NAC English Theatre

The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum

Discussion Questions

Pre-Production

Spend time preparing for the trip to the NAC. Ask students to consider the questions below.

  1. What would you do if you lived in a town where the only source of jobs was a dangerous one?
     
  2. What should workers do to make sure they are treated justly by their employers?
     
  3. What is more important: survival or principles?
     
  4. Wendy Lill describes The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum as a “memory play”. How do you think that will influence the production?
     
  5. What functions do museums serve?

Post-Production

Spend time reflecting on the trip to the NAC. Ask students to consider the questions below.

  1. Think about the production you saw at the NAC. Did the costumes, set, lighting and sound bring the play to life as you expected? If so, how? If not, why not?
     
  2. What do you think Ian MacNeil, Neil Currie, and Grandpa would think of Margaret’s museum? How would they want to be remembered?
     
  3. Explain the significance of the whale.
     
  4. At the end of the play, Margaret voluntarily goes to a psychiatric hospital. Is she mentally ill? Is what she does crazy? Is what she does justified?
     
  5. Watch the film Margaret's Museum and discuss the differences and similarities between the play and the movie. Read the essay Glace Bay to Hollywood: A Political Journey by George Belliveau in Theatre Research in Canada. Do you agree with Belliveau’s assessment that the film privileges the love story while the play privileges the workers’ story? Why or why not?