Readers Theatre and Discussion Leader Worksheet

(This assignment is due the Monday before class of your assigned script. Every member of the

team must fill this worksheet out individually)

Assigned Script: Carousel

Group Members: Jo, Primo

Scene selected: If I Loved You

Page numbers: 27-32

Names of characters required: 2

In one paragraph, please explain why you selected this particular scene to study:

We selected this scene because of the fascinating blossom imagery and the developing

relationship dynamic that will be discovered throughout the narrative. Julie calls him “Billy” for

the first time. They began the scene as strangers, but by admitting how new they are to one

another – by opening up to their vulnerabilities and idiosyncrasies – they find out they’re not

strangers, after all. Billy and Julie have danced around each other and their defenses long

enough; the blossom and the wind are no longer at odds with each other. The scene equally

foreshadows the fact that this relationship will not work out in either party’s favor. It’s not ‘I love

you’ but rather ‘If I loved you,’ it’s some kind of strange passive tense, like the subjunctive, what

life would be like if they truly loved each other.

Create a list of 10 discussion questions about this particular scene and the play as a whole. These

questions must highlight the theme, given circumstances, and staging of the play. Write your

questions below:

1. When Billy sings to Julie for the first time, he uses a melody (and some of the lyrics)

sung to her in the previous scene by Carrie Pipperidge, her friend. Why do you think

Rodgers and Hammerstein chose to use that same melody?

It’s a smart use of a melody to reaffirm what we already know about Julie as a character. She is

seen as odd by everyone in the show, including her best friend.

2. Why does Billy Bigelow hold the word “marriage” at arms distance?

Billy sees love as a kind of practical transaction, like a contract.

3. Why is Julie able to put up with being treated so poorly in the name of “love?”

Julie has the emotional imagination to embrace love as a comfortable state of ineffability.

4. Why is it widely considered, by both the characters of the show and consumers of the

work, that Julie and Billie’s relationship was doomed before it began?

Although Julie and Billy love each other deeply, there were always subtle barriers to their ability

to communicate with each other; and more overtly expressed when Julie says to Billy in the

second act: “I always knew everythin you were thinkin.” (When he was hitting her) “But you

didn't always know what I was thinkin.”

5. What do the blossoms represent?

Julie’s emotional vulnerability and her actual virginity.

6. What does the wind represent?

The wind is an elemental force of nature, blustery and potentially destructive: which could define

Billy as well.
 7. Is Billy irredeemable?

For the purposes of the story, I’d argue no. He has deeply felt elemental feelings and he’s

connected to his physical environment (the coast of Maine with its waves and tides). Billy is

sensitive without being uncharacteristically poetic. The audience even begins to root for Billy as

the show reaches its end.

8. Louise is a child who is brought up by a single parent in a closed-minded community

and walks a difficult path. Does that path determine her destiny? If not, what does?

I think that her circumstances will definitely limit her opportunities in the future, but this does

not mean she cannot pave the way for herself in the world.

9. What themes in the show do you think are best explored or expressed through song (as

opposed to dialogue)? Why?

I believe love, redemption, and the passage of time are best explored through song. They cause

so much emotion to boil to the surface for these characters- propelling them into song. When

speaking simply isn’t enough, we sing.

10. Why is the bench scene in Carousel so important?

The “bench scene” with Julie opens an important window into Billy’s soul and it is an essential

moment for the audience: by the next time they see him, the audience will need to know that

Billy is capable of better things.