MAGGOT
MOON TEACHER RESOURCE PACK FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH STUDENTS IN YEARS 6 - 9
A Unicorn Production
MAGGOT MOON Based on the novel by Sally Gardner Adapted for the stage by Jemma Kennedy Directed by Jesse Jones
FROM THU 26 SEP - SUN 27 OCT 2019 FOR PUPILS IN YEARS 6 - 9 THE BEST THING WE HAVE IS OUR IMAGINATION. In a sinister 1950s Britain, the country is under the rule of the violent and oppressive Motherland. Dark government forces are at work. Spies and surveillance are everywhere, and the truth is difficult to discern. Meet our hero Standish Treadwell: he is fifteen, he lives with his grandad, and although his teachers are part of the regime, together he and his grandad are safe. But then one day, Standish’s best friend disappears. And suddenly all their lives are in terrible danger. Can Standish be the hero who will save them all? Live drawing, cameras and projection bring Sally Gardner’s dazzlingly original, award-winning novel to life in this story about protecting the ones you love, and having the courage to stand up for what you believe.
Duration: 1 hr (approx)
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TEACHER RESOURCES
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
p. 4
ABOUT THE PLAY MAKING THE PLAY
p. 6 p. 9
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR SALLY GARDNER INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT JEMMA KENNEDY INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR JESSE JONES
DRAMA ACTIVITIES
p. 17
SEQUENCE ONE: THE MOTHERLAND
p. 18
SEQUENCE TWO: SURVIVING THE MOTHERLAND SEQUENCE THREE: FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
p. 29
SEQUENCE FOUR: DIFFERENT KINDS OF HEROES
RESOURCES FOR ACTIVITIES
p. 24
p. 34
p. 37
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TEACHER RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION This resource is for teachers bringing pupils to see Maggot Moon in the autumn of 2019. The purpose of the pack is to provide context for the production, give insight into the creative team’s approach and extend students’ visit to the theatre, enabling them to get the most out of the experience. The Unicorn’s production of Maggot Moon is an adaptation by Jemma Kennedy of Sally Gardner’s 2014 prize-winning novel. Set in a dystopian world of surveillance and suppression of free thought, we meet our unlikely young hero, Standish Treadwell. Standish is everything the regime dislikes: imaginative, compassionate and academically weak. As someone with dyslexia, Standish is an outcast, assumed to be of little worth or threat to his oppressors. But while Standish may not be able to read and write as well as others, he has an ability to see through the lies the authorities are spreading, and that makes him powerful. For you the dreamers Overlooked at school Never won prizes You who will own tomorrow Sally Gardner, Maggot Moon’s dedication The play celebrates different kinds of intelligence and the power of one person’s imagination to make a difference. It also considers the idea of sacrifice, as Standish is forced to make difficult decisions when the people he loves are taken from him. Under Jesse Jones’ direction, this two-hander will have one central performer who will take the audience through the story from Standish’s perspective. A second actor will play Standish’s friend Hector and will, through live drawing, cameras and projection, bring to life other elements of the story and communicate Standish’s unique understanding of the world. The classroom activities, which will be added to this pack in September 2019, will be designed to support and extend the pupils’ visit to the theatre and offer teachers ways to explore the themes in the play, before and after a visit. The activities will use drama and storytelling as ways of investigating ideas relevant to the play and supporting teachers in meeting National Curriculum requirements: ‘All pupils should be enabled to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama. Pupils should be able to adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They should have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances.’ National Curriculum
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TEACHER RESOURCES
CPD: FRI 20 SEPTEMBER, 10AM - 4PM There will be a free teacher CPD day for Maggot Moon, a chance for teachers to find out more about the show and gain practical experience of the accompanying scheme of work and classroom activities before leading them with a class. For more information or to book your place, email schools@unicorntheatre.com.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
ABOUT THE PLAY The Unicorn production of Maggot Moon is an adaptation of Sally Gardner’s 2012 novel. The play is set in the Motherland, a dystopian version of 1950s Britain. Our unlikely hero, Standish, uncovers a government plot to win the space race by staging a moon landing near his home. Standish goes on an adventure to expose the lie, bring down the government and rescue his best friend Hector. The story will be told through first-person narration. Standish speaks directly to the audience throughout, describing his adventure to us and taking us on the journey with him. Another performer will support the storytelling by creating live animation onstage. These visuals build elements of the story and allow us to experience the way Standish sees the world. The language of the production will bring to life Standish’s strengths as a communicator. ‘Using animation, we are playing with the idea of the stark difference between the ‘surveillance world’ of the play and the world of Standish’s drawings and doodles. Those doodles have become an extension of his imagination. They are how he remembers and sees the world, and act as a form of escapism and a crutch in a world he cannot always navigate.’ Jesse Jones, director The set and staging will be minimalist. The dark and dangerous world of the story will be brought to life with cameras that monitor Standish’s journey. The ominous surveillance footage will contrast with the more imaginative and playful world of Standish’s doodles and drawings. There’s a story I once heard about a giant and a boy about my age, and a stone. Just one small stone shot from a catapult that hit the giant between the eyes. He dropped down dead, that giant did. All I need to defeat the Motherland is a single stone. And that stone-thrower will be me. The play begins with Standish looking back on the events of the story. Can’t read, can’t write. Standish Treadwell isn’t bright. Standish takes us back in time to a typical school day in the Motherland where he is bullied by students and teachers. His only friend Hector has gone missing. Standish is caned by his teacher, Mr Gunnell, for struggling to read in class and summoned to see the headmaster. In the headmaster’s office a sinister man dressed in a black leather coat is waiting to speak to Standish. He says that today is a very important day for the Motherland as a rocket to the moon is being launched for the very first time. He then interrogates Standish, asking whether he has ever seen anything in the field behind his house. Standish takes us further back in time to explain how he met Hector and the events leading up to his disappearance. He tells us about how the Motherland is split into zones, and that he and his grandad live in Zone 7, where outcasts and the ‘impure’ are placed. There are walls which prevent them from crossing into other zones. What the authorities don’t know is that Standish’s parents dug a tunnel from the cellar below their house, under the wall and into a field beyond. His parents then went missing, but the secret tunnel remains. Page 6
