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Education Pack littleangeltheatre.com | 020 7226 1787 John Wright, the founder of 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. During this time he saw a puppet performance by Podrecca’s Piccoli and became hooked. John made his very first puppet in 1938. In 1961 John and his troupe found a derelict temperance hall in Islington and transformed it into a theatre, 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. One of John’s shows, first designed to play at The Royal Festival Hall, was Angelo! Originally performed in 1974, this is it’s second revival. We are excited to present this classic Little Angel Theatre show, which has been directed by John’s daughter Sarah and features the original puppets made by John’s wife Lyndie in 1974. The puppetry technique used in the show is inspired by Japanese Bunraku puppetry and the puppeteers dress from head to toe in black so that they are barely visible to the audience. 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 The History of Little Angel Theatre and Angelo Theatre Little Angel The History of “Over the next 30 years, the Little Angel team created and performed over 30 full-scale shows” Angelo is based on the book written and illustrated by Quentin Blake. Angelo and his family travel round the country playing music, singing songs and performing marvellous balancing tricks: Angelo can even dance on a rope! So when he meets Angelina, who is sad and lonely and trapped in her mean uncle’s house, Angelo knows just how to help… Quentin Blake is one of Britain's best-loved and most successful illustrators and children’s authors. He was born in Sidcup in Kent in 1932, but was evacuated to the West Country during the 2nd World War. Being evacuated was an experience he did not enjoy and he was a quiet boy. At the age of about five Quentin remembers a visitor saying “He draws a lot, but he won’t speak!” At secondary school he drew pictures for his school magazine. Someone he knew who worked at Punch magazine saw them and suggested he show them some of his drawings. At the age of sixteen he sold his first drawings to Punch. He was paid seven guineas for his work and was sent a cheque, but sixteen-year old Quentin did not know what to do with his newly acquired riches as he did not have a bank account! He continued to draw for Punch while he studied English at Cambridge University, then while studying teaching at the University of London he decided he wanted to draw pictures for children’s books, but did not know where to start. He asked his friend John Yeoman, to write a book so that he could draw the pictures! This turned out to be A Drink of Water and Other Stories, which was published in 1960 and was the first children’s book featuring Quentin’s illustrations. Quentin continued to illustrate for many well-known authors, most famously Roald Dahl, for the rest of his career and to the present day. In 1968 Quentin wrote his first book, Patrick. He wanted to draw in colour, so created a character that could make things change colour when he played his violin. This meant his pictures had to be printed in colour, which was pictures had to be printed in colour, which was pictures had to be printed in colour, which was less common for children’s books at that time. About Quentin Blake About Quentin Angelo was first published in 1970. Quentin had the idea for the story because he really wanted to draw a boy on a tightrope! The character Angelo was born. Quentin has illustrated over 300 books and received a knighthood for 'services to illustration' in the New Year's Honours for 2013, so his official title is Sir Quentin Blake. Visit www.quentinblake.com for lots more information Roll Up! Roll Up! Angelo is set in Italy during the very early days of travelling circus. The concept of circus performance first began in Ancient Rome. The circus was a building for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, horse shows, staged battles, displays featuring trained exotic animals, jugglers and acrobats and other amuse- ments. When Rome fell the circuses closed down, but people still wanted to be entertained! Groups of friends and families began travelling around Europe, stopping off in villages and towns along the way to perform. They would travel and live in horse drawn carriages. The early travelling shows, like Angelo’s, were very simple and usually took the form of a musical accompaniment of a violin, or two, with a juggler, a rope dancer, a few acrobats and possibly some display of horsemanship. They would set up in a town or village square or a field on the edge of a town. At the end of the show the performers would take a collection of whatever money the audience thought they deserved. The modern concept of a circus as a circu- lar arena surrounded by tiers of seats, for the exhibition of equestrian (horses), acro- batic, and other performances seems to have existed since the late 18th century. The first modern circus performance in England was put on by Philip Astley in Lon- don. The first performance of his circus is said to have been held on January 9th, 1768. This type of ‘big top’ circus that travelled with a tent remained popular for the next 200 years. In the 1960’s and 1970’s the circus began to lose popularity as people became more interested in animal rights and alternative forms of entertainment. Nowadays it is very rare to see wild animals used as part of a circus act and alternative circuses that don’t use any animals at all are extremely popular. The Circus is in Town! The Circus is These kinds of circuses focus on acrobatic skills. Examples of these that you can see to- day include the Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz and the West African Circus Baobab. Cir- cuses from China, like the Chinese State circus produce popular acrobatic shows. Things to Do! Design a poster for Angelo’s Family Circus Show Debate - Why shouldn’t animals be used in circus performances? Write a diary entry as Angelo and one of his family members describing life on the road as a circus performer The real life Angelo? “If you are interested in bringing a small, 500 seat, one ring, theatrical Italian family tented circus to your town, let us know. We can make it happen virtually anywhere!” Zoppe’s Circus started in Italy but now based in America has been in business since 1842, and is still run by the Zope family to this day touring all over the USA. The story begins in 1842 in Hungary and is surprisingly similar to Angelo and Angelina’s tale of love. A young French street performer named Napoline Zoppe wandered into a plaza in Budapest looking for work. There his eyes glanced upon a beautiful equestrian (horse riding) ballerina named Ermenegilda, who captured the hearts and minds of the crowd with her grace and showmanship. More importantly, this talented beauty captured Napoline’s heart. Since Napoline was a clown, like Angelina’s evil Uncle, Ermenegilda’s father saw him as beneath her and disapproved of their relationship. Just like Angelo and Angelina the two ran away from the man who wanted to keep them apart. They ended up in Venice, Italy, and founded Zoppes’ circus. For the next 100 years the circus travelled Europe, surviving wars and political unrest. It was at this time that Alberto Zoppe, Napoline’s great-grandson, inherited the circus. Alberto was a skilled horse rider and had been touring Europe with the circus since his youth. He moved to America and had a family of his own. He ran Zoppe’s family circus until he died in 2009 aged 87. His son Giovanni now runs the circus and keeps the family tradition alive. The Zoppe Family Circus Find out more about the Zoppe family circus at: www.zoppe.net Learn to Juggle! Try Juggling in your PE lesson. Or at Home Lesson 1—Scarf Juggling (1 scarf) Resources: One chiffon or silk scarf per child Activity: Hold the scarf by the end, PULL it up into the air and let go. Grab it to catch. Extend by Throwing, clapping then catching. How many times can you clap before you catch? Put one hand behind your back and catch with just one hand. Extension: Body catches. Throw the scarf up and catch it on your head, elbows, shoulders, stomach, back, foot etc. Further Extension: Rainbow throws. Hold both hands at waist level with the scarf in one hand.