A Guide for Teachers November 2014

Directed by Lizzie Chazen

Production Design by Scott Dunlap

Co-Producers Lynn Breedlove, Beth & Shaack Van Deusen, Debbie Dean, Nancy Fell, Michael Ingram & Lorie Conley Chicken Cast Nov.7th & 21st @7:30,Nov.9th, 15th,& 23rd; School shows: Nov.14 & 20th

Badger...... Ethan Fell Mr. Fox...... Dylan Grant Mrs. Fox/Mabel ...... Piper Brantley Boggis...... Makenna Jordan Bunce...... Alexa Kruszewski Bean/Rat...... Jayden Doan Fox Child 1...... Hannah Carter Fox Child 2...... Kristen Lowery Fox Child 3...... Maria Rodriguez Badger Child...... Kinsley Crowdis

Turkey Cast Nov.14th, 8th, 16th,& 22ND School Shows: Nov.13th and 21st

Badger...... Sallie Dean Mr. Fox: ...... Sebastien Cooper Mrs. Fox/Mabel...... Darby Breedlove Boggis...... Hannah Vaughn Bunce...... Jamie McConnico Bean/Rat...... Elizabeth VanDuesen Fox Child 1...... Rachel Young Fox Child 2...... Caleb Nunes Fox Child 3...... Finny Heck

Badger Child...... Ava Culpepper

Production Crew

Stage Managers Chicken...... Logan Jordan turkey...... Hayley Vaughn Sound Technician Chicken Cast...... Grace Hamilton turkey Cast...... Jessica Roddy Deck Crew Chicken...... Nolan Rodriguez turkey...... Ellen Rich

About the Director: Lizzie Chazen Lizzie Chazen, a native of Chattanooga, received her BA in Drama from the University of Vermont in 2006. In College Lizzie took the opportunity to travel abroad and gain a deeper knowledge of her craft. She studied movement at the Friches Theatre Urbain in Paris and took master classes at The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon Avon. After getting her degree, Lizzie moved to NYC where she enrolled at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute taking intensive classes on script analysis and meth- od acting studying under Lola Cohen. In 2007 Lizzie became an intern at the Looking Glass Theatre in NYC where she produced staged readings and new playwright festivals. In 2009 Lizzie returned to Chat- tanooga and quickly became an integral part of the theatre community. Not only has she taught theatre at Normal Park Upper School, The Chattanooga Theatre Centre and The Hunter Art Museum, she has starred in many CTC productions including A Street Car Named Desire and The Producers. She is cur- rently represented by Talent Trek in Nashville and continues to audition for commercials and films in the southeast. She is thrilled to be working full time with the Chattanooga Theatre Centre and looks forward to all the incredible work to come!!

The Chattanooga Theatre Centre Staff

Producing Director...... George Quick Education Director...... Chuck Tuttle Director of Marketing...... Jan Belk Youth Theatre Director...... Scott Dunlap Box Office Manager...... Wayne Schock Facilities &Technical Director...... Paul Hughes Box Office Assistants...... Pattie Gross Master Carpenter...... Sarah Miecielica Youth Theatre & Business Manager...... Ken Gross Education Associate...... Lizzie Chazen 1916-1990