TEACHER RESOURCES One day, Standish secretly goes through the tunnel to look for food and finds some wild strawberries. When he returns home he discovers that he and his grandad have new neighbours: the Lush family. Standish quickly becomes best friends with their son, Hector, even though they are from very different backgrounds; the Lushes were moved from Zone 1, an area where the elite of the Motherland live. A few weeks later, while the friends are playing football together, Standish kicks a red ball over the wall into the prohibited area. Hector volunteers to go through the tunnel to retrieve the ball, but Standish tells him that it is too dangerous and not to go. The boys’ friendship grows and they spend all their time together creating their own imaginary space adventure; inspired by the Motherland’s mission to the moon, they build a rocket in their attic. Then one evening, the red ball reappears, and Standish knows that Hector must have been through the tunnel. When he awakes the next morning he discovers that the Lush family has disappeared. Standish returns to the tunnel to find answers and finds an astronaut hiding there. Standish and his grandad hide this ‘moon man’ in their basement. They are shocked to discover that he has had his tongue cut out for asking too many questions. However, the moon man explains his story by drawing pictures which show the mission to the moon is actually fake, and is being staged on the other side of the Zone wall. Back at school, Standish is cornered by Hans Fielder, a member of the Motherland Youth, a group which spies on the population. Hans wants to know why the leather-coat man is interested in him, but Standish refuses to answer, and so Hans begins to beat him. When teacher Mr Gunnell sees what’s happening, he doesn’t stop the beating but instead joins in. Standish fights back and humiliates Mr Gunnell, landing a punch to his face. Humiliated, Mr Gunnell turns his anger on the weakest child in the class and kills him. Standish is expelled for the incident with Mr Gunnell and his every move is monitored. The house is searched by government troops but they manage to keep the moon man hidden. The leather-coat man arrives and questions Standish. He tells him that he can see Hector again if he divulges the location of the moon man. But over the course of the interrogation, Standish realises that the leathercoat man is lying and that Hector and his family are actually imprisoned on the other side of the wall. Standish comes up with a plan to rescue Hector and reveal the moon landing as a hoax. He knows this will be very dangerous and will probably mean sacrificing his own life, but he is prepared to do it. Standish makes his way through the tunnel to the other side of the wall. He allows himself to be captured by the guards and is taken to where the fake moon landings will be staged. He meets other children who are being forced to work as part of the crew. Standish is also put to work on the set, as they prepare for the live broadcast the next morning. That night Standish is taken to a cell, and there discovers Hector, who is close to death. They comfort each other with dreams of escape and stories of their friendship. Standish wakes the next morning to see Hector being taken away. I know what Hector is doing. He is escaping from here as fast as he can. I don’t blame him. I just wish he’d waited for me. If this is the way the world spins I don’t want to stay either. The next morning, Standish is taken to the film set and prepares to put his plan into action. As the live broadcast begins, Standish runs in front of the camera holding a sign that reads ‘HOAX’. He has exposed the moon landing as a lie, which will bring down the government. Chaos and gunfire break Page 7
TEACHER RESOURCES out on set. With the help of Mr Lush, Standish tries to escape but is shot. As Standish lies cradled in the arms of Mr Lush, Hector appears and takes Standish’s hand. He leads him to a car and they drive away, into a world of Technicolour light.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
MAKING THE PLAY
INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR SALLY GARDNER WHY DID YOU AGREE TO LETTING MAGGOT MOON BE ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE? I worked in the theatre, for about 20 years, as a set and costume designer. The last play I did was with Alan Ayckbourn at the National Theatre called ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. I thought it would be interesting to see how the book would be interpreted for the theatre.
WHERE DID THE ORIGINAL IDEA FOR THE BOOK COME FROM? I was on a diet where I wasn’t allowed to eat anything but astronaut food, I was in a foul mood and my children were round having a meal and said, ‘Oh go away Mum, you’re unbearable.’ I sat at my computer and started with ‘What if . . ’ and I thought, that’s interesting. I wrote the beginning very quickly, but then I couldn’t go on as I hadn’t got a name for my main character. Names are very important to me. Then a friend came back from a walking holiday and said he’d been to a place called Standish Treadwell. I thought, that’s the name I’ve been looking for, and after that it just flew.
IT ‘FLEW’ MORE THAN OTHER BOOKS YOU’VE WRITTEN? Oh yes, I wrote it in about six weeks. Because in a funny kind of way Standish was me. I was so sick of people talking about dyslexia as if it was about bad spelling and I wanted to show a visual and emotional intelligence that is beyond words.
THE PLAY WILL WORK WITH THAT; THE VISUAL ELEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION WILL HELP US TO SEE STANDISH’S DIFFERENT WAY OF PROCESSING THE WORLD. Yes, it is a very different way of processing the world and I think the way that Standish sees things is incredibly interesting. Unfortunately, the way he sees things isn’t on any curriculum.
