Student Matinee

Series

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Good People By David Lindsay-Abaire

Study Guide

Created by North Atlanta High School Advanced Drama Class of Linda Stevenson

As part of the Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists’

Junior Dramaturgy Program

Under the guidance of Teaching Artist, Neeley Gossett

Good People opened on Broadway in 2011 at the Manhattan Theater Club in New York City.

The play can be seen at The Alliance Theatre from January 16, 2013 to February 10, 2013.

Awards

The play was nominated for a Tony Award, Drama League Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer

Critics Circle Awards, and received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.

Frances McDormand, who played Margaret, received the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and

Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance in the play.

Reviews

"There’s nothing pure about the goodness or badness of the folks who inhabit this play. This

makes them among the most fully human residents of Broadway these days." -New York Times

"The remarkable thing about Good People is its refusal to settle into schematic patterns."

-LA Times

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"If Good People isn't a hit for the Manhattan Theatre Club there is no justice in this land."

-Variety

"Good People delivers an astute class on the working class." -Chicago Sun Times

About the Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire

David Lindsay-Abaire is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. He is also a lyricist, librettist and a screenwriter. He

grew up and was raised in South Boston. He was raised by two working-class parents. He went to public school until

the age of 12 when he won a scholarship from the Boys and Girls Club to the prestigious prep school, Milton

Academy, in Milton MA. In 4th grade he began acting, and in 10th grade he began writing plays. He then went to

Sarah Lawrence College where he studied acting and also took classes in playwriting. One of his shows was

performed at Sarah Lawrence, and there he decided to continue writing.

“If I hadn’t gotten lucky, I could certainly have ended up the manager at a Dollar Store — or maybe not

even the manager, maybe the cashier. . . . A lot of people I grew up with are in jail, died of drug overdoses,

or committed suicide. They weren’t bad people, they weren’t troublemakers. They just didn’t have the

breaks and the opportunities that I did.’’ – The Boston Globe

After graduating from Sarah Lawrence in 1992, he began writing plays and won a few awards. At one competition,

the second place winner suggested he apply to the highly selective Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights

Program at Julliard. He was one of the five playwrights admitted to the two year program in 1996, and he honed his

skill. However, the program did not award a diploma. He was taught by two prominent playwrights Marsha Norman

and Christopher Durang. He is married to Christine Lindsay-Abaire, an actress. They have two children and live in

Brooklyn, New York.

“I will always be the working class kid. I have a deep respect for hard work and people trying to make

their lives better. I hope it informs my own work ethic. My sense of humor is very Southie — dark and

inappropriate. Laughter in the face of hardship, that’s still very present. I also have a little bit of a temper. I

think most people consider me pretty mild-mannered. But I don’t suffer fools gladly. Not too many people

from Southie do.” –Huntingtontheatre.org

His first theater acclamation was for his play Fuddy Meers, which premiered in 1998. Wonder of the World

premiered in 2000 and starred Sarah Jessica Parker. Rabbit Hole came to Broadway in in 2006 and featured

Cynthia Nixon, John Slattery, and Tyne Daly. Rabbit Hole won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007. He has also written

Kimberly Akimbo, Dotting and Dashing, Snow Angel, The L'il Plays, and A Devil Inside. He has also been credited

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with helping write the script for Robots, Inkheart, and the film Rabbit Hole. In addition, Abaire wrote a movie from Dreamworks Animation called Rise of the Guardian, as well as Shrek the Musical and the book for High Fidelity

the musical. Good People opened in March of 2011.

Synopsis of Good People

Act One

At the beginning of the play, Stevie fires Margaret from her job at the Dollar Store because of her chronic lateness. Margaret reveals that her continual tardiness is because she struggles to find care for her

mentally handicapped, adult daughter. She begs Stevie for another chance and uses the fact that she was

friends with his late mother to negotiate keeping her job. This does not work, and Margaret is out of a job and unable to pay her bills.

After her firing, Margaret’s longtime friend, Jean reveals that she has run into their friend from high school, Mike Dillon. He is now a doctor. Jean and Margaret’s other friend, Dottie, encourage her to ask

him for a job.

Margaret visits Mike Dillon at his office. He has escaped Southie through an Ivy League education and is now a reproductive endocrinologist. He now has little in common with Margaret and does not have a job

to offer her. However, Mike does reluctantly invite her to his birthday party.

