You have to be willing—and able—to say no.

Tell me a story from your childhood that explains

who you are as a writer or a person:

This is really the defining story of my life, and it’s a simple one: When I was about four or five years old, I went to a summer camp with swimming classes. There was an Olympic sized pool, with a very high diving board—it seemed like it was ten miles up in the air. The swimming teacher marched all the campers up the diving board ladder and stood us on the platform, asking who wanted to jump first. Nobody ever had before. It was absolutely terrifying. We all stood there shivering in our swimsuits, as one boy after another walked to the edge, then balked and turned around. Suddenly—I still don’t know exactly why—I stepped forward. This was completely out of character for me, a shy, chubby, awkward bookworm, always picked last for every team. But somehow, in that moment, I realized that all I needed to do was step off the edge, and gravity would do the rest. I also knew I had to do it or I would regret it forever. And so, I walked to the edge, and jumped. It was probably the bravest moment of my life—which I guess is a bit sad, really!—but I still think about it every time I do a play.

If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

I wish it were less expensive, of course. I also usually wish it were less stuffy. I wish that it were more relevant to a wider array of people, which would probably come with it being less expensive and stuffy.

Who are or were your theatrical heroes:

Well, I have to go for the obvious—Shakespeare. I took a class Freshman year in college with the amazing Shakespeare scholar, Marjorie Garber. We read all the plays and the experience pretty much changed my life in every way. It was like a religious conversion—I still look to Shakespeare for lessons in drama and in life. The moment at the end of Twelfth Night when Viola, in the hope of finding her lost brother, exclaims, “Prove true,

The PlayAMERICAN HERO

imagination, O, prove true!” for me speaks to what we’re always trying to accomplish in theater: to take something imagined and make it feel true. I think about that line all the time, as a silent prayer. And his characters—Lady M, Caliban, Brutus, Hermione, Mercutio, I could go on forever-- they are the bravest, most complicated and heartbreaking and sexy and fascinating group of people I could possibly imagine.

Of course, in terms of modern playwrights—there are so many I adore. Tony Kushner. Stephen Adly Guirgis. Paula Vogel. And actors like Janet McTeer, whose Nora in A Doll’s House is etched in my mind. Simon Russel Beale whose Iago I’ll never forget. Mark Rylance who blows me to bits every time I see him on stage. I’m also lucky enough to have some amazing writer, director and actor friends who have mentored me, reading drafts after draft of my work and giving advice: Keith Bunin, Itamar Moses, Trip Cullman, Chuck Morey, Susan Pourfar. I learned from them that writing doesn’t have to be lonely and solitary—it takes a lot of support. I could never write without their help.

What kind of theater excites you:

I’m attracted to theater that’s language driven—theater that feels excessive and messy and generous, where words flow freely. I love the musicality of language, and I love people and characters who can’t shut up. I get an almost physical thrill from hearing talking—language that hits me hard, in the gut, and feels visceral and chewy and delicious. I love sloppy words. I myself can’t shut up about them right now... But okay, okay, I will. I’m done. Really. Okay. Now. Done.

What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out:

Find actors you love and bribe them with snacks or beer to read your work out loud. There is no substitute for hearing your work, even if it’s just in your own living

room. Choose subject matter that feels important to you, and stick with it even when it feels crappy. I heard the amazing Ira Glass speak once about how there’s this gap, when you’re first starting out, between what you would LIKE to have made, and what you actually did make. His advice? To make a ton of work, and eventually your product will catch up with your taste, and the gap between what you are making and what you want to make will close.

Finally, I’d say you have to find a way to enjoy the process as much as the result, because you never know what the result will be. A playwright friend once told me that you have to look at each step in the process—from the first draft on—as if it’s the last one, and derive full satisfaction from it. Because if you’re waiting for some magical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... Well, you miss the rainbow, which is the best part.

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The Play

AMERICAN HEROThe Play

NATURALISM

Previous to the nineteenth century, there was no effort to make theater seem like real life. Theater was meant to be heightened and follow characters and events that were more elevated and more important to the public good. Following the revolutions at the end of the eighteenth century, the focus in arts turned to depicting the experiences of the middle class and the working class and, in plays by writers such as Ibsen and Chekhov, replicating life in its emotional and experiential reality.

