Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’S Daughter Longstocking
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“V“V ää ll kk oo mm mm ee n”n” (that’s “Welcome!” in Swedish) to Cardinal Stage Company’s production of We are delighted to share this production with you. Maybe Pippi is already one of your favorite characters, or maybe you know nothing at all about our red-haired friend. To her neighbors, Tommy and Annika, she is a most astonishing person. Just her full name alone gives them reason to pause: Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking That’s quite a mouthful! Pippi’s extraordinary strength and her boundless imagination are quite infectious, and Tommy and Annika are drawn to her kind heart and her adventurous personality. But are the stories she tells really true? Does she really have a famous pirate for a father? Has she really been sailing on his ship? We hope you’ll enjoy finding out the answers and following Pippi and her friends! YOU CAN BE A GREATGREAT AUDIENCE!AUDIENCE! Here’s how… Being a member of an audience is different from watching TV at home or even watching a movie at a movie theatre. There will be lights and a set with props and actors who will sing and dance. There will be musicians, too. Everyone involved in the performance has spent a lot of time rehearsing the show. Live performances are also different from TV or movies because once the performance begins, the actors cannot start over nor “do another take.” That’s why they rehearse so much! Your job as the audience at a performance is to both listen and watch carefully. The actors draw energy knowing they are performing for an audience. They love it when you laugh at something funny or react to something sad. They appreciate your applause when you see something you like, as well as at the end of the show. So, to help them put on the best possible performance, it is important not to disturb the performers or your fellow audience members. At the end of the show, all the performers will take a bow. This is called a “curtain call” and it will be your chance to show the actors how much you have appreciated their performance! After the curtain call, the audience remains seated until the theatre lights come back on. To make sure everyone has a good experience at the theatre, please follow these guidelines: Please be seated at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the performance. This will help to make sure the show can start (and end) on time! Please do not bring food or drinks into the theatre. This will keep the theatre clean and will eliminate noises from eating and drinking. Please be considerate of your fellow audience members. Talking, whispering and shuffling about are disruptive to both the performers and your fellow audience members. Appropriate laughter and applause are all appreciated, but save your comments and discussion for AFTER the show. Remember that the actors can see and hear what is happening in the audience. Please don’t attempt to talk to them or touch them while they are on stage or in the aisles, exiting or entering the stage. Please do not bring any of your electronic devices (phones, iPods, and iPads) into the theatre. Please remain seated during the performance. Be sure to use the restrooms before the performance begins. No photography or recording of any kind is allowed during the performance. About the Author “If anyone asks me what I remember from my childhood, my first thought is actually not of the people….but of that beautiful environment which framed my days…” So said Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), who was born Astrid Anna Emilia Ericsson in Vimmerby, Sweden. “Her father was a tenant farmer, and Mrs. Lindgren grew up outside Vimmerby at Nas, a five hundred-year-old farm, in an old red house surrounded by apple orchards” (Margalit Fox, The New York Times.) Many of her characters, including Pippi, play games similar to the games she and her 3 siblings (one brother, two sisters) played outside on their farm when they were growing up. They loved to read as well, and often made up games and songs about the stories they read. Astrid enjoyed school tremendously, especially writing, and she had a language teacher who encouraged her. She won a prize when she was 13 and had one of her compositions published in her local newspaper. By the time Astrid was 16, she was working at the local newspaper as a volunteer. When she was 18, she left the newspaper and moved to Stockholm. She was trained as a typist and to take shorthand (a method of writing quickly by using symbols and abbreviations for sounds, words and phrases). She eventually married Sture Lindgren, and they raised two children, Lasse and Karin. When her children were young, she began writing short stories for a magazine. Between 1944 and 1946, Astrid wrote 6 children’s books. Pippi Longstocking was the second of these books, and it