Roald Dahl’s life would have made great fiction. Perhaps that’s why he became one of the world’s most prolific and popular writers of children’s literature. His father grew up in Norway and at a young age ran away from home with his brother to seek his fortune in the capitols of Europe. While in France he met another Norwegian and they decided to partner as shipbrokers. A shipbroker buys all the supplies for ships including fuel. In those days the fuel used by ships was coal, so they headed for the larg- est coal port in the world: Cardiff, Wales. Here they became enormously successful. When Harald Dahl’s first wife died, he returned to Norway for a vacation. There he met Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg whom he married. Sophie would bear four children to add to two children from Harald Dahl’s previous marriage. Roald, named after the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, was born third of the four in 1916. In 1920, the family was dealt a double blow with the death of Roald’s older sister, Astri from appendicitis and, a month later, his father’s death from pneumonia. Because it was his father’s wish that his children be educat- ed in England, made the decision to keep the family in Wales. Roald was enrolled at a local school, and after an incident where he placed a mouse in a candy jar, was caned by the headmaster. His mother withdrew him from the school and placed him at St. Peter’s across the Bristol Channel from Cardiff. This meant Rould would be boarded away from home, a situation that made him very homesick. According to Dahl in his autobiographical book, , treatment here was no better than at his first school. He was beaten by the headmaster and humiliated by the house matron. The same brutal treatment continued as he later attended Repton. Upon graduating from school, Dahl was hired by Shell Oil Company and was assigned to what is now Tanzania, a two week journey by boat in 1934. When war broke out in 1939, he was commissioned as an officer in the King’s African Rifles. But he wanted more adventure, so he traveled to Nairobi and joined the Royal Air force. After a brief seven hours of flight training, Dahl was sent with an old biplane to Libya. But because he was given the wrong directions, he eventually crashed in the desert, suffering and head injury and blindness. He was told he never fly again, but, after five months in an army hospital he was again fit for duty. Dahl was then sent to Greece and participated in the Battle of Athens that pitted 18 combat planes of the RAF against over 1,000 in the German army. Despite the odds, Dahl shot down enough enemy planes to be designated a flying ace. In one battle, Dahl found himself alone against ten German planes and even managed to shoot one down. As things began to go badly in Greece Dahl and his fellow pilots were sent to Egypt. After completing several missions, he became afflicted with severe blackouts, and was eventually sent home to England. Dahl was next assigned to work as an air attaché in Washington D.C. Here he met novelist C.S. Forester who asked him to write some information about flying in the war. His writing was published under the titleShot Down Over Libya. After the war, Dahl married actress and fathered five children by her. The first died at the age of seven, just as his sister had so many years earlier. Their marriage lasted 30 years, during which time Ms. Neal suffered three cerebral aneurysms. It was Dahl who nursed her back to health. They divorced in 1983. Dahl’s literary career was not limited to children’s materials, or even books. He wrote several television scripts, and hosted a Twilight Zone-like series called Way Out. He also adapted two novels for film: and You Only Live Twice. His adult fiction, which tends towards the macabre, has been published in several magazines and later gathered in anthologies. Roald Dahl died in 1990 of a rare blood disease.

“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” Children’s Books by Roald Dahl

* The (1943) * James and the Giant Peach (1961) - Film: (1996) * Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) - Films: (1971 & 2005) * (1966) * Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) — Film: (2009) * Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1973) * Danny, the Champion of the World (1975) — Film: (1989) * (1978) * (1980) * George’s Marvelous Medicine (1981) * The BFG (1982) — Film:(animated 1989) * (1983) — Film: (1990) * The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985) * (1988) — Film: (1996) * (1989)

Children’s poetry (1982) (1983) Rhyme Stew (1989) Fantastic Mr. Fox How do we tell the story?

Story Theatre Our production of Fantastic Mr. Fox uses a theatrical technique known as Story Theatre. This style is named after the 1970 play of the same name created by Paul Sills, one of the founders of Second City. Story Theatre uses an ensemble group of actors playing multiple parts. It often includes more than one story using simple sets, costumes and props. Other conventions include dialogue intermixed with narration, live sound effects and heightened acting style Found Objects In Fantastic Mr. Fox, there are many different objects used. In theatrical terms, these items are call proper- ties, or ‘props.’ Props are broken down into three types: hand, set and dressing. A hand prop is something that will be handled by an actor such as a book or a glass. A set prop is something that is more a part of the set but used by actors, such as chairs and tables. A dressing prop is one that decorates the set and not likely used by an actor, such as curtains or wall pictures. In accordance with the style of Story Theatre, the number of props in Fantastic Mr. Fox is minimal and many are used as more than one thing. When a prop represents what it’s used for and is not the actual thing, this is called a ‘found object’ prop. Thus a sock becomes a pup- pet an umbrella becomes a rifle and a ball an apple. Often, these found objects follow a motif. If for instance, a play takes place in a barn, then all the props are created with things you would find in a barn. This conven- tion allows the audience to use its imagination and join in the fun of creation.