YOU DON’T EXPLICITLY SAY HE’S DYSLEXIC IN THE BOOK. I didn’t feel there’s any need to. Anyone who is dyslexic would know immediately that he was. I think people are too fond of labels and then they think, I know all about that. But no, you don’t. I didn’t want to give Standish a label. And anyway, there was no word for dyslexia in the 1950s, it was known as ‘word blindness’ and that doesn’t really describe it at all.
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TEACHER RESOURCES STANDISH HAS THESE STRENGTHS, GIFTS, OR CAPACITIES THAT OTHER PEOPLE DON’T HAVE. Apart from emotional and visual intelligence, he has an absolute belief in the honest truth and in his friend. And he’s willing to do something that no one does anymore — self-sacrifice. Standish is a young man who is prepared to die for his friends.
THE ENDING OF THE BOOK IS VERY MOVING AS HECTOR AND STANDISH GO TOWARDS AN IMAGE OF THE ‘CROCA-COLA WORLD’. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THAT? It was an experience from when I was young. America was a place I wanted to live in; they had Lucille Ball, they had colour television. I could never read the words Coca-Cola. Like Standish, I was very perplexed by them. I remember seeing the big sign at Piccadilly Circus and thinking it said Croca-Cola. I thought it must be CrocaCola because I’d been told about crocodiles’ teeth dissolving in it. I had a miserable childhood, and I thought that if I lived in America everything would all be all right. My image of America was simple — there were enormous cars that were so extraordinary-looking and people could have them in glorious colours. We lived in this grey world that still had pea-soupers.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING IN THE STAGE ADAPTATION? I don’t know. I do remembering reading an article about Daphne du Maurier. When she was asked what she thought about the films of her books, she said she wanted very little to do with them as she had too many books that she wanted to write. She was lucky to have Alfred Hitchcock directing them but that’s by the the by. I agree — a book is a book, a film is a film and a play is a play. I made a connection with Jesse [Jones, the director] because he is dyslexic and he too has a great visual intelligence.
BUT NOT JUST THOSE WITH DYSLEXIA? It’s a book that has gone around the world and has affected many people. I went to Brazil with it, and I met a man in a book shop and he just burst into tears and gave me a huge hug. He said it was the first time he had read a book with two boys kissing. It was going to be be included in the national curriculum in Brazil, but I knew it wouldn’t happen. The church came back and saying, ‘Two boys kiss ...’ I wrote to them and said,‘That’s the least of the problems with this book; there’s a child killed by a school master.’
IT’S SEVEN YEARS SINCE YOU WROTE THE BOOK. HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL RESONATE FOR PEOPLE NOW? I think it is incredibly relevant, and it’s getting more, not less so. I think we are sleepwalking our way into disaster and I feel as powerless as the people in Germany must have felt before the Second World War. When Michael Gove became Education Secretary, I couldn’t bear what he was about. He has a lot to answer for — for the purgatory and misery that he put dyslexic pupils through. I don’t know why they Page 10
TEACHER RESOURCES are not allowed to do oral examinations.
I THINK ALL CHILDREN ARE CRAVING MORE CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATIVE WAYS OF EXPLORING THE WORLD. Of course they are. I went to a school, and I was talking about imagination and I said to the class, ‘You all have imagination.’ A boy put his hand up and said, ‘No we don’t, Miss. Only John has imagination, John’s artistic.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s great, but you all have imagination.’ I gave them a menu and told them, ‘This is what you’re going to have for lunch.’ They all put up their hands saying, I want this, I want that. ‘Look,’ I said, ‘you’ve nothing, not even a picture, and yet you’ve all imagined what it is you’d like to eat. That’s imagination.’ It’s really serious what’s happening in schools today. And this idea that we’re going to have a wonderful Britain to export, while we are getting rid of the arts and crushing imagination in our schools — I don’t know what we’re thinking of. It’s very worrying.
YOU’VE SPOKEN BEFORE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF QUESTIONS. The thing is, the question is king. There is no right answer, there is only the question. Question everything. The minute we stop asking questions, we’re in a dictatorship. In another school, a little boy stood up and said ‘Miss, we’ve been arguing, my friend and me, about whether Standish dies at the end. Can you tell us?’ And I said ‘No, I can’t,’ and he said ‘What? You wrote it.’ And I said ‘I know I wrote it, but I can’t tell you,’ and he said ‘Oh no, we’re going to be arguing about this until we’re sixty.’
IN THE MOTHERLAND, THE REGIME EXPECTS THE PEOPLE TO ACCEPT THE WORLD AS THEY PRESCRIBE IT. BUT HECTOR AND STANDISH IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT BE OVER THE WALL, OR THROUGH THE TUNNEL, OR IN THE PEOPLE’S PALACE. The Lushes are interesting because you can see them as the enemy, but they aren’t. Mr Lush tried his best and he got sent to Zone 7. When they first appeared in my head, I wasn’t sure about them. I was with Gramps. I thought, maybe you’re right Gramps, maybe they’re like the Greenflies, maybe they shouldn’t be trusted. It was Standish who went up to Hector and said what he said. I thought, that’s interesting, Standish, you think they’re all right. And it developed from there. There was a publisher who said the story needed a girl and I should change Hector into a girl. I said, ‘Why?’ and he said ‘Well, I think they need to have a kiss.’ I said ‘Yes, and obviously it’s Hector. I’m not changing him into a girl.’ I really hate that thing schoolchildren say — ‘Oh, you’re so gay,’ and I suppose that is my response to it. Standish puts it really beautifully. ‘I didn’t fall in love with a girl, I didn’t have a chance to fall in love with a girl. There were no girls to fall in love with.’ He fell in love with Hector, and that really says something about what love is. It’s not defined by gender, and I think that’s important.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
MAKING THE PLAY
INTERVIEW WITH PLAYWRIGHT JEMMA KENNEDY WHY DID YOU WANT TO ADAPT MAGGOT MOON? It was love at first read. I met Jesse and we were both obsessed with the book; it was just so interesting, funny and sad, and the world was so gripping. Jesse had been told it was completely unadaptable which made us want to do it even more. Funnily enough, that never occurred to me because I just thought ‘This world is amazing, this story is amazing.’ It’s so rich, visually and linguistically. It feels like it’s perfect for the stage.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID THE BOOK POSE FOR THE STAGE? The biggest challenge for us was how to catch the linguistic tricks of Standish’s language and his misunderstandings and his dyslexia. We spent a lot of time talking about how we might use sound and music and different dramatic techniques to put that across. But actually, nothing quite worked. We went around in circles for about a year and then we realised that finding a way to dramatise Standish’s filter was the key. The way he narrates and talks to the reader is unique; that was the thing we wanted to capture the most. It was only when we decided to make it a one-man show that everything opened up and we thought ‘We just have to tell it like it is.’ We did research and development at the Unicorn and then Jesse brought in a fantastic actor, a sound designer and an animator and we just built the play using the book. It was a very different way of working, like a devising technique. It was making a show, not writing a show in the traditional way. The challenge for writers is that you often have to throw away most of what you write. You keep the stuff that works, but you always end up throwing away what you love the most.
