LAIKA TEACHER RESOURCE PACK FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH PUPILS IN YEARS 2-5

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1 LAIKA TEACHER RESOURCE PACK FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH PUPILS IN YEARS 2-5

2 LAIKA By Bryony Hannah and Avye Leventis FROM 26 SEPTEMBER 10 NOVEMBER 2017 FOR PUPILS IN YEARS 2-5 BRAVE THE UNKNOWN Laika, the space dog: the first living creature to orbit earth. That was in Today it s 2057, and Sami lives with his mum. She s an astronaut and she understands that there could be a better future out in space. But Sami s life is down here. So now they must face the prospect of letting go, saying goodbye and just like Laika head off into the unknown. A moving sci-fi adventure, inventively and beautifully told using puppetry, movement and music. Page 2

3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION p.4 ABOUT THE PLAY p.5 MAKING THE PLAY: INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS p.6 CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES - OVERVIEW p.9 We are currently developing the full sequence of classroom activities with our partner school. They will be added to this pack by July Page 3

4 INTRODUCTION This pack is for teachers bringing pupils to see the Unicorn Theatre s production of Laika, in autumn Laika is a moving and exciting new piece of multi-media theatre. It tells the parallel stories of Laika the dog, the first living creature to leave earth, and a little boy Sami and his astronaut mum, as she prepares to go on a mission to Mars one hundred years later. Both Laika and Sami s mum are intrepid explorers who travel into the unknown for the sake of scientific progress and discovery to benefit those left on earth. The classroom activities (which will be added to the pack in September 2017) are designed to support and extend pupils visit to the theatre and offer teachers ways to pick up on and explore the themes in the play, before and after a visit. They will use drama and storytelling as ways of exploring ideas that are relevant to the play and to support National Curriculum requirements: All pupils should be enabled to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama. Pupils should be able to adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They should have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances. National Curriculum The resources will also provide National Curriculum links at Key Stage Two: to English through the development of spoken word and writing tasks, to Science by connecting to learning around space and to SMCS aspects of learning. There will be a free teacher CPD day for Laika on Fri 15 Sep from 10am 4pm where teachers can find out more about the show and gain practical experience of the classroom activities, before leading them with a class. To find out more about the CPD or to book your place, schools@unicorntheatre.com. Page 4

5 ABOUT THE PLAY It is 2057 and Sami is a space enthusiast. He knows all about what it takes to be an astronaut because Val, his mother, is training to be one and hopes to be on the first manned rocket to Mars. Resources on earth are running out and Mars could provide the solution. However, when Val finally gets the call telling her she has been selected for the mission, Sami isn t quite ready to let her go. Together Sami and mum read the story of Laika the dog, the first living creature in space, as a way of them both preparing for the difficult journey ahead. The show will be highly visual, using puppetry, movement and music to tell the parallel stories of Laika and Val s journey into the unknown. We will see them both go through intense astronaut training. Val is determined and disciplined, giving her all in the full knowledge of where she is going and with a clear purpose to help save the world which is running out of resources. Laika also goes through a gruelling training regime, but with no understanding of why she is being put through it or where she is going. The production will show both Val and Laika as they lift off into space, each of them pioneers of their time, at the forefront of scientific exploration and at the edge of human knowledge. With Sami left on earth, we are asked to consider in what way this exploration, this journey into the unknown, might result in progress for those left on earth. The arts and science combine in this production to explore the limits of what humankind knows and could be capable of. We are made of stardust you know? This is all stardust, just dust. Centuries, millennia of actions and reactions. Elements from the heart of stars, bonded to make the world, and you, and I. Simply stardust. But it s worth fighting for. Val Page 5