Margaret looks forward to the party and the opportunity to meet possible employers there when Dottie

and Jean suggest she accuse Mike of being Joyce’s father in order to collect money from him. At the end

of the act, Mike calls and tells her that the party has been cancelled. She assumes that the party was not cancelled and that Mike did not want her to come, so she toys with the idea of going to Mike’s party

despite the phone call.

Act Two

In Act Two, Margaret goes to Mike's party even though he cancelled the party because his daughter is ill.

Kate, Mike’s wife greets Margaret and assumes she is a caterer there to pick up left over food. After Kate

realizes that Margaret is one of Mike’s old friends from Southie, she insists that she stay. Margaret learns

that the party had actually been cancelled and is embarrassed. When Kate leaves the room, Mike and

Margaret are left to reminisce about the past. They discuss their past relationship. Mike badgers Margaret

about her inability to be financially stable, and he says that if she had wanted to get out of Southie, she

could have. Finally, after a heated argument, Margaret confesses that Joyce is his child. Both Kate and

Mike are bewildered by her shocking announcement. By the end of the discussion she is asked to leave,

and she says the Joyce is actually not Mike’s child.

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At the end of the act she receives a check for her rent and thinks it is from Mike and plans on returning it.

Later, she finds out it is from Stevie, her former boss, and decides to keep it. It is finally revealed that

Mike is Joyce’s father.

Directors

The original Broadway play was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, and the Atlanta production will be directed by The

Alliance Theater’s Artistic Director Susan V. Booth.

Susan V. Booth is a well-known director who has worked with theaters throughout the country, including the

Goodman, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Northlight Theatre, Victory

Gardens, Court Theatre and many more. She started her career as an artistic director when she joined the Alliance

Theatre in 2001. Her most famous projects while working in the company include Ghost Brothers of Darkland

County, The Color Purple, Bring It On: The Musical, The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee, Sister Act: The Musical and more. She graduated from and held a teaching position at the Northwestern University. She also taught

at DePaul University, and she currently teaches at Emory University.

Actors

Original Broadway Cast

Mike Dillon: Tate Donovan

Margaret Walsh: Frances McDormand

Dottie: Estelle Parsons

Jean: Becky Ann Baker Stevie Jean: Patrick Carroll

Kate: Renée Elise Goldsberry

The Alliance Theatre Cast

Mike Dillon: Thomas Vincent Kelly

Margaret Walsh: Kate Buddeke

Dottie: Brenda Bynum

Jean: Lala Cochran Stevie Jean: Andrew Benator

Kate: Kristen Ariza

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Characters

Dottie is a friend of Margaret’s and helps her with Joyce. She is a fifty-year-old White, Southie native and always

speaks her mind. She is a bingo enthusiast and considers herself an entrepreneur because she makes and sells toy

rabbits.

Jean is fifty, White, and works in a hotel. She is from Southie and is harsh and blunt toward her friends, Margaret

and Dottie, but she is loyal. She hatches a dishonest scheme to help Margaret pay her rent.

Kate is an African-American woman in her early thirties. Kate, her husband Mike, and her daughter Ally are an

upper class family. They live in a large beautiful house in South Boston. Kate is a literature Professor at Boston

University. Kate received her PHD from Georgetown. She is very polite to others and has very positive attitude.

However, her marriage to Mike is troubled.

Margaret is a White woman around age fifty. She is a tough woman from Southie and has been fired from a Dollar

Store. Because she is a high school dropout and has a mentally handicapped daughter named Joyce who takes much

of her time, she struggles to find work. She was married once, but her husband left her and her daughter. She will do

anything it takes to find a new job so that she can pay her rent.

Mike is a White doctor and in his fifties. He is originally from Southie but escaped the Boston neighborhood by

attending University of Pennsylvania and becoming a reproductive endocrinology. He now lives in Chestnut Hills, a

wealthy area, with his much younger wife, Kate and his daughter Ally. He struggles to have a stable relationship

with his wife and has a tendency to exaggerate stories about his days in Southie.

Stevie is White and in his late twenties and is the manager of a Dollar Store. He is Margaret’s former boss, and plays

bingo with her. He is hard working and working class. Margaret, Dottie, and Jean tease him because his late mother

was known for shoplifting a turkey.

