Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
PLAYNOTES From Portland Stage
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Guided Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the connections we see between the instruments the characters play and their personalities. How do these roles influence the outcome of the play?
2. Describe the power relationships in the play between Irvin/Sturdyvant and the band, between Ma and Irvin/Sturdyvant, and between Ma and the band (including Sylvester and Dussie May). Why are these power struggle so important to Wilson’s larger themes?
3. How do you feel about Toledo’s criticisms of the black community and the band’s discussion of his comment, ”Ain’t nobody thinking about what kind of world they gonna leave their youngens. ‘Just give me a good time, that’s all I want.’ It just makes me sick” (28)? Is Toledo too serious, too strident in these beliefs and his others, or is his voice an important one in the play, for us today?
4. Explain the symbolism of shoes (or lack of shoes) throughout the play.
5. There are several allusions in the play--Adam and Eve (p. 23) and Eliza Cotter (p. 28-31). How do these allusions influence what you see as Wilson’s larger themes?
6. Throughout the play, there is a tension between the blues and the newer jazz sounds that Levee and Sturdyvant and Irvin are interested in. Why is this conflict so important to the identities of the characters as well as Wilson’s larger message? (Be sure to take a look at p. 45-46 and 60-63.)
7. On pages 40-41 Toledo discusses the metaphor of African Americans being “a leftover from history.” Discuss his metaphor more fully. How does this metaphor impact the way a people might view themselves (identity), their past, and their futures? How do we see these ideas play themselves out in the tensions of the play?
8. What foreshadowings do we have throughout the play of Levee’s downfall. Ultimately, what does Wilson want us to consider about Levee’s fall? As readers, in what ways are you sympathetic/empathetic with Levee and in what ways do you feel he has brought his troubles on himself?
9. Are Levee’s final actions justified in the rising action of the play? What does Wilson want us to consider in terms of themes?
10. Take a look at the connections in the play between the songs and the events of the play and actions of the characters. What is the relationship in the play between the two?
11. How are the blues used as both metaphor and “way of life”/”way of expression” in this play? Consider what Ma says about the blues, why the music is so important to Levee and Ma, what their individual views about their playing of the music is, etc. How is music reflective of life and thinking?
12. What is Wilson saying through Levee’s demise at the end? What has brought this about? Is he a victim of circumstance or does he bring about his own downfall? Is he tragic in that some flaw leads to downfall or is he the hapless pawn of society?
13. Compare the ways Levee, Cutler, Toledo, and Ma go about living their lives and what they think about themselves in relation to the world. Why do they think as they do? What evidence from the play can you use to support your answer?
14. Is there any reason there is so much stage direction about Ma’s purse?
15. Is Ma Rainey a feminist character? Why or why not?
16. Power plays a big role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Who really has the power at each point in the play, and how do they get it? What ‘power plays’ are made throughout the story, and are they successful?
17. Ma believes that “only black people understand the blues.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?