STUDY GUIDE:
Students & Educators
World Premiere Musical
KIMBERLY
AKIMBO
Book & lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Based on the play by
David Lindsay-Abaire
Choreographed by Danny Mefford
Directed by Jessica Stone
Mary McCann
School Executive Director
Heather Baird
Director of Education
Tyler Easter
Education Manager
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I | THE PLAY
Synopsis
Themes
SECTION II | THE CREATIVE TEAM
Creative Biographies
Characters/Cast List
SECTION III | YOUR STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE
Theater Vocabulary
Vocabulary from Kimberly Akimbo
Satire & Black Comedy
SECTION IV | YOUR STUDENTS AS ACTORS
Reading a Scene for Understanding
The Atlantic Technique Exercise
Scene Analysis Worksheet
SECTION V | YOUR STUDENTS AS ARTISTS
Post Theater Creative Response Activity
Common Core & DOE Theater Blueprint
Sources
SECTION VI | THE ATLANTIC LEGACY
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SECTION I: THE PLAY
Synopsis
Themes
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SYNOPSIS
Kim is a bright and funny Jersey teen, who happens to look like a 72-year-old lady. And yet
her aging disease may be the least of her problems. Forced to maneuver family secrets,
borderline personalities, and possible felony charges, Kim is determined to find happiness
in a world where not even time is on her side.
THEMES
Family dynamics/dysfunction
Love
Chronic illness/disability
Loss
Dark humor/black comedy
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SECTION II: CREATIVE TEAM
Creative Biographies
Characters/Cast List
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CREATIVE BIOGRAPHIES
DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE (book) is a playwright, screenwriter,
lyricist, and librettist. His play Rabbit Hole premiered on
Broadway at MTC and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, five
Tony nominations, and the Spirit of America Award. His Good
People was awarded the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best
Play, The Horton Foote Prize, The Edgerton Foundation New
American Play Award, and two Tony nominations. David also
wrote the book and lyrics for Shrek the Musical (Jeanine Tesori,
composer), which was nominated for eight Tonys, four Oliviers, a
Grammy, and earned him the Kleban Prize as America’s most
promising musical theatre lyricist. David’s other plays
include Ripcord, Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the
World, and A Devil Inside, among others. David's screen credits
include his film adaptation of Rabbit Hole, The Family Fang,
and Rise of the Guardians, among others. He is also, along with
Tanya Barfield, Co-Director of the Playwriting Program at the
Juilliard School.
JEANINE TESORI (music) is a composer of musical theater,
opera, television, and film. She won the Tony Award for Best
Score (with bookwriter & lyricist, Lisa Kron) for the musical Fun
Home. Her other musicals include Caroline, or Change(with Tony
Kushner), Shrek the Musical (with David Lindsay-
Abaire), Thoroughly Modern Millie (with Dick
Scanlan), Violet (with Brian Crawley), and Soft Power (with David
Henry Hwang) which was her second work after Fun Home to be a
finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Along with Missy Mazzoli,
she is one of the first women to be commissioned by the
Metropolitan Opera. Her latest opera Blue (libretto by Tazewell
Thompson) received the MCANA Award for Best New Opera. In
addition to her work as a composer, Tesori is the Founding
Artistic Director of New York City Center’s Encores! Off-
Center series, Supervising Vocal Producer of Steven
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Spielberg’s West Side Story, and lecturer in music at Yale
University.
JESSICA STONE (director) worked as an actress on and off-
Broadway, in television, and in film for many (many) years before
transitioning to directing. That pivot started in 2010 with her all
male production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She has since been
directing at theaters all over the country. Favorites
include Dancing at Lughnasa, Absurd Person Singular, Last of the
Red Hot Lovers, Vanity Fair, Ripcord, Arms in the Man, and As
You Like It. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.
She’s delighted to be here at Atlantic Theater Company with this
group of storytellers.
