Little Angel Theatre Presents

Education and Participation Resource Pack Written by Sarah Schofield

Little Angel Theatre 14 Dagmar Passage, Islington, London, N1 2DN

0207 226 1787

www.littleangeltheatre.com

Background Information The history of the theatre and show!

Little Angel Theatre

The Little Angel Theatre John Wright, the founder of The Little Angel Theatre was born in South Africa in 1906. He travelled to England in 1935 and worked as an assistant stage manager for the Ballet Rambert while studying at the Central School of Art and Design. It was during this time he saw a puppet performance by Podrecca’s Piccoli and became hooked. John made his very first puppet in 1938. He returned to South Africa at the outbreak of the Second World War and continued to make and perform with puppets in his home country. When the war ended he returned to England, overland, performing with his puppets along the way. In 1961 John and his troupe found a derelict temperance hall in Islington and transformed it into a magical little theatre, specially designed for the presentation of marionette shows. It opened on Saturday 24th November 1961. This was to be the first purpose built puppet theatre the country had seen for many years and the only one with a permanent long string marionette bridge constructed backstage. The bridge was designed for puppeteers to stand on while they manipulate long stringed puppets who perform on the stage below leaving the audience unable to see the puppeteers. The original bridge is used to this day. The theatre has a traditional ‘proscenium arch’ and seats 100 audience members. Over the next 30 years, the Little Angel team created and performed over 30 full-scale shows, with John and his wife Lyndie designing, making, performing and directing as they established Little Angel as ‘The Home of British Puppetry.’ Little Angel shows were taken to 23 International Festivals, representing Britain. John Wright died in 1991 but the work of the theatre continued apace with family, friends and supporters working tirelessly to continue in his footsteps to make sure John’s legacy would delight generations to come.

The Journey Home

The Journey Home, the acclaimed children’s book by award winning author Frann Preston-Gannon, is brought to life through puppetry, lyrical music and transformative design in this new production by Little Angel Theatre.

It tells the story of Polar Bear who sets off in search of a new home when the ice starts melting. Travelling through storms, busy shipping lanes and across oceans, he picks up some exciting friends along the way. Meet all the animals on their adventure to find a new home; what else will they encounter on their journey of discovery and friendship?

This production combines beautiful story-telling, engaging puppetry and colourful design to explore themes of sustainability and the environment.

Directed by former Little Angel Theatre Artistic Director, Steve Tiplady, the show will delight and excite young audiences.

‘A thought-provoking story with a powerful message about conservation from an award-winning, rising new illustration and literary star.’ Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian

A Little Angel Theatre production, based on the book by Frann Preston-Gannon The Journey Home (copyright © 2012 by Frann Preston-Gannon. First published in the United Kingdom by Pavilion Books)

John Wright Theatre founder

The interior of Little Angel Theatre auditorium before it

was re-built in 1961

Literacy Links

Little Angel Theatre

Frann Preston-Gannon

Frann is an author and illustrator who has written and

illustrated 7 children’s books, all with animals as the focus:

The Journey Home

Dinosaur Farm

How to Loose a Lemur

Dinosaur Beach

Deep Deep Sea

Hot Dog, Cold Dog

Sloth Slept On

In April 2011 Frann became the first UK recipient of the 'Sendak Fellowship' and spent a month in Autumn living with and learning from the great master of illustration, Maurice Sendak (Most famous for his book ‘Where the Wild Things are’) at his home in Connecticut.

The Journey Home was her first picturebook and was published in October 2012 .

Other children’s picture books that look at the destruction of habitats and the natural world:

Baker, Jeannie. Window. This wordless picture book chronicles events and changes in a young boy's habitat as seen through the window of his room. Australian author and illustrator Baker uses collage construction to indicate the passage of time and to describe the effect of growth and development on the child's environment.

Baker, Jeannie. Where the Forest Meets the Sea. On a camping trip in an Australian rain forest with his father, a young boy thinks about the history of the plant and animal life around him and wonders about their future.

