SEPT 22-OCT 22, 2017
WHAT GOES INTO A PERFORMANCE The performance you see at Stages Theatre Company is the result of many people working together. As the audience, you mostly see the performer On stage, but there are many more people working behind the scenes that you never see. Each person, both on stage and off, serves an important role to create the performance you see as an audience member. Role of the Director Responsible for the overall vision of the production Guides actors in interpreting characters and provides them with stage movement Works with designers in planning the sound, lights, costumes, make-up, props, scenery, stage effects Role of the Designers Responsible for creating the look of the lights, scenery, costumes, make-up, sound and stage effects Works with the director in realizing the overall vision of the production Role of the Stage Manager Responsible for organizing the production, including schedules, resources, communications, technical effects and personnel In charge of making sure everything runs smoothly both during rehearsals and performances Role of the Crew Responsible for building the scenery, costumes, props and stage effects that you see on stage Work backstage during the performance operating the scenery, props, costumes, effects, lights and sound Role of the Cast Responsible for performing the characters in the play on stage in front of the audience. Role of the Audience The play doesn t exist without you! That s right, you are a collaborator in any performance you see. All of the work that goes into a production means nothing without the audience there to experience the performance. It is a unique responsibility. It is important for you to learn your role so you can join everyone else who has worked to create the production
THE ROLE OF THE AUDIENCE The audience has an important role in the theatre experience. When the lights go down, a performance, especially for you, begins. This special relationship only happens in live theatre. When you take your seat in the audience, you accept the responsibility of a special agreement. The Audience Agreement 1. Believe what happens is real. It is happening live, before your eyes! 2. Listen carefully and quietly. 3. Let the production unfold and enfold you. 4. Respond honestly and sincerely. The actors are aware of your presence and your responses. 5. Tune in to what is happening on the stage. 6. Remain polite throughout the performance. How to be a Polite Audience Member 1. Avoid anything that distracts the performers. Un-necessary talking, rustling papers, gum-snapping, jangly jewelry, cellophane wrappers,cell phones, and pagers are all examples of un-warranted and un-welcome sounds during the play. 2. Never use flash cameras. They are strictly forbidden. Their blinding lights can be an actual danger to the actors. 3. Finally, when the play is over, show your appreciation with hearty applause. These are the sounds that warm the hearts of the actors. Before the Show Activities 1. Have students make a list: What do we do when we watch television or go to a movie? Compare the results to the theatre audience etiquette list above. How are they similar? How are they different? 2. Take some time to practice being an audience member. Turn down lights to darken the room. Have a student tell or read a story. When the speaker is done, have the audience applaud. Ask the speaker how the quiet listening and the applause made him or her feel? How did it make the audience feel? 3. Before the play, discuss the elements that go into a theatrical production. Scenery, make-up, costumes, lighting, properties, and sound effects each has a unique design and a unique designer. In consultation with the director, each of these designs is coordinatedto produce an overall design concept. By making students aware of these production aspects, you can then ask them to comment on their observations of specific design elements after viewing the play.