DANNY MEFFORD’s (choreographer) work includes Fun
Home (Tony Award, Best Musical), Dear Evan Hansen (Tony and
Olivier Award, Best Musical), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,
and The Bridges of Madison County. Off-Broadway and
other: Much Ado About Nothing and Love’s Labour’s
Lost (Shakespeare in the Park), Miss You Like Hell and February
House (The Public), Good Person of Szechwan, an international
tour of The Sound of Music, Pump Boys and Dinettes (Encores!
Off-Center), Melancholy Play, and Dance Dance Revolution.
Danny's choreography can be seen on TV in “Dickinson” (Apple+)
and “Rise” (NBC). He is a Drama Desk, Astaire, and Lucille Lortel
Award nominee. Directing: The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul, Becoming
Liv Ullman (NY Fringe), and Wasted (Ars Nova). MFA in Acting:
Brown/Trinity Rep.
CHRIS FENWICK (music director) most recently music directed
the Public Theater’s production of Soft Power (Pulitzer finalist).
He music supervised the Broadway revival of Once On This
Island (Tony Award, Best Revival) and music directed the
Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park With George, starring
Jake Gyllenhaal. He music directed the Public Theater and
Broadway productions of Fun Home (Tony Award, Best Musical;
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Pulitzer finalist); music supervisor of the national tour and London
production. He was the founding music director of City Center
Encores! Off-Center. Chris music directed the original
productions of Michael John LaChiusa’s Giant, Los Otros, Queen
of the Mist, and See What I Wanna See. Music director for Patti
LuPone at Carnegie Hall and more. Film: Steven Spielberg’s West
Side Story.
CHARACTERS/CAST LIST
STEVEN BOYER VICTORIA CLARK JUSTIN COOLEY
Buddy Kimberly Seth
OLIVIA ELEASE HARDY FERNELL HOGAN II MICHAEL ISKANDER
Delia Martin Aaron
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ALLI MAUZEY BONNIE MILLIGAN NINA WHITE
Pattie Debra Teresa
BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT REHEARSAL
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SECTION III: YOUR STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE
Theater Vocabulary
Vocabulary from Kimberly Akimbo
Satire & Black Comedy
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THEATER VOCABULARY
TEACHER OBJECTIVE
To be able to discuss theater through a common, shared vocabulary.
STUDENT GOAL
To understand that the most effective way to discuss theater and new ideas is through a
shared vocabulary.
ACTION: The events that move along the story of the play and which influence the
characters within the play.
CHARACTERS: Individuals the audience learns about from their actions and reactions.
ENSEMBLE: A group of performers working together to create a complete production.
DIALOGUE: The exchange of speech between two characters which reveals the
feelings of the character as well as the story of the play.
MONOLOGUE: A speech by one actor on stage, which is intended to reveal the inner
thoughts of the character the actor plays.
CHARACTER ARC: The change produced in a character by the events and other
characters in the play.
MUSICAL THEATER: A twentieth century creation where writers and musicians
collaborate to create a play which features song, dance and drama.
MOOD: The overall feeling the play evokes.
COSTUME: The clothes, boots, etc., worn by the actors based on their character.
PROP: Objects used by an actor to enhance their character. For example, wine glasses at
a bar for drinks.
SET: The constructed environment of a play within which the action takes place.
SOUND: Noises and music used in the play.
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VOCABULARY FROM KIMBERLY AKIMBO
TEACHER OBJECTIVE
To be able to discuss theater through a common, shared vocabulary.
STUDENT GOAL
To understand that the most effective way to discuss theater and new ideas is through a
shared vocabulary.
ANAGRAM: A word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another, such as
cinema, formed from iceman.
BEGRUDGE: Envy (someone) the possession or enjoyment of (something).
GLAUCOMA: A condition of increased pressure within the eyeball, causing gradual loss of
sight.
PROGERIA: A rare syndrome in children characterized by physical signs and symptoms
suggestive of premature old age.
TOURETTE SYNDROME: A disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted
sounds (tics) that can't be easily controlled. For instance, you might repeatedly blink your
eyes, shrug your shoulders or blurt out unusual sounds or offensive words.