Writers such as Emile Zola wanted to go one step further and wanted to put all of life’s sensual realities on stage through naturalism. Naturalistic plays depicted the lives of peasants and workers to show the middle-class theater audiences the struggles of these lives. These writers wanted to depict the earthiness, grit and struggles of these lives by putting not just the sights but the smells and sounds of real life. Any time real food, real animals or actual dirt and sand are on stage, we are in the realm of naturalism. The majority of American Hero follows this style.

SURREALISM

At the beginning of the twentieth century, several anti-realistic art movements emerged in reaction to realism and naturalism. One of these forms was surrealism which suggests that we can find other kinds of truth in our subconscious, our imagination, and our dreams. One of the main practitioners of surrealism was Salvador Dali who would famously fall asleep holding a spoon. When the spoon dropped he would wake and have immediate access to his dreams. Surrealist films and drama did not follow causal logic and often featured surprising characters or non-human figures with human attributes. There is a surrealist moment in this play that may be a hallucination, a dream, or a step into another world.

Structure

6 . American Hero AUDIENCE GUIDE

The Play

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IMMIGRANTS AND FRANCHISES

Facts about Franchises

n The EB-5 visa federal program, launched in 1990, gives foreign nationals the chance to obtain permanent residency by investing a minimum of $500,000 in a U.S. business.

n The catch: The investment must create at least 10 new jobs within two years, or the foreign investor is sent back home.

n Despite the risk, franchisers see it as a chance to lure buyers who are set up to seal a deal quickly. And for foreign applicants who lack the entrepreneurial chops to launch a venture from scratch, franchises offer a ready-made business model with a proven record.

n Last year, 6,343 foreign nationals applied to the EB-5 program, up from 6,040 in 2012, and just 470 in 2006, according to the latest data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency estimates that as of September 2013, the program has raised more than $8.6 billion and has created some 57,300 jobs.

Theme

AMERICAN HEROThe Play

n Some 40% of New Yorkers are immigrants, and one half of all small businesses in the city are owned by immigrant entrepreneurs (immpreneurs). Furthermore, 27.1% of new businesses were started by immigrants in 2012. (immigrantbiz.com)

n The total investment to own a Subway is an estimated $116,000 to $263,000 in the United States and $102,000 to $234,000 in Canada. SUBWAY® Franchisees pay 12.5% every week (gross sales minus the sales tax); 8% goes toward the franchise royalties and 4.5% goes towards advertising.

n The average franchisee clears less than $50,000/ year so the only real way to make a profit is to own multiple franchises. (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228698)

—Read more at http://www.franchise.org/the-rising-trend-of-immpreneurs

THE GREAT RECESSION

The Great Recession, which officially lasted from December 2007 to June of 2009, began with the bursting of an $8 trillion dollar housing bubble. The resulting loss of private wealth led to sharp cutbacks in personal spending—a disaster for a consumerist-based economy, as the loss of consumption then led to cutbacks in business investments, followed by massive job losses. In 2008 and 2009, 8.4 million jobs (6.1 per cent of the payroll employment) were lost, the greatest downturn since the Great Depression. The recession was felt on a global scale.

Poverty status is determined by income and family size. In 1989 a family of four—with 2 adults and 2 children with an income of $12,575 was considered poor. In 1999, a family of four—with 2 adults and 2 children with an income of $16,895 was considered poor.

Median household income was $53,657 in 2014, not statistically different in real terms from the 2013 median of $54,462. This is the third consecutive year that the annual change was not statistically significant, following two consecutive years of annual declines in median household income.

In 2014, real median household income was lower than in 2007, the year before the most recent recession, and the household income peak that occurred in 1999.

The real median income of non-Hispanic White households declined 1.7 percent between 2013 and 2014. For Black, Asian, and Hispanic origin households the 2013-2014 percentage changes in real median income were not statistically significant.

8 . American Hero AUDIENCE GUIDE

The Play

Working at minimum wage jobs and poverty

n Hourly workers are almost never offered 40 hours work/week making all hourly workers part-time

n Shifts and schedules change weekly so it is very difficult for hourly workers to take on a second job

n Because hourly workers are considered part-time, they probably will not be eligible or receiving benefits at many of these corporations.

