Curse of the Starving Class Study Questions & Topics for Discussion

Curse of the Starving Class Topics for Further Study

Research the different ways in which plays go from being written to being produced in America. Who writes plays? What different kinds of plays are there? What is community theatre? Regional theatre? What does a "Broadway play" mean? What is the difference between Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway? Who pays for each kind of play to be produced?

Divide into groups as a class, with each group directing a section of one of the acts of Curse of the Starving Class. Pay attention to the property list provided and find those items. Dress the characters as Shepard specifies. As you watch the play, think about other ways the groups could have directed the scenes and how that would have changed the understanding of the play.

The history of southern California—the transformation of a hostile land into a farming paradise and then into suburbia—in many ways mirrors the history of...
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