Schools

rihannaboi95 Study Guide

rihannaboi95
Written by Jordan Tannahill
Directed by Tawiah M’Carthy
Featuring Davinder Malhi

Introduction

As you scroll through this guide, you will find the usual sections included in all our study guides: curriculum connections, discussion questions, units of study and more. We hope you will find this resource useful. This study guide was written by Ryan Singh, YPT’s Community Volunteer Coordinator.

Should you have any questions or feedback, or have inquiries about the use of this guide (which is copyright protected), please direct them to Karen Gilodo, Associate Artistic Director, Education at kgilodo@youngpeoplestheatre.org

Thematic Overview

rihannaboi95 is a unique theatrical experience. The immediacy of Sunny’s Instagram video, and the fact that their face is in close-up for much of the performance, serves to heighten the play’s themes and deepen audience connection. Thematically, this play is about self-discovery; particularly the discovery and acceptance of one’s sexuality.

Curriculum Connections

rhiannaboi95 connects to the following areas of the Ontario Secondary curriculum:

  • The Arts (Drama, Media Arts)
  • Gender Studies
  • Health and Physical Education (healthy relationships, sexual health, mental and emotional well-being)
  • Social Studies/ World Studies and Humanities
  • Computer Studies (ethical issues, computer and society)

Character Education Connections

TDSB Character Education Elements in connection with rihannaboi95 are: Respect, Empathy, Kindness and Caring and Perseverance.

Themes

Self-discovery
Empathy
Building Community

Pre-Show Study Questions

  • What is a faithless or unreliable narrator?
  • How does an audience engage with a story that is only told from one person’s perspective?
  • How do we know when someone else is feeling lonely?
  • What does it mean to be a “good friend”?
  • When does one person’s problem become another person’s responsibility?

Pre-Show Unit of Study

Pre-Show Exercise: Emotion Modeling

Objectives

This exercise is designed to elicit empathy and connection. Students show emotions using their bodies and call out what they see, and then further build by reacting to scenarios.

Requirements

Space to form a circle.

Directions (Warm up)

First, ask students to make a circle and go around the circle asking each student to name an emotion. Students may pass if they wish.

Next, in rapid succession, instruct students to state an emotion and then display physical actions that illustrate one of the emotions mentioned in the first round. Help students by modeling this yourself. (Example: Call out “Angry” and then show an angry face.)

Repeat the exercise but ask students to use a different emotion and this time to not name it in advance. Once a student has demonstrated the emotion, ask the class to name it.

Debrief questions:

  • Was it easy to name the emotion of someone else? Why? Why not?
  • Do some emotions look like others?
  • How did it feel when an emotion was named correctly?
  • How did it feel when the emotion demonstrated could not be easily named?

Directions – Main Exercise

Discuss potential scenarios that elicit various emotions. Have students work in pairs and either use the list that was created and/or pull from the suggestions below:

  • You reached out to hug someone who turned away.
  • You won a prize that you weren’t expecting.
  • A pet you’ve had since you were six died.
  • You saw yourself on TV.
  • You saw yourself on TV doing something embarrassing.
  • Your friend just pointed out that you have something stuck in your teeth and it’s been there since breakfast.
  • A friend played a prank on you that went awry and ended in a minor injury (like a sprained wrist)
  • You found ants all over a treat you had left for later.
  • A person in your class got a book/game/pair of shoes that you have really wanted for a long time.

Extension

Try this exercise as a tableau with the whole group.

Set up one side of the room as the “stage” and the other as the “audience”. Begin by having the whole class sitting in the audience.

Next, call out one of the emotions that was used in the exercise above and ask one student to volunteer to enter the stage and freeze in that emotion. For example: “Jealousy”.

Then, give the emotion some context and name the scenario. For example: “A person in your class got a pair of shoes that you really wanted.”

Ask students to join in the tableau one by one to fill out the picture.

Repeat with a few different emotions and scenarios.

Debrief questions:

  • What is empathy and why is it important?
  • What creates empathy between people?
  • How do we demonstrate empathy with words and actions?
  • How did it change when the whole class worked on a tableau depicting the emotion/scenario?
  • How do group dynamics influence empathy?

Post-Show Discussion Questions

  • Is Sunny an “unreliable” narrator? What does that term mean? If they are, why? If not, why not?
  • Describe Sunny’s community. In what ways are their community helpful & supportive, and in what ways are they harmful?
  • Both Sunny and King seek and find some of their validation in external sources. How can one temper their response to this kind of attention? In groups, weigh the pros and cons of external validation. Is there an amount that’s healthy?
  • Sunny says “I’d never met a gay person before.” What could that mean for someone like them?
  • How does Mr. Bailey’s honesty about his own sexuality affect Sunny?

Post-Show Exercise: Move Yourself!

Objective

In this exercise, students will engage with the nature of community, think about what fosters shared safe(r) spaces, and how to work through feeling isolated (or as though you’re the “only one” who experiences something.)

Requirements

Space to place chairs around the room or in a circle.

Directions (Warm up)

This activity can be done in groups of 7 – 10. Place one fewer chair than the number of players in a circle or around the room.