Barbara Ehrenreich discusses these issues extensively in her book Nickled and Dimed. Here is an excerpt: http://www2.widener.edu/~spe0001/266Web/266Webreadings/nickledanddimed1999.pdf

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AMERICAN HERO

10 . American Hero AUDIENCE GUIDE

FIGHT FOR $15

Fast food workers have not been included as workers available to unionize and, until recently, as most were adoles-cents prone to rapid turnover in jobs, there has not been a substantial group willing to agitate for changes. However, recently a study at the University of California found that 52 % of fast food workers are dependent on public subsidies —a huge cost to tax payers and a situation that traps these workers in a cycle of poverty. (laborcenter.berkeley.edu). On November 29, 2012, over 100 fast-food workers from McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Domino’s, Papa John’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut walked off their jobs in New York City, New York in strike for higher wages, better working conditions and the right to form a union without retaliation from their managers. In 2014, a movement began to demand a $15 minimum wage for fast food workers and the right to unionize for collective bargaining. The $15 minimum hourly wage has been passed across New York and California and in Seattle and Washington DC and is currently part of the Democratic Party platform.

The Play

The PlayReferencesWORKING AT A FRANCHISE SANDWICH SHOP

Quiznos

Quiznos is a franchised fast-food restaurant brand based in Denver, Colorado, which specializes in offering toasted sub-marine sandwiches. The restaurant chain was founded in 1981 by Jimmy Lambatos and sold to Rick and Richard Schaden in 1991, and grew to nearly 5,000 restaurants. As of the end of 2013, the chain had about 1,500 domestic locations and about 600 international locations. Quiznos is the second-largest submarine sandwich shop chain in North America, after Subway.

In 2006, Quiznos sent letters to 300 franchises saying mystery shoppers would be coming to test their services. The company sued franchise owners Richard Piotrowski and Ellen Blickman for not putting enough meat in a prime rib sand-wich. Piotrowski and Blickman countersued and won the lawsuit in 2009. Judge Morris Hoffman called the meat-weighing exercise and subsequent termination letters a “charade” aimed at bolstering a national ad campaign against rival Subway.As of July 1, 2010, Quiznos was close to reaching a settlement over the multiyear class-action lawsuit that covers nearly 10,000 of its current and former franchisees. The case comprises four separate class-action lawsuits dating back to 2006 which consolidated in 2009—involved allegations by attorneys for franchisees that Quiznos Franchise Co. LLC and other entities with ownership or control of the Quiznos chain had violated U.S. racketeering and corruption statutes. Also at issue was the chain’s supply chain and food costs, marketing and advertising funds, and disputes among franchisees that agreed to, but did not open, locations and whether royalties are owed. Quiznos has denied all claims made in the law-suits and the settlement agreement involves no finding or admission of liability. The cost to Quiznos has been estimated from $100 to $200 million.

On November 27, 2006, Bhupinder Baber, franchise owner of two Long Beach, California, Quiznos locations, committed suicide after a legal battle with the company. In his suicide note, Baber attributed mistreatment by Quiznos to driving him to suicide. The Toasted Subs Franchisee Association (TSFA), a group of franchisees, posted Baber’s suicide note on its website, and intended to raise money for Baber’s family. Quiznos attempted to terminate the TSFA’s franchises. The TSFA in turn filed an injunction on December 15, 2006, in the District Court of Colorado. A 2014 article in the Long Beach Post suggested that the factors that contributed to Baber’s suicide also led to the parent company’s bankruptcy in 2014. Over the past five years, Quiznos has closed about 2,500 locations, out of more than 4,000 before the recession hit. The company’s sales and market share both dropped by more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2013. It’s now third in market share in sandwiches, behind Subway and Jimmy John’s. In comparison, Subway has about 40,000 stores worldwide.

—(Wikipedia)

Jobs at sandwich restaurants such as Subway

Job Title Subway Salary Averages (varies by state)

Subway Sandwich Artist - Hourly $7.16-9.36/hrAssistant Manager - Hourly $7.49-13.65/hrStore Manager $17,379- 31,317

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AMERICAN HEROThe Play

Sandwich Artist® Position SummaryThe Sandwich Artist® greets and serves guests, prepares food, maintains food safety and sani-tation standards, and handles or processes light paperwork. Exceptional customer service is a major component of this position.

