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Study Guide FOR
WWW.LITTLEREDTHEATRE.ON.CA
Dear Teachers/Arts Contacts
little red theatre has created something new in HILLBILLY GOATS GRUFF, designed for
schools, libraries and community theatres.
We’re on the road with it this February and March
2010 and it is designed for students between the ages of
4-10 or grades JK to 4.
We
look forward to bringing this show to your school
shortly. All
you will need to do is sit back and enjoy.
But first!
Please make sure that your gym is available for
the actors to set up,
1 hour before the show starts.
We do not
use gym stages. The actors will set up on the floor
of your gym and the kids will also sit on the floor. The
actors will set up the room to invite teachers to sit on
benches or chairs at the sides.
In order to maximize this gift of theatre to your
students, we highly recommend that you make copies
of this guide for teachers and teachers assistants
who will share this theatre experience with the
students.
What little red
theatre understands about performing for young
children is that it is always best to mix the mediums in
which the story is delivered.
That is why all of our plays include different
forms of puppetry, dance, song and music, poetry and
interesting lighting effects.
This keeps our young audience engaged and uses
more than just one style of learning.
Educators have long known that the arts can contribute
to student academic success and emotional well being and
the ancient art of storytelling is especially
well-suited for student exploration.
As a folk art, storytelling is accessible to all
ages and abilities. No special equipment beyond the
imagination and the power of listening and speaking is
needed to create artistic images.
Participation is also necessary and our productions
allow for feedback at appropriate places. In our version
of HILLBILLY GOATS GRUFF we overlap songs that are
repeated so they will become familiar with them.
In Green Grass Grew All Around, the verses have a
call back which is very effective for participation.
Jody Terio
Artistic Director
INFO ABOUT THE STORY:
The story of Billy Goats Gruff is a Norwegian tale that
all kids are familiar with.
There is nary a child who does not know the 'trip
trip trip trip over the bridge' rhythm of goats going to
meet the troll.
We tell the
story in a humorous way while providing valuable life
lessons at the very same time. We mix up the story which
from our experience with other fairy tales, adds an
element of fun and surprise
that keeps the kids helpful and very interested
in participating.
Whereas in Goldilocks we had the narrator correct
the characters when they got it wrong, in Hillbilly
Goats Gruff we celebrate that fairy tales change!
For our version of the tale, we decided to take the
story and place it in a context of a TV show called
“Fairy Tales Now” and the Hillbilly Goat Games is a
Sporting Event.
This allowed us to take a very short story and
develop it into an interesting tale with plenty of back
story. How
did the Goats get ready for the event? How did the troll
get under the bridge?
What does the Troll think about while he is
waiting for the goats?
How do the Goats feel about their
accomplishments?
Because we are loosely simulating a TV show
we also add commercials which are short plugs for
interesting things and provide teaching about
presentation.
In our fast-paced, media-driven world,
storytelling through theatre can be a nurturing way to
remind children that
spoken words are powerful, that listening is
important, and that clear communication between people
is an art form not to be minimized.
with bullying and
solutions to this problem and solving problems on
stage can heighten a student's ability to communicate
thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner.
These benefits transcend the art experience to support
life skills.
We are also interested in teaching children PROBLEM
SOLVING.
As a learning tool, storytelling through theatre
encourages students to explore the unique problems that
come with something like bullying. Theatre can heighten
a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings
in an articulate, lucid manner. These benefits transcend
the art experience to support life skills.
In this production we
address in different ways because in each
Hillbilly Goat that crosses, he solves his problem
differently.
There is the aspect of bullying and what the
underpinnings and motives of bullying are.
Bullying has been around for as long as anyone can
remember and bullying is a common theme in stories about
childhood and adolescence, from 19th century authors
like Charles Dickens in his classic novels, Oliver Twist
and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
, to Eleanor Estes 1944 book The Hundred Dresses, and
more recently Nick Hornby’s 2002 novel, About a Boy . It
is only in recent years, however, that bullying has
begun to receive serious research attention within the
scientific community, with the first
studies on bullying emerging in the 1970s by
Norwegian researcher, Dan Olweus. Today, bullying is
recognized as a worldwide issue for children around the
globe, and research on the topic is increasing
exponentially.
