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Included in the Nightfall Readers’ Theatre Unit:
47 page script
7 characters + the narrator
12 Questions with Answers
16 Multiple Choice Questions with Answers
27 Metacognitive Questions
25 Book Report questions with Rubric
Drawing Conclusions about Characters activity
Student Success Criteria
Student Friendly Goals
Teacher’s Reader’s Theatre Checklist

Nightfall Synopsis:
Welcome to the world of Lagash, where the citizens have never experienced darkness due to having six suns in their solar system. One day, the astronomers and scientists discover that a rare eclipse will occur, because a hidden moon is predicted to place Lagash into total darkness for the first time in over 2000 years. The scientists believe that the eclipse will lead to societal collapse and madness among the citizenry. Some members of the team say that the world will adapt by using torches, while others say the world will end in a mad panic of hysteria. How will the people of Lagash react to the total eclipse? Find out in the Nightfall readers’ theatre unit!

Mr. Marvel’s Musings:
In his autobiography I, Asimov, Isaac Asimov writes that John W. Campbell, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, brought Asimov into his office and read him this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God.” According to Asimov, Campbell went on to say, “I think Emerson is wrong. I think that if the stars would appear one night in a thousand years, people would go crazy. I want you to write a story about that and call it ‘Nightfall’.” Asimov dutifully wrote the story for Campbell, who paid him top rates plus a bonus because he was so pleased with the result. In writing this story, then, Asimov was consciously attempting to make the point that Campbell suggested: if people in constant sunlight only saw darkness every few thousand years, they would go mad. Thank you my friend in education and literary studies, Phil Arrington, for providing me with this insight into the genesis of Nightfall, touted as one of the most popular science-fiction stories ever written.

I hope you, and your students enjoy reading Nightfall and continue to do so for many years.
Excelsior!
Mr. Marvel: The King of Reader’s Theatre