SHOW GUIDE: Van Gogh & Me

Adeline and her family have moved from Paris to the small town of Auberge-Sur-Oise in an effort to raise Adeline’s infant sister, Germaine, in a healthier environment. Adeline is not happy here. Her parents, Arthur and Louise, run a small, struggling inn and café and Adeline must help out to make ends meet.

Adeline also is not making any friends in her new town. When Rene and Cecile, two rambunctious children from the town, show up and show an interest in her (and her family’s tasty café rolls), Adeline thinks she might have found an opportunity to make some friends. The children tell her of a mysterious artist whom they have heard is “crazy” and will be staying at her inn. Adeline is not excited about this prospect because such a guest—as Rene warns her—might scare away other customers, like the somewhat arrogant Martinez, an artist already staying at the inn.

When Adeline finally meets Van Gogh while she is preparing his room, she finds him gruff and not very pleasant. But as she gets to know him better—and witnesses how others treat him—she starts to develop a friendship with him.

After getting roped into a couple of unkind pranks Rene and Cecile orchestrate to harass Van Gogh, Adeline feels very badly. She eventually agrees to pose while Van Gogh paints her portrait and he teaches her more about why he creates his art the way he
does. Can Adeline learn to see the beauty in the world around her?

• VINCENT VAN GOGH— a Dutch artist living in France at the time of this story. Today Van Gogh is recognized as one of the worlds most groundbreaking and important artists, but in his
  own times he was sometimes misunderstood.
• ADELINE RAVOUX— a 12 year old girl who meets Van Gogh when he stays at her families inn in
  Auvers-Sur-Oise, France. At first she does not know what to make of Van Gogh or his art, but she comes to understand him better and even poses for him to paint her portrait.
• ARTHUR and LOUISE RAVOUX— Adeline’s parents who run the Auberge Ravoux, a small inn and its café. They are trying
  to make their small business a success after moving from Paris for their infant daughter’s health. Adeline’s attitude and behavior does not always make this easy.
• MARTINEZ DE VALDIVIELSE—A Cuban artist living in France and staying at the Auberge Ravoux. He is very traditional in his artistic views and does not consider Van Gogh’s art to be of any worth because it is so unlike the art he has studied.
• RENE SECRETAN and CECILIE DEMEY— two rambunctious children living in Auvers-Sur-Oise. They pretend to be friends with Adeline but do not treat her kindly or respectfully. They are even more unkind in their treatment of Van Gogh, spreading rumors about the artist and constantly harassing him.

• This story will be best appreciated by older audiences. The subject matter is a little more mature and the characters discuss issues that might be challenging for some younger viewers to comprehend. Small children may become confused and somewhat restless.
  
• During the time period depicted in the play, Vincent Van Gogh was having some rather intense mental health issues which this story explores. You may want to prepare to have some conversation about what mental illness is and why Van Gogh behaves the way that he does.
  
• In one scene, a character points a gun at another person and threatens them. The gun is fired, but the character is safe. Teen and pre-teen audiences will likely be able to understand this scene, but younger children may be confused by the character’s actions or be upset by these events. The intensity of the noise may also be too intense for some young audience members.
  
• The characters of Rene and Cecile are very unkind to Van Gogh and taunt, harass, and play mean tricks on him, all
  because of the rumors they have heard about his illness. You may want to be prepared to discuss why their behavior is cruel and inappropriate.
  
  
• The character of Martinez is very judgmental and constantly puts down Van Gogh and his artwork. Some children may not understand why he doesn’t like Van Gogh’s paintings and want to talk about it.