became the real starting point of her career as an author. She ended up working both as an au- thor and as a children’s book editor and publisher. As both an author and publisher, she believed that children’s books should be produced to the same quality standards as adult books. Because she felt so strongly about the value of children’s literature, her publishing house introduced The Astrid Lindgren Prize in 1967, in honor of her 60th birthday. The prize is still awarded every year in Sweden. Astrid Lindgren wrote over 30 original books and over 40 picture books, as well as numerous articles and essays. She won a Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1958 and received many other prizes and awards. She died at the age of 94 in Stockholm. The character of Pippi grew out of tales that Astrid told her daughter Karin when Karin was sick and in bed, pleading for stories. The stories were not written until Astrid was resting a sprained an- kle in early 1944 and she decided to write the stories down in order to make them a present for Kar- in’s 10th birthday in May of the same year. Many of Pippi’s characteristics come from school friends of Karin’s, and the games in the Pippi books are games Astrid played as a child. Villa Villakulla may have been inspired by a home near Astrid’s summer house, and the hollow tree which serves as the Lemonade Tree was based on one of the ancient elm trees from the farm where Astrid grew up. Other Sources & Resources http://www.astridlindgren.se/en http://www.alma.se/en/Astrid-Lindgren/ http://www.alv.se/ Things You May Not Know About Sweden Facts from: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries/sweden.html • Sweden is officially called the Kingdom of Sweden. • The land area of Sweden is the 4th largest in Europe. • The main official language of Sweden is Swedish (svenska), but the country also has 5 other official languages - Finnish, Yiddish, Sami, Meänkieli and Romani. • Sweden shares a land border with its Scandinavian counterparts Finland and Norway, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge. • The capital and largest city in Sweden is Stockholm, other notable cities include Gothenburg, Malmö and Uppsala. • Sweden has a population of 9.5 million people (9,555,893) as of 2012. • Forests cover over 50% of Sweden; there are also around 100,000 lakes and over 24,000 islands throughout the country. Sweden’s right to public access laws allows these areas to be fully accessible by the public. • A crayfish party (kräftskiva) is a traditional summer eating and drinking celebration in August. It involves boiled crayfish served with boiled potato and dill. • Ice hockey and football (soccer) are Sweden’s main sports, other popular sports include handball, golf, gymnastics, athletics and cross country skiing. • The Swedish Vikings of the 8th-10th centuries were a fearsome group, highly skilled at warfare they invaded and settled throughout Northern and Eastern Europe. During the 17th century Sweden again emerged as a great power in Europe with the Swedish Empire gaining territories in Eastern Europe. While it was once a great military power, Sweden has remained neutral in all wars since 1814, including World Wars I and II. Despite the country’s peaceful nature Swedes over 19 years still have to complete up to 15 months of military service. • While being part of the EU (European Union) Sweden has retained its own currency the krona. Sweden is renowned for producing great pop bands and singers, including ABBA, The Cardigans, Ace of Base, Europe and The Hives. Sweden is the world’s 3rd largest exporter of music after the United States and United Kingdom. • A number of prominent manufacturing and technology companies were founded in Sweden including Ericsson, Volvo, Saab, Scania trucks, IKEA and Electrolux. • A traditional and famous dish of Sweden is Swedish meatballs, served with gravy, boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam. Music in Sweden While Sweden’s most popular musical export is the group ABBA, perhaps its most traditional folk instrument is the nickelharpa (pictured to the right). The nickelharpa is a “keyed fiddle” so the player both holds down a key and uses a bow across the strings to produce a particular pitch. Links to nickelharpa performances: http://www.vasen.se/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9l- K0I6-7wI&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=nk1Nz6BKW5U The Language Pippi’s last name in Swedish is Långstrump. Try learning some other Swedish words! Hej Hello Tack Thank you På återseende Good-bye! Tack så mycket Thank you very much! Det har jag ingen aning om I have no idea! Jag ber om ursäkt I’m sorry Jag förstår inte I don’t understand Det är bra That’s good God dag! Good day! God kväll! Good evening! God morgon! Good morning! God natt! Good night! Hur mycket är klockan? What time is it? Hur mår ni? How are you? Mitt namn är..