418 West Short Street What will you Lexington, KY 40507 discover? 859.254.4546 FAX.254.9512 2015-2016 Season Play Guide Dear Educator, Lexington Children’s Theatre is proud to be producing our 77th season of plays for young people and their families. As an organization that val- ues the arts and education, we have created this Play Guide for teachers to utilize in conjunction with seeing a play at LCT. Our Play Guides are designed to be On Tour Spring 2016 a valuable tool in two ways: helping you prepare your students for the en- On our Stage: January 26-29, riching performance given by LCT’s 10:00am & 11:45am performers, as well as serving as an educational tool for extending the Our Mission to Schools, Program Review production experience back into your Teachers and Students Information classroom. The mission of Lexington We designed each activity to assist in Children’s Theatre’s Educa- Not only does our pro- tion Department is to provide gramming align with achieving the Kentucky Core Content students of all ages with the KCC Standards, but this (KCC) and to integrate the arts with means to actively explore the Play Guide as a whole is your core curricular subjects. beauty, diversity, complexity aligned with the KY Arts and challenges of the world and Humanities Program Teachers are important voices at around them through the Review under the follow- LCT. We rely heavily on your input. If dramatic process. We strive ing demonstrators: you have comments or suggestions for young people to develop about our Play Guides, show selec- their own creative voice, their Demonstrator 2: a,c,d imagination and their under- tions or any of our programming, your Demonstrator 3: a,b,d standing of drama and its thoughts are greatly appreciated. role in society. Demonstrator 4: d Please respond to the Teacher Re- sponse form following a performance. We are thrilled that you rely on LCT to This play guide is sponsored by provide your students a quality the- atrical experience, and we hope this resource aids you in extending our production into your classroom. LCT’s Education Department Play Synopsis Puss is a good for nothing cat – or so she is told. When it comes time for three brothers to divide their father’s estate, the eldest, Jacques gets the mill, Marc gets the donkey and Henry, the youngest, is left the worthless cat. Puss sets out to prove herself to Henry and the rest of the world. She promises Henry that all his wishes will be fulfilled, if he believes in her. Without other options, Henry enters a part- nership with Puss. Puss’ first request: boots. The Cobbler gives them the boots and clothes when Puss and Henry promise to retrieve what the Cobbler is owed from the magical, tyrannical Ogre who makes all the people pay him patronage. Puss knows he must win the King’s favor to succeed. Puss catches a rabbit, the King’s favorite delicacy, and uses it to gain an audience with the King. Puss invites the King to his master’s (the Marquis of Calabas – a.k.a. Henry) estate. The King delightfully accepts. When Puss tells Henry of his success, Henry is horrified! He doesn’t have an estate! He is not a Marquis! What has Puss got them into? Puss tells Henry to trust him and go jump in the pond as the King’s carriage is headed their way. Henry even- tually agrees. The King happens upon Puss who is shouting that they’ve been robbed of the Marquis’ clothes. The King provides clothing and requests that the Marquis joins them on the journey to his estate. Puss runs ahead to get things ready… and figure out her plan. Puss must claim the Ogre’s villa for the Marquis. On the way, Puss convinces the farmers and the peasants to tell the King that all the land he sees belongs to the Marquis. When Puss arrives, the Ogre de- cides to eat Puss, but not before Puss tricks him into transforming into a bear and an elephant. Just as Puss is about to be eaten, she challeng- es the Ogre to transform into something small. The Ogre’s pride gets the best of him, and when he transforms into a mouse, Puss eats him! All is solved! The King arrives with Henry and the Princess and agrees to allow them to marry. Puss has proven herself to be a cunning cat and loyal friend. Your Role in the Play You may wish to have a discussion with your class about your upcoming LCT experience and their role as audience members. Remind your students that theatre can only exist with an audience. Your students’ energy and response directly affects the actors onstage. The quality of the performance depends as much on the audience as it does on each of the theatre professionals behind the scenes and onstage. Young audiences should know that watching live theatre is not like watching more familiar forms of entertainment; they cannot pause or rewind us like a DVD, there are no commercials for bathroom breaks, nor can they turn up the volume to hear us if someone else is talking. Your students are encouraged to listen and watch the play intently, so that they may laugh and cheer for their favorite characters when it is appropriate. At the end of the play, applause is an opportunity for your students to thank the actors, while the actors are thanking you for the role they played as an audience. Before the Play ANIMAL ACTION! Puss is a cat played by a human with human qualities. Ask students to brainstorm a list of words that describe themselves: What are their talents? What makes them special? What do they like about themselves? Next, ask students to imagine themselves as an animal that could also fit their list of words. For example: Dog: Loyal, playful, loves food. Fish: Good swimmer, shimmery personality. Once students have identified their animal have them move around an open space as that animal. As you read the following text aloud, students will act out what you’re saying with their bodies. You can also come up with your own narrative ideas for your students to explore! “When I count to five you will become your animal. One, two, three, four, five! Now image your animal waking up from a long winters nap. They stretch their, paws or fins or claws up. They stretch them down. And suddenly you realize you are very hungry. You see food that you want! How does your animal get the food? Does it sneak up on it? Does is sniff it first? As I slowly count to five you are going to eat the food and be done on five. 1,2,3,4,5! Now you want to play! You look around the room. Are there other animals you want to play with? Are there animals you are scared of? Show me how you play!” RHYME AWAY THE TIME Puss uses a rhyming song to tell the audience about parts of the play. Have students work in pairs to make up their own rhyme using a rhyming pattern. Here are some examples: AAA ABAB There once was a cat Roses are red Who was very fat Violets are blue And loved to sleep on a mat. It’s all in my head Rhyme Time But I love you! Come up with lists of rhyming words with your students (cat, hat, fat, bat, mat, splat…) Finally have students write a short rhyme (1- 2 stanzas) about their day so far KCC: WR-E-1.3, AH-E-3.1.41, AH-E-3.1.43 RE-THINK, RE-IMAGINE, RE-DISCOVER! Many of your students may be familiar with the 2011 Antonio Benderas movie Puss in Boots. Talk with your students about different versions of stories, and how the play they are going to see is a different version than the movie. (For more information: see the article in this play guide.) Next, have students choose a favorite fairy tale character. Challenge them to put that character in a new adventure by drawing a three panel comic strip with a beginning, middle and end. KCC: WR-EP 1.1.2, WR-EP 2.32 Your Confident Clothing COPY PAGE COPY Puss is not just a cat. She is a smart, clever, and trustworthy cat! She’s feels great in her fancy boots, vest and hat. What clothes make you feel great? Color in yourself wearing the outfit, costume, whatever that makes you feel confident and great about who you are! Tracing the Tail: Puss in Boots Today when people think of Puss in Boots, many picture the spunky cat assassin from DreamWorks’ “Shrek 2.” Although there are definitely some similarities between this Puss and the original fairytale, the storylines are completely different. In fact, “Puss in Boots” has been around for centuries before this movie. Puss, otherwise known as “Master Cat” or sometimes even “The Booted Cat,” was first created by Italian author Giovanni Francesco Straparola in the mid 1500’s. But Puss’ popu- larity came more than a hundred years later when in 1697 he was featured in Charles Perrault’s collection, Histoires ou contes du temps passé (“Stories or Fairy Tales from Past Times with Morals”). Other popular titles found in this collection include: “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper,” and “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.” In” The Master Cat, or, Puss in Boots”, Puss used his intelligence and skills in trickery to help his poor master gain fame and fortune.