WHY DO YOU THINK THE STORY WILL BE ENGAGING FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES? First and foremost, it’s the character of Standish. He is such a great anti-hero. He is very human and flawed and vulnerable. He’s an outsider. But he’s also supremely gifted in ways that he doesn’t really understand yet. Within his school environment, Standish is seen as the stupid kid, a kind of dunce, and he’s picked on by teachers. Any underdog is always great for a young audience. They have a natural empathy for anyone who’s having a hard time. Standish has no parents. He’s got a grandad who he loves to bits, but his mum and dad have gone, we don’t know where. He’s quite a modern hero in the sense that he is fighting to find his place in the world where the traditional nuclear family doesn’t really exist. He also has this incredible friendship with Hector, who has gone missing. That’s a wonderful hook to set up at the beginning. It’s something I think a young audience will really understand. Friendships are so vital, especially school friends outside the family. You make your own friendships, you don’t get given them. Page 12
TEACHER RESOURCES It’s also a cracking adventure story with a great plot. Standish is the unlikely hero, like David in the David and Goliath story. We really root for him, right from the word go.
WHERE IS THE PLAY SET? I don’t think that has to be spelled out. I think this story could travel to any country in the world and make sense. What I love about the book is that you can project your own experience onto the world of the story. It’s set in a state that wants everyone to be the same, and if you’re different they shove you out to the margins of society. They don’t like the weak, they don’t like subversive people, they don’t like anyone who questions their authority. I think a young audience will have a strong understanding of that kind of totalitarianism.
HOW DO YOU THINK A STORY ABOUT THE SPACE RACE IS RELEVANT TO YOUNG AUDIENCES TODAY? We are delighted that this has landed in 2019, which is the 50th anniversary of the first moon landings. One of the things Jesse and I talked a lot about was fake news. The book is, on one level, about a gargantuan piece of fake news created by a nasty government to send a message to the rest of the world that they are more powerful and stronger than anybody else. That’s a very interesting concept for a younger audience, because it dramatizes something that is politically very relevant to them, and does it in the context of its own organic story. We are always fascinated by space travel and now we are talking about sending people to other planets. It’s never gone away, this notion about conquering space and the great unknown. It’s something that young people’s imaginations can really grasp.
HOW DO YOU THINK YOUNG AUDIENCES WILL RESPOND TO THE DARKER MOMENTS OF THE PLAY? The book was a prize-winning bestseller, written for young readers. The fact that it has been read so widely and loved so much is a very clear indication that it speaks to a young audience. So in a way, the groundwork has been done for us. The darkness and the violence can be challenging and scary. Personally, I don’t think young audiences should necessarily be kept away from that. They love jeopardy and they love darkness - in a controlled environment. And I think they love it when bad people get their comeuppance. A sense of justice is very present in them. We understand that the regime is going to be brought down if Standish succeeds in throwing a stone against Goliath. But there is tragedy in his sacrifice, and that’s a very bittersweet ending. His sacrifice is sort of inevitable. But there’s a lot of ambiguity about what happens to Standish and Hector. I’ve tried to imagine them walking away together, free and happy. I think some audiences will believe that they die and some won’t. As far as I understand it, readers of the book have the same dilemma. It brings up questions for the audience about what we want for the characters. What’s realistic in the scope of the story? Ultimately the moral code of the book is about doing things for other people rather than putting yourself first. I think teachers and parents shouldn’t be overly worried about it being too distressing for young audiences, because it’s so overtly theatrical. We are not going to show a teacher killing a child in a three-dimensional sense; we are going to be suggesting it with one actor. I think it’s more powerful that way. We can leave some things to the imagination of the audience. Page 13
TEACHER RESOURCES Great stories often involve death and sacrifice, and it’s a very powerful thing to have a story about two best friends who sacrifice themselves for a greater good. The gift Sally gives us, at the end of the story, is the sense that Standish and Hector are going to be together forever, which is really beautiful.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
MAKING THE PLAY
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR JESSE JONES WHAT WAS IT ABOUT MAGGOT MOON THAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THE PROJECT? The first thing that drew me to it was reading an article by Sally Gardner. It was about her experience of dyslexia and about a character in her book - Maggot Moon - who is very dyslexic. As a dyslexic myself, the article jumped out at me. And then when I read the book, it became so much more than a story about dyslexia. Standish’s story celebrates imagination, creative thought and being inquisitive. It’s about holding faith in yourself and your ability to be intelligent, even if the people around you are telling you that because you can’t read or write you are worthless. I suppose it’s that kind of underdog or unexpected hero story that really excited me. I wish that I had read the book or had the book read to me when I was young. The theme of friendship is very strong in the story. Hector is from the educated elite. Standish is a boy who is on the edges of society. These two boys have grown up in two different worlds. Their relationship provides an incredibly powerful, exciting lesson that we as theatre makers and storytellers should be telling.