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SATIRE & BLACK COMEDY
From Britannica:
Black humor: In literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express
the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters
or situations are usually exaggerated far beyond the limits of normal satire or irony. Black
humor uses devices often associated with tragedy and is sometimes equated with tragic
farce. For example, Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963) is a terrifying comic treatment of the circumstances
surrounding the dropping of an atom bomb, while Jules Feiffer's comedy Little Murders
(1965) is a delineation of the horrors of modern urban life, focusing particularly on
random assassinations. The novels of such writers as Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon,
John Barth, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth contain elements of black humor.
Kimberly Akimbo is described as a “shrewd satire,” and a black comedy. Satire, as
defined by Oxford dictionary, is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to
expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices…” In the case of this play, the titular
Kimberly is suffering from a rare, fictional disease (similar to progeria, a real world
genetic disorder) that causes her body to age four times faster than average, with a life
expectancy of sixteen. In spite of this bleak outlook, and in the face of a seriously
dysfunctional family unit, Kimberly (and the musical) approach the disease and the
circumstances of the characters’ lives with a sharp wit. The play uses humor to tell what
could otherwise be a tragic story.
There are many theories about why black comedy, sometimes called black humor, or
“gallows humor” works—Why people find it funny, why it used, and to what effect.
Sigmund Freud, the famed neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis suggested
that people use comedy as a coping mechanism for considerable stress. He theorized
that this type of humor is an outlet for people to express aggressive impulses.
In Antonin Obrldik’s “Gallows Humor- A Sociological Phenomenon,” Obrldik claims that
this type of humor serves a social purpose, increasing morale among the oppressed. He
suggests that this type of humor chips away at the forces it is directed against.
In Kimberly Akimbo, there are many oppressive forces at play: Family dysfunction,
alcoholism, chronic illness, and criminality. In the musical, notice how humor opens new
pathways to understanding these characters, how it might increase morale amongst the
characters and the audience, and in what ways it might begin to dismantle the fear
associated with the negative forces at play.
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SECTION IV: YOUR STUDENTS AS ACTORS
Reading a Scene for Understanding
The Atlantic Technique Exercise
Scene Analysis Worksheet
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READING A SCENE FOR UNDERSTANDING
TEACHER OBJECTIVE
To introduce the Practical Aesthetics “tools” for breaking down a scene. To understand
the character and the story of the scene by relating the character’s actions to the
student’s own life.
STUDENT GOAL
To understand that an important part of creating a simple, honest character involves
knowing what that character wants.
MATERIALS
Pens, pencils, copies of the following scene from the play, and copies of the Literal, Want,
Action, As-If worksheet and/or Mini-Lesson.
THE ATLANTIC TECHNIQUE EXERCISE
STEP ONE
Divide the students in pairs. Ask the students to select which character they want to
portray.
STEP TWO
Allow the students time to read the scene silently to themselves.
STEP THREE
Ask the students to read the Introduction to the Practical Aesthetic Introduction sheet and
have the students answer the four questions on the Scene Analysis Worksheet .
NOTE: The four questions and the students’ answers to them from the basis for the
Practical Aesthetics scene analysis; and enables the actor to create a simple, honest
character. They’re simply being honest to their own experiences!
STEP FOUR
After the students have completed the question worksheet, ask each actor to read the
scene in front of the classroom for an audience. Students should incorporate the ideas
from the worksheet as they read the scene.
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SCENE FROM KIMBERLY AKIMBO
BUDDY
Hey, Kimmy! How crazy is this?! April, and it’s like a Christmas card out here! You wanna
make a snow angel?
KIMBERLY
I’d love to, but my ass is frozen to the bench.
BUDDY
(chuckles)
No joke, it’s like ten degrees out here. You didn’t wanna wait inside?
KIMBERLY
They closed at eight.
BUDDY
The rink closed? What time is it?
KIMBERLY
Ten thirty.
BUDDY
Already? No, that can’t be right.
(taps his watch)
KIMBERLY
Where were you?
BUDDY
It’s a good story actually. I was talking to this guy, and he bet me twenty bucks that I
couldn’t fit a whole mango in my mouth. And you’ve seen me do that, so you know he lost.
