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BY AUREN
UNBEKANT
S G
TUDY UIDE
Naming Sponsor:
Syracuse Stage and the Syracuse University Department of Drama Present The Bank of America Children’s Tour September - December 2010
2010 / 2011 EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH SPONSORS
S
yracuse Stage is committed to providing students with rich theatre experiences that explore and examine what it is to be human. Research shows that children who participate in or are exposed to the arts show higher academic achievement, stronger selfesteem, and improved ability to plan and work toward a future goal. Many students in our community have their first taste of live theatre through Syracuse Stage’s outreach programs. Last season more than 30,000 students from across New York State attended or participated in the Bank of America Children’s Tour, Backstory performances, artsEmerging, the Young Playwrights Festival, and our Student Matinee Program. We gratefully acknowledge the corporations and foundations who support our commitment to in-depth arts education for our community. Children’s Tour Naming Sponsor
Student Matinee Series Sponsor
additional support by
ArtsEmerging supported in part by
John Ben Snow Foundation, Inc.
Kathy & Dan Mezzalingua
The Kochian Family The Bass Family
Backstory Program supported in part by
General Educational Outreach supported in part by
The Golub Foundation
Lori Pasqualino as “Annabel” in the 2010 Bank of America Children’s Tour: Annabel Drudge... and the Second Day of School. Photo by Michael Davis
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BY AUREN
UNBEKANT
Timothy Bond
Producing Artistic Director Syracuse Stage and SU Drama
CONTENTS
820 E Genesee Street Syracuse, NY 13210 www.SyracuseStage.org
Director of Educational Outreach
Lauren Unbekant (315) 443-1150
Manager of Educational Outreach
Michelle Scully (315) 442-7755
Group Sales & Student Matinees
4. Production Information 5. Teaching Theatre 8. Letter from the Playwright 9. About the Play and Key Issues 12. Context 14. Sources and Resources 15. Syracuse Stage Season Info
Tracey White (315) 443-9844 Box Office
(315) 443-3275
EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH AT SYRACUSE STAGE The Bank of America CHILDREN’S TOUR brings high-energy, interactive, and culturally diverse performances to elementary school audiences
Syracuse Stage is Central New York’s premiere professional theatre. Founded in 1974, Stage has produced more than 220 plays in 36 seasons including numerous world and American premieres. Each season, upwards of 90,000 patrons enjoy an exciting mix of comedies, dramas and musicals featuring leading designers, directors and performers from New York and across the country, supported by a full-time and seasonal staff of artisans, technicians and administrators.
The BACKSTORY Program brings history to life, as professional actors portray historical figures in classrooms and other venues artsEMERGING takes students on an in-depth exploration of our mainstage season using a multi-cultural, multi-arts lens The YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL challenges students to submit original tenminute plays for a chance to see their work performed at Syracuse Stage
Find us on:
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
DRAMA PRESENT THE BANK OF AMERICA CHILDREN’S TOUR
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Lauren Unbekant SCRIPT DRAMATURGY BY
COSTUME DESIGN BY
Kyle Bass
Devon Ritchie
SCENIC DESIGN BY
STAGE MANAGER
Meggan Camp
Brooke Feldman
SOUND DESIGN BY
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Jonathan Herter
Savanna Rovelstad FEATURING
ANNABEL DRUDGE IMA DRUDGE PHILLIP DRUDGE
Lori Pasqualino Chelsea Gonzalez Elliot Peterson
Supporting the arts is a main priority of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, which is why we are so excited to partner with Syracuse Stage on this exciting project. Through innovative programs such as this one, we can effectively encourage the children in our community to embrace the arts at an early age. Bank of America is pleased to support such an important program and hopes children throughout the greater Syracuse area will take full advantage of it. 4
SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
TEACHING THEATRE
“Theatre brings life to life.” Zelda Fichandler
Founding Artistic Director Arena Stage, Washington DC
W
hen the first cave-dweller got up to tell a story, theatre began. Almost every culture has some sort of live performance tradition to tell stories. Television and film may have diminished the desire for access to theatre, but they have not diminished the importance. Live theatre gives each audience member an opportunity to connect with the performers in a way he/she never could with actors on a television or movie screen. The emotions can be more intense because the events are happening right in front of the audience.
