WRITE
- Reflect on Ana’s monologue from the end of the play. Write your own monologue about feeling embodied, or, a moment in time when your body, mind, and spirit felt the most intertwined. Alternatively, write your own monologue about feeling disembodied, or, a moment in time when your body, mind, and spirit felt the most disconnected or disparate.
- In the play, Ana is creating a chapbook for one of her college classes. A chapbook is a short, maybe 20-40 pages, book that can include stories, poems, and other written works that are not necessarily interconnected. Write one story from your own life then try writing a story you think Ana might have included in her chapbook.
- Write a synopsis of what you imagine Ana’s book to be about. Use clues from the play to inform your thinking.
DESIGN
- Imagine you are the scenic designer for a new production of Jonah. The stage directions state that the play takes place in “a series of bedrooms.” Brainstorm how one bedroom can quickly change to convey a difference in place or time. Using your preferred medium (drawing, collage, digital drawing, etc.) create a pitch for your vision of the design for a director.
- Imagine you are the sound designer for a new production of Jonah. Create a playlist of songs and sounds that you would expect to hear in each of the three locations that serve as the play’s settings. Consider the following: Do these sounds and songs clarify the location for the audience? What is the mood of the scenes that happen in this setting and how do the sounds/songs contribute to the creation of that mood? Are the sounds/songs completely different in each location or what do they share in common?
- Imagine you are the costume designer for a new production of Jonah. Create a mood board for each character’s wardrobe. What colors do they gravitate towards? How do they want to appear to the world and how is that evident in their clothing?