All
little red theatre productions stimulate CREATIVITY
and are always hoping that when kids see our shows, they
go back to their classrooms and want to make their own
shows. We
have had so much feedback about the impact our
productions have on children over the years and how
little things like a repeated poem or a song or a dance
will come back long after we are all gone.
When
little red
theatre presents interesting plays that are thought
out months ahead of conception. We create
a varied tapestry of images and motifs that are
guaranteed to make impressions on developing minds and
HILLBILLY GOATS GRUFF guarantees to continue our trend
of making exciting
theatre for young audiences that both educates
and entertains.
"Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Involve me and I will understand."
Chinese Proverb
The Visual Design:
Over the years little red theatre has always maintained
a strong use of visuals in our shows. Through the
combination puppetry, masks and headresses, versatile
sets and vibrant lighting, an ordinary school gym can be
turned into a magical setting that ignites excitement in
children (and adults too).
For our production of Hillbilly Goats Gruff, we create
wonderful papier mache head dresses for our main
characters.
This allows flexibility in terms of actors switching
roles easily.
Mask/Headresses
are created for our main characters, TV hosts Molly
Goose our storyteller, and Coach Shaun, roaming host and
Don Key, the host of the TV show - Fairy Tales Now.
The Three Hillbilly Goats wear popular wooly hats
with textured clothing to create a cross between skin
and fabric and the three Trolls are all inspired from
the little toy trolls and the Norwegian sculptures that
splash the North of Europe with texture.
The sets and costumes of HILLBILLY
GOATS GRUFF are designed by Jason J. Brown. In little red theatre
productions it is common for actors to play many
different characters.
Set is designed as a bridge front and centre with
the structure made from painter’s scaffolding with a
light coreplast and fabric design for bridge. Water and
Troll home will be made using fabrics that are light and
bright.
The backdrop will be painted using light silks
and bright colors. For commercials we are creating a
separate side stage and will take place on a backdrop
using slide projections to create different static
environments and to simulate a TV environment.
WHO ARE THE ‘HILLBILLIES’? Hillbilly is traditionally a term referring to people who dwell in rural mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term is used in celebration of their culture by mountain people themselves. However, the term hillbilly music is now used more loosely to describe “old time music”.
MUSICAL IDEAS:
The composer for this production is Kirk Elliott who has a wide range of
talents including playing many instruments and we are
going to produce a fun and creative soundtrack for this
production that appeals to kids and familiarizes them
with different styles of music.
The name
Hillbilly Goats was catchy and offered something
kooky and also earthy since the landscape is a meadow.
Kirk’s skill with creating different styles of
music and his expertise with the fiddle made him the
obvious choice for composing this particular sountrack.
For our soundtrack and our songs we draw from these traditions and
incorporate them into our play.
In our workshop production in July we worked with
two traditional tunes,
“Green Grass Grew All Around” and
“It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More”.
Both songs proved to be very popular with the
kids and we think they are fun to perform in our
production of “Hillbilly Goats Gruff”.
Oh,
it ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It
ain't gonna rain no more
It
ain't gonna hail and it ain't gonna snow
if it
ain't gonna rain no more
Oh,
it ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It
ain't gonna rain no more
How
in the heck can I wash around my neck
if it
ain't gonna rain no more?
Bake
those biscuits good and brown
It
ain't gonna rain no more
Swing
your partner round and round
It
ain't gonna rain no more
Bullfrog sitting on a lily pad
He
looked up at the sky
The
lily pad broke and the frog fell in
He
got water all in his eye
Oh,
it ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It
ain't gonna rain no more
How
do you suppose
The
Old Man knows
It
ain't gonna rain no more
OUR
LYRICS TO GREEN GRASS GREW ALL AROUND!