Audience
Etiquette A few reminders... BE PROMPT Give your students plenty of time to arrive, find their seats, and get situated. RESPECT OTHERS’ SPACE Remind your students not to bump/kick the people around them, or their chairs. GOOD NOISE, BAD NOISE Instead of instructing students to remain totally silent, you should discuss the difference between appropriate responses (laughter, applause, participation when requested) and inappropriate noise (talking, cell phones, etc). STAY WITH US Please do not leave, or allow students to leave, once a performance has begun, except in absolute emergencies. 5
AT
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SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
of
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heatre
Any piece of theatre is comprised of multiple art forms. As you explore Annabel Drudge with your students, examine the use of:
WRITING (see below) VISUAL ART/DESIGN (see next page) MUSIC/SOUND DANCE/MOVEMENT
Most (but not all) plays begin with a script — a story to be told and a blueprint of how to tell it. In his famous treatise, The Poetics, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle outlined
TEACHING THEATRE
INQUIRY How are each of these art forms used in Annabel Drudge? Why are they used? How do they help to tell the story?
SIX ELEMENTS OF DRAMA that playwrights are mindful of to this day:
Plot What is the story line? Language What What happened before the play started? What does each character want? What do they do to achieve their goals? What do they stand to gain/lose?
do the characters say? How do they say it? When do they say it? Do they speak to one character differently than another? Why?
Theme What ideas are Music How do music wrestled with in the play? What questions does the play pose? Does it present an opinion on those questions, or leave it to the audience to decide?
and sound help to tell this story?
Character Who Spectacle What are the people in the story? What are their relationships? Why do they do what they do? How do their age/status/etc affect them?
visual elements support the play? This could include: puppets, scenery, costumes, dance, movement, and more.
Other Elements:Conflict/Resolution, Action, Improvisation, Non-verbal communication, Staging, Humor, Realism and other styles, Metaphor, Language, Tone, Pattern and repetition, Emotion, Point of view.
ACTIVITY At its core, drama is about characters working toward goals and overcoming obstacles. Ask students to use their
bodies and voices to create characters who are: very old, very young, very strong, very weak, very tired, very energetic, very cold, very warm. Have their characters interact with one another. Give them an objective to fulfil despite their environmental obstacles. Later, recap by asking how these obstacles affected their characters and the pursuit of their objectives. 6
SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
TEACHING THEATRE
Most plays (including Annabel Drudge) utilize designers to create the visual world of the play through scenery, costumes, lighting, and more. These artists use
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
to communicate information about the world within the play and its characters
LINE can have length, width, texture, direction and curve. There are 5 basic varieties: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, and zig-zag.
SHAPE is two-dimensional
and encloses space. It can be geometric (e.g. squares and circles), man-made, or free-form.
FORM is three-dimensional. It encloses
space and fills space. It, too, can be geometric (e.g. cubes and cylinders), man-made, or free-form.
SPACE is defined and determined by
shapes and forms. Positive space is enclosed by shapes and forms, while negative space exists around them.
COLOR has three basic proper-
ties: HUE is the name of the color (e.g. red, blue, green), INTENSITY is the strength of the color (bright or dull), VALUE is the range of lightness to
TEXTURE refers to the “feel”
of an object’s surface. It can be smooth, rough, soft, etc. Textures may be ACTUAL (able to be felt) or IMPLIED (suggested visually through the artist’s technique).
