RESOURCE PACK - Oxford Playhouse...beloved pantomime that we know today. With features such as...
Transcript of RESOURCE PACK - Oxford Playhouse...beloved pantomime that we know today. With features such as...
RESOURCE PACK
A huge thank you to our Work Experience participants who worked
closely with us to produce this Resource Pack.
An Oxford Playhouse Pantomime
Friday 24 November 2017 to Sunday 7 January 2018
oh yes it is! And this year Oxford
Playhouse is very excited to be sharing with you our brand new
production of the classic tale Jack and the Beanstalk, written and
directed by Steve Marmion.
This resource pack is designed to share lots of information with you
about the magic behind our story, as well as lots of ideas for games
and tasks that you can take away and complete at home or at
school.
You can find different ways of getting in touch on the back page of
this pack.
(Illustrations by Korky Paul www.korkypaul.com)
Getting to the roots
The earliest written version of Jack and the Beanstalk that we
know about was published in 1734, in a book called Round About
Our Coal-Fire.
However, the story had been passed down through many
generations before then, often to share many deep-rooted
messages and morals. For example, mean mums used to tell their
naughty children that a giant would come down from a sky-high
not true! Better ...
Since then there have been many different versions of the story,
told in books, on television, and in many different films. In fact, a
brand new film produced by Disney, called Gigantic, will be
released in the next year or so.
DID YOU KNOW that the story
of Jack and the Beanstalk is over
5000 years old?
Dame Trott!
Story outline.
A long time ago, in the far, far away region of Pantoland, the small village
of Oxford lived fearfully in the shadows of a towering Giant, who owned a
factory high above the clouds.
Within the village lived many poor families, indebted to the Giant. One
such family, that of Dame Trott and her two children Jack and Smart
Simone
after he
sent his evil henchmen, Judy Hench and
they had no choice but to sell their beloved
cow, Jagger. And so, Dame Trott sent Jack
Luckily, Jack was able to find a buyer for
their cow, who gave him five beans. When
he returned to tell his mother, she was
furious and angrily threw the beans out of the window.
Overnight the beans grew into a gigantic beanstalk, reaching all the way to
the clouds, and Jack, being a curious lad, decided to climb to the top to see
exactly what lay up there. Much to his surprise, he found his childhood
sweetheart Jill and her good friend Goosey
factory.
Jack helped his friends and Jagger the cow to sneak
away, much to the anger of the Giant, who chased them
down the stalk. With the help of the villagers, they
chopped down the beanstalk before the Giant was able
to get to the bottom, and sent that evil, tall beast to his
death. Jack saved the day, and the people of Oxford
they may now have spent it all at the new Westgate
shopping centre.
-FI-FO-FUM
I SMELL THE BLOOD
DID YOU KNOW that these
famous words were first
uttered in a Shakespeare play?
ACTIVITY #1: s Smart Quiz
1) What is the name of our pantomime cow?
2) Why must Jack and Smart Simone sell their cow?
3) What did Dame Trott do when her children brought back a
bag of beans?
4) Who was Jack surprised to find at the top of the gigantic
beanstalk?
5) What does Jack do to the beanstalk to stop the Giant?
ANSWERS:
1) Jagger
2) Because they cannot afford to keep her
3) Throws them out of the window
4) Jill and Goosey
5) Chops it down
ACTIVITY #2: -Up
For this activity, you need to match each character name to the
Dame Trott
Smart Simone
Judy Hench
Jill
Our pantomime cow.
Jagger
ANSWERS:
1) Dame Trott is Jacks poor widowed
mother
2) Smart Simone is Jacks very clever sister
3) Judy Hench is the Giants evil
henchwoman
4) Jill is Jacks childhood sweetheart
5) Jagger is our pantomime cow
History of Pantomime
In Britain, our performance
traditions have drawn influence
from all over the world, especially
from the ancient civilisations of
Greece and Rome. Performances
back then would be an important
part of society, and actors were
respected as very important
people. Each performance would spread an important message
Fast forward to the Middle Ages, and in medieval Britain troupes of
performers would travel the country to act in the Mummers Play,
which told the brave story of Saint George slaying the evil dragon.
These performances were normally performed during Christmas
gatherings and would show the importance of good defeating evil.
Further influence from the Italian theatrical form of Commedia
ick comedy,
slowly started to shape our theatre still further, and by the late
Victorian era, music halls and playhouses began staging the
beloved pantomime that we know today.
With features such as cross-dressing, buffoonery and audience
participation, the traditional Christmas Panto has found an annual
home in most British theatres ever since. Popular catchphrases,
-known to
the masses. Oh yes they have!
DID YOU KNOW that we can
trace the origins of Panto back
to Ancient Greece?