From the Playwright

“I know so many women like the ones in this play. Margie’s best friend — that lady walked into my mother’s

kitchen every morning to have coffee. She’s my mother’s friend from across the street; she’s the lady that works up

at the nursing home. She was a combination of different women, with a brashness, honesty, and loyalty that is so

part of the community. And my mother, of course, is in every one of these characters.’’ –Boston Globe

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Unfamiliar Words and Phrases from Good People

Aunt Clara: A character in the television show “Bewitched.” She is known for her well-

intentioned spells backfiring.

Biddies- Elderly women who are usually looked at as annoying.

Cracker Barrel Cheese: An inexpensive brand of cheese.

Djembe: An African drum.

Granny Cart: A shopping that contains a homeless person’s belongings.

Humboldt Fog: A brand of expensive cheese. It can cost as much as $140.

Lace Curtain Irish: A wealthy and arrogant Irish-American.

Reproductive Endocrinologist: A doctor who treats infertility.

Tara- A plantation house in Gone with the Wind.

Upton Sinclair: A famous Twentieth Century writer who wrote investigative books like The

Jungle.

VFW: Veterans of Foreign War.

Welly Cheese: Free cheese given by the government.

Wensleydale Cheese: A crumbling cheese that is usually combined with cranberries.

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David Lindsay-Abaire’s Play Good People is a story of place.

South Boston

South Boston or “Southie” is not only the setting of Good People, but it is also where playwright David Lindsay-

Abaire spent his childhood. This play’s plot and characters cannot exist without the culture and economic situation

in Southie. Place plays such strong role in this play, it feels like a character in itself.

Getting to Know “Southie.”

The Boston Globe states that “Southie has always been a working-class place, with affordable housing for dock

workers and those who reported to the factories, the Gillette complex being the modern-day survivor. It became an

unpretentious, lunch-bucket-Democrat neighborhood, a nearly homogeneous community of white Irish-Catholic

immigrants.”

A Map of Boston’s Neighbors/Sections

Southie Sterotypes

South Boston was made famous by movies like The Fighter and The Departed. Abaire purposely avoids the

stereotypes of Southie residents as drug addicts and mobsters.

However, David Lindsay-Abaire says that those are just the sterotypes of people from South Boston. “I grew up in

the Lower End, which was mostly comprised of regular, working class people who were trying to make good lives

for themselves and for their families. They were salt of the earth people, and lots of us were struggling, but no one I

knew really fit the Southie stereotypes that people seem to have.” –Huntingtontheatre.org

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David Lindsay-Abaire on South Boston and The Irish

“I’m obviously not a historian, but I was always told that South Boston came to be when the Irish immigrants came

and were shunned in most quarters because they were thought to be filthy, dirty lowlifes, and nobody wanted them

in their neighborhood. So, [the immigrants] were like, ‘What about this little patch of mud,’ and they went over to

this uninhabited isthmus and they formed a community. Because they were so ostracized, they turned to each other

for comfort and protection, and became a segregated community in every sense of the word. They took care of each

other, and learned to be suspicious of outsiders, often for good reasons.” –Huntingtontheatre.org

A Timeline of Major Events in South Boston

1776: George Washington placed cannon in Dorchester Highs and forced the British out of Boston during The

Revolutionary War. Castle Island was fort during The American Revolution.

1845: Potato Famine raged in Ireland. This caused a mass immigration of Irish to South Boston and other parts of

the United States.

1930s: The building of housing projects began. South Boston was one of the first places in the nation to have

housing projects.

1960s and 1970s: More African Americans began to move to South Boston.

1970s and 1980: The Busing Crisis and race relation problems brought national attention to South Boston.

1981: The nation’s first Vietnam War Memorial was erected in South Boston.

1980s: South Boston became famous as the home of Whitey Bulger, an Irish Mob boss.

1990s :Gay and lesbian groups fought to march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, which gave the area national

attention. The United States Supreme Court ruled that the business owners who organize the parade had the right to

exclude the groups.

2000s: While some gentrification has begun in “Southie,” the neighborhood remains primarily working-class Irish.

