Mr. Know-All - Game Script Dealing with prejudice and stereotypes


Background

It's dinnertime on the liner. You are enjoying the meal and chatting with the other passengers at the table. The conversation by chance drifts to the subject of pearls. There was recently a newspaper article about cultured pearls. It described pearl culturing experiments that had been conducted worldwide in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. While the European experiments had failed to develop into the pearl industry, in Japan, Kokichi Mikimoto had succeeded in culturing blister pearls in 1893 under the guidance of Kakichi Mitsukuri, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University. The author of the article mentioned the high quality of the original Japanese akoya pearls and suggested that there would be no distinction between real and cultured pearls in the near future, as the technology develops.

Each diner engages in his turn into the controversy of the topic by expressing his opinion.

Characters

William S. Maugham Playwright

You are a British playwright, novelist, and short story writer.

You were born in the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Paris, France. When you were ten, your parents died, so you were sent to Britain to be raised by an emotionally cold paternal uncle. You were trained and qualified as a physician, but had always wanted to be a writer. After the raving success of your first novel, you gave up medicine to write full-time. 

During the First World War you served in France as a member of the British Red Cross. After the war you travelled a lot in search for inspiration for your novels.


Your Task

You are a very reserved, frigid, closed-minded, snobbish, and prejudiced Englishman. You are critical of each of the other passengers on board the ship, except for Mrs Ramsay. You strongly dislike your cabin mate Mr Kelada and are often sarcastic when talking to him. You use every opportunity to diminish him in the eyes of the other passengers. 

You are to cut Mr Kelada down to size by doubting every his idea and trying to prove that he is a shallow self-centered person.


Resources


Max Kelada Businessman, pearl trader

You were born in Egypt, which was part of the British colony at that time, into a family of a local merchant and an English teacher from London, who was performing her contract in Cairo. 

At the age of nine, you were taken to London, where you were educated and employed at a small pearl business. After working there for ten consecutive years and getting a serious experience in the field, you established your own company specializing in trading cultured pearls worldwide.

At your age you are already a successful and well-off businessman settled in New York and are going to do business with Japanese suppliers.


Your Task

You are a successful, widely-traveled businessman. You do understand the normal conventions of polite “British” behavior, as you were raised in the UK. However, you behave in an informal way in order to be liked and accepted socially by other passengers on the liner. 

You are chatty, hearty, pushy, self-confident, and argumentative. You are a very good mixer, who easily makes friends and likes to be involved in every activity. You like being the center of attraction. 

You do feel and understand sarcasm and negative attitudes toward you, but pretend not to pay attention or take offense. You disliked the nickname "Mr Know-All", but chose not to react to it, since you're a piece-maker by nature. 

You are to convince the other passengers at the table that you do have expertise in pearl business, so your remarks are instructional, and your arguments are always to the point.


Resources


Mr Elmer Ramsay American Consular in Kobe, Japan

You were born in a rural area in the Middle West and raised in a farm. Your ambition to make your way in life was a driving force which helped you receive a good education and get employment in the diplomatic service. 

You are married to a pretty woman from a good family of bankers. You have a house, two children, a dog, and a servant who helps your wife about the house.

You've just been on a short vacation in New York and are going back to Kobe to resume your post. This time you are taking your wife with you after a year of living apart. 


Your Task

You are a very dogmatic and straightfarward person. You hate when people show off in public. Although you're a trained diplomat, you have a quick temper, so you bitterly resent any of Mr Kelada's remarks. You are annoyed by his cocksureness, so when it comes to the subject of pearls, you can not resist the opportunity to have a fling at Mr Kelada.

You are to verbally attack Mr Kelada by claiming the opposite and arguing heatedly about each statement. Your final goal is to prove that Max Kelada is a liar and buffoon and that no one should take him seriously.


Resources


Mrs Ramsay Housewife

You were born into a family of bankers in Richmond, Virginia. You attended the University of Virginia and had an ambition to become a lawyer. But your father arranged a marriage for you, so you never graduated. 

Your husband Elmer is eight years older than you and is very dogmatic. He never takes into account your personal opinion when making decisions. You doubt that he ever loved you.


Your Task

You are to do everything to avoid the subject of the conversation for your own sake. The thing is that you have lied to your husband about the origin of your pearl necklace. The fact is that you got it from an admirer - a distinguished-looking and promising young man working for your father, - who you had fallen in love with when visiting your parents in Richmond. Since Mr Ramsay took up his post in Kobe a year ago and moved there alone, you felt miserable, abandoned, and worthless. When the caring and loving young banker appeared in your life, you became truly happy.

You are to convince the passengers at the table, and your husband in the first place, that your pearls are fake and cost nothing. You need to hide the truth by all means. 


