Games Sydney Opera House Teacher Resources Contents Performance Description and Synopsis ................................................................................ 2 Meet the Creatives ................................................................................................................ 3 Interview with Henry Naylor................................................................................................... 5 Pre-Performance Activities .................................................................................................... 8 Drama ............................................................................................................................... 8 English .............................................................................................................................. 8 History ............................................................................................................................... 8 Post-Performance Activities ................................................................................................ 10 Drama ............................................................................................................................. 10 English ............................................................................................................................ 10 History Elective ................................................................................................................ 11 Extra Resource Materials .................................................................................................... 12 1 Games Teacher Resources Performance Description and Synopsis Henry Naylor’s Games minimalist play is set during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The play is based on the true story of Helene Mayor and Gretel Bergmann - two world class athletes and their journeys to represent their country. Watch Gretel Bergmann’s determination to participate despite all odds and watch the Helen Meyer’s journey as she realises that she is fighting for more than a gold medal at the Olympics. The play makes audiences critically think about who and what it is that defines us. It is a politically charged play which resonates with today’s audiences highlighting antisemitism, fascism, segregation, bias, extremism and injustice in the world. 2 Games Teacher Resources Meet the Creatives http://www.holdenstreettheatres.com/index.php/HST-Fringe-Programs/HST-Fringe- Programs/fringe-2019/games-henry-naylor Sophie Shad - "Helene Meyer" Sophie worked professionally as a child, playing Little Cosette in the West End's 'Les Miserables', as well as a principal role in the BBC's Grange Hill. She went on to train at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and has since worked in film, theatre and radio. As the Granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Sophie has always been passionate about telling meaningful stories from the past, and in recent years she wrote, produced, and acted in 'Kitty's Fortune' - a film that tells the story of Holocaust survivor Kitty Hart-Moxon's (OBE) first night in Auschwitz. The film was selected for BAFTA-qualifying film festivals, and has toured schools across the country with the aim of helping young people to connect with the atrocities from our past. She is a firm believer that we learn from our mistakes by ensuring that the past is never forgotten - and hopes that telling these stories through the means of film and theatre will be a cog in the wheel of working towards a more peaceful future. She is honoured to be playing the role of Helene Mayer in this production. Tessie Orange-Turner - "Gretel Bergmann" Tessie trained at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Theatre includes Masterpieces (Finborough Theatre), All The Little Lights (Nottingham Playhouse and Arcola Theatre), Sket (Park Theatre), Blister (Gate Theatre), Bassett (Soho Theatre), No Border (Theatre503), The Wonderful World of Dissocia, You Can’t Take It With You, Relationshit, Thebans, Twelfth Night and A Chorus of Disapproval (Richard Burton Company). Film includes You, Me and Him. Television includes Casualty. Henry Naylor - Writer Henry Naylor is a multi-award-winning UK playwright, who has been described as ‘one of our best new playwrights’ in The Times, ‘one of our best new playwrights’ in The Evening Standard, and ‘one of the most thought- provoking playwrights of our times,’ in The Spectator. In the past 3½ years his plays have won, or been nominated for 34 international awards, including one of France’s most prestigious awards for the arts, the Globes De Cristal. In 2016, he joined J.K. Rowling in having written one of the 10 Best Plays Of The Year by The Times. He is one of only a handful of writers to have won the Fringe First three times, and has won four of the top five Fringe awards at the Edinburgh Fringe, including the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award. The one he hasn’t won - the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award – he’s been nominated for three times. Three of his plays have had month long runs off- Broadway, and in 2017 alone there were over 300 public performances of his work, over five continents. His work has been translated into eight languages. ‘Naylor seems to have taken the mantle of writers like Athol Fugard: to make theater by telling the stories that matter.’ DC Theatre Scene (USA) 3 Games Teacher Resources Louise Skaaning - Director Louise spends her working life between London and her native Denmark. She first trained at Scenekunst Academiet at the age of 21 specializing in physical theatre. In 2010 Louise took part in a project that toured across Syria, Lebanon and Georgia – the project was in the style of forum theatre. After moving to London in 2011, Louise then furthered her training at the prestigious East 15 Acting School. This led onto many projects, including assistant director of Hiraeth at Soho Theatre in London, as well as her debut play Chlorine in 2014, about a young woman’s journey through psychosis and eventual recovery. More recently she has directed the acclaimed Flew the Coop at the new Diorama theatre. At the Adelaide Fringe in 2018, she began working with Naylor, when she co-directed the Overall Critics’ Circle Winner: Borders. Subsequently she went on to direct the previews and premiere of Games in Prague and in Edinburgh (where the show won the Innovation Award, the Voice award and was nominated for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award). At ease with both directing and acting, Louise is currently touring with a play in Denmark called Pudemin: a play aimed at younger audiences about confronting the fear of the unknown. 4 Games Teacher Resources Interview with Henry Naylor How did the concept of the show come about? I’ve always written political plays, about the ‘big issues’ of the day. Partly because I used to be a stand-up comedian, and my set was always about things which were in the news. Before writing Games, I wanted to do a piece attacking the rise of the Far Right, as it seems to be becoming increasingly powerful. Particularly in the UK, after the Brexit vote. And I also wanted to do a piece for my actress friend Avital Lvova. I was on tour with her at a Festival in Cape Verde. Neither of us spoke Portuguese, so when we went for a drink after the show, we only had ourselves for company. And I said to her, ‘right – let’s come up with a new show for you. You’re Jewish, you’re built like an athlete… and I want to do something questioning the far right – let’s do a Google Search and see if anything comes up.’ So I think we searched ‘Jewish female athlete Nazi Olympics’ – and Helene’s tale popped up. It was such an incredible story – we spent about two hours clicking on all the links. And by the end of the evening, we had the framework for a play. Could you describe the process you took to write the play? When I write a play, the bulk of the time is spent researching. I’ll read and watch everything I can find about the subject, and, where possible do interviews with relevant people. This can take a good six months. After a while, I find that I hit a point where I understand the characters so well, that they ‘talk’ to me. I can have discussions and arguments with them in my head! That’s when I start writing – because the characters then have a voice, which I can channel. In the case of Games there was an added complication – in that I was basing the story on real people in history. As a writer you feel a sense of responsibility – of wanting to try and portray the characters as fairly as you can. Often I’m keen to cast the show before I’ve finished writing. I like to tailor the piece according to the actress – so that the words ‘feel true’. It’s also important, as a playwright, to hear your words back. It becomes much easier to edit the work when you hear it performed. It’s easier to spot sections which are flabby and need trimming. So I’ll continue to write and mould the script as we rehearse. The show focuses on the stories of Helene Meyer and Gretel Bergmann. Why do you think it is important to remind audiences about personal stories? I think it’s important, to help audiences connect with the past. One of the problems with the way that history is taught, is that we typically only learn about the decisions of World Leaders and about specific events. It can be quite alienating, and distancing. It’s hard for us to put ourselves in the shoes of the average person in history. Because the impact of policies and events on real people are often ignored. Especially as the horrors of history