THE HOBBIT J.R.R. TOLKIEN - AUTHOR John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) is an internationally renowned fantasy writer. He is best known for authoring The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which are set in a prehistoric era in an invented version of our world, which he called Middle-earth. These novels are peopled by humans, Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. The works have had a devoted international fan base and been adapted into awardwinning blockbuster films. Tolkien is loved by literally millions of readers worldwide. Born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, J.R.R. Tolkien settled in England as a child, going on to study at Exeter College. He enlisted as a lieutenant in the armed services during World War I and fought in the Battle of the Somme. In the midst of his military service, he married Edith Bratt in 1916. Tolkien joined the faculty of the University of Leeds in 1920 and a few years later became a professor at Oxford University. It was while teaching at Oxford that he published his most popular fantasy novels. The award-winning fantasy novel The Hobbit about the small, furry-footed Bilbo Baggins and his adventures was published in 1937. He also created more than 100 drawings to support the narrative. Over the years, while working on scholarly publications, Tolkien developed the work that would come to be regarded as his masterpiece the Lord of the Rings series, partially inspired by ancient European myths, with its own sets of maps, lore and languages. Tolkien released part one of the series, The Fellowship of the Ring, in 1954; The Two Towers and The Return of the King followed in 1955, finishing up the trilogy. The books gave readers a rich literary trove populated by elves, goblins, talking trees and all manner of fantastic creatures, including characters like the wizard Gandalf and the dwarf Gimli. While Rings had its share of critics, many reviewers and waves upon waves of general readers took to Tolkien s world, causing the books to become global best sellers, with fans forming Tolkien clubs and learning his fictional languages. Tolkien retired from professorial duties in 1959, going on to publish an essay and poetry collection, Tree and Leaf, and the fantasy tale Smith of Wootton Major. His wife Edith died in 1971, and Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, at the age of 81. He was survived by four children. More information on Tolkien at www.tolkiensociety.org
(Taken from www.dramaticpublishing.com) EDWARD MAST - PLAYWRIGHT Edward Mast, a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's work since he was 12, grew up in California and lives in Seattle. His plays for adults and young audiences have been performed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Louisville, Honolulu and many other cities here and abroad. Other adaptations besides The Hobbit include Jungalbook, Ramayana, A Wrinkle in Time and The House of Usher. He is also the playwright of the comedy, Trickster Mountain or the Tengu of Kami, co-author of the one-act, Dinosaurus, and the author of the AATE Distinguished Play Award winning drama, Wolf Child: The Correction of Joseph.
SYNOPSIS This one-hour version of Tolkien's classic novel, designed for small theaters or large, is a suspenseful, fast-moving journey through the sometimes dark, sometimes charming, always compelling world of Middle Earth. Bilbo Baggins is a comfortably well-off hobbit with a love for rousing adventure stories. Real adventures, however, are definitely not his cup of tea. So when Gandalf the wizard knocks at Bilbo's door, bringing with him Thorin Oakenshield, 12 ragged looking dwarfs, and a contract for an adventure to recover the lost treasure of Lonely Mountain, Bilbo could not be less interested at first. But Bilbo's love of a good story gets the better of him, and before he knows it, he is off on a perilous quest over mountain and under hill through caves and forest and slimy dark places. (Taken from www.dramaticpublishing.com) A BRIEF HISTORY The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien are grouped among the most popular books in the world, having sold tens of millions of copies. This fact makes the number of adaptations of these wildly popular stories almost too many to count. The Hobbit was first published 80 years ago in September, 1937 and has been adapted numerous times for stage, radio and screen. BBC Radio 4 produced an eight-part broadcast adaptation in 1968 and the broadcast was made available for commercial release in 1988. Radio adaptations have also been done in numerous languages, including Danish, German, Russian and Czech. The first film adaptation was an animated short produced in 1966 and a full-length animated version for television was produced in 1977. Director Peter Jackson, who adapted the Rings trilogy into a highly popular, award-wining film trio, has helmed a three-part Hobbit movie adaptation, with the first installment, An Unexpected Journey released in 2012, the second movie, The Desolation of Smaug released in 2013 and the final movie, The Battle of the Five Armies released in 2014. For the stage, The Hobbit has been adapted any number of times. The Hobbit: The Musical was staged in 1967 and published by Dramatic Publishing in 1972. Another non-musical version was first produced in 1968 and since then about ten different adaptations by various playwrights has been seen in England, Canada, Australia and the United States. STAGE THEATRE COMPANY PRODUCTION The adaptation produced by Stages Theatre Company was written by Edward Mast and first produced in 1996. It is a 60-minute, family friendly version of the popular story. Our theatre is transformed into the world of middle-earth and inhabited with hobbits, dwarfs, goblins, wizards, cave creatures and of course, Smaug, the dragon. Bilboa Baggin s unexpected journey comes to life through the magic of theatre and a musical score composed by Peter Morrow. With the work of creative costumes, puppetry, and light and shadow this classic, unforgettable story inhabits our stage in a meaningfully visceral way.