Burningham, John. Hey! Get Off Our Train. A boy dreams about rescuing endangered species as he takes a train ride. Each animal boards the train and explains why the survival of their species is threatened by habitat destruction. A catchy repeating refrain encourages kids to join in the reading of this book.

Some of Frann’s illustrations

Frann meets the Polar Bear Puppet as it is being built

Meet the Animals

Little Angel Theatre

Polar Bear Polar bears are only found in the Arctic. The most

important habitats for polar bears are the edges of pack ice where currents and wind interact, forming a continually melting and refreezing matrix of ice patches and leads (open spaces in the ocean between sea ice). These are the areas of where polar bears can find the greatest number of seals. As the sea ice advances and retreats each season, individual polar bears may travel thousands of miles per year to find food. Polar bears are distributed throughout the Arctic region in 19 subpopulations, including Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland and Norway.

Panda

Giant pandas live in a few mountain ranges in central China, in the Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu

provinces. They once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing, and other development now restrict giant pandas to the mountains. Giant pandas live in mountainous forests that are rich in bamboo (the only food they eat). Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year mean their home is often

covered in heavy clouds.

Elephant

African elephants are found in both the deserts and rainforests of west and central Africa. The Asian elephant is found in India, Sri Lanka, China and much of Southeast Asia. Habitat loss is one of the key threats facing elephants. Elephants’ habitats are getting hotter and drier. Humans are taking over more and more elephant habitat. Poaching for ivory are additional threats that are placing the elephant’s future at risk.

Orangutan

Orangutans are only found on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Southeast Asia. Orangutans are

arboreal creatures, which means they spend most of their lives slowly walking, swinging and climbing

through dense rain forests. Orangutans are losing their homes as tropical rainforests are being cut down for wood to make paper and furniture and the land is

cleared to grow palm oil.

Illustrations by Sally Connie Todd who designed the puppets and set

for the show.

Cross Curricular Activities and Ideas

Little Angel Theatre

Literacy:

Story writing – ‘The Journey’

News reports on conservation issues

Captions for the various pictures in the story

Explanation writing – different conservation

issues

Writing from a different point of view – Re-write

the story from the point of view of one of the

animals

Diary entries as one of the animals

Non-chronological reports including facts about

the different animals

Add another character to the story – add

another scene / issue – What does tomorrow

bring?

Science:

Biological studies – animal adaptation and

habitats, environment

Water cycle

Practical experiments – floating/ sinking

(What material would make a good boat to

carry the animals? What causes ice to melt?

Numeracy:

Directional vocabulary and map work related

to the story.

Co-ordinates to look at the key places from

the story

Time – am/pm problem solving using the

story as a stimulus

Time: days, months, etc

Handling Data – different species

PSHCE:

Importance of caring for the environment –

conservation matters, global issues, respecting animals

The Dodo

The Dodo by Hilaire Belloc

The Dodo used to walk around, And take the sun and air. The sun yet warms his native ground-- The Dodo is not there!

The voice which used to squawk and squeak Is now for ever dumb-- Yet may you see his bones and beak All in the Mu-se-um.

1. Why does the poet use the past tense in the

first line?

2. How do you know the Dodo came from a hot

country?

3. Pick out two words that describe what the

Dodo sounded like?

4. Why is the Dodo ‘for ever dumb?’

5. Why has the poet split the word Mu-se-um into

3 parts?

6. Why can you only see a Dodo in a museum?

7. How does this poem make you feel about

animals that are endangered today?

Puppet Making

Little Angel Theatre

Puppet Knowledge Most of the puppets in the show are made from papier-mâché, polystyrene, Styrofoam foam. These materials make the puppets as lightweight as possible so that the puppeteers are comfortable when performing. Foam is a great material for puppet making as it can be cut and carved and is flexible for great movement and realistic ‘fleshy’ touch. Most of the puppets are controlled with a rod attached to their heads and sometimes backs. The flexible nature of the foam means movement can be created easily.

