Artists are often inspired by experiencing the work of other artists. Now that you’ve seen Covenant, we invite you to step into the role of artist to further explore and engage with the themes of the piece. The following activites were crafted by Roundabout Teaching Artists with high school age students in mind, but they are more than applicable for any group or ensemble that wants to collaboratively continue reflecting on Covenant.
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PLAYWRIGHT
How does a playwright use elements of style to create a legend?
York Walker, playwright of Covenant, described the play as, “a period drama with horror elements based on the [legend] of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil to attain his musical genius.” A legend is a genre of folklore that is generally a narrative written to teach life lessons about historic characters, with some factual evidence changed.
RESEARCH
Read “The Real Robert Johnson.” Then, use research skills to identify other legends from American history. Choose one and then jot down, highlight, or otherwise mark the following information:
Who is it about? What is their name? Are they known by any other names?
What did they do? What was their job, passion, etc.? What did they become known for? What qualities does their story have?
When were they alive? When did they become well-known?
Where did they come from? Where did they live if they moved or travelled? Where were they when they became well-known?
Why did they do what they did? Why is their story important?
ANALYZE
Based on your research, what is fact and what is fictional about this person’s story? How do these changes make it more interesting, exciting, or impactful? What does it have in common with the legend and/or the real life of Robert Johnson? Why do you think this person and story became a legend?
WRITE
Choose a real-life person and write a paragraph or two that turns them into a legend. Use the facts of this person’s life as inspiration and be sure to exaggerate or change them to be more exciting or unbelievable.
LIGHTING DESIGNER
How does a lighting designer use angles of light to convey a change in time or place?
Covenant moves thought times and locations very quickly but also has specific instructions that “the set should be minimal.” The majority of the changes in time and place are indicated with changes in lighting.
ANALYZE
Think about a scene from the play that shifted time and location quickly and discuss how you knew the time and location had shifted. Did the angles of light shift?
RESEARCH
Think of two separate times and or places that you might like to practice transitioning to (i.e. birthday party/parking garage, wedding/haunted house, desert/arctic). You can pull up photos of these two states to discuss the angles of light in each.
CREATE
Spend a few minutes experimenting with the flashlight on your cell phone or any other lighting source you have and see if you can adjust them to create the angles of lighting in your two different states. If possible, take a black and white photo of each of these scenes.
Published on October 19, 2023.