An American Breeze

About the Author: "The epitome of what teen reader's theater should be--enlightening, funny, & clever, plus a perfect glimpse into the periods of American history via our literary figures & works across the centuries!" "Helen Mondloch has blown us right into each American literary/historical period with allusions to writers, works, philosophies, & events that will gust to life in this reader's theater tour de force!" --Deborah K. Hipes, Bureau of Educational Research

An American Breeze is a comic, class-room tested whirlwind tour through American literary history, accompanied by Study Guides for each chapter. This book provides both students and teachers with an excellent way to laugh and learn together. Classes can perform the six acts intermittently throughout the year, or in their entirety at year's end. They can present the play as a class or in small groups, even pick and choose from the acts-- whatever suits their needs.

Book Excerpt (Copyrighted Material) :

Prelude
Act 1: A Colonial Breeze
Act 2: Winds of Reason
Act 3: Romantic Stirrings
Act 4: Transcendental Tempests
Act 5: A Rugged Cold Front: The Realists
Act 6: Modernism and the Contemporary Age

Prelude and Act I

Characters: (In order of appearance)

Breeze-- The Breeze: a timeless observer of the American experience
Commentator 1--A droll cynic
Commentator 2—A sage optimist
Chorus—a rowdy bunch representing America’s youth (played by a group of students who recite their lines in unison and often sound like cheerleaders)
A Puritan
John Winthrop
Cotton Mather
Jonathan Edwards
Anne Bradstreet
John Smith
Olaudah Equiano

(Please see subsequent acts for a list of characters in each.)
Prelude: Voice of the Breeze

Breeze--
I am the voice of an American breeze. You have never seen me, but I have stirred for untold ages. I have blown through every crack and crevice of the landscape-- across prairie, mountain, city, and sea. Whispering, sometimes roaring, through season after season, I have watched a nation rise up from the wilderness.

Throughout this steady watch, I have brushed the cheek of every man and woman who ever tilled the soil, every soldier who marched into battle, and every babe swaddled in the American dream. I have touched gold diggers and trailblazers, both the modest and the proud, and those who yearned only to breathe free.

My gusty crosswinds have also caught up with those Americans who are the subject of today's tour-- I'm referring to men and women who pulsed with curiosity and the tireless drive to record their thoughts for all posterity.

Commentator 1-- (with some annoyance) --He means the writers. They are a pretty tireless bunch: always unearthing the past, always scrutinizing the present, always penning their thundering thoughts for all posterity...

Chorus-- Posterity-- That would be us!

Breeze-- Yes, my good friends! You are the sons and daughters of our American heritage. Some of you are firmly rooted here. Some of you blew in from other countries. But you are not much different from those born on American soil. Their ancestors blew in from those other places, too-- at some time or another. In any case, the writers all had you in mind-- posterity, that is.

Chorus-- Posterity-- That would be us!

Commentator 1-- This breeze--it blows, but I can't tell if it is wise or just blustering. (To Breeze): Can you take us somewhere, or are you just a lot of hot air?

Breeze-- (Makes a prolonged blowing sound, playfully mocking Commentator 1)
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!