based on Hans Christian Andersens

The Ugly Duckling

Some eggs can t be beaten!

educational pack
accompanying little theatre companys 2013 production

CONTENTS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The Theatre Company Be A Costume Designer Be An Actor Be A Playwright Be A Theatre Critic

INTRODUCTION
This pack is designed to complement your class trip to see HONK! at The Palace Theatre. It offers drama, art, reading, writing, speaking, listening and group discussion activities to be done in class. Each page can be used as a separate, easily photocopied worksheet. Q & A sessions are also available to complement your visit, for more details or if you have any comments on either the show or the education pack please feel free to contact me: Bradley Green Little Theatre Company 15 Vaulx Road Canvey Island Essex SS8 9AP publicity@littletheatrecompany.co.uk

1. THE THEATRE COMPANY

Its not just the actors that make a theatre show. There are lots of people who work together to put on a show and work often begins months before the play starts in a theatre. Here are some of the jobs that are important. Look at the explanations of what they do and what they have to be good at.
Director In charge of the show from an artistic point of view. Runs rehearsals and tells the actors where to move and what to do on the stage. Chooses the actors, designer and musical director to help him/her achieve the best possible show. Must be good at seeing the whole picture as well as having a tremendous eye for detail. Creative, good at encouraging the actors and making everyone work together a real team leader. Writes the script. Must be good with words and very creative. Self discipline to work alone. Responsible for playing the characters in the play and telling the story. Must be good at singing, dancing, speaking clearly. Mustnt be afraid of being in front of hundreds of people. Good at remembering everything they have to do and making the show feel really alive. Responsible for how the show looks. Decides how the set and costumes will look. Must have good imagination and be good at drawing. Extremely good eye for detail. Very creative. Responsible for the music in the show. Runs singing rehearsals and makes sure that the music fits the show often composes music too. Good at leading and encouraging actors. Must be very good at music too! Decides where lanterns (stage lights) will hang and point so that the show is well lit. Decides what colours the lights will be and makes sure that we can see the actors and that the right atmosphere is created. Good technical knowledge and artistic flair. In charge of everything on the stage. Works with the designer to make sure all the props look as near to the drawings as possible. Makes sure that everything that needs to be on the stage is there. Also runs the rest of the stage management team. Must be good at communicating, and organising. Resourceful. Attends rehearsals and makes a note of where the actors move and where light and sound cues need to go. Also makes a note of anything that the director decides is needed and tells the stage manager so that they can make sure it is there. When the show is running they wear a headset to give cues to the lighting and sound operators. Good technical skills. Good concentration. Very organised. Works with the designer to get hold of and make clothes and costumes for the show. Responsible for maintaining the clothes throughout a long run and washing and ironing costumes between shows. Doing last minute repairs. Good sewing skills. Good communication skills. Prepared to do anything at the last minute. Very organised. Responsible for building the set in consultation with the designer. Good at making things and using tools. Make sure that the actors can be seen and heard, using lanterns and microphones. They press the buttons on complicated control boards during the show to change the lighting states or play pieces of recorded sound - they are told when to do this by the D.S.M. Excellent technical knowledge and concentration. In charge of auditorium. Make sure emergency exits, safety lights and evacuation procedures work. Welcome the audience and deal with their problems and queries. Sell programmes. Tell actors and stage management when the show is ready to start. Must be organised and get on well with people.

Writer Actors

Designer Musical Director (M.D.) Lighting Designer Stage Manager

Deputy Stage Manager (D.S.M.) Wardrobe Team

Set Construction Lighting and Sound Technicians Front of House Team

Decide which jobs you would be best and worst at. Get into pairs with someone that knows you and see if they agree. Make a theatre company with your class and decide who would do what and why. Make sure everyone is involved.

2. BE A COSTUME DESIGNER
The costume designer will work very closely with the director. After they have read the script they will meet to talk about each of the characters and what they are like. Then the designer draws pictures of what each character might look like and the clothes they might wear.

This is a design of Queenie the house cats costume. Discuss the picture in groups and feed back to the rest of the class. What has the designer done to show that the character is a Cat? What can you tell about Queenies character from looking at the picture? What words can you use to describe Queenie? Make sure you give reasons for your answers.