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT STANDISH’S WORLD, THE MOTHERLAND? Standish lives in a dystopian world, a world of surveillance. Although his world is a dystopia of the past, it speaks to us now. I feel the Western world is edging towards fascism and a populism that is really quite dangerous. We are seeing fake news, clickbait, articles that are never verified. And the more people read them, the more weight they have, without any kind of fact-checking whatsoever. That is something young people are dealing with today. They need to be able to work out the world around them. They need to be able to speak truth to power if they think something is wrong, which is something that Standish does in this story. It is a lesson that not everything is what it seems, that the people in power are not necessarily always the best holders of that power. Standish has a way of finding the truth in what people are saying. Maybe that comes when you find it more difficult to understand the written word. You have to see between the lines of what people are saying. You become an expert in reading people; you can’t consume propaganda if it’s written down. You see and hear the world slightly differently, which maybe gives you the power to see the lie.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE IN STAGING THE STORY? We started by trying to stretch the story to fit a more theatrical form, but in doing this we missed the idea that Standish should be telling us about the world. We found that when you try and show too much of that world, you can lose the danger of it. Going through that process led us to explore the performance as a kind of enhanced reading of the book, with Standish giving us his own testimony. We found that Standish talking to and connecting to the audience was the best way of bringing the book to life. Page 15
TEACHER RESOURCES Standish doodles a lot. He sees things in pictures and uses flowery language to describe things. Using animation, we’re playing with the idea of the stark difference between the ‘surveillance world’ of the play and the world of Standish’s drawings and doodles. Those doodles have become an extension of his imagination. They are how he remembers and sees the world, and act as a form of escapism and a crutch in a world he cannot always navigate.
WHY DO YOU THINK HECTOR AND STANDISH ARE SO INTERESTED IN SPACE TRAVEL? Because of the environment he’s in, Standish is obsessed by the idea of space travel and going to a new place and starting a new world. Does Standish really believe that they are going to lift off into space in the model they have made in the attic? Maybe he does. Or maybe he’s willing to believe. Out of necessity, he has come to believe that you can travel to these places within your imagination, and maybe that’s as good as really going to them. Those are the things he has to hold on to. Hector is aware of the harsh realities of their world in a way that Standish maybe isn’t. He is spoken to in quite a grown-up way by his dad, who is a scientist. Hector is academic and he knows what is possible, scientifically and in terms of the world of make-believe. Maybe Hector is no longer able to connect to that imaginative place in his brain. It’s Standish’s friendship with Hector that reignites in him that imaginative world of play that he can use as a form of escapism.
THERE ARE SOME DARK MOMENTS IN THE PLAY. HOW DO YOU THINK YOUNG AUDIENCES WILL RESPOND TO THESE? Whenever events get too much for Standish, he takes us into the world of his past with Hector. This world will be presented in a much more light and imaginative way that will provide a sense of relief. When the narrative becomes frightening, Standish uses these stories as a form of escapism, offering a sense of light and shade within the production for the audience. He is telling us the story, so it will feel like something that has happened to him which he has lived through, rather than something that is an immediate danger to him. He deals with death in his imagination, and I think young people will be able to place themselves within his world in quite a safe way.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
DRAMA ACTIVITIES The drama activities in this pack are designed to give teachers ideas and strategies for work in the classroom through which to explore the characters, themes and setting of the play before and after a visit. They extend the imaginative reach of the play and allow young people to give shape to their own thoughts, feelings and understanding in drama form. Our teacher resources and CPD support teachers in embedding drama in their curriculum planning. Working through drama allows children to explore things which matter to them within a fictional context, draw on their prior knowledge and apply it to new situations, develop language as they give expression to new understandings and develop emotional intelligence and critical thinking as they see things from different perspectives. It also allows the children to take responsibility, make decisions, solve problems and explore possibilities from within the drama.
OVERVIEW In this section there are four separate drama sequences for teachers to work through with their classes. They are designed to be run before and after your visit to the Unicorn to see the show. The activities are intended to build sequentially, but also to be flexible enough for you to adapt to your own classroom priorities and curriculum planning. Sequence One explores the rules of the Motherland, where the play is set, and introduces the main character, Standish Treadwell. Sequence Two introduces the characters of Hans Fielder and Eric Owens, two pupils at the local school, and considers the different approaches these characters take to surviving in the Motherland. Sequence Three introduces Hector Lush and his parents, who are Standish’s new neighbours, and explores the theme of trust and friendship in the Motherland. Sequence Four introduces the mission to the moon that the Motherland is planning and the theme of ‘Heroes’, considering the different types of heroism found in the story.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
SEQUENCE ONE
THE MOTHERLAND AIMS
To introduce the world of the play and the rules which govern the Motherland. To introduce the character of Standish Treadwell, consider the different ways in which he processes his world, and explore the visual language of the play. To introduce the concept of ‘What if’ questions and how they can be used to imagine different worlds and outcomes.
RESOURCES Role on the wall outlines (resource one), Motherland flag (resource two), teacher in role script (resource three), pencils, crayons and paper or Post-it notes.
