2. Develop the situations checking your knowledge of the context:

1. They both of them thought the play would make her. Fools. It would kill her.

2. She must play the part, and fail; and Tom must see with his own eyes what a bad actress she was.

3. …it suddenly struck her that she had been talking entirely of herself and her own interests.

4. “I’ve lived all my life in an atmosphere of make-believe”.

5. “It may be that he’ll find what he’s looking for, if not in God, then in art.”

6. The love that had consumed her, the jealousy she had stifled…

7. “If anyone deliberately killed a performance you killed Avice’s”.

8. They were acting a play for her and she was the audience.

3. Discuss the following quotations in pairs:

1. …art is something you create. If an actress felt the emotions she represented she’d tear herself to pieces.

2. Real grief is ugly; the business of the actor is to represent it not only with truth but with beauty.

3. Love isn’t worth all the fuss they make about it.

4. …the origin of poetry was emotion recollected in tranquility…it was certainly true about acting.

5. You go to those museums and galleries and think what a damned bore they are and then, when you least expect it, you find that something you’ve seen comes in useful.

6. We take their silly emotions and turn them into art.

4. Look through Chapters 26-29 again and:

1. prove that Julia was not at home with her son;

2. compare Julia’s and Roger’s views on acting, love, life.

5. Describe:

1. the first night;

2. the restaurant.

6. Speak about:

1. Roger and his views on life;

2. Tom;

3. Julia as an actress;

4. Julia as a mother;

5. Julia’s understanding of the role of art/theatre.

7. Act out the conversations between:

1. Julia and Michael (about Avice’s acting, Chapter 26);

2. Julia and Roger;

3. Julia and Charles (about Roger);

4. Julia and Charles (after the first night).

8. Make up the dialogues:

1. between the author of the play and Michael (after the first night);

2. between Julia and Jimmy Langton (about acting).

9. Speak your mind on the first night as if you were Julia/Michael/the author of the play/Dolly/ Tom/Avice Chrichton.

Consolidating the Material

1. Do the quiz to test how well you remember the details of Chapters 26-29:

1. When Julia was introduced to Avice she …

1. greeted her with cordiality.

2. had a delicious sense of her own power.

3. listened to her intonations attentively.

2. How long did Avice Chrichton’s best scene last?

1. twenty minutes b) ten minutes c) fifteen minutes

3. What subject was Julia going to discuss with Roger?

1. Roger’s trip to Vienna

2. his attitude to Tom

3. Roger’s plans for the future

4. Unfortunately, Roger inherited …

1. neither Michael’s beauty nor Julia’s sparkling vitality.

2. Julia’s spotty face and a rather lumpy figure.

3. his father’s red hair and pale lashes.

5. How old was Roger when he decided that he would never believe in Julia?

1. ten b) fourteen c) twelve

6. Speaking with Roger about acting Julia …

1. felt more and more like Hamlet’s mother.

2. saw herself in a brocaded dress and a string of pearls.

3. wondered if she could play in one of Shakespeare’s comedies.

7. Before Roger’s departure Julia managed …

1. to play different parts in his presence.

2. to spend all her free time with him.

3. that they shouldn’t spend any length of time alone together.

8. How did Julia spend the day before the performance?

1. She was silent and wanted to be left alone.

2. She went for a word-rehearsal in the morning.

3. After she had walked about London streets and squares she had tea with Tom.

9. To bring out the colour of Avice’s blue eyes Michael dressed her in pale blue. But …

1. Avice’s blue dress looked drab in comparison with Julia’s sparkling silver dress.

2. Avice’s blue dress looked drab in comparison with Julia’s yellow dress.

3. Avice’s blue dress looked bright in comparison with Julia’s large handkerchief of scarlet chiffon.

10. In order to leave the theatre unnoticed Julia …

1. put on a brown coat, a skirt and a felt hat.

2. ordered another dress, of sparkling silver.

3. had the telephoning done from the stage-door.

11. At the restaurant Julia ordered …

1. a bottle of champagne with a piece of cake.

2. some grilled steak with onions and fried potatoes, oysters and a bottle of beer.

3. a little caviar and a bottle of wine.

12. Julia concluded that …

1. make-believe was the only reality.

2. actors were only shadows.

3. she would give wonderful performances because she could feel the emotions she portrayed.

2. Prepare the passage for artistic reading and translate it into Russian. Then speak about Julia as an actress:

Now Julia simply could not conceal … That was the end of Avice. (Chapter 29)

3. Write an essay on the following topic:

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”.

4. Arrange a round-table discussion on the following issues:

1. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”.

2. “The stage is make-believe”.