I
said there was a hill
I
said there was a hill
The
prettiest hill
The
prettiest hill
In
the middle of the ground
In
the middle of the ground
A
hill on the ground
and
the Green Grass grew all around all around
the
Green Grass grew all around.
There
was a hill
There
was a hill
And
on this hill
And
on this hill
There
were some goats
There
were some goats
The
prettiest goats
The
prettiest goats
That
you ever did see
That
you ever did see
Goats
on a hill
Hill
on the ground
And
the green grass grew all around
The
Green grass grew all around
There
was a bridge
There
was a bridge
And
under that bridge
And
under that bridge
Was
the uglist Troll
Was
the ugliest Troll
That
you ever did see
That
you ever did see
Troll
under the bridge
Goats
on the hill
Hill
on the ground
And
the green grass grew all around all around
And
the green grass grew all around.
And
on that troll
And
on that troll
There
was a nose
there
was a nose
The
ugliest nose
The
ugliest nose
That
you ever did see
That
you ever did see
The
nose on the troll,
Troll
under the bridge,
And
the green grass grew all around, all around
The
green grass grew all around.
And
the green grass grew all around, all around
The
green grass grew all around.
Norway Once upon a time
there were three billy goats, who were to go up to the
hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all
three was "Gruff." On the way up
was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross;
and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll , with
eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker. So first of all
came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge. "Trip, trap,
trip, trap! " went the bridge. "Who's that
tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll . "Oh, it is only
I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to
the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat,
with such a small voice. "Now, I'm coming
to gobble you up," said the troll. "Oh, no! pray
don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the
billy goat. "Wait a bit till the second Billy Goat Gruff
comes. He's much bigger." "Well, be off
with you," said the troll. A little while
after came the second Billy Goat Gruff to cross the
bridge. Trip, trap,
trip, trap, trip, trap, went the bridge. "Who's that
tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll. "Oh, it's the
second Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the
hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, who
hadn't such a small voice. "Now I'm coming
to gobble you up," said the troll. "Oh, no! Don't
take me. Wait a little till the big Billy Goat Gruff
comes. He's much bigger." "Very well! Be
off with you," said the troll. But just then up
came the big Billy Goat Gruff . Trip, trap,
trip, trap, trip, trap! went the bridge, for the billy
goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned
under him. "Who's that
tramping over my bridge?" roared the troll. "It's I! The big
Billy Goat Gruff ," said the billy goat, who had an ugly
hoarse voice of his own. "Now I 'm coming
to gobble you up," roared the troll.
That was what the
big billy goat said. And then he flew at the troll, and
poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to
bits, body and bones, and tossed him out into the
cascade, and after that he went up to the hillside.
There the billy goats got so fat they were scarcely able
to walk home again. And if the fat hasn't fallen off
them, why, they're still fat; and so,
ALL ABOUT GOATS!! Goats are one of
the oldest domesticated species. Goats have been used
for their
milk, meat, hair, and skins
over much of the world In the twentieth
century they also gained in popularity as pets.
Female goats are
referred to as
does or nannies, males as
bucks or
billies; their offspring are
kids. Note that many goat breeders prefer the terms
"buck" and "doe" to "billy" and "nanny".
Goats
are extremely curious and intelligent. They are easily
trained to pull carts and walk on leads. They are also
known for escaping their pens. Goats will test fences,
either intentionally or simply because they are handy to
climb on. If any of the fencing can be spread, pushed
over or down, or otherwise be overcome, the goats will
escape. Being very intelligent, once a weakness in the
fence has been discovered, it will be exploited
repeatedly. Goats are very coordinated and can climb and
hold their balance in the most precarious places. Goats
are also widely known for their ability to climb trees,
although the tree generally has to be on somewhat of an
angle. The vocalization goats make is called bleating.
Goats
have an intensely inquisitive and intelligent nature:
they will explore anything new or unfamiliar in their
surroundings.
