T h e S n a i l & t h e W h a l e S T U D Y G U I D E . V I R T U A L P E R F O R M A N C E S 2 0 2 0 - 2 1 T I L L E S C E N T E R F O R T H E P E R F O R M I N G A R T S I S L O N G I S L A N D ’ S P R E M I E R C O N C E R T H A L L . For 39 years, Tilles Center has been host to more We thank you for supporting Tilles Center during than 70 performances each season by world- the COVID-19 Pandemic and providing this renowned artists in music, theater and virtual program for your students . We can't wait dance. Tilles Center’s newly renovated Concert Hall, to welcome you back IN PERSON! scheduled to open in the spring of 2021, seats over 2,200 guests and features orchestral performances, fully-staged operas, ballets and modern dance, along with Broadway shows, and all forms of music, Tilles Center’s Education Programs are made possible, in part, dance and theater from around the world. with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Thanks to the generous support of Eric and Sandra Arts Education programs are made possible, in Krasnoff, the Krasnoff Theater, formerly part, by the Gilbert and Rose Tilles Endowment for Arts Education. Hillwood Recital Hall, has been refurbished and expanded. Longing to see the world, a tiny sea snail hitches a ride on the tail of a great, grey-blue humpback whale. Together they go on an amazing journey around the world, told through viola music, singing, storytelling and lots of laughs ... but when the whale gets beached, how will the snail save him? Join an adventurous young girl and her sea-faring father as they re-imagine this story inspired by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved picture book. The performance is approximately 55 minutes long. You can watch it all at once or it can be broken up into the following 4 digital “chapters” with the accompanying discussion questions. Chapter 1 - Approx. 15 minutes. Start of show until 14 minutes 58 seconds. The dad says “a good story can take you around the world, without ever leaving your room” - what does that mean? There is a lot of rhyming in the story. Can you remember any of the rhyming words? Can you find other words which rhyme with them? The snail has “an itchy foot” and longs to see the world. Where in the world would you like to travel to and why? What would you do when you got there? What was your favorite part of their bedtime routine (Hide & Seek, “Don’t Wriggle” Game, a story, a song)? What’s your favorite part of your bedtime routine? Chapter 2 - Approx. 16 minutes. Start at 14 minutes 58 seconds until 31 minutes 29 seconds. In this adaptation of The Snail and the Whale, the dad is away from home for long periods of time. How do they stay connected (ex: sending each other letters and drawings, FaceTime, sharing a beloved stuffed animal)? What can you do to stay connected to folks in your life when you’re apart? The little girl and her father create the big grey-blue humpback whale from bits of furniture in her room. What could you use from your house to create this enormous creature? What would you use for his tail? And his eyes? What did you notice about the play’s set and lighting? How do they change the story’s location throughout the performance? What environments or scenes do you remember? (ex: the underwater caves, the penguins, the sharks, the volcano, etc...)? Chapter 3 - Approx. 16 minutes. Start at 31 minutes 30 seconds until 42 minutes 05 seconds. The Snail and the Whale is full of wonderfully descriptive verbs and adjectives – such as “slithered,” "shimmering", "zooming", "fiery", "frolicked", "earsplitting"... What other fun adjectives can you remember? Practice using those words in a sentence! How is viola used throughout the performance? What sound effects do you remember hearing? The actors use their whole bodies as they are “swimming” or to transform themselves into Penguins or crabs… How else did the performer use pantomime within the performance? How did they make imaginary objects come to life? Chapter 4 - Approx 12 minutes. Start at 42 minutes 06 seconds until 54 minutes (the end). The snail has to get the town to help her save the whale. How does it feel to work together with others to achieve something? What are the advantages of teamwork? Why is it hard? When and How have you experienced this? Even though the snail is small, she helps to save the whale. Think about your abilities. Is there anything that you thought you couldn't do, but you managed to when you tried? This performance weaves the story from the book The Snail and Whale with many beloved memories of the narrator and her father together when she was a young girl… Who was your favorite character ? What was your favorite moment in the performance? Why? What about the play was different from the book? Were there any characters, events, or details that were in the book but not in the play? Why do you think these choices were made? Inspired by the book by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler EDUCATION PACK ‘Tall Stories sets the benchmark for children’s theatre’ Sunday Times ‘An inventive and charming adaptation’ The List ‘An exquisite piece of theatre with plenty of lyricism... It’s definitely a show that leaves you smiling’ The Stage Tall Stories Theatre Company Somerset House, West Wing Strand, London WC2R 1LA +44 (0) 20 8348 0080 [email protected] www.tallstories.org.uk Inspired by the book by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler Notes for teachers Tall Stories Tall Stories theatre company is a not-for-profit charitable organisation, which presents old, new and timeless stories in a physical, visual style, always acknowledging the presence of the audience. Our productions link original music with dynamic movement – and lots of laughs. The company was founded in 1997 by directors Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell. Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Julia Donaldson, the award-winning children’s author, and Axel Scheffler, the celebrated illustrator, first collaborated in 1993 when one of Julia’s songs (A Squash and a Squeeze) was transformed into a book. Since then, the unstoppable duo has collaborated on over twenty books, amongst which emerged The Snail and the Whale, one of Julia’s favourites. Julia lives in Glasgow and Axel in London so they have to create and work separately. But he often sends her letters with funny pictures drawn on the envelopes... Axel has achieved worldwide acclaim for his humorous illustrations, and his books have been translated into over 29 languages. In 2006 he was even called upon to design Gordon Brown’s annual Christmas card! Before publishing any books, Julia began her career in singing and song-writing and wrote many songs for children’s television. Since then she has had 20 plays published and has written a grand total of 165 books (64 that can be bought in the shops and 101 specifically for schools). In 2011 Julia became the Children’s Laureate. She is using this role to inspire more children to read, to support libraries, to promote more stories for and about deaf children and to initiate projects linking music with storytelling, amongst many other things. The Show The team at Tall Stories has loved The Snail and the Whale ever since its publication and in 2010 we began to think about how it could be possible to adapt the picture book for the stage. Tricky when your main characters are a tiny snail and a great big, grey-blue humpback whale... Then co-director Toby Mitchell read a news story about Storybook Soldiers, an organisation which helps British military personnel serving abroad to record bedtime stories for their children to listen to while they are away. The thousands of families they have worked with have discovered that there is nothing that helps bridge the distance better than the sound of a parent’s voice, reading. We learnt that across Afghanistan and other countries where the British military are present, there are secret caches of The Gruffalo and The Snail and the Whale. While soldiers recover from their daily operations, army padres ask if anyone wants to record a bedtime story for their children, thousands of miles away... Inspired by the book by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler The Show (cont) One of the soldiers’ favourite books to record was The Snail and the Whale, a story in which a small creature wants to go round the world with a big creature... Toby immediately saw the parallel between that story and a little girl at home and her father serving on a military ship abroad. He wondered whether the Tall Stories’ production could look at how the story of The Snail and the Whale could connect a father and daughter who have to live apart. Tall Stories contacted Storybook Soldiers and, as part of the devising of the show, worked with the scheme’s founders, Kirsty Alderson and Rosemary Meeke, at the Army Education Centre in Tidworth.