Themes and Discussions Food Security Like all families, the Fox family needs to eat. In order to do this, Fox goes to great lengths, literally putting life and limb on the line. Though most of us need only go to our refrigerator to find food, there are many others who struggle to feed their families. The reasons for this are large and complex: poverty, weather changes, food distribution. Fifty years ago, the nations of the world thought they were on the path to ending hunger on Earth. They seemed to have vastly underestimated the problem and overestimated their ability and will to solve it. Discussion: What would you do to feed your family? What would you do to feed others? Initiative Fox is very clever and finds ways to get food and protect his family from the farmers. His initiative is reward- ed with by brining the required food to his family. But in doing so, he steals from the farmers and puts his family in danger. Discussion: At what point does initiative go too far? A vigilante takes initiative but do we want people taking the law into their own hands?

Community Fox not only helps his own family but the other animals in the forest. Each animal lends his or her own resources and abilities to ensure that everyone is taken care of. In the end, all the animals feast at the same table. In a community we all bring things to “the table.” That table is the society in which we live. Discussion: Should all people be expected to bring equal amounts to the table? What do you have (abilities or things) that you could bring to the table? Activities

Fantastic Hypothesis Roald Dahl’s books, as with many fantasy novels, are established on the imaginative twist of the real world. These leaps of logic are the foundation of good storytelling, and provide fertile ground to cultivate a child’s mind. This has applications beyond storytelling. Remember at one time, believing you could produce light inside a glass bulb was a pretty fantastic idea.

In his book, The Grammar of Fantasy, Italian writer and educator Gianni Rodari presents ways to help children create their own fantasy stories by relating seemingly unrelated ideas. One of these exercises he called the “Fantastic Hypothesis.” In order to do this, it is helpful for students to un- derstand the subject and predicate of a sentence. Have students write either a subject or a predicate of a sentence. If this is beyond them, they can write a full sentence and then take it apart. If this is beyond their understanding, the teacher could do this. When you have this, randomly pick a student with a subject and then pick another student who has a predicate. Put them together without each seeing the other. From this new sentence add the term “what if.” Example:

Subject: The large dog Predicate: filled with water Hypothesis: “What if a large dog was filled with water?”

You can alter the hypothesis a little without changing it completely, perhaps like this: “What if a large dog kept filling with water and didn’t stop?” Could you put a spigot on him? Could he solve a water crisis? Would he be squishy like a wet sponge? What would mom say when you tried to bring him in the house? Could he provide fun water play on a summer day? Would his being fill with water change the way he moved or sounded?

Have the students play around with different hypotheses based on the subject and predicate and write stories from them. Do not give up if your first hypothesis does not yield great results. Writers throw out far more ideas than they keep and children need to understand that a lot of good work comes from trial and error.

Note: You may want to act out some of these stories. It is important to let children know that some ideas work better than others. This helps them discriminate between what works and what doesn’t. My preference is to choose two or three stories and then let the class decide between those choices. Acting it out! A play is just a story told by actors through movement and voice. The difference between telling a story and a play is that in a play the people telling the story become the characters in the story.

Have the students improvise through the story from what they remember. Have the author of the sto- ry, or some sharp student, suggest ways they can change their performance to make the story clearer. Give other students a chance to try and act the story out, thus allowing them to build on what they’ve seen others do.

Note: This doesn’t have to be “A Streetcar Named Desire.” False starts, chaos, and confusing perfor- mances often happen and can be learning experiences for the students.

Questions for the students watching: “Was it entertaining?” “Did it follow the story?” “If you didn’t know the story, would you understand the play?”

In order to write this out as a play, students should identify which parts of the story have to do with the setting (when and where), which are something a character does and which are things a character says. The things that have to do with the setting will be written as stage directions at the beginning of each scene. The things a character does are the action, will be shown through their bodies, and written as stage directions, usually in parentheses, when they happen. The things a character says are dialogue, which will be spoken and written either under or beside the character’s name.

Here are the elements of a story you may want to discuss with them Who…are the characters in the story What…is there problem (conflict) How…do they solve that problem Where…does the story take place When….does the story take place Why…are these events happening (note: why, often called “given circumstances” usually happens before the play begins. Often, these events are explained at the beginning of the play. We call this “exposition.”)

Of course, you can always add scenery props and lighting, but the only things you absolutely have to have for a play to happen are actors, audience and a story.

Source Material Dahl, Roald. Boy. Farrar, Staus, Giroux, New York: 1984. Rodari, Gianni, Jack Zipes tr. The Grammar of Fantasy. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl Coming this Season to The Chattanooga Theatre Centre