In this musical the actors all have to play animals. Can you draw a costume design for some of the other animals?

Turkey

Bullfrog

Cat

What other animals did you see in the show?

3. BE AN ACTOR
Actors have to be good at remembering remembering their lines and remembering their moves. They also have to be able to change the way they talk and move to play different roles with lots of people watching too! Most of the actors in HONK! Have to play at least two different parts! They have to make it very clear to the audience which part they are playing at any given time. Actors must also be good at speaking and singing clearly so that the audience can always hear what they are saying otherwise they wont be able to follow the story! In HONK! The actors all play animals. Often actors will watch the animal very carefully so they are able to make decisions about how their characters behave and move and the sorts of voices they might have. First: Choose one of the animals you saw in HONK! Find as many pictures of that animal as you can. If possible maybe you can go and watch the animal at a farm or zoo; if not perhaps you can find a television programme or footage from the internet. Then ask yourself: How does the animal walk? On two legs? Four legs? Can it fly or swim? Where does it live? What does it eat? How does it eat? Does it move fast or slow? Is it big or small? Once you have studied your animal can you copy it? Try moving round you classroom as if you were that animal? Now listen to the sound your animal makes can you copy that too? What if your animal could speak? What would it sound like? Would they have a high voice, a low voice or a particular accent? What happens when different animals meet each other? Improvise short scenes where this happens.

4. BE A PLAYWRIGHT
HONK! is based on the story of The Ugly Duckling which was originally written by Hans Christian Andersen. When stories are written down, we are told them by the writer; when we see a play, stories are told by actors on the stage speaking or singing in dialogue form.

Dialogue form is where you only write what is actually spoken by the people or characters in the story. Playwrights give the actors dialogue that tells us the story and lets us know all that we need to know so that we can follow the action.

Here is an extract from The Ugly Duckling. See if you can turn it into a playscript in dialogue form. At length one shell cracked, and then another, and from each egg came a living creature that lifted its head and cried, Peep, peep. Quack, quack, said the mother, and then they all quacked as well as they could, and looked about them on every side at the large green leaves. Their mother allowed them to look as much as they liked, because green is good for the eyes. How large the world is, said the young ducks, when they found how much more room they now had than while they were inside the egg-shell. Do you imagine this is the whole world? asked the mother; Wait till you have seen the garden; it stretches far beyond that to the parsons field, but I have never ventured to such a distance. Are you all out? she continued, rising; No, I declare, the largest egg lies there still. I wonder how long this is to last, I am quite tired of it; and she seated herself again on the nest. Well, how are you getting on? asked an old duck, who paid her a visit. One egg is not hatched yet, said the duck, it will not break. But just look at all the others, are they not the prettiest little ducklings you ever saw? They are the image of their father, who is so unkind, he never comes to see. Let me see the egg that will not break, said the duck; I have no doubt it is a turkeys egg. I was persuaded to hatch some once, and after all my care and trouble with the young ones, they were afraid of the water. I quacked and clucked, but all to no purpose. I could not get them to venture in. Let me look at the egg. Yes, that is a turkeys egg; take my advice, leave it where it is and teach the other children to swim. I think I will sit on it a little while longer, said the duck; as I have sat so long already, a few days will be nothing. Please yourself, said the old duck, and she went away. At last the large egg broke, and a young one crept forth crying, Peep, peep. It was very large and ugly. The duck stared at it and exclaimed, It is very large and not at all like the others. I wonder if it really is a turkey. What things can you leave out of the story? What things do you have to add to make it make sense and be interesting?

5. BE A THEATRE CRITIC
Theatre critics write reviews for newspapers about shows that they have seen. In a review they write about what they liked about it and what they didnt so that people reading the paper can decide whether they would like to go to see the show. If the review is good then more people will go to see the show. Imagine you are a theatre critic writing for your local paper. Write a review of HONK! in the space below (go over the page if you need to)! Say which bits you liked best and which bits you didnt like as much. Try and describe the show as well so that people can decide if they would like it. Dont forget to tell people where and when the show is playing.