This is why they
investigate items such as buttons, camera cases or
clothing (and many other things besides) by nibbling at
them, occasionally even eating them.
Our
narrator in Hillbilly Goats Gruff is a descendant of
Mother Goose, her name is Molly Goose! A little info on
this character:
Mother Goose Mother Goose is a well-known character in the literature of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes as if Mother Goose herself was the author or collector. As a character, she is prominent in several stories and "nursery rhymes". A Christmas pantomime called "Mother Goose" is often performed in the United Kingdom. The so-called "Mother Goose" rhymes and stories have formed the basis for many classic British pantomimes. Mother Goose is generally depicted in literature and book illustration as an elderly country woman in a tall hat and shawl, but is sometimes depicted as a goose.
Who was Mother Goose?
Mother Goose
is the name given to an archetypal country woman,[2] who
is supposedly the originator of the Mother Goose stories
and rhymes. Yet no specific writer has ever been
identified with such a name, of which the first known
mention appears in an aside in a versified chronicle of
weekly happenings that appeared regularly for several
years, Jean Loret's
La Muse Historique,
collected in 1650.
His remark,
...comme un conte de la Mere Oye ("...like a Mother
Goose story") shows that the term was already familiar.
In spite of
evidence to the contrary,
there are doubtful reports, familiar to tourists
to Boston
Massachusetts that the original Mother Goose was a
Bostonian wife of an Isaac Goose, either named Elizabeth
Foster Goose (1665-1758) or Mary Goose (d. 1690, age 42)
who is interred at the Granary Burying Ground on Tremont
Street.[5] According to Eleanor Early, a Boston travel
and history writer of the 1930s and '40s, the original
Mother Goose was a real person who lived in Boston in
the 1660s.
She was reportedly the second wife of Isaac Goose
(alternatively named Vergoose or Vertigoose), who
brought to the marriage six children of her own to add
to Isaac's ten.
After Isaac died, Elizabeth went to live with her
eldest daughter, who had married Thomas Fleet, a
publisher who lived on Pudding Lane (now Devonshire
Street). According to Early, "Mother Goose" used to sing
songs and ditties to her grandchildren all day, and
other children swarmed to hear them. Finally, her
son-in-law gathered her jingles together and printed
them.
The first
public appearance of the Mother Goose stories in the New
World was in Worcester, Massachusetts, where printer
Isaiah Thomas reprinted Samber's volume under the same
title, in 1786.
A book of
poems for children entitled
Mother Goose's
Melody was published in England in 1781, and the
name "Mother Goose" has been associated with children's
poetry ever since.
In
1837, John Bellenden Ker Gawler published a book (with a
2nd-volume sequel in 1840) deriving the origin of the
Mother Goose
rhymes from Flemish ('Low Dutch') puns.
In music,
Maurice Ravel wrote Ma Mère l'Oye, a suite for the
piano, which he then orchestrated for a ballet. There is
also a song called Mother Goose by
progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their 1971
Aqualung album. The song seems to be unrelated to the
figure of Mother Goose since she is only the first of
many surreal images that the narrator encounters and
describes through the lyrics. "Old Mother Goose"
In addition
to being the purported authoress of nursery rhymes,
Mother Goose is herself the title character of one such
rhyme:
Old Mother
Goose,
When she
wanted to wander,
Would ride
through the air
On a very
fine gander.
Jack's
mother came in,
And caught
the goose soon,
And mounting
its back,
Flew up to
the moon.
WORKSHOP IDEAS
ON PAGE 15 THERE IS A PRINTABLE WORKSHEET FOR STUDENTS.
****************
Most of the ideas here can be played with
either before the performance or after.
Because the intention of the performance is to
enrich and deepen our experience of the fairy tale, it
might be interesting to do some of the things before and
after to see the changes.