APPLIED LEARNING Have students discuss these elements BEFORE attending Annabel Drudge and ask them to pay
special attention to how these elements are used in the production’s design. Whether your students are observing a piece of visual art like a painting or a piece of performance art like a play, allow them first to notice the basic elements, then encourage them to look deeper into why these elements are used the way they are. 7
SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
A LETTER FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT Dear Educator, I am very excited to present this year’s Children’s Tour, Annabel Drudge. . .and the 2nd Day of School. Produced as a collaboration between the Syracuse University Department of Drama and Syracuse Stage, this play is very near and dear to my heart. Creating the prickly, grumpy, absolutely lovable character of Annabel Drudge and her whacky family has been a labor of love. I wanted to make sure that even in their zaniness these characters were believable to a young audience. Through this story I believe your students will have the opportunity to empathize with Annabel’s struggle to fit in and maybe discover how they can help others in their school environments who are feeling out of place.
Sincerely,
Lauren Unbekant Director of Educational Outreach
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SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
ABOUT THE PLAY:
STORY & ISSUES
spe·cial [spesh-uhl] Origin:
1175–1225; ME (adj.) < L speciālis of a given species, equiv. to speci (ēs) species + -ālis -al1 ; see especial
–noun
8. a special person or thing. 9. a train used for a particular purpose, occasion, or the like. 10. a special edition of a newspaper. 11. Theatre . a spotlight reserved for a particular area, property, actor, etc.: Give me the coffin special. 12. a temporary, arbitrary reduction in the price of regularly stocked goods, esp. food; a particularly worthwhile offer or price: The special this week is on sirloin steaks. 13. Television . a single program not forming part of a regular series.
–adjective
1. of a distinct or particular kind or character: a special kind of key. 2. being a particular one; particular, individual, or certain: You’d better call the special number. 3. pertaining or peculiar to a particular person, thing, instance, etc.; distinctive; unique: the special features of a plan. 4. having a specific or particular function, purpose, etc.: a special messenger. 5. distinguished or different from what is ordinary or usual: a special occasion; to fix something special. 6. extraordinary; exceptional, as in amount or degree; especial: special importance. 7. being such in an exceptional degree; particularly valued: a special friend.
Synonyms: “If all you see is the appropriate, best, disability... you might certain, be missing a lot. characteristic, chief, People with disabilities choice, are just people.” defined, definite, - Meredith Vieira designated, NBC News determinate, different, earmarked, especial, exceptional, exclusive, express, extraordinary, Annabel Drudge had a very bad festive, first day at her new school... and first, she’s not going back. “Not with gala, individual, another 179 days left to go.” Her limited, ever positive parents Phillip and main, Ima Drudge try to convince Anmajor, marked, nabel that she is special and will memorable, find friends who won’t care that momentous, out of the ordinary, she wears a leg brace. Annabel particular, doesn’t want to be “special,” she peculiar, just wants to fit in. With help from personal, her Nana, a midnight journey to primary, proper, Istanbul and a pair of magical rare, slippers, Annabel discovers just red-letter, how special she is. reserved, restricted, select, set, In the beginning of the significant, play Annabel does not want to be special because it makes her smashing, feel like she doesn’t belong. By the end of the show, Annabel has sole, changed her perspective about what “special” means. Discuss how specialized, a word can be used both POSITIVELY and NEGATIVELY. Have the specific, students write journal entries describing how they are unique. uncommon, unique, Allow them to explore the negatives but, like Annabel, encourage unreal, them to focus on the positives. unusual
Synopsis
EXPLORING THEMES
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SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
Element of Focus:
COLOR
In Annabel Drudge
COLOR
is a focus element of the overall design. Have students discuss how color was used in the play and then... WHY? Offer examples of other art that uses color to manipulate focus or create a certain feeling (the art work below is a good example of both COLOR and LINE).