LINKS TO MORE ABOUT THE STORY OF THE HOBBIT: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hobbit/themes.html http://www.shmoop.com/hobbit/themes.html https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/h/the-hobbit/critical-essays/major-themes http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-hobbit/themes https://prezi.com/ggp-lvxrimh0/the-themes-of-the-hobbit/ LINKS TO MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/the_history_of_the_hobbit https://www.tolkiensociety.org/2015/01/a-brief-history-of-the-hobbit-published/
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR EXPERIENCE BIG IDEAS What makes a hero? Good vs. Evil Adventure Loyalty Home Courage BEFORE THE PLAY READ THE BOOK Stages Theatre Company s production is based on the book, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, which was first published 80 years ago in September 1937. It is considered one of the best-loved children s books, both critically and popularly, ever written. Before attending the play, read the book and discover this delightfully imaginative book filled with magnificent adventure. READING GUIDES http://hmhbooks.com/hmh/files/content/sites/hobbit/files/pdfs/hobbit_readersguid e.pdf http://www.hmhbooks.com/hmh/site/hobbit/home/readersguides/ http://images.randomhouse.com/teachers_guides/9780345534835.pdf https://www.novelstudies.org/downloads/the_hobbit_novel_study_preview.pdf
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OF THE BOOK THE HOBBIT 1. Is Thorin in any sense a heroic leader? Do his actions in the novel make him deserving of his death at the end? By the time the Battle of the Five Armies commences, Thorin has incurred the contempt and disrespect of many of the book s characters, but to his credit, he shows tremendous courage in attempting to reclaim his ancestors treasure. His failings which become apparent once he is inside the Lonely Mountain are common to all dwarves, who possess a great desire for gold and a fierce, even arrogant pride. Thorin s great crime is his ingratitude toward his benefactors, the many lake men who died so that Smaug could be killed. Thorin s stubbornness over the legitimate ownership of the gold is dishonorable and costs lives, but he strives to redeem himself in the end by admitting his mistakes to Bilbo. He lacks the capacity to formulate and execute plans, and he relies on Bilbo to get him through nearly every difficulty he encounters. Is it possible to consider him a hero? 2. Given his development throughout the book, does Bilbo belong in Hobbiton at the end of the novel? community. At the beginning of the novel, the simple life seems antithetical to heroism, but by the end of the novel, after Bilbo has proven his common sense and courage, his resumption of the simple life seems like a small act of heroism in itself. Thorin comments that if more of the contentious warriors of the world lived the way hobbits do, it would be a happier world, and Bilbo s return to Hobbiton seems an acknowledgment of the same idea. Heroism is important in a world beset with evil, but Tolkien suggests that if everyone lived the simple life of hobbits, evil would be obsolete. So, in a sense, Bilbo does belong in Hobbiton, even if he does not in the eyes of the hobbit
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS PRIOR TO SEEING THE SHOW: The production of The Hobbit is adapted from the fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. MIDDLE EARTH: Look at maps of middle earth. Those that can be found in the book and on these links: https://www.slideshare.net/mmcdonald2/the-hobbit-mapping-bilbos-journey http://lotrproject.com/thehobbit/map https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/map-of-the-middle-earth What creatures live in Middle Earth? What are the different characteristics of these creatures? What would it be like if you lived in Middle Earth? What do you expect to see in the play that will create a setting such as Middle Earth? Why do you think JRR Tolkien named this fantasy world Middle Earth? THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN THE PLAY: How are the trolls and spiders portrayed? Can you figure out how that was created? How do you think the Dwarf beards were made? Do you have any ideas about how Smaug will be created?