Things To Do
Get the book THE
THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF from the library. Write 'The
Three _____' for students to see and ask students to
guess the title of the story. Once students have
discovered the title, show them the cover of the book
and ask them to share facts that they think they know
about goats. Then, show students real pictures of goats
and share some facts about goats that will be helpful
for them to know before hearing the story (such as where
goats usually live, what goats like to eat, body parts
such as horns and hooves, what sound they make, etc.).
New Story:
Reread
the title; Introduce the author and illustrator; Explain
that in this story, although goats can be real, there is
another character in the story who is not real- a troll;
Have students make predictions about what a 'troll'
might look like; Ask students to listen as you read to
see what the troll looks like and to listen for things
that happen three times each (being stopped by the
troll, the sound of the goats stepping on the bridge,
crossing the bridge, etc.)
More Things to Do!!
Doing drama is
stimulating for kids.
Classrooms are designed for desks the number 1
issue being order and visibility to the central target
ie teacher/blackboard.
First thing you need to do is get the desks off
the grid, leaving a wide open space in the middle.
Performing and watching are the key activities that make
it all work.
1.Read story out loud so that everyone remembers the
details of the story.
Divide into groups of 6 and have each person
choose the role they would like : Storyteller, Three
Billy Goats, The Troll(S) .
Let them make up their own lines and have the
groups perform their interpretation. Do not encourage
kids to stick to the original story.
If they are inventing.... let them go for it!
Fairy tales should be regularly re-invented.
Discuss:
Why they liked or
didn't like the roles that they were playing.
NOTE: The more relaxed kids are performing the better
they get at it, the more they perform, the more relaxed
they get.
TO DO:
HAVE ONE OF YOUR KIDS SUGGEST ANOTHER STORY AND GROUPS
CAN GO AND ACT THAT ONE OUT.
NOTE: Training
your audience to give their attention to the performers
is a very important thing you can teach them in regards
to the theatre.
It empowers the performers and it trains children
to listen and observe, there’s no end to how useful
those skills are.
‘giving your attention to’ is active and
much easier for children to do then ‘listen’ or ‘don’t
talk’
WE
ENJOY HEARING FROM YOUR STUDENTS.
IF THEY HAVE PICTURES OR STORIES THAT THEY
WOULD LIKE TO SEND TO US, WE'D LOVE TO RECEIVE THEM.
Send to:
LITTLE RED THEATRE
25 Beaty Avenue, Toronto M6K 3B3, Fax: 416-533-6716
email: info@littleredtheatre.on.ca
little red theatre is a Non Profit Registered charity that
brings musical theatre performances and workshops into
the schools, libraries and communities throughout
Toronto and Central Ontario.
Our shows are multi media performances which
include puppetry, music, dance and theatre and our
workshops include intensive learning of these pertinent
skills.
We have been creating theatre for 21 years
now and the beauty of our work is that we provide
services to all children regardless of their
nationality, race, religion, creed, sex or orientation.
Our programming covers many educational topics
which encourage safety, resolution of conflict, making
peace, team playing, racial awareness and exploration of
the values of different cultures.
We have produced the fairy tales of
Hansel and
Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood,
Goldilocks and
the Three Canadian Bears,
The
Ugly Duckling, The Crab Prince, Princess Stories From
Around the World, The Nightingale.
We have produced
the plays of Junk
In The Attic, a conflict resolution play,
Sleeping Beauty’s
Dream, Poppy's Dream, a Christmas pageant,
Halloween Pranks, Halloween Pranks 2, Media Quest, a biography series
(versions 1 - 4),
Jelly Belly,
the poetry of Dennis Lee,
Anansi the Spider
tales, The Name of the Tree, Aesop’s Fables
and
Darkness and the Butterfly from an African story by
Ann Grifalconi.
little red theatre also runs a Summer Creative Arts Camp for kids where
they learn various theatrical and musical/dance skills
while putting up their own productions. |
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NAME: _______________________ GRADE:______________ HILLBILLY GOATS GRUFF 1. What are some of the messages in the story of Hillbilly Goats Gruff? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
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