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Southie Statistics

Race

White 78%

Black 4.6%

Hispanic 9.9%

Asian 4.6%

Other 1.7%

Unemployment

Male 14.5%

Female 16.9%

Economics

Average

Income $ 41,

198

Two parent

families living

below the

poverty level 13.5%

Single mother

households

living below

the poverty

level 37.7%

Education

Less than a

high school

diploma 12.1%

High school

diploma 28.4%

High school

diploma plus

63.1%

High school

dropout rate

(2009) 20.7%

Crime

(2011)

Vehicle Theft

98

Larceny 824

Burglary 141

Aggravated

Assault 122

Robbery 78

Rape 9

Homicide 2

Heroin use is

20% higher in

South Boston

than the rest of Boston. It has

had a 12%

jump in the past

decade.

Source: 2010

Census

Movies about Southie

Films set in South Boston tend to portray it as a gritty city run by Irish gang members. Abaire purposefully avoids

these stereotypes in his plays. Some movies set in Southie are The Town, Gone Baby Gone, Black Irish, The

Departed, Good Will Hunting, Mystic River, The Boondock Saints, The Verdict, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle.

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Desegregation of South Boston Public Schools

Margaret and Mike discuss racial tension and the public school busing crisis in South Boston. Mike says the he has

told his wife about these events. Both racism and education are themes with in the play. Margaret and Mike were

both in school during the busing. This would have affected their education and their understanding of race. It may

have been a contributing factor to Margaret dropping out of high school.

The 1965 Racial Imbalance Act, which ordered all Massachusetts public schools to desegregate, was passed. In 1974

W. Arthur Garrity Jr. of the US District Court of MA used a State Board of Education plan for busing of students

from predominantly white areas. Under this law, any school with 50% nonwhite students had to become racially

balanced. This eventually led to the busing of Irish American students from South Boston to schools made up of

mostly African American students. This created a conflict that lasted for a decade and led to protests and violence.

500 police officers were at South Boston High School every day to watch the 400 students. Racial violence was

frequent at the school and carried further into the streets and other communities. The violence at the schools caused

metal detectors to be installed, which are in most public high schools to this day. The quality of public education in

Boston has fallen and poor White dropout rates have increased, and organized crime and other problems in poor

White areas have risen. Most White students go to private schools in Boston. As of 2000 Boston Public Schools are

76% Black and Hispanic and 14% White. The population of Boston is 54.48% white and 39.77% Black and

Hispanic.

The riots reached a particularly dark point in 1976 when a White student stabbed a Black man with an American

flag during a protest.

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Old Harbor Housing Project

The Old Harbor Housing Project, which is now called the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Project, is the home to

the characters in Good People. It is also in close proximity to David Lindsay-Abaire’s childhood home.

Built in the 1930s, it is one of the oldest housing projects in the United States, and it remains one of New England’s

largest governmenalt housing facillities. Old Harbor has 1016 apartments. The apartments are mostly home to Irish

Americans. The housing project is known nationally for its problems with poverty, drugs, and violence.

Columbia Point Housing Project

Good People confronts the racially motivated violence and tension that faced South Boston in the 1970s. During the

characters’ childhoods, Columbia Point was a nearby predominantly African American housing project. It is located

on the edge of Dorchester Bay and physically isolated from the rest of the city and is surrounded by predominantly

Irish American communities. It was built in the early 1950s, but by the 1970s, it had become known for crime,

drugs, and decay. Today, it is no longer a housing project, but a privately owned apartment building called Harbor

Point.

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Transportation and Class

In the play, Margaret takes the “T” from her housing project to Mike’s lavish house. Mike’s wife Kate is shocked by

this and says, “You have to stay then.” Abaire uses the “T” as a way address class differences as a theme. A

journey that seems short to a working a class person like Margaret, seems unbarable to an upper class person like

Kate.

Margaret would have had to take the Red Line from the Andrews stop and transefer to the Green Line. She would

then exit at the Chestnut Hill stop and walk to Mike’s house.

Chestnut Hill is a wealthy neighbor west of Boston. It is known for its gothic architecture and for being home to

Boston College. This is where Mike and Kate live. It is quite the economic opposite of Southie.

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More about South Boston

Gillette Manufacturing Center In the play, characters suggest that Margaret get a job at the Gillette Manufacturing

Center. This factory is South Boston’s biggest employers, which employs 3,404 people.

Castle Island Castle Island is home to Fort Independence and is known for being one of the prettiest places in

Southie. People flock to this urban park in the summer.

