Student Comments Putting on a Play Issue 23 Home Page

Curtain's up! The Performance Begins. Putting on a play: A class project carried out by ESL students in Susan Hoffius' ESL class at the ESL Intensive English Program at Rice University. Scene 1 Retired Professor Wendell is questioning Mrs. Pierson's lawyer, Mr. Torrance. Scene 2: Niles Pierson, Mr. Barkley, and John Small Scene 5: Old Mr. Barkley and Mrs. Barkley discuss the murder. "I poured it for Mrs. Pierson myself!" Scene 6: In an emotional scene, Miss Esmerelda O'Conner breaks down and cries. Scene 7: In the library, the police inspector arrests John Small. Scene 8: Mr. and Mrs. Niles Pierson talk about the murder. The end of the play! The student players and teacher, Susan Hoffius (center), celebrate a successful performance.   Where's the Gardner? Cast of Characters Narrator: Rosalia Castro Mr. Barkley: Luis Trastenberg Mrs. Barkley: Patricia Oliveira Batista John Small:Naoko Yamaoka Esmeralda O'Conner:Rosalia Castro Professor Wendell:Carsten Martschin Professor 's Assistant:Jae-Won Hwang Dr. Milwood:Claudia T. Costa Niles Pierson:Min-Kee Park Mrs. Niles Pierson:Nyun-Haeng Kim Mr. Torrance, Lawyer:Claudia Londono Police Inspector:Victoria Ochsner Director and Consultant Teacher, Susan Hoffius Narrator's Opening Comments Narrator: On the evening of Monday, February 12th, in the dining room of her country mansion, old Mrs. Pierson suddenly fell over dead from an apparent heart attack. Present on the sad occasion were: Old Mr. Barkley and Mrs. Barkley, butler and housekeeper to Mrs. Pierson for nearly 50 years. John Small, house guest, a pale and serious young man who ran many charities and had become Mrs. Pierson's "favorite" since meeting her a year ago. Miss Esmeralda O'Conner, houseguest, an old college friend, once wealthy but now very poor, who had shown up several months ago and stayed. The occasion turned from sad to potentially ugly when Dr. Millwood examined the dead woman and said he feared she'd been poisoned. He immediately contacted the police and Professor Wendell, a retired history professor whose hobby was solving crimes. Beginning of Scene One Later that evening, 10 p.m., in Mrs. Pierson's library: Professor Wendell is questioning Mrs. Pierson's lawyer and doctor.They are all standing in one corner of the room, and Profesor Wendell is walking around as he talks. Prof. Wendell: Dr. Millwood...are you Mrs. Pierson's only doctor? Dr. Millwood: I have been the only doctor in town for decades, and Mrs. Pierson was my patient for most of the time... What the students have to say... Find out what the experience of writing and producing a play in a second language meant to them. Share their feelings of elation at being able to accomplish such a challenging task...in English! Read their comments. More about the play: ESL Class Writes and Puts on a Play Return to: Issue 23 | Home Page   TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2007 - topics.mag@gmail.com - Sandy and Thomas Peters