me and my shadow
Post on 13-Mar-2016
242 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
CuesheetP
ER
FO
RM
AN
CE
GU
IDEMeand MyShadow
Performances for Young Audiencesis made possible by
Can a girlmake friends
with her shadow?Maybe…with alittle help fromher imagination.
Patch Theatre Companyof Australia
HELLO,
TEACHERS AND
PARENTS! PLEASE
SEE PAGE 5 FOR
INFORMATION AND
ACTIVITIES.
2
LITTLE TALK, LOTS OF ACTIONThe girl and boy talk, but they’d muchrather play and move. But don’t befooled. Even though they don’t saymuch, they’re communicating a lotwith each other and with you.Watch how they use their bodiesand faces so you can tell whatthey’re doing and feeling. Andlisten up: The performers comefrom the country of Australia, soyou might notice they talk a littledifferently. That’s called anaccent—an Australianaccent to be exact!
WELCOME TO THE SHOWGet ready for a magical world wheresomething can be anything—a flashlight canbe a space rocket, a child can be a dinosaur,and a girl’s shadow can be a goofy andplayful boy. All this happens on stage withtwo actors pretending to be the girl and boyplus some paper, lights, shadows, music,words, sounds, and even a little magic.
A GIRL AND HER SHADOWIn the performance, you’ll meet a young girlwho loves to play and use her imagination,probably just like you do. One day, shediscovers her shadow can be pretty fun toplay with—especially when it comes to life asa boy! But when she gets mad at him, shefinds out that her world is very differentwithout her friend.
Getting Ready for a
3
IMAGINATION COMES OUTOF THE SHADOWSSometimes theater performances haveobjects on stage that tell you exactly wherethe action happens, like a bed and toys toshow a child’s bedroom. In this performance,you’ll see a lot of…brown paper bags. Buthold on. By using their imaginations, the girland boy have lots of fun using bags, paper,balloons, and a few other everyday objects,too. With a little imagination of your own,you’ll be seeing cars, tall buildings, a queen’scrown, and more.
WHAT IS A SHADOW ANYWAY?Remember the last time you saw yourshadow? Maybe it was a sunny day or abright light shined on you. That’s because tohave a shadow, you need light. Shadowsappear when light shines on something solid,like you, or a building. That light can’t shinethrough you, right? So when you block thelight, it can’t reach the other side of you.That’s where you see your shadow, usuallyon a wall or on the ground.
And although your shadow is a copy of you,it won’t look exactly like you. It doesn’t havecolor or clear details, like the buttons on yourclothes. Sometimes it’ll be blurry, sometimessharp. Sometimes it’ll look bigger or smaller.And sometimes it’ll make you laugh becauseit looks mysterious or funny when you move.
Magical World of Light
4
YOUR SHADOW FRIENDIn the performance, the girl’s shadow is a boy.At first he copies everything she does (and itmakes her a little mad!). Then they play andbecome friends. Imagine your shadow couldcome to life. What would it be like? Why?
PLAYING WITH SHADOWSYou don’t need any special equipment to havea shadow, just light. Outside, a sunny day willdo the trick. At home, you can use a flashlightor lamp and a wall. In theaters like theKennedy Center Family Theater, light comesfrom special lamps. For example, look up—way up—to see one type, called spotlights. Inthe performance, watch how different coloredlights shine from different directions to createshadows. And see that screen in the back ofthe stage? It’s made from large rolls of paper.It’s great for showing shadows, but it’s alsogood to play around and paint on!
SHADES OF STORYTELLINGShadows are fun, but they also have been apopular way of telling stories for thousandsof years. Storytellers would cut out objectsfrom leather, paper, or wood, attach theobjects to sticks, and move them between alight and a screen. They would tell funnytales as well as stories of great adventures orvaluable lessons. This kind of shadowpuppetry is still very popular today.
, Shadows, and Friends
VIVID IMAGERYPatch Theatre’s visual poem Me and MyShadow combines words, music, and sound,plus light, shadow, color, and water to tell itsstory about imagination and friendship. Theperformance also features the company’sinnovative staging. For example, theperformers “paint” the screen using sprayedwater (applied from behind). They alsoperform moves that seem magical, like thegirl’s appearing to levitate or have an extra-long arm. After the performance, havechildren recall these and other “illusions” anddiscuss ways they might have been created.
PERPLEXING SHADOWSThe performance plays with shadows andalso looks at the theme of friendship. Afterthe show, help children explore these ideasfurther. Possible questions include:•What most surprised you about the
shadows you saw on stage? Why?• How were the girl and her shadow/theboy different? The same?• How can friendship make you happy? Sad?
ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDRENA Bag Full of TricksBefore or after the performance, think offive things a plain brown paper bag couldbe (besides a bag). Use a bag to show yourideas to a friend. Remember, with yourimagination, something can be anything.
Casting ShadowsDuring the performance, the girl and boysometimes make their shadows bigger orsmaller. Use a flashlight or lamp to createyour shadow on the wall. Try to change howyour shadow looks by moving closer to orfarther from the light. What makes yourshadow bigger or smaller?
For Teachers and ParentsDEAR GROWNUPS:Welcome to the Me and My Shadow Cuesheet. This guide is designed to help children prepareto see and appreciate the performance. Please help your young theatergoers read andunderstand the information. Here’s more background information for you and some activityideas designed to add to the children’s experience.
5
David M. Rubenstein
Chairman
Michael M. Kaiser
President
Darrell M. Ayers
Vice President, Education
Additional support for Performancesfor Young Audiences is provided byAdobe Foundation, The Clark
Charitable Foundation; Mr. James
V. Kimsey; The Macy's Foundation;
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz
Foundation; Park Foundation, Inc.;
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation;
an endowment from the Ryna and
Melvin Cohen Family Foundation;
U.S. Department of Education;
Washington Gas; and by generous
contributors to the Abe Fortas
Memorial Fund and by a major gift
to the fund from the late Carolyn E.
Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.
Major support for educational
programs at the Kennedy Center
is provided by
David and Alice Rubenstein
through the
Rubenstein Arts Access Program.
Education and related artistic
programs are made possible through
the generosity of the National
Committee for the Performing Arts
and the President’s Advisory
Committee on the Arts.
www.kennedy-center.org/artsedge
Cuesheets are produced byARTSEDGE, an education program
of the Kennedy Center.
Learn more about education
at the Kennedy Center at
www.kennedy-center.org/education
The contents of this Cuesheet have been
developed under a grant from the U.S.
Department of Education and do not
necessarily represent the policy of the U.S.
Department of Education. You should not
assume endorsement by the Federal
Government.
© 2014 The John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts
A Few More ThingsWATCH FOR…• how the girl “paints” on the paper background on stage•what makes the girl mad at the boy• how the boy and girl show sadness•what the boy “paints” for the girl• how it looks like the girl is wrapped in blankets in her bed• how the girl says goodnight to her cut-out dolls
LISTEN FOR…• how the girl and boy talk at the same time• the tinkling music as the girl and boy play with little lights•what happens when the girl tries to sing into her paper microphone
THINK ABOUT…•when the girl tears down the wall and the boy is not there, whereyou imagine he went•whether you can be friends with your shadow in real life, and why orwhy not•what you liked best about the performance, and why• all the fun with shadows and whether it could have been a dream—and why or why not
AND REMEMBER…A good audience—stays quiet (unless you want to laugh)
doesn’t eat •doesn’t sleep • listens •and claps
at the end. And, the Shadow says, “HAVE FUN!”
ExploreMore!
Go to KC Connections on ARTSEDGEartsedge.kennedy-center.org/students/kc-connections
top related