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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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