KEY INFORMATION: THIS SHOW IS SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE CLASSIC BRITISH

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2 KEY INFORMATION: THIS SHOW IS SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE CLASSIC BRITISH MYTHOLOGY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AT YEAR 3, YEAR 4, YEAR 5, AND YEAR 6, TO LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH AN ENDURING IMPRESSION OF THE MAGIC OF THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND, BRINGING THE ALIVE A SERIES OF INDIVIDUAL STORIES THAT FORM A MAJOR PART OF THE LEGEND, EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS, INCIDENTS AND PLOT. THE PLAY CONTAINS SOME BOLD AND COLOURFUL CHARACTERS, AND SOME THRILLING STORIES FROM THE LEGEND OF ARTHUR, PRESENTED AS A VISUALLY- STUNNING, IMMERSIVE CELEBRATION OF THEATRE FOR SCHOOLS: TRANSPORTING THE YOUNG AUDIENCE TO ANGLO-SAXON BRITAIN, USING MUSIC, MIME, SONG, DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATRE, DRAMA, AND GREAT STORYTELLING SKILLS. THE PLAY, AND THE PERFORMING OF THE STORIES FROM BRITISH MYTHOLOGY, HAS BEEN CAREFULLY CONSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE SCHOOLS WITH A RICH RESOURCE FOR KEYSTAGE 2 CLASSWORK, CONCENTRATING ON CREATIVE USE OF LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY TO STIMULATE THE IMAGINATION. WE USE AN ENSEMBLE OF SKILLED ACTORS, AND WE ARE WELL KNOWN FOR OUR ENERGETIC, VIGOROUS, PHYSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCES WHERE CLOSE ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE LANGUAGE, BRINGING THE PERFORMANCE ALIVE AS A DYNAMIC, WELL-SPOKEN DISPLAY OF THEATRE. ALL OUR PERFORMERS ARE PROFESSIONAL, QUALIFIED ACTORS, AND ARE RECENTLY DBS CHECKED TO ENHANCED LEVEL. EACH PERFORMANCE LASTS 60 MINUTES. PLUS, AFTERWARDS WE HAVE A 30-MINUTE INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION WITH THE AUDIENCE GUIDED BY THE ACTORS, WHERE WE CAN DISCUSS THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS FROM THE PRESENTATION, AND EXAMINE THEIR CONTRASTING PERSONALITIES, THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND MOTIVES, AND HELP TO EXPLAIN/EXPAND/ EXPLORE THE TALES FARTHER. THE CHILDREN WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED THROUGH A CAREFULLY STRUCTURED RANGE OF DRAMA AND LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES, IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PLOT, CHARACTERS, THEMES, LANGUAGE AND STYLE OF ARTHURIAN LEGEND. EACH PERFORMANCE COMES COMPLETE WITH A FREE TEACHERS PACK CONTAINING A WEALTH OF INFORMATION, BACKGROUND NOTES, PERFORMANCE NOTES, AND A SERIES OF SUGGESTED FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES FOR BOTH TEACHERS AND PUPILS, TO HELP MAXIMISE THE IMPACT OF OUR VISIT, AND HELP DEVELOP THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF MYTHOLOGY DATES ARE AVAILABLE TO BOOK FROM MONDAY 3 rd JUNE 2019 THROUGH TO FRIDAY 12 th JULY 2019, WITH PERFORMANCES IN THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.