The Panda under construction

Designing and Making Puppets When you design and make a puppet make sure you think about these things:

Decide on the character first (before you start drawing or making). Is it a person, an animal or a made-up creature? Is it a character for a show you will be performing? What is that character like? Match the character with a suitable puppet style (marionette, glove, rod, finger, shadow etc.)

Decide what your puppet will need to do if it is performing in a show (walk, swim, fly, nod, wave?) Which parts need to move or not?

Materials Remember that puppets have to be held up and moved by a puppeteer so choose light materials. If you make your puppet too heavy you won’t be able to use it! Why not make an eco-friendly junk puppet from boxes/containers/old magazines and wrapping paper/tubs/tubes/wool/string/clothes/bottles etc that would otherwise be thrown away? .

Draw a design for the puppet and remember to include:

1. What materials you will need. 2. Which parts of the puppet will move – How? 3. Will any parts be jointed? (elbows or knees) 4. Don’t forget to draw the rods/strings/controls etc

that move the puppet so that you know where they will go.

5. How will you fix the parts of the puppet together? 6. How you will show your puppet’s character?

(facial expression, clothes, decoration)

As you make your puppet test it out as you go. Is it strong enough to use? Are the details clear (will an audience be able to see the face from a distance?) Does it move in the places it is supposed to?

Behind the Scenes – How the Puppets Were Made

Little Angel Theatre

The Elephant is covered with papier-mache.

Orangutan under construction.

The Puppets were designed by Sally but made by Michael Faukes.

Make a Panda Paper Bag Glove Puppet

Little Angel Theatre

What you need: A White paper bag Templates Pencil Scissors Coloured pens or pencils Glue Instructions:

1. Turn the paper bag upside down so that the flap that is the bottom of the bag becomes the face.

2. Trace, photocopy or cut out the templates of the eyes, nose and head.

3. Colour or decorate the eyes, nose and ears as you would like.

4. Stick the eyes and nose in place on the ‘flap’ of the bag.

5. Stick the head on to the back of the bag.

6. Draw and colour details such as the mouth, the inside of the mouth and the tummy.

To manipulate your puppet:

1. Put your hand up inside the puppet

2. Put your fingers inside the flap.

3. Move your fingers up and down to open and close the mouth.

Eyes and Nose Template

Little Angel Theatre

Head Template

Useful Resources and Links www.littleangeltheatre.com More information about the history of the theatre and future puppet shows and workshops, including our school menu Visual stories for children on the autistic spectrum Visit our ‘access needs’ page on the website to find a general Little Angel Theatre visual story to prepare children for a visit to the theatre. This is also a useful resource for very young children who may not have visited a theatre before as it explains what happens when you visit a theatre and what you might see there. There is a visual story for the show, which is a useful resource to prepare children on the spectrum as well as a reminder about the content of the show, or as a tool to prepare planning around the show in advance of your visit. Book a Table Top Puppet Workshop! Want to make puppets with your class but don’t have the confidence or time to plan, resource and deliver it yourself? We can come to your school and make puppets with your class. By the end of the day each child will have a finished puppet and we bring all the materials. All stories and themes considered! £350+VAT per class (in London). Contact education@littleangeltheatre.com for more information. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=little+angel+theatre&sm=3 Visit You Tube to watch trailers, clips and behind the scenes films of our shows past and present and see the puppets in action! http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/putting-on-a-puppet-show-pt-1-2/9654.html Two short films featuring Little Angel Theatre about the process of putting on one of our shows. www.facebook.com Make friends with Little Angel Theatre to keep up to date with the latest news https://twitter.com/LittleATheatre Follow us on Twitter! Little Angel Theatre Puppetry Scheme of Work Including detailed lesson plans and templates for delivering puppetry in the primary classroom with links to literacy £7 Contact: education@littleangeltheatre.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e16bYZaljM Trailer for our production of ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Angel Theatre

Little Angel Theatre