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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of music begins to play at the beginning of Indecent?

2. What is Sholem's response when Nakhmen says he is representing the Jewish people as prostitutes and pimps?

3. When was Indecent's first world premieres?

4. What are the two locations in which Indecent had its world premiere?

5. What love scene is shocking to the men?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Indecent take place?

2. Who does Vogel thank for bringing her life’s work to life?

3. How does the playwright early on show why the play is titled Indecent?

4. Sholem compares himself to one of the prostitutes in his play. When and why does he do this?

5. What important resources beyond the original play, trial information, and Taichman’s thesis was used to inspire Vogel?

6. What is done with the Torah scroll near the end of the reading of Sholem's play?

7. How is Madje’s line, “Teach me. Take me. I want to taste you” significant?

8. Did Vogel end up including the trial in the play? Why or why not?

9. Why are many of the men upset and horrified by what Yekel does with the Torah scroll?

10. How do Madje and Sholem respond differently to the future of Sholem’s play in the beginning of the play?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dorothee admits to Reina that she would not have minded being jailed for a show she believed in. How does Dorothee feel about the Broadway production of The God of Vengeance? Why does she feel that way? If the play had been left as it was written, would there have been a different outcome regarding the obscenity trial? Why or why not? Should the play have been altered so drastically? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Both Yiddish and English are spoken or used as subtitles throughout the play. How does this add to the play and the culture of the characters? How does the use of Yiddish from the very beginning of the play help to set the scene? The playwright describes the use of dialects to distinguish the understanding of English from one character to another. Do you find this to be a creative and useful way to show this distinction? Why or why not? Why might the playwright have decided to put so much focus on language in this play?

Essay Topic 3

In the preface Paula Vogel explains what led to her collaboration with Rebecca Taichman. What does she say about this collaboration? Why does she believe this was a collaboration of a lifetime? How does the information in the preface regarding this collaboration prepare the reader for the play ahead? What other information from the preface is important for the reader prior to reading the play?

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