4THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOL © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

COMMON CORE STANDARDSSpeaking and Listening: 1; 2; 3Language: 3; 5

NEW YORK STATE STANDARDSArts: 3; 4English Language Arts: 1; 2

BLUEPRINT FOR THE ARTSTheater: Developing Theater Literacy; Making Connections Music: Music Making; Community and Cultural Resources

This section is part of a full New Victory® School toolTM Resource Guide. For the complete guide, including information about the New Victory Education Department check out: NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOLS

inside | HANDA'S SURPRISEINSIDE BEFORE EN ROUTE AFTER

®

A behind-the-curtain look at the artists, the company and the art form of this production.

5THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOL © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

CLOSER LOOK AT HANDA’S SURPRISE

• Established in 1961, Little Angel Theatre is one of three building-based puppet theaters in England where all productions and puppets are developed on site!

• HANDA’S SURPRISE takes place in Kenya and features two multi-talented performers who combine wooden puppets, ingenious props, traditional instruments and enchanting African songs.

• When HANDA’S SURPRISE toured the UK they performed in 44 venues, reaching over 8,100 children!

• DID YOU KNOW: Though the show is devised by Little Angel Theatre, HANDA’S SURPRISE is adapted from a popular children’s book of the same name by Eileen Brown!

Handa fills her basket with plump, ripe fruit and sets off for the next village. But along the way, seven stealthy animals have their own ideas about who should get these tasty treats! A mix of puppetry and gentle Swahili rhythms transports audiences to a bright, warm day in Kenya in HANDA'S SURPRISE. During this playful and intimate production, adapted from the picture book by Eileen Browne, the littlest theatergoers will be sure to sing and dance along!

[ ]Live Music + Puppetry

+ Seven Sneaky Animals =

HANDA’S SURPRISE

WHERE IN THE WORLD ISHANDA’S SURPRISE FROM?

• There are over 18,000 theater performances in London every year.

• One theater in London, the Eventim Apollo Theater, has a total seated capacity of 3,632 (compared to the 499 seats at the New Vic, that’s quite a lot!).

• The Summer Olympic Games have been held in London three times: 1908, 1948 and 2012.

INSIDE BEFORE EN ROUTE AFTER

®

EUROPE

inside | HANDA'S SURPRISE

X

NORTHAMERICA

ATLANTICOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

INDIANOCEAN

LONDON

ASIAEUROPE

AFRICA

AUSTRALIA

X

X

6THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOL © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

Prior to exploring HANDA’S SURPRISE with your students, find out how much they already know about PUPPETRY and LIVE MUSIC.

Can you think of one example of puppetry?

What are some materials from which you could make a puppet?

What is your favorite kind of music?

Have you ever seen a show where the performers were singing?

Where is your favorite place to sing?

Have you ever listened to music from another country? If so, which country?

WHAT DO YOUR STUDENTS KNOW NOW?

PUPPETRYWhen an object is animated and manipulated by a performer giving the illusion of independent gesture, this is known as puppetry! Examples of puppetry include the Muppets, Sesame Street and the Broadway production of The Lion King. There are many kinds of puppets, such as marionettes, hand puppets, rod puppets and shadow puppets. In HANDA’S SURPRISE, you’ll even see the actors using their bare hands and cleverly assembled objects to create characters through movement, sound and color!

LIVE MUSICAll of the music in HANDA’S SURPRISE is performed live by the two actors onstage. Drawing ithis nspiration from African music, and using only their voices, props and their bodies, they transport the audience into the world of the play. There will be plenty of opportunities to clap, sing and dance along to their original tunes!

INSIDE THE ART FORM

INSIDE BEFORE EN ROUTE AFTER

®

inside | HANDA'S SURPRISE

7THE NEW VICTORY® THEATER / NEWVICTORY.ORG/SCHOOLTOOL © THE NEW 42ND STREET, INC.

INSIDE BEFORE EN ROUTE AFTER

®

UNIT PLAN BRAINSTORM

Check out these ideas for how to incorporate HANDA'S SURPRISE into a unit plan! Then, use specific activities from this guide that we recommend for each topic.

COLORS (COLOR, SCIENCE, LANGUAGE)Yellow, orange, red, green and purple are all colors that are seen in HANDA’S SURPRISE. Go on a color scavenger hunt with your students to find examples of each color in your classroom! Then, when you’ve finished, brainstorm as a group what other objects come in yellow, orange, red, green and purple! We suggest starting this activity with the Color the Matunda (Fruit) Creativity Page in the En Route section of this School Tool.

ANIMALS (SCIENCE)HANDA’S SURPRISE introduces seven different kinds of animals. Use this show as an opportunity to explore the animal kingdom! What are your students’ favorite animals? Write a list with defining characteristics (i.e. color, origin, sounds, etc.). What do these animals have in common and what makes them different? To support this unit, do the “Classroom Safari” activity in the Before section of this school tool.

FRUITS (ROUTINE, NUTRITION)In HANDA’S SURPRISE, Handa fills her basket with a variety of fruits to bring to her friend Akeyo. Before seeing the show, find a way to incorporate fruits into your curriculum by exploring them meal by meal: What fruits do you eat with breakfast? What are fruits you eat with lunch? etc. Then, together, recall the colors your students learned about and see if any of the fruits you’ve listed can be described with those colors! Delve into fruits even more with the Creativity Page Color the Matunda (Fruit).

inside | HANDA'S SURPRISE