6 INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS BRYONY HANNAH AND AVYE LEVENTIS WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE SHOW COME FROM? Bryony: The starting point was the story of Laika, but we wanted to tell it in a fresh, new way. We d seen a programme about the Mars 1 project, this apparent one-way ticket to Mars, which seemed incredible and almost like a suicide mission, so we wanted to delve into that. We thought, what if we set our story in the present, with a young boy and his mother who is going on a voyage to Mars. Then the boy could try and use the story of Laika to convince her to stay, but actually the mum ends up using the story to explain why she has to go. Avye: Rather than setting the story now, we ve placed it slightly in the future, to make it feasible that we ve got to that tipping point when the world s resources are running out, so that the trip to Mars becomes a necessity, rather than an exploration or a luxury. We started out thinking that we were going to be making a piece of sci-fi, but the more research we do, the more we realise we are actually making a piece of science fact because the issues we are exploring are so imminent. It has been estimated that within 20 to 30 years it would be feasible to put humans on Mars, which is incredible. Bryony: One of the main reasons to go to Mars is to become a two-planet species. Then the chances of us being wiped out as a species go down exponentially, because we ll be existing on two different planets. But you could argue that we need to sort out our own planet before we do that. We re very interested in the idea that the story of Laika will be filtered through the imagination of the boy and the mother. We re not that concerned with historical accuracy around Laika and Russia, instead we re more interested in how a very space savvy boy can assimilate all this information and re-imagine it. THE PLAY CONTAINS BIG ISSUES AND EMOTIONALLY DIFFICULT CONTENT SAMI S MOTHER CHOOSES TO LEAVE HER SON BEHIND IN ORDER TO ADVANCE PROGRESS FOR ALL ON EARTH. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THIS? Avye: We both came at this having quite recently become mothers, and working mothers, so it became part of the work almost by osmosis. We were really interested in working with the idea of elastic, that there are things in life pulling you in different directions, but that there is also a breaking point; a point when you are so stretched that you just have to make a decision to go or stay. We thought it was heartbreaking to have that dilemma, to place a mother on that balancing point and watch her have to make that decision, which is for the greater good and for the good of her son in the Page 6

7 long run. But ultimately having to leave that person she loves most in the world. And, as two female directors, it s important to us to have a strong female role model as the central character, who you watch having to make those knotty decisions. Bryony: We found out that in the Apollo missions they wanted outdoorsy type people to go to the moon; mountaineers, really strong go-getter men. But now, for a mission to Mars, it takes 7 to 9 months to get there and you d have to stay there for 180 days to have enough time to research and then wait until all the planets are aligned for the return flight, and then it s another 9 month journey to get back. It s a three-year mission, so suddenly the requirements are for someone who likes to read and watch movies and think about things. It s a very different thing; the psychological pressures of being confined with maybe 5 or 6 other people. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAIKA AND VAL S TRAINING - HOW VAL HAS MADE THE CHOICE TO GO ON THE MISSION, BUT LAIKA HAS NOT? Avye: The animal rights element of the story is not one that we are tackling head on, but it is there by default, you can t avoid it. At one point Sami says, the dog didn t choose and Val says well I did choose. Animal rights is a complex subject and could be a whole play in itself. It s something we wanted to leave as subtext. The amazing thing about Laika was how resilient and optimistic she was. They put her into these confinement modules and sent her up in aeroplanes, and she would always come out with a wagging tail. She was relentlessly phlegmatic and good tempered, that was why she was chosen. She was a street dog. They rounded up lots of strays and separated them into different categories according to their character and then put them through training: they were confined in smaller and smaller boxes and put into vibration modules where they were played loud sounds of rockets. It was basically endurance testing, and then Laika was the one who came out as the best candidate. It s terrible to think about now and there was a big reaction even at the time from animal lovers and animal rights groups. It s something we don t want to shy away from, but we want to put the heart of the story elsewhere because it s about the essence or the spirit of that creature, whether a human or animal. It s about these two beings and what they do in the name of science and progress. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS WITHIN THE PIECE? Avye: We will tell the story through movement, aerial work, puppetry and object manipulation work. Hopefully there will be a live element to the music, and then obviously acting scenes. So there are a fair few dramatic languages, but hopefully there ll be a lightness of touch to incorporate them which will mean that they all talk to each other. Bryony: It s going to be so visual for the children, as well as loads of science for them to get excited by. SOUND AND MUSIC ARE GOING TO BE VERY IMPORTANT, CAN YOU TELL US HOW YOU RE GOING TO INCORPORATE THEM? Bryony: We have a wonderful sound designer (Alma Kelliher) so there are going to be amazing Page 7