3 MORE ABOUT THE SHOW: For the Summer of 2019 we are touring with our latest presentation of stories from Mythology, this time looking at the enduring British folklore stories that make up THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR, as we transport the audience to Anglo-Saxon England through the magic of the Mythology of King Arthur and Camelot. These myths and legends have been handed down through the centuries and developed by medieval histories and romances, and tells the tale of Arthur leading the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention that have been expanded through the years into a serious mythology. In the 21st century the legend lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics and other media. Our presentation of THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR is an energetic, colourful, visuallystunning play that cleverly weaves together FIVE fantastic tales for children to enjoy... THE SWORD IN THE STONE. in this first tale we see a bemused young Arthur remove the sword to fulfil his destiny to become the King of England, and start his education by Merlin in order to prepare him for the use of power and royal life, and to create the age of justice for all. EXCALIBUR AND THE LADY OF THE LAKE The Lady of the Lake is an important and mysterious character in the Arthurian Legend, and in this story she is encountered by Arthur, and entrusts to him the sword Excalibur, which is attributed to having magical powers for the rightful king of England. THE ROUND TABLE. Arthur establishes a new age of chivalry and gallantry to bring a lasting peace and enable justice for all. Those chosen are invited to sit at the great round table in Camelot, implying that there is no head of the table, and that all men are equal. THE SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL. Galahad, is the greatest Knight of them all: gallant and pure, and he leads the quest with Lancelot to find the Holy Grail, but only one of them will be allowed to drink from the Holy Grail when it is found... MORDRED AND THE DEATH OF ARTHUR. Sir Mordred (aided by Morgana le Fay) tries to usurp the throne and wage war on Arthur. But is Mordred s ambition and Morgana s wiles enough to defeat Arthur..? All these dramatic stories are brought to life... with a cavalcade of memorable characters, mixed with music, mime, song and dance, physical theatre and great drama to add to a vibrant production... A feast for young imaginations to explore. This dramatic overview of the legend will create a strong, lasting impact with pupils; and brings vividly to life the plot of these stories and their fantastic characters, accurately capturing the tense drama of the legend that explores the effects of ambition and duplicity. This is our very own Game of Thrones! Our version of Arthurian legend has a strong and lasting impact on anyone watching this great play, and will bring the text vividly to life. After the performance, the audience will have the opportunity to hotseat any of the fascinating characters in our performance, and ask any questions they may have to expand their awareness of the motives of the characters, and to have a greater understanding of these classic stories of intrigue and magic at the heart of early political life.

4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Who are these shows suitable for? All of these presentations are devised specifically for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Primary School Pupils as a compelling introduction to Mythology. What space and equipment do you need the school to provide? We will use the School Hall and make full use of available space. All performances are presented front-on: if there is a stage then we will use that, otherwise we will perform on the floor. We DO NOT need the school to provide any equipment, and we will bring everything with us, including costume changes and small props to be used in the performance. There is no set or lighting equipment to erect. Set up time is 25 minutes, and we would need the space to ourselves for this preparation time. What can we expect from the presentation? Each of these presentations lasts 90 MINUTES. We start with a performance of the play, which lasts for approx. 60 MINUTES and is a concise, abridged version of FIVE important tales from Arthurian Legend, devised specially for Keystage 2 pupils, and performed by our ensemble of talented, professional actors. The play concentrats on key stories, characters and confrontations, that make up the mythology, and gives a grand overview of the legend. Our detailed dramatic overview of these compelling stories is constructed to create a strong, lasting impact with pupils: and brings the plot, the characters, and the themes vividly to life. We are well known for our energetic, vigorous, physical theatre performances where close attention is paid to the language, bringing the performance alive as a dynamic, well-spoken display of theatre, and each performance will have a strong impact on the audience, and will vividly bring the text to life. Following the performance there is a face-to-face interactive discussion which lasts 30 MINUTES. This is guided by actors in the company, and driven by a Q&A session where our young audience is encouraged to talk directly to any of the fascinating characters in the performance by hotseating them, and asking any questions they may have. Each question and answer develops an area of discussion and activity which unravels the plot, characters and themes of the story. This session is always extremely popular with teachers and pupils, and adds an extra dimension to the understanding of the play. Do you provide any resource material to accompany the presentation? TWO WEEKS before our visit we will you with full details of of our visit (including a confirmation of timings, plus the names of the actors, and their DBS details), and we will also include access to a TEACHERS INFORMATION PACK for you to print. This pack helps to maximise the impact of our visit: containing important background information to the play; a full in-depth detail about the stories that you can expect to see in our performance; character profiles; an analysis of the story; some follow-up quizzes for you to use with the audience; and some suggested reading, writing, drama and art activities for both teachers and pupils to use after our visit has ended. This pack adds real value to our visit on the day. How does this presentation help our audiences? A live performance of a text has a great impact on learning, and stays in the pupils minds long after we have left the school. Our presentation vividly lifts the words, the scenes, the plot and the characters off the page and BRINGS THESE STORIES OF ANCIENT BRITAIN VIVIDLY TO LIFE, giving voice to the words, making it easier to understand the plot, characters, themes, language and style of the stories, and the Q&A session after the performance allows the audience to unlock the stories even more by quizzing the characters, and getting constructive answers to enable them to better understand the play.