Except he didn’t have the twenty bucks, so he gave me this instead. (pulls a Game Boy
from his coat) It’s a Game Boy! Cool, right? I think it was his kid’s but…a bet’s a bet.
KIMBERLY
You said you’d pick me up at eight.
BUDDY
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I know, but…I got a Game Boy, Kim.
KIMBERLY
You suck.
BUDDY
Alright, enough, let’s go.
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THE ATLANTIC TECHNIQUE INTRODUCTION
ANALYSIS
Script analysis is the process of breaking down a beat within a scene. We ask four
questions in order to do this.
1. What is the character literally doing?
2. What does the character want?
3. What is the essential ACTION?
4. What is that action like to me? It is AS-IF...
LITERAL: In this step, the actor determines what the character he or she is playing is
literally doing according to the text.
PURPOSE: An actor has to travel far—think of this preparation as the road map.
WANT: In this step, the actor identifies the goal of the character in the scene, specifically
what the character wants from the other character/s in the scene. The given
circumstances of the story inform the WANT.
PURPOSE: To focus the actor on the characters’ interaction.
ACTION: Playing an ACTION is the physical pursuit of a goal. Defining the ACTION of the
scene allows the actor to determine what result or CAP he or she is looking for from the
other actor/s in the scene.
EXAMPLES:
• Put someone in their place | Beg someone for forgiveness | Get a favor
• Get someone to let me off the hook | Force someone to face the facts
• Inspire someone to greatness | Get someone to see the light
PURPOSE: Using an action gives the actor a task and a specific point of view. The Atlantic
Theater Company teaches that the Action creates character.
AS-IF: In this step, the actor personalizes the action by finding a real-life situation in which
they would behave according to the action they have chosen for the scene.
EXAMPLE: Get a favor. It’s AS-IF I forgot to do my science homework and I’m asking my
teacher for an extra day to hand it in.
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PURPOSE: To gain personal insight and urgency to the scene or beat.
TACTICS & TOOLS: Different ways an actor goes about getting his action.
EXAMPLE: Plead, flirt, demand, inspire, challenge, level, threaten.
LIVING IN THE MOMENT: Reacting impulsively to what the other actor in the scene is
doing, from the point of view of the chosen action.
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SCENE ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
Here are your “tools” for understanding your character:
If you’re playing
If you’re playing BUDDY KIMBERLY
WHAT IS MY Buddy is literally talking to Kimberly is literally talking
CHARACTER Kimberly about where he was to Buddy about how she
LITERALLY DOING? before picking her up on this has been waiting for him to
cold day in April. pick her up from the rink.
WHAT DOES MY Buddy wants Kimberly to Kimberly wants Buddy to
CHARACTER WANT? celebrate his brilliant idea to sincerely apologize for not
make a snow angel on this showing up for her on
freakishly cold day in April. time.
WHAT IS THE To get someone to join my To get someone to come
ACTION I’M GOING party. through for me.
TO PLAY?
THE AS-IF… It is as if I'm asking my sister to It's as if I'm asking a friend
agree to come with me to a to make a promise to show
concert that I know she'll have a up for an opening night
great time at. performance that means a
lot me.
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SECTION V | YOUR STUDENTS AS ARTISTS
Post Theater Creative Response Activity
Common Core & DOE Theater Blueprint
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POST THEATER CREATIVE RESPONSE ACTIVITY
Developing a Personal Creative Response
TEACHER OBJECTIVE
To develop critical thinking skills through examining a recurring idea in Kimberly Akimbo
and relating that to an individual creative response.
STUDENT GOAL
To examine a storytelling method from Kimberly Akimbo and to relate their own
experience to the truths and messages of the play, resulting in their own creative
response.