8 soundscapes. When we re showing a day in the life of Laika, in the streets of Moscow, there will be lots of sound stimuli as Laika is reacting to things. Avye: Adam Pleeth, who s writing the music, has this incredible ability to absorb what is happening in the rehearsal room and then translate it into music. He sits surrounded by all his instruments, and then he ll say, can you just listen to this? and somehow he s managed to translate what we ve done into sound. It s tailored, just like having a beautifully tailored outfit, something that fits you perfectly and feels just right, that s what he does with music. He s sketched out most of the score already, so he has the big themes and different instrumentation for different things. The modern world (2057) he has described as being retro futuristic, the reference for him is Stranger Things, a bit synthy, but also relatable, it s not too much of a sci-fi feel. The Laika (1957) music is piano music, stripped back and pure and emotional. HAVE YOU INCLUDED AERIAL WORK IN ORDER TO HELP CREATE A SENSE OF ZERO GRAVITY? Bryony: Yes, we re working with a hoop and a two point harness to create what we call the space ballet - when Laika first arrives in space and is just getting used to her surroundings. This moment is an imaginative leap because, in reality, she didn t get to move in space. But what we are doing is a projected imagining, as the boy and his mum come together to share this dream of the magic of that weightless moment. Avye: What I m really interested in is the delicate, non-showy end of aerial work. The essence of that would be the moment that the paws of the dog leave the floor, seeing how much you can zoom in on those magical moments. We have a beautiful image of the mother inside the hoop, slowly rotating as the sun sets beneath on earth. It is the delicacy of those moments, the zero gravity-ness, not the acrobatics. The aerial work will have a particular quality of movement and precision. CAN YOU TALK A BIT MORE ABOUT THE IDEA OF THE WORLD RUNNING OUT OF RESOURCES AND JOURNEYING INTO THE UNKNOWN IN THE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS? Bryony: We talk about empty oceans. Sami and his mum share a tiny cup of water because one of the main things we face globally is a water crisis. Everyone s working to fix that right now, rather than petrol and oil, water is the big one. In the play we hear a voice from the future seeming to warn us that if we all move to Mars and use up that planet s resources, we may be forced to move again. And again, like locusts in space. Shouldn t we sort out our own planet Earth before moving to another planet, and another and another? Avye: Val s song refers to the idea that out there waiting could be the answers. This could be the thing we need to save us. Could be, might be, must be, revolves around in the course of the verses as the urgency ramps up. Page 8

9 CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES The activities in this pack - which will be added by July are designed to capture children s imaginations and increase motivation to learn. They will offer a range of possible ways to link with your classroom priorities. Our teacher resources and CPD support teachers in embedding drama in their curriculum planning. Working through drama allows children to explore things that matter to them within a fictional context, draw on their prior knowledge and apply it to new situations, develop language as they give expression to new understandings and develop emotional intelligence and critical thinking as they see things from different perspectives. It also allows the children to take responsibility, make decisions, solve problems and explore possibilities from within the drama. ACTIVITIES WILL EXPLORE: The stages of preparation for space travel; imagining the physical, psychological and emotional training that would be necessary for travel to Mars. The sequence will also explore the impetus for scientific discovery and its connection to human need and progress. What happens when a parent leaves to go on a necessary journey; how a child can cope with feelings of abandonment and find the resilience and inner resources needed to manage. The story of Laika a stray dog who was trained up to be the first living creature in space. These activities will consider the ethics behind the decision to send an animal into the unknown. The science of the stars. The production will explore the wonder and awe of space and the constellations, through potent visual and aural elements. Activities will draw on these elements to support children in expressing their own responses to the bigness and wonder of space and time. Creating sound and movement sequences will allow children to extend what they can express non-verbally. These activities are currently in development with our partner school. Please schools@unicorntheatre.com if you would like notification as soon as they are online. Page 9

10 LAIKA A Unicorn production By Bryony Hannah and Avye Leventis Resource pack written by Catherine Greenwood

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