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 DID YOU KNOW that the story of Jack and the Beanstalk is over 5000 years old? Dame Trott! 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.
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. -FI-FO-FUM I SMELL THE BLOOD DID YOU KNOW that these famous words were first uttered in a Shakespeare play? 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.
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 Our pantomime cow. Judy Hench Jill Jagger ANSWERS: 1) Dame Trott is Jack s poor widowed mother 2) Smart Simone is Jacks very clever sister 3) Judy Hench is the Giant s evil henchwoman 4) Jill is Jack s childhood sweetheart 5) Jagger is our pantomime cow
History of Pantomime DID YOU KNOW that we can In Britain, our performance trace the origins of Panto back to Ancient Greece? Pantomime comes from the Ancient Greek word, παντόμιμος 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!
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 Principal Boy Principal Girl The Baddie Pantomime Animal The Chorus or Ensemble 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! 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. Often a princess or a peasant. She is always good, despite the threat of evil or injustice. 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. Often the sidekick of the principal boy or principal girl. The animal is normally created with two actors playing the front and rear. Many male and female performers who play lots of 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. 2 3 1 4 5 10 6 51 7 9 11 8 50 12 49 13 47 48 30 29 14 59 60 61 45 46 33 44 32 34 43 31 35 42 41 27 36 37 26 25 24 28 15 56 16 17 55 18 19 20 54 57 58 68 70 69 65 62 63 64 40 38 39 23 22 21 53 52 66 67
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? 7 4 5 6 1 2 3 8 9 10 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 9. with this 4. This number of actors play our 10. Pantomime cow, Jagger 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 #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 9. with this 4. This number of actors play our 10. Pantomime cow, Jagger 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: admin@oxfordplayhouse.com tel: 01865 305300 post: Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2LW facebook.com/oxfordplayhousetheatre twitter.com/oxfordplayhouse