Choose one person to be “It”. Tell the other players to find a chair. They call “Move yourself if…” and suggest something like “you like Netflix!” All players who agree with the statement move to another chair; whomever is left standing becomes “It” *

Encourage the person who is “It” to be unique and specific in their directions. (Example: Move yourself if you can name every Best Picture Oscar winner by year). Share something with your students that is not personal but that is specific to your knowledge or experience. Ask students to notice what it feels like to be the only one doing something or caring about something. (See debrief)

* Rules: Players should not run, but can move quickly.  This is a non-contact sport, so no pushing and shoving. Once someone gets up from their chair they must move to a different chair to sit on. Players cannot get up and sit back down in the same chair.

Debrief questions:

  • How does the game relate to creating community?
  • What elements make up a strong community? Does agreement/uniformity always equal strength?
  • Discuss the example where you were the only person to like/do something. How can someone feel part of a community when this happens?
  • Discuss the characters in rhiannaboi95. In what ways are they isolated? How do they relate to their communities?
  • Describe the differences between an online community and communities in real life. Is one better than another?  Why? Why not?

Directions (Main Exercise)

Creating a Community Agreement – Community Agreements can take the form of a pledge, a series of statements the group agrees are true and/or a statement of values that the class is determined to uphold.

  • Decide which Community Agreement format (a pledge, series of statements the group agrees upon or a statement of values) is right for the class.
  • As a group or in pairs, brainstorm the ways in which the class can be an inclusive and productive space for everyone. Ask students to think about how the class should feel when they enter, how students can address one another respectfully and other behaviours that model kindness and compassion.
  • Ask students to think about how to visually represent their community agreement. They can create a poster, a bulletin board, write a poem or find any other way to make the agreement present in the class.
  • Display the agreement in a prominent place in the classroom to remind everyone of the agreement that was made and the behaviours everyone is expected to uphold.

Debrief and Extension

  • Does your class already have a community agreement? If so, what might you decide to change about it after having watched the show?
  • What could a community agreement look like for Sunny’s school?

Stand Alone Exercise

Have students take the quiz below to learn about when and how some laws were introduced in Canada on the road to equity and equality for LGBTQ+. Answers to the quiz are also included below.

There is still a long way go. Have students conduct research on what other laws are currently being fought for by the LGBTQ+ community and allies.

Resources:

• LGBT Youthline
Youth Line offers confidential and non-judgemental peer support through telephone, text and chat services. Get in touch with a peer support volunteer from Sunday to Friday, 4:00PM to 9:30 PM.
www.youthline.ca
Toll Free: 1-888-687-9688

• Trans Lifeline
Trans Lifeline provides trans peer support for their community that’s been divested from police since day one. They’re run by and for trans people.
www.translifeline.org
1-877 330-6366

Youth Groups:

• Supporting Our Youth (SOY)
SOY offers LGBTQ2S health info, support, and community for people ages 13-29.
soy@sherbourne.on.ca
416-324-5077
Groups/drop-ins for youth ages 13-29 for community building, and connections: https://soytoronto.com/groups-drop-ins/

• Central Toronto Youth Services (CTYS)
Community-based, accredited Children’s Mental Health Centre that serves many of Toronto’s most vulnerable youth.
416-924-2100
mail@ctys.org
CTYS has multiple programs for LGBTQ2S folks including one for families! https://ctys.org/program/pride-prejudice/

• Lumenus Studio
The Studio is an inclusive, youth-driven drop-in centre that openly celebrates 2SLGBTQ+ youth and youth of colour.
https://lumenus.ca/programs-and-services/the-studio/
416-482-0081
Email contact form on website

• Planned Parenthood Toronto
PPT is a pro-choice community health centre that advances and advocates for the sexual health, health, and well-being of youth.
416-961-0113
ppt@ppt.on.ca
Youth Programs – http://ppt.on.ca/programs/

• Rex Pride
Community group for support and connection inside Rexdale.
https://www.facebook.com/rexdalepride/

• Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP):
Sex positive, queer-and trans-inclusive health promotion & community development for all SAMEIC (South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indo-Caribbean) people.
416-599-2727
info@asaap.ca
For Indo-Caribbean Youth: peeredu@asaap.ca

• The 519
Downtown Toronto’s LGBTQ community centre, offering a variety of specialized programs and services, including programs for family, children and youth
https://www.the519.org/
416-392-6874

• Pflag
Pflag Canada is a national charitable organization, founded by parents who wished to help themselves and their family members understand and accept their LGBTQ2S children.
https://pflagcanada.ca/

Queer + Muslim Faith spaces:

• Salaam
Salaam Canada is dedicated to creating space for people who identify as both Muslim and queer/trans. Salaam is a volunteer-run organization that advocates for social justice and addresses the intersecting issues around homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia/racism.
https://www.salaamcanada.info/

• Unity Mosque
ETJC Unity Mosques are safe spaces for everyone to worship, commune, and just be.
https://www.facebook.com/UnityMosque/

Arts Based:

• Shameless Magazine
https://shamelessmag.com/

• Queer Youth Arts Program + Youth elders Podcast Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
https://buddiesinbadtimes.com/community/youth-elders-projects/

For teachers:

• Rivers of Hope
Rivers of Hope is an arts-based educational organization that is dedicated to building communities and classrooms where everyone belongs.  www.riversofhope.ca