Resources


Dr Gary Fisher Experimental psychologist

You were born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in a family greatly interested in science. You did your first degree in physics at Cornell University, but was drawn to the world of psychology by a course in animal psychology under the professorship of Edward B. Titchener, a famous British psychologist at the time. On one test you received back, the professor had even written "You have the psychological point of view!" Since then, psychology has always been your major interest.

You always take notes in order to assemble psychological profiles of people you happen to be around while travelling. You use those notes in your research work. This time you are on vacation travelling to Japan on board the liner.


Your Task

You are to start the discussion about cultured pearls by introducing the topic. You tell your companions about the article you have read lately and cite the facts you learnt about pearls. You express an opinion that sooner or later, cultured pearls will inevitably diminish the value of real ones.

When the passengers engage in the conversation, you hold aloof and take notes, building psychological profiles of each of the four diners at your table. Then, at the the end of the dinner, you make your professional findings based on the passengers' behaviours and reveal their hidden motifs.


Resources


Scene 1: Conversation at dinner



1.

Public Message

Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to immerse in the atmosphere of the story and find out what it feels like to be prejudiced and change your opinion, to be depreciated and stand out, to be caught in a lie and avoid punishment, and what it actually means to be a real British gentleman.

Go!



2.

Private (Shortly After previous message)

William S. Maugham:

You are a very reserved, frigid, closed-minded, snobbish, and prejudiced Englishman. You are critical of each of the other passengers on board the ship, except for Mrs Ramsay. You strongly dislike your cabin mate Mr Kelada and are often sarcastic when talking to him. You use every opportunity to diminish him in the eyes of the other passengers. 

During the conversation, you are to cut Mr Kelada down to size by doubting every idea of his and by trying to prove that he is a shallow self-centered person.

Max Kelada:

You are a successful, widely-traveled businessman. You do understand the normal conventions of polite “British” behavior, as you were raised in the UK. However, you behave in an informal way in order to be liked and accepted socially by other passengers on the liner. 

You are chatty, hearty, pushy, self-confident, and argumentative. You are a very good mixer, who easily makes friends and likes to be involved in every activity. You like being the center of attraction. 

You do feel and understand sarcasm and negative attitudes toward you, but pretend not to pay attention or take offense. You disliked the nickname "Mr Know-All", but chose not to react to it, since you're a piece-maker by nature. 

When you hear the Doctor's remark about cultured pearls mentioned in the article, you proudly announce your occupation: an expert in pearl business.  You are to convince the other passengers at the table that you do have expertise in pearl business, so your remarks must be instructional, and your arguments must be to the point.

Mr Elmer Ramsay:

You are a very dogmatic and straightforward person. You hate when people show off in public. Although you're a trained diplomat, you have a quick temper, so you bitterly resent any of Mr Kelada's remarks. You are annoyed by his cocksureness, so when it comes to the subject of pearls, you can not resist the opportunity to have a fling at Mr Kelada.

During the conversation, you are to verbally attack Mr Kelada by claiming the opposite and arguing heatedly about each statement. Your final goal is to prove that Max Kelada is a liar and buffoon and that no one should take him seriously.

Mrs Ramsay:

You are to do everything to avoid the subject of the conversation for your own sake. The thing is that you have lied to your husband about the origin of your pearl necklace. You didn't buy it: you got it as a present from your admirer and lover. It is in fact real and very expensive.

You are to convince the passengers at the table, and your husband in the first place, that your pearls are fake and cost nothing. You need to hide the truth by all means. 

Dr Gary Fisher:

You are to start the discussion about cultured pearls by introducing the topic. You tell your companions about the article you have read lately and cite the facts you learnt about pearls. You express an opinion that sooner or later, cultured pearls will inevitably diminish the value of real ones.

Use the following source: A history of the cultured pearl industry 



3.

Public Message (Shortly After previous message)

It's dinnertime on the liner. You are enjoying the meal and chatting with the other passengers at the table. The conversation by chance drifts to the subject of pearls. There was recently a newspaper article about cultured pearls. 

Each diner is to engage in turn into the controversy of the topic by expressing an opinion. 



End Message

Now that you've all participated in rather a heated conversation, let's reflect and describe how you felt and how each of the other characters might have felt. 

Why were you feeling like that?

Why were the other characters feeling like that?



Discussion Points

Why do you think Mr Ramsay was blind and did not see what was obvious to all the passengers at the table?

Why do you think the doctor, who was a psychologist, didn't interfere when Mr Ramsay and Mr Kelada were making a bet? Do you think he was not smart enough to understand what was going on?

Do you think the writer appreciated of Mr Kelada's respectful act toward Mrs Ramsay, when he protected her reputation at the expense of his own? Did the writer care about it at all, in your opinion?

Could Mrs Ramsay have behaved differently?

Can Mr Kelada be considered a British man in the light of what happened at dinner? What stereotypes can be dismantled?