Pantomime comes from the
Ancient Greek word, παντόμιμος
Stock Characters in Panto
Below are the roles which we can usually find in traditional
pantomimes. We use each of these roles to illustrate the strong
moral messages and the theme of good triumphing evil.
The Dame Usually played by a man. She is funny and makes the
audience join in by telling jokes. She has a motherly
relationship towards one of the characters and often
chooses one member of the .
So watch out, it could be you!
Principal Boy Sometimes played by a female actor. They are often
doubted at the beginning of the pantomime, but they
triumph over evil or misfortune to gain the title of the
hero and generally win the love of the principal girl.
Principal Girl Often a princess or a peasant. She is always good, despite
the threat of evil or injustice.
The Baddie Always has an evil plan to disrupt and ruin one of the
lives. This is sometimes done
through their evil magical powers, which they use to
control people, but they are always defeated in the end.
Pantomime Often the sidekick of the principal boy or principal
Animal girl. The animal is normally created with two actors
playing the front and rear.
The Chorus or Many male and female performers who play lots of
Ensemble different smaller roles, and perform the complicated
dance routines.
Can you identify all of the stock characters in our
production of Jack and the Beanstalk?
p
-the-
Henchmen
There are lots of people who work
very hard to make sure our Christmas
Pantomime is a huge success. Below are
some descriptions of the kind of work they get up to.
THE PLAYWRIGHT
This is the person who writes the
script. Without a script, the
to say.
THE DIRECTOR
This is the person who tells the
actors where they need to stand,
and how they should say their
lines.
THE CHOREOGRAPHER
This is the person who plans and
teaches the dances moves to
everybody in the cast.
THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR
This is the person who arranges
and teaches the songs to
everybody in the cast.
THE STAGE MANAGER
This is the person who makes
sure that all of the props and
scenery are in their correct
places.
ACTIVITY #3: Wand-Waving Wordsearch
Can you find all of the words in our wordsearch?
B Q X T S J I L L D J E J G O O S E Y B U F A I R Y N U F F D B G N K H V Y R V Y S G X S D U O L C H I E T A T J L E F E M R I P W A Z H J N O V T B S C L E L C N D A N B K S K T H E N C H M E N J U
BEANSTALK FAIRY NUFF JAGGER
HENCHMEN JUDY HENCH SIMONE
JILL CLOUDS GOOSEY
JACK
ACTIVITY #3: Wand-Waving Wordsearch
ANSWERS
B Q X T S J I L L D J E J G O O S E Y B U F A I R Y N U F F D B G N K H V Y R V Y S G X S D U O L C H I E T A T J L E F E M R I P W A Z H J N O V T B S C L E L C N D A N B K S K T H E N C H M E N J U
ACTIVITY #4: -to-Dot
Goosey has gone missing! Can you help Dame Trott find her and her
golden eggs? Join the dots by following the pattern of numbers.
1
2 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 20
21 22 23
24
25
26 27
28
29
30
31
32 33
34 35
36
37
38
39 40
41
42 43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52 53
54
55
56 57 58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
ACTIVITY #4: -to-Dot
ANSWERS
1
2 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 20
21 22 23
24
25
26 27
28
29
30
31
32 33
34 35
36
37
38
39 40
41
42 43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52 53
54
55
56 57 58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
ACTIVITY #5:
k
Can you answer all of the clues in our crossword puzzle?
DOWN ACROSS 1. 7. write the
script
2. 8. The name of the large green plant
that stretches up to the clouds
3. Geese have long been associated
with this
9.
4. This number of actors play our
Pantomime cow, Jagger
10.
5. The story of Jack and the Beanstalk
is _____ thousand years old
6. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum was originally said in
a play written by this playwright
1
2
3
4 5 6
7
8
9
10
ACTIVITY #5:
ANSWERS
T F S
P L A Y W R I G H T
F O V A
E E K
E T E
F R W B E A N S T A L K
S I M O N E P
F T A E
O T L A
F T R
U H E N C H M E N
M
DOWN ACROSS 1. 7.
script
2. 8. The name of the large green plant
that stretches up to the clouds
3. Geese have long been associated
with this
9.
4. This number of actors play our
Pantomime cow, Jagger
10.
5. The story of Jack and the Beanstalk
is _____ thousand years old
6. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum was originally said in
a play written by this playwright
ACTIVITY #6: Gigantic Greenery
k
Use the box below to design your very own giant beanstalk.
Which colours could you use to make it look realistic?
ON
Please get in touch via:
email: [email protected]
tel: 01865 305300
post: Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2LW
facebook.com/OxfordPlayhouseTheatre twitter.com/OxfordPlayhouse