Activities and Discussion Starters

The following suggestions are designed to assist students in a further exploration of the play and this particular production.

Dramatic Action

Freeze It!

At the end of the play, the characters are seen in a freeze-frame as the pose for a photo before the lights fade. This ‘photo' depicts the girls as happy, if only for a brief moment. Develop a series of freeze frames (roughly three or four) that show the progression of the evening, leading up to that photo. The interpretation should represent the emotional journey that the characters have gone through to get to this final frame.

Dramatic Play

Hot Seating

There are two prominent characters in this play that are never seen. They are the bride, Tracy and Tommy Valentine – the irresistible yet undesirable bachelor. Hold a Hot Seat with two volunteers playing Tracy and Tommy. Get the class to ask the two question about their lives, and also what they think of the characters (Frances, Georgeanne, Trisha, Meredith and Mindy).

At the conclusion of the Hot Seat, discuss what you have created or learnt of the two characters and how they work in the play. Why is it effective that we never see these two people? Does it affect the audiences opinion of them?

Writing

Creating Profiles

Create profiles for each of the characters and look at possible explanations for why they are who they are. Look at the hints given during the play (ie Georgeanne's previous experiences with men).

Discussion Point

The Set

Discuss the set design used for USQ's production of Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. The set is the first thing that an audience sees when they enter a theatre and it plays a great role in setting the location and mood for the rest of the play. Is this set effective? Why/Why not?