Sullivans Eating at Sullivans in the summer has become a tradition on Castle Island. This restaurant, which serves

fried food, opened in 1951. On most summer days, there is a long line outside of the restaurants.

The Irish Mafia and Whitey Bulger Whitey Bulger is an infamous Irish Mob boss from Southie. His relationship

with this part of the city causes South Boston to be stereotyped as a hub of gang activity.

The Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is a causeway that loops around Pleasure Bay and extends over the water.

Residents use this beautiful space for walking and running. It is an important part of life in South Boston, and there

is a 5K race held there each year.

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Bingo in Good People

One of the play’s themes is luck vs. hard work. The characters struggle with whether or not success is

based on chance or diligence. Margaret argues that it is a series of unlucky events that caused her poverty;

therefore, it is appropriate that she spends her days playing a game based only on luck, not on skill. Bingo

is symbolic of Margaret’s way of thinking.

Bingo and The Catholic Church.

Bingo, which was originally called Beano, appeared in the United States at county fairs in the late 1920s.

It is derived from an Italian game and was first played at a Georgia carnival.

In the coming decades, Catholic churches began to house bingo games. Priests saw it as a good

fund raising opportunity. However, it was and is a controversial practice because gambling is

discouraged by the church. Many argue that the game is not gambling and support it because the

money raised from the games goes to the church and Catholic schools.

Churches generally hold a series of games once a week. The players pay between $5 and $25 per

night depending on how many cards they buy. There are often limits set on how many cards a

person can buy. Prize money ranges usually ranges from $100-$750.

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Age Discrimination in Good People

Age discrimination is a theme within the play. Because Margaret has worked at the Dollar

Store for years, she made more money than the younger employees. She believes that this was a

component in her firing. She also believes that she is not hirable because of her age.

The Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), protects people who are 40 years of

age or older from discrimination in the workplace. However, recent data shows that many

companies may be ignoring the law.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that workers over the age of 45 are staying unemployed

longer than younger workers. The New York Times reports that “On average, laid-off workers in

this age group were out of work 22.2 weeks in 2008, compared with 16.2 weeks for younger

workers. Even when they finally land jobs, they typically experience a much steeper drop in

earnings than their younger counterparts.”

Stereotypes that older people are not as good with technology, a close retirement date, and more

health problems can cause a company hire a younger person.

The New York Times reported that a study was conducted and published in 2005. Professors sent

out 4,000 résumés on behalf of hypothetical job-seeking women ranging in age from 35 to 62 for

entry-level jobs at companies.” Coincidently, some of the companies were in Boston. The

professors “changed only the applicant’s high school graduation year, an age indicator” and

“found that workers under 50 were more than 40 percent more likely to be called for an

interview.”

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Good People in The Classroom

Pre-Show Questions

1. What role do you think education plays in your success? Do you think a successful life comes from

luck or hard work? How do your parents or parental figures help you succeed?

2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of and public, private, and charter schools? Do you think the

public school system in America is good? Should everyone go to college, why or why not?

3. How much does the situation you are born into (home, family, money, etc.) affect your future? How

much harder is it for a person living in poverty to have a happy and successful life than a person born into

a comfortable environment?

4. What stereotypes do you associate with poverty? Read the Plot Synopsis. How do the stereotypes you

brainstormed relate to the play?

Post-Show Questions

1. Why do you think Mike didn't give Margaret the babysitting job? Would you have given it to her in his

situation?

2. When discussing his past with his wife, Mike changed some of the facts to appear more like a victim or

make the situation more dramatic. Why do you think he did this? Do you think he is ashamed of his past?

3. Why do you think Margaret didn't tell Mike about his child? Do you think Mike knew it was his? Was

Margaret's silence to help Mike or protect her pride?

4. Why was Margaret fired? Have you seen or heard of instances of age discrimination? If she was

younger, do you think she would have kept the job?

5. Why do you think Margaret went to Mike for a job after 30 years of not contacting him? Was she

swallowing her pride or simply desperate?

Creative Writing Prompts

1. How did you become successful at something? Who helped you? How hard do you work/practice?

2. When was a time you had to swallow your pride and go to person for help that you didn't want to?

3. Do you automatically judge people on their class? Have you ever been judged because of your class or

race?