STRATEGIES Still images, reflective discussion, paired and group improvisations, role on the wall-scribing, teacher-in role.
INTRODUCTION This sequence aims to introduce Standish’s world and the challenges he faces living in the Motherland. The writer Sally Gardner was interested in the idea ‘What if Hitler had ‘won’ the war?’ She imagined a Britain with a repressive totalitarian regime. There are no specific references to the Nazi party, fascism or the specific context of that war, but there are resonances of it throughout the play. Similarly, the drama sequences don’t directly reference the Second World War and Nazism, but this may be something you want to reflect on and reference after you have explored the fictional context of the play. We learn about the Motherland through Standish, a teenager with a vivid imagination who struggles to read and write, and through him we are shielded from some of its harshest elements. While Standish faces daily cruelty and unfair treatment, his instinctive bravery and sense of humour allows us to explore the world from a place of relative safety and optimism. Standish is an unlikely hero who is often described as ‘stupid’ by teachers and his peers. The term ‘dyslexic’ is inferred but never directly used. This sequence asks the children to consider the challenges Standish faces in this world and the strengths of his imaginative way of navigating life in the Motherland how it could give him advantages and help him survive. By asking ‘What if’ we can explore challenging ideas about how we choose to live and behave towards others from within fictional world. The in-role activity gives the class the opportunity to step into to this world and imagine what it might be like to live in the Motherland consider from the safety of their own class room.
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TEACHER RESOURCES STAGE ONE: RULES Focusing activity: STOP/GO • Start by asking the children to find a space and stand still, ready to begin a game of Stop/Go. • Ask the children to move around the room on their own, to keep evenly spread across the space and not to move too quickly or too slowly, finding a common pace. • When you say STOP, everyone must stop where they are, as still as a statue. • When you say GO, everyone resumes walking around the room. • You may choose to add in a few more instructions. For example: when you say CLAP, the class must clap once, all at the same time, so it sounds like one clap; when you say JUMP, the class must jump as one. Introduce these new rules one at a time, making sure the group are working together and listening before you introduce the next command. • Play this game for a while, building the class’ focus and discipline, and then explain that you are now going to swap around the meanings of the commands: - When you say STOP, they must GO - When you say GO, they must STOP - When you say CLAP, they must JUMP - When you say JUMP, they must CLAP • When you have established the rules and the class are working well as an ensemble, explain that you are now going to play for ‘out’. Remind them that the aim is for them to not stick out from the crowd – that they jump or clap as one whole group, or that they stop or go immediately after the instruction, and at the same time as the rest of the class. The aim is not to be noticed. • Play the game again, and if someone is slow to respond or sticks out from the rest of the group then they have to sit down. Discussion • Ask the class: - What were the rules of that game? - Do the rules make the game more satisfying and enjoyable? If so, why is that? - How do you feel if you are playing a game and someone breaks the rules? - What would happen if you wanted to play the game but there weren’t any rules? • Have a discussion about the role of rules in our lives; work from the children’s understanding and broaden the discussion out to include rules at home, in school, and the role of goverment and the legal system. What kind of rules do you have to follow? - Why do we do what we are told? Who makes the rules and why? - Do you always agree with the rules? If not, why not? - What are the ways in which the people who make the rules ensure that they are obeyed?
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TEACHER RESOURCES • Explain that the production of Maggot Moon that they will see at the Unicorn is set in a place called the Motherland where there are many rules. The Motherland is run by people who make sure everyone sticks to the rules. If you obey the rules you are rewarded and seen as ‘pure’. People who disobey the rules or don’t fit in are seen as ‘impure’ and can be punished. We will learn more about this world later.
STAGE TWO: STANDISH TREADWELL Introduction to Standish - the hero of the story • Explain that we are now going to meet the hero of our story, Standish Treadwell. Tell the class these facts about Standish: - He is 15 years old. - He has one blue eye and one brown eye. - He is small for his age and not physically strong. - Standish struggles to read and write and is at the ‘bottom’ of his class. - Other children at his school often chant ‘Can’t read, can’t write, Standish Treadwell isn’t bright!’ - But Standish is really good at imagining and creating things. - He often draws his thoughts or expresses his ideas through images and pictures. - Standish doesn’t see the world like most people. - Sometimes he can see the truth when others do not. Still image - the comprehension test • Ask the group to find a space and sit down on their own. Explain that they will be working individually. • Ask the children to imagine they are Standish sitting a comprehension test: he has to read a piece of text and write down his answers. • Ask them to create a still image of Standish attempting this test. • Ask the group to hold their positions. Explain that you will walk around the space and if you tap them on the shoulder then they can speak Standish’s thoughts in that moment. You may need to help children who respond in the third person to change their sentences to the first person. Role on the wall - drawing Standish’s thoughts and feelings • Ask the group to consider what might be going through Standish’s head at this moment. What images or metaphors might sum up his feelings? • Offer examples of images if needed: a brick wall, a deflated balloon. • Draw an example of one of these images. Explain that they might draw Standish in the picture too, but it is his thoughts and feelings that we want to capture, rather than focusing on what he looks like. • Explain to the group that documenting an idea or thought by quickly drawing an image of it is sometimes called ‘scribing’. Emphasise that you can scribe in any style – regardless of your drawing ability! Page 20
TEACHER RESOURCES • Give the children pencils, crayons and paper and ask them each to scribe an image of what is Standish’s feeling during this test. Ask them to consider what little details might get his feelings across. This is a quick exercise where the focus is on capturing immediate ideas rather than art skills, but it can be done in more detail if this is useful to the group. • Create a ‘role on the wall’ outline of Standish (resource one) and place each of the images they have created inside his image. Discuss the different images you have created and the way in which you have created a complex, collaborative expression of how Standish might be feeling in this moment. Paired conversations - Standish and Miss Connolly • Explain to the class that even though most teachers at Standish’s school believe Standish is stupid, there is one teacher, Miss Connolly, who is kind and supportive and tries to help Standish when he is struggling. • Put the class into pairs and ask them to improvise a conversation between Miss Connolly and Standish. First, they must decide who will be Miss Connelly and who will be Standish: - What might Miss Connolly say to make Standish feel better? - What might be worrying Standish about failing the test? - What qualities might Miss Connolly see in Standish that others do not? • Using a ‘listening hand’ select a few of the pairings to see and hear their improvisations. Explain when you stand next to them and open your hand it will act like a microphone, and they should bring their scene to life. Pairs can choose to go back to the beginning of their original improvisation or to continue from where they have got up to. • Discuss how Standish might feel differently after this conversation with Miss Connolly. Role on the wall using images/scribing - after talking to Miss Connolly • Discuss: what images or metaphors might sum up Standish’s feelings after the conversation with Miss Connolly? • Give the children pencils, crayons and paper or Post-its, and ask them to scribe an image of Standish’s feelings after this conversation. • Add these images to the role on the wall outline of Standish.