ABOUT THE PLAY:
Color & Design
Maria Claudia Cortes (Rochester Institute of Technology M.F.A. in computer graphics design) has been receiving widespread praise for her thesis project, an animated Web site titled Color in Motion. The project received Best of Category honors in the I.D. Magazine 2004 Student Design Review competition, it was featured by Communication Arts Magazine in the 2004 Interactive Design Annual, and also made the pages of the December 2004 issue of Proyecto Diseno, the leading design magazine in Cortes’ home country, Colombia.
http://www.mariaclaudiacortes.com/
ACTIVITY Have students recreate a famous work of art (or color in a replica like the one shown below) using a completely different color palette. How would the work of art change if you use pinks and yellows? Reds and oranges? Shades of black and white? Only greens? Explore further how color connects to emotion by giving students an adjective (i.e. happy, sad, confused, peaceful, hot, cold) and have them use color to create a work of art that evokes those emotions.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) “Starry Night” (1889)
Find this coloring template at: http://www.supercoloring.com/pages/starry-night-by-vincent-van-gogh/
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BULLYING SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
KEY ISSUE:
Bullying
INQUIRY In what way does Annabel
Drudge feel bullied? How does she initially plan to handle being bullied? Who changes Annabel’s mind and how? What would you do if you were Annabel? The Effects of Bullying
Throughout the history of the United States, bullying among children and teenagers has been considered a normal and expected part of growing up. Only in recent years have people really started to consider the damage that is done by bullying and the lasting effects it can have for those who suffer from it.
Almost 30 percent of teens in the United States are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. Researchers have found that bullying is the worst among young teens and that boys are more likely to engage in physical bullying, while girls more often bully each other emotionally. Those who are the victims of either type of bullying can suffer from a number of negative effects. People who feel isolated because of being bullied sometimes cannot cope with the situation and feel as if they are helpless. Depression, anxiety and antisocial behavior are more common among those who are bullied, as is alcohol and drug use. Some people who are bullied may even resort to violence against themselves or others.
Four strategies
for teachers and parents to pass on to kids who witness bullying... 1. Stop! You’re Bullying! Most bullies stop bullying within 10 seconds, when someone tells him or her to stop. A child or youth who witnesses bullying is very likely to make a positive difference simply by saying something like, “What you’re doing is bullying and it isn’t fair!” or “If you don’t stop I am going to report you!” It is important, however, that the witness keeps his/her own safety in mind too. 2. Support the Victim If the witness feels uncomfortable saying something to the bully, then he/she may choose to focus on supporting the victim instead. 3. Reduce Attention to the Bully Research indicates that bullies need an audience, and that passively watching, which may seem harmless, actually encourages the bullying to continue. If the witness feels uncomfortable intervening in a bullying episode, then he/she can help by just walking away. 4. Report the Bully. Tell witnesses that they should report any bullying they see to a responsible adult such as a teacher, principal, playground supervisor, or bus driver. Content above is courtesy of The Cleveland Playhouse and *education.com 11
SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
Margaret Bourke-White June 14, 1904 - August 27, 1971
WOMEN
CONTEXT:
Photography
IN PHOTOJOURNALISM
Self-Portrait, 1943 From the Sandor Family Collection used with permission of (Art)n Laboratory
Margaret Bourke-White
began to study photography as a hobby while a very young woman. She developed the styles and techniques that she needed for various formats on her own. Her father was also somewhat of a camera enthusiast and he exposed her to the wonders of the photographic lens as a youngster.
Margaret is a woman of many firsts. She was a forerunner in the newly emerging field of photojournalism, and was the first female to be hired as such. She was the first photographer for Fortune magazine, in 1929. In 1930, she was the first Western photographer allowed into the Soviet Union. Henry Luce hired her as the first female photojournalist for Life magazine, soon after its creation in 1935, and one of her photographs adorned its first cover (November 23, 1936). She was the first female war correspondent and the first to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II, and one of the first photographers to enter and document the death camps. She made history with the publication of her haunting photos of the Depression in the book You Have Seen Their Faces, a collaboration with husband-to-be Erskine Caldwell.
She wrote six books about her international travels. She was the premiere female industrial photographer, getting her start in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Otis Steel Company around 1927.