Prerequisites:EducationSome high school or equivalent.

Experience & SkillsNo previous experience required. Ability to understand and implement written and verbal instruction.

PhysicalMust be able to work any area of the restaurant when needed and to operate a computerized Point of Sale system/cash register. Position requires bending, standing, and walking the entire workday. Must have the ability to lift 10 pounds frequently and up to 30 pounds occasionally.

Store Manager Position SummaryThe Manager performs and directs overall restaurant management. Directs staff to ensure that food safety, product preparation, and cleanliness standards are maintained. Maintains standards of restaurant safety and security. Recruits staff and oversees training program. Responsible for inventory and money control systems—may establish inventory schedules. Responsible for local marketing initiatives—may contact prospective customers to promote sales. Maintains business records. Exceptional customer service is a major component of this position.

Tasks and Responsibilities1. Completes and posts the staff work schedules.2. Recruits, rewards and terminates staff as needed.3. Communicates changes of food preparations formulas, standards, etc. to staff.4. Ensures that all local and national health and food safety codes are maintained and company safety and security policy

are followed.5. Maintains business records as outlined in the SUBWAY® Operations Manual. Analyzes business records to increase sales.6. Supports local and national marketing initiatives.7. Identifies and contacts prospective customers to promote sales.8. Plans special events and promotions. 9. Completes University of SUBWAY® courses as directed.

12 . American Hero AUDIENCE GUIDE

The Play

PrerequisitesEducationHigh school diploma or equivalent, college degree preferred.

Experience & SkillsA minimum of two (2) years in a restaurant environment, experience in supervising and training staff. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

PhysicalMust be able to work any area of the restaurant when needed and to operate a computerized Point of Sale system/cash register. Position requires bending, standing, and walking the entire workday. Must have the ability to lift 10 pounds frequently and up to 30 pounds occasionally.

BANK OF AMERICA

Bank of America received $20 billion in the federal bailout from the U.S. government through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) on January 16, 2009, and a guarantee of $118 billion in potential losses at the company. This was in addition to the $25 billion given to them in the Fall 2008 through TARP. The additional payment was part of a deal with the U.S. government to preserve Bank of America’s merger with the troubled investment firm Merrill Lynch. Since then, members of the U.S. Congress have expressed considerable concern about how this money has been spent, especially since some of the recipients have been accused of misusing the bailout money.

During 2011, Bank of America began conducting personnel reductions of an estimated 36,000 people, contributing to intended savings of $5 billion per year by 2014.

In December 2011, Forbes ranked Bank of America’s financial health 91st out of the nation’s largest 100 banks and thrift institutions. Bank of America cut around 16,000 jobs in a quicker fashion by the end of 2012 as revenue continued to decline because of new regulations and a slow economy. This put a plan one year ahead of time to eliminate 30,000 jobs under a cost-cutting program, called Project New BAC.

Questions for Discussion1. What do you think is a reasonable annual salary for someone with a high school degree in the United States? What

kinds of jobs would provide this?

2. Discuss these areas in which the economic downturn is affecting the lives of students: housing, transportation, tuition, food costs and the prices of goods and services. Which of these sectors will cause the most difficulty for students? Explain your answer.

3. The play’s title American Hero may have a double meaning. Hero is another term for submarine sandwich as is grinder. On another level, the styles of realism and naturalism suggested that everyday people like Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman could be considered heroes. How would you define an American hero? How could someone working at a fast food franchise be considered a heo? 13

AMERICAN HERO

Theater EtiquetteAttending the theater will be a positive experience for everyone if you observe a few simple courtesies:

n Turn off and put away all electronic devices prior to entering the theater.

n Taking photographs and video recording in the theater is prohibited.

n Do not place your feet on the seat in front of you.

n The actors onstage can see and hear the audience just as well as the audience can see and hear them. Please refrain

from talking or moving around during the performance as it can be distracting to the actors, as well as to other

audience members.

n Feel free to respond to the action of the play through appropriate laughter and applause. The actors enjoy this type of

communication from the audience!

n Have fun! Attending theater should be an enjoyable experience.

REP stageREGIONAL THEATRE IN RESIDENCEHoward Community College10901 Little Patuxent Parkway Columbia, MD 21044

The Production