ABOUT THE PLAY

Every Little Nookie
By Sunny Drake
Directed by ted witzel

House Program for Every Little Nookie

Grade Recommendation 11+

Content Advisory

The play is a sex farce. It includes nudity, frank discussions of sex and scenes of intimacy. It also contains coarse language, swearing and socialism.

Synopsis

When a suburban boomer couple return home to find their queer millennial daughter, Annabel, hosting a swingers' party to make cash, they're forced to question the state of their marriage. Annabel, in turn, must ponder her own future when she adds a new relationship to her chosen family of polyamorous and platonic roommates. In this high-spirited sex romp, it's not just the earth that moves, as shifting paradigms encourage new possibilities, both personal and political.

This production takes place in Toronto, in the very near future.

Curriculum Connections

• Global Competencies:
  • Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Learning to Learn/ Self-Awareness
• Grades 11-12
  • The Arts
  • Canadian and World Studies
  • English
  • Health and Physical Education
  • Interdisciplinary Studies 
  • Social Sciences and Humanities

Themes

• Building Community and Collective Power
• Challenging the Status Quo 
• Farce, Romantic Comedies and Sitcoms
• Generational Dis/Connections
• Individual and Systemic Responsibility in Making Change
• Intersectionality
• Multiple Ways of Living, Loving and Building Community
• Polyamory, Mutual Care and Chosen Family
• Radical Queerness
• Sex, Love and Intimacy

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS

• How are our identities influenced by our families, communities and social norms and values?
• Intersectionality refers to when multiple social categorizations such as race, class or gender create overlapping impacts on an individual or group. Why is it important to acknowledge these categorizations as interconnected instead of individually? 
• Have you ever heard the phrase, "The personal is political?" What does this mean to you?
• What causes generational conflict? Is conflict between young and old people inevitable? Why or why not?
• What do people have wrong in terms of what they assume about younger people? Older people? How can we better bridge generational divides?
• Why do you think sex is still a taboo subject, particularly between parents and their children?
• What is the best way to organize society? Explain your position.
• Does social change happen slowly or quickly? Explain your thinking.

POST-SHOW QUESTIONS

• In what ways does the play conform to tropes found in farce, romantic comedies and sitcoms? How does it upend them?
• Who has the most power in Every Little Nookie? Why do you think this is the case? Does this change at all over the course of the play?
• In what ways does Annabel underestimate her parents? In what ways do they fail to understand her? What brings them closer together?
• Who do you think changes the most over the course of the play? Why?
• What do you think happens right after the play ends? What do you imagine things look like for the characters in a year? In 10 years?
• Can comedy change the world? Why or why not?

MINDS ON

Objective: This exercise invites students to explore some of the themes in the play and their personal responses to them.

Materials: Access to the statements below

Directions

• Let students know that you will read a series of statements to which they will be invited to express their agreement/disagreement on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "completely disagree" and 10 being "completely agree"
• Students can express themselves through a variety of means based on your student group/teaching context, but some examples include having them move to a particular place in the room along a spectrum of agreement, voice their opinion, show numbers with their hands or type/write down the numbers on a piece of paper. Remind students that they also always have the option of passing/not responding.
• After students have a chance to respond to the statements, invite them to reflect on the debriefing questions independently, in conversation with a partner or in small groups, or in a written reflection.
• You may also invite students to take part in this exercise not as themselves, but in role as characters in Every Little Nookie at both/either the beginning of the play and/or the end.

Every Little Nookie Statements

• Young people are more open-minded than older people.
• It's important that issues of sex, sexuality and gender are taught in school.
• Queer politics have and will continue to change the world.
• Chosen families should be valued as much as given families.
• Parents always know what's best for their children.
• Capitalism is the best way to organize society.
• Adults don't remember what it was like to be young.
• Wisdom is something that only comes with age.
• Sex is private, so it should not be discussed publicly.
• Community wants and needs matter more than individual wants and needs.

Debriefing Questions

• Did any of your responses surprise you?
• Did any of your peers' responses surprise you?
• Have your opinions on any of these statements changed over time? Do you think your opinions might change in the future? Why or why not?

CONNECTION TO THE ARCHIVES

The documentary A Festival Queerstory examines the Stratford Festival's 1965 workshop of the then-unknown play Fortune and Men's Eyes, by John Herbert. 

In what ways have queer artists and stories been well represented at the Stratford Festival? What changes would you like to see in terms of queer representation in the future at both the Stratford Festival and in theatre more broadly?

The Stratford Festival's Archives maintains, conserves and protects records about the Festival and makes those materials available to people around the world. Their collection contains material ranging from 1952 right up to the present and includes administrative documents, production records, photographs, design artwork, scores, audio-visual recordings, promotional materials, costumes, props, set decorations and much more. These materials are collected and preserved with the aim of documenting the history of the Festival, preserving the page-to-stage process, and capturing the creative processes involved in numerous other activities that contribute to the Festival each season.

RESOURCES

Trailer - Every Little Nookie

House Program - Every Little Nookie

Study Guide PDF - Every Little Nookie

Polyamory: Beyond the Confines of Monogamous Love

Socialism 101 

Booking Information: Tickets, Workshops, Chats and Tours

Workshops, Chats and Tours

Pre or Post-Show Workshops, Chats and Tours (virtual, onsite or at your school/centre) can be booked by calling the Box Office at 1.800.567.1600.

TOOLS FOR TEACHERS SPONSORED BY

Tools for teachers include Prologues, Study Guides and Stratford Shorts.       

 PROUD SEASON PARTNERS 

SUPPORT FOR THE CREATION OF EVERY LITTLE NOOKIE IS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY THE FOERSTER BERNSTEIN NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.