First Life magazine cover from 1936 with photo of Fort Peck Dam’s spillway (© Margaret Bourke-White/TIMEPIX)
INSTANT HISTORY
Polaroid photography was invented by Edwin Land. Land was the American inventor and physicist whose one-step process for developing and printing photographs created a revolution in photography - instant photography. Edwin Land’s patent for the Polaroid camera allowed the photographer to remove a developing print after the picture had been snapped. Edwin Land founded the Polaroid Corporation to manufacturer his new camera. The first Polaroid camera was sold to the public in November, 1948.
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SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
CONTEXT:
Photography
ACTIVITY Supplies:
Photography
is derived from the Greek words photos (“light”) and graphein (“to draw”) The word was first used by the scientist Sir John F.W. Herschel in 1839. It is a method of recording images by the action of light, or related radiation, on a sensitive material.
CREATE a CAMERA OBSCURA
empty Pringles® chip can marker ruler X-Acto knife or utility knife
thumbtack or pushpin masking tape aluminum foil scissors bright sunny day
STEP 1 Take the plastic lid off the Pringles® can and wipe out the inside. (Save the lid!) STEP 2 Draw a line with the marker all the way around the can, about 2 inches up from the bottom. Have a grown-up cut along that line so the tube is in two pieces.
Camera Obscura: Camera = Latin for “room” Obscura = Latin for “dark”
STEP 5 To keep light out of the tube, use a piece of aluminum foil that’s about 1 foot long. Tape one end of the foil to the tube. Wrap the foil all the way around the tube twice, then tape the loose edge of the foil closed. If you have extra foil at the top, just tuck it neatly inside the tube
STEP 3 The shorter bottom piece has a metal end. With the thumbtack, make a hole in the center of the metal.
STEP 6 Go outside on a sunny day. Close one eye and hold the tube up to your other eye. You want the inside of the tube to be as dark as possible-so cup your STEP 4 hands around the opening of the We’re going to use the plastic tube if you need to. lid as a screen. If your lid is clear, you may need to apply a piece of wax paper, white tis- Look around your yard through sue paper, or vellum to the lid the tube. The lid makes a screen to act as a translucent screen. that shows you upside-down Put the plastic lid onto the color pictures! shorter piece. Put the longer piece back on top. Tape all the pieces together.
FAMOUS FIRST
On a summer day in 1827, Joseph Nicephore Niepce made the first photographic image with a camera obscura. Prior to Niepce people just used the camera obscura for viewing or drawing purposes not for making photographs. Joseph Nicephore Niepce’s heliographs or sun prints as they were called were the prototype for the modern photograph, by letting light draw the picture. Niepce placed an engraving onto a metal plate coated in bitumen, and then exposed it to light. The shadowy areas of the engraving blocked light, but the whiter areas permitted light to react with the chemicals on the plate. When Niepce placed the metal plate in a solvent, gradually an image, until then invisible, appeared. However, Niepce’s photograph required eight hours of light exposure to create and after appearing would soon fade away.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/pringles_pinhole.html
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SYRACUSE STAGE ANNABEL DRUDGE STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
SOURCES
LEARN MORE...
&
TEACHING THEATRE/ARTS
ArtsWork.com http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/teachers/resources/theatre1.htm ChildDrama.com http://www.childdrama.com/lessons.html Educational Theatre Association http://www.edta.org/publications/teaching.aspx Kennedy Center http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3917/ Viola Spolin http://www.spolin.com/
RESOURCES
Princeton Online Art Lesson Plans http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/Files/elements.htm Color Study
http://www.mariaclaudiacortes.com/
PHOTOGRAPHY/HISTORY Women in History
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/bour-mar.htm US Army Corps of Engineers Library http://www.usace.army.mil/History/hv/Pages/066-LIFES_First_Cover.aspx About.com
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpolaroid.htm
http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/stilphotography.htm Pinhole History http://photossu.blogspot.com/2009/01/pinhole-history.html
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
http://thesaurus.com
http://dictionary.reference.com 14
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