STAGE THREE: SCHOOL LIFE Discussion: the Motherland • Recap with the class what we know about the Motherland so far and what questions you have. • Explain a little more about the world the play is set in: - The play is set in the 1950s, but not a 1950s that we know. It is an alternative world Sally Gardner, the author of the book, created when she imagined ‘What if we hadn’t ‘won’ the Second World Page 21
TEACHER RESOURCES War? What might the world be like?’ - But the Motherland is a fictional, imaginary place. - The Motherland is split into seven zones. Standish lives in Zone 7. This is the zone for outcasts anyone whom the Motherland believes is ‘impure’. - There is strict rationing, just like in the United Kingdom after the war, when rationing continued until 1950 for many things, and until 1954 for meat. - There are no mobile phones, no computers and no internet. - Television and radios have been invented, but are forbidden in Zone 7. Teacher in role - Mr Gunnell • Explain that you are going to take on the role of the teacher Mr Gunnell, and you want the class to imagine that they are students that attend school in the Motherland. • Set up the space as a classroom in the Motherland, using benches for the Zone 7 class to sit on. Add the Motherland flag (resource two). • Explain that you will take on the role of Mr Gunnell, and they will be in role as students in the school in Zone 7. It will be helpful to have a costume such as a jacket, scarf or tie to indicate when you are in-role. You can always break the role by taking the item of clothing off, and then speak out of role to the students about what is happening in the drama. The in-role improvisation provides an opportunity to give the class more information about the Motherland and for them to experience the tightening of the rules in the school in Zone 7. The role of Mr Gunnell would ideally appear reasonable within the logic of someone who supports the regime and wants to implement its rules and regulations. The in-role drama will give children the chance to reflect on the challenges of living in this world and consider the dangers Standish and others in Zone 7 might face. • Enter the ‘Zone 7 classroom’ in role and use the script (resource three) as a guide for what to say. This is not intended to be followed in full and in this particular order, but will give you the main points for the improvisation with the children. The aim of in-role work is to respond to what the children do in role; there are quite tight constraints for them due to the repressive nature of the Motherland. • Hear a few questions from the students at the end, but maintain the role of the disciplined Mr Gunnell reinforcing what has been said in the script. You can praise the great Motherland and stress how the rules are there to keep its people safe. Try to avoid being a tyrant, but instead play the truth of someone who believes what they are doing is right; all of the arguments you make are reasonable and in the interest of the Motherland.
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TEACHER RESOURCES Things to remember while responding to questions in role: - Your enemies are those who want to see the Motherland destroyed. - People who challenge the Motherland are sent for re-education, to get them back on track. - Surveillance and guards are for the people’s protection. - Obstructors are those who want to destroy the Motherland. Group improvisations - break time • Place the children in groups of four or five. • Ask them to improvise the conversations the children of Zone 7 might have with their friends during their break time. Make it clear they are with people who they can trust, and that they are not suspicious of each other. But they should be aware that other people they can’t trust might be close by and they might not want to be overheard. In addition to this, new cameras have been fitted around the school to record students’ behaviour. While these cameras don’t pick up sound and can’t listen in to their conversations, the people looking at the footage will be reading their body language. • What do the children in Zone 7 make of the recent changes in the school? • Now run the improvisations again but explain that this time you will be back in role as Mr Gunnell, and will be walking past watching and listening to what they are discussing. If you pass them, they will need to change the subject quickly. • Share the improvisations and walk past each group; stop and ask a couple of questions of the Zone 7 young people in role, and then move on. Once you have passed by, they can go back to their original conversation. Group discussion • Conclude this sequence by going back to a discussion of the rules. - What must it be like for young people to live in a world like this? - What do we know about the rules governing the Motherland? - Who is making the rules in this world and why? - How do people know who to trust in this world? • Discuss the questions the class hae about the Motherland, Zone 7, and Standish. • You could finish by making drawings of what you imagine the school in Zone 7 looks like.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
SEQUENCE TWO
SURVIVING THE MOTHERLAND AIMS
To consider how different characters choose to behave in the Motherland in order to survive. To introduce the idea that characters may say one thing but feel another. To further explore Zone 7 and the places within it.
RESOURCES Role on the wall outlines (resource one), Story Whoosh (resource four), pencils, crayons, paper and blutack.
STRATEGIES Still images, reflective discussion, paired and group improvisations, role on the wall-scribing, Story Whoosh.