Several of the characters in Kimberly Akimbo are in the process of recording video
messages they intend to share one day with Kimberly’s new baby sister. The
characters grapple with what parts of their legacy and what wisdom they’ve
acquired that they’d like to share. Kimberly shares the wonders of the world she’s
experiencing, while her mother, Pattie, mostly recounts the perceived tragedies of
her life. Pattie is a hypochondriac who believes she will soon die—Kimberly, because
of her illness, very likely will pass away before her new sister is old enough to get to
know her. The two characters intend to leave a very different type of legacy for the
new baby to inherit.
MATERIALS
Pencils, pens, writing paper OR word processing software.
STEP ONE
Discuss the impact that the circumstances beyond the characters’ control plays on the
characters in Kimberly Akimbo and how this impacts the legacy they intend to leave
behind.
STEP TWO
In this activity, imagine you are recording a final video message to someone who you
might never get the chance to know before they receive it. What do you want to share with
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them? Is it a story about your past? A positive experience from the present? Or something
else? What legacy do you want to leave behind?
STEP THREE
Ask the students to share their writings, perhaps allowing discussion of why this particular
moment, experience, or story was chosen.
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COMMON CORE & DOE THEATER BLUEPRINT
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS STRAND BENCHMARKS
Theater conveys the significance individuals THEATER MAKING: ACTING
place on their life choices. For example: Benchmark: Students increase their ability
Theater conveys the meaning behind an as imaginative actors while continuing to
individual’s struggle to have his or her life or participate as collaborative ensemble
life choices validated by family, friends, members. Students demonstrate the ability
community, and the broader world. to reflect on and think critically about their
own work.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Do the direction and staging reinforce the THEATER MAKING: PLAYWRITING/PLAY
theme of “family dysfunction” which is MAKING
prevalent in Kimberly Akimbo? Benchmark: Students refine their ability as
playwrights to express point of view and
Do you accept the concept put forward in personal vision.
this production of Kimberly Akimbo that
dark humor can minimize the negative DEVELOPING THEATER LITERACY
impact of an oppressive circumstance? Benchmark: Students develop skills as
critics by analyzing the critical writings of
others.
MAKING CONNECTIONS THROUGH
THEATER
Benchmark: Students demonstrate a
capacity for deep personal connection to
theater and a realization of the meaning and
messages of theater.
WORKING WITH COMMUNITY AND
CULTURAL RESOURCES
Benchmark: Students invigorate and
broaden their understanding of theater
through collaborative partnerships with
theater professionals.
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SECTION VI | THE ATLANTIC LEGACY
Atlantic Theater Company & Atlantic Acting School
At Atlantic, our aim is singular—to empower simple and honest storytelling that fosters
greater understanding of our shared world. We are a family of artists dedicated to
exploring essential truths onstage, be it a show at Atlantic Theater Company or a class at
Atlantic Acting School. As a producer, presenter, and educator of theater, we are driven by
the belief that theater can challenge and transform our ways of thinking and urge us to
reflect on our role in society. From our Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning productions
to our community-based education programs, we are committed to uncovering and
celebrating the stories of our varied human existence.
Founded as an ensemble of impassioned artists in 1985, Atlantic Theater Company has
grown into a powerhouse Off-Broadway company. We challenge, inspire, and awaken
audiences with truthful storytelling presented across our two venues, the Linda Gross
Theater and the intimate Stage 2 black box. As a producer of compelling new works, we
are committed to championing the stories from new and established artists alike,
amplifying the voices of emerging playwrights through our deeply collaborative programs
and initiatives.
At Atlantic Acting School, we equip our students with the physical, emotional, and tactical
tools of acting to discover their truths, and prepare them for success beyond our doors.
From our full-time and evening conservatories to our NYU Tisch studio, and our after-
school and summer programs for kids and teens, our immersive, learn-by-doing approach
is central to an Atlantic Acting education. We have mentored and trained outstanding
artists for more than 30 years. No matter their age or background, our students learn to
break through their creative comfort zones in service to bringing essential human stories
to life.
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LINDA GROSS THEATER | 336 W 20th St. New York, NY, 10011 | ATLANTIC STAGE 2 | 330 W 16th St. New York,
NY, 10011 | OFFICES/SCHOOL | 76 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10011 | ATLANTICTHEATER.ORG
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