5 HOW DO I MAKE A BOOKING? IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A BOOKING, OR GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR then either: TELEPHONE US on and speak to BRIAN or FAX US on or US at: brian@manactco.org.uk And we will talk you through the detail of the presentation, answer any questions you may have, and arrange all the details with you.

6 NOTES ABOUT MANCHESTER ACTORS COMPANY We have over 38 YEARS experience of bringing professional theatre to the north west and neighbouring counties... Providing an exciting, relevant, non-condescending and unpretentious theatre service in a full range of mostly non-theatre venues. We are well known for our energetic, vigorous, physical theatre performances where close attention is paid to the language, bringing the plays alive as a dynamic, well-spoken display of physical theatre, performed by some of the UK. s hottest young stage talent. Almost 100,000 school children watch our productions annually... FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES we have presented a series of theatre projects aimed at keystage 3 and keystage 4 students, which in recent years have included: ROMEO AND JULIET; THE TEMPEST; MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING; MACBETH; OF MICE AND MEN; AN INSPECTOR CALLS; A CHRISTMAS CAROL; THE STRANGE CASE of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS we have presented a series of both well-established favourites and new writing projects - aimed directly as a springboard for keystage 1 and keystage 2 classwork - all of which are always very well received by schools and their young audiences. In recent years, the established favourites have included: ALICE IN WONDERLAND; THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN; PINOCCHIO; ROBIN HOOD; ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS; THE FIREBIRD; THE SELFISH GIANT; BIG BAD WOLF, THE SWORD IN THE STONE, ALADDIN, PUSS IN BOOTS, MOTHER GOOSE, DICK WHITTINGTON, BABES IN THE WOOD,... Whilst brand-new original projects have included: THE PIRATE QUEEN; THE ENCHANTED TOYSHOP; DAREDEVIL DEXTER; POETRY IN MOTION; FANTASTIC FABLES; HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN; WATCH OUT MR. PUNCH; DANNY OCEAN, UNDERWATER EXPLORER; MERLINS MAGIC STORYBOOK; TALES OF MOUNT OLYMPUS; BLOOMING POETRY; TALES FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS ; THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR... Since 2012 we have been successfully touring Primary Schools with specially adapted versions of Shakespeare s ROMEO AND JULIET and MACBETH created especiallyfor Keystage 2. All of our primary school projects are hugely successful and each a total sell-out. NOW WE PRESENT OUR LATEST MYTHOLOGY PROJECT FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS. DURING THE SUMMER OF 2019 WE ARE TOURING WITH THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR, SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AT YEARs 3, 4, 5, 6, TO LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH AN ENDURING IMPRESSION OF THE MAGIC THAT MYTHOLOGY PROVIDES, BRINGING THESE FAMOUS TALES ALIVE THROUGH ACTIVE DRAMA, EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT, AND SHOWING HOW TO ENJOY THESE TALES, AND THE MESSAGE OF CHIVALRY TO ARTHUR CRAVED.