INTRODUCTION This sequence introduces Hans Fielder and Eric Owens, two pupils at Standish’s school who deal with life in the Motherland by working with the authorities and intimidating weaker students. The behaviour of Eric and Hans offers a different insight into life in the Motherland. Their obedience to the system shows that if you follow the rules and ethos of the Motherland, you might be able to survive – but at what cost? Still-image work explores the moment at the beginning of the play when Standish escapes Hans and his gang. The sequence helps students to build a sense of the world through creating moments of drama and drawings, and mapping the world as students imagine it.
STAGE ONE: LIVING IN THE MOTHERLAND Focusing activity - See and Be • Begin with a game of STOP/GO, with the class focusing on working together as an ensemble. Now explain that when you say STOP, you will call a number and ask them to form a group of that number. • Explain that in this group you want them to create a freeze frame/still image over a ten second count Page 24
TEACHER RESOURCES from you. • Explain that you will ask the groups to either create a still image of people seeing something, or you will ask them all to be something. For example, see a group of people watching a fireworks display. Or be the fireworks in the display. • At the end of the ten second countdown, ask them to hold the position for a few seconds and draw the class’ attention to still images which are interesting and surprising. • Encourage the group to be imaginative in how they use their bodies to represent these images. - See: a fireworks display - Be - a fireworks display - See: one elephant in a zoo - Be: one elephant in a zoo - See: a group of people queuing for food rations - Be: a group of people queuing for food rations - See: a wall, with barbed wire and shards of glass at the top - Be: a wall, with barbed wire and shards of glass at the top - See: a railway tunnel with a skull and crossbones sign at the entrance - Be: a railway tunnel with a skull and crossbones sign at the entrance - See: a rocket taking off to the moon - Be: a rocket taking off to the moon
STAGE TWO: HAN FIELDER AND ERIC OWENS Still images - Hans and Eric • Briefly recap asking the group what they know about the Motherland. Explain that we are going to find out more about the Motherland and Zone 7, where Standish lives and goes to school. • Read the following text (resource four) and ask the children to listen out for clues about the two characters. Alternatively, you can give the text to students to read in small groups or pairs. Hans Fielder. Head Perfect, the teacher’s pet. Hans Fielder wears long trousers, like all the Motherland Youth. Little Eric Owen wears shorts like the rest of us, but he makes his shorts shorter by doing everything Hans Fielder tells him to. If Little Eric was a dog he would be a terrier. • Move the class into pairs and ask them to choose who will play Hans and who will play Eric (if you need to make a three, ask this group to have one person be Hans and the other two Eric). • Ask the pairs to create a still image of these two boys and how they relate to each other based on the text – the task is to focus on body language, so they should do this without trying to indicate who is wearing long trousers and who is wearing shorts. • Look at some of the images and discuss how it is we can tell which one is Hans and which is Eric. • Explain that in the play Hans Fielder is a bully, but he is also more than that: he is an informer. He belongs to the Motherland Youth and reports what he sees in the school to the authorities. There are other students who belong to the Motherland Youth – they all wear long trousers. Page 25
TEACHER RESOURCES • Ask the class to consider: - Why does Eric want to hang around with Hans? - What might it be like to be Eric? - What might he be scared of? • Choose one of the pairs to show their still image and ask the class how they could change this image to show how Eric might be feeling deep down, and try some of their ideas out. A child who has an idea can step in and take up an image of how Eric might be feeling inside. • Ask the class why Eric might not show his true feelings. • There are many situations where people might feel one thing but do or say something different. Discuss other examples you can think of where people might behave in this way. In the Motherland, people often don’t say what they are really thinking because they are frightened of the consequences. Role on the wall - inside Eric’s head • Give the children pencil, crayons and paper and ask them to draw what they imagine is inside Eric’s head; this can be an abstract image or metaphor like they created for Standish, or it could be an image the shows what Eric imagines or worries might happen. • Add these images to a role on the wall of Eric. • You could add words and images around the outside of Eric’s role on the wall which describe what he tries to show to the world. On the inside, use images and words which describe thoughts and feelings he hides away to himself. Still image - Hans and his gang • Read the following text and ask the children to listen out for further clues about the characters: Eric’s main duty was to see which way I was heading home every day and give the signal to Hans Fielder and his merry men. The boys needed something to get their teeth into. The chase would be on. I ended up being caught and beaten every time. Don’t think I didn’t give as good as I got, because I did. But I didn’t stand much of a chance. • Move the class into groups of four or more and ask them to decide who will be Hans, Eric, other members of their gang, and Standish. • Ask them to create a still image of this moment, finding a way of showing how they imagine Eric is feeling at this moment. • They can apply this same thinking to the other gang members – to what extent do they genuinely want to go along with Hans in this moment? Ask them to consider whether Hans might be afraid too – what might he be afraid of? • Share examples of these images with the class thought-track some of the people in their still images. • Ask the children to consider - if Eric behaves like this as a way to survive, why doesn’t Standish Page 26
TEACHER RESOURCES behave like Eric too? Scene-making - the railway tunnel • Read the following text to the class: One day, Hans, Eric and others cornered Standish near the disused railway tunnel. He was caught – he couldn’t get away from the gang. Standish had his back to the disused tunnel. The one with the skull and cross bones sign over it. The tunnel that no-one enters. But this day Standish didn’t get beaten up. No one touched him. They all stopped by the sign at the entrance to the tunnel. Standish weighed up the situation and then ran through the tunnel to the other side And no one followed him. • In the same groups as earlier, ask the children to create three still images, a beginning, a middle and an end, to show what they think happened in this moment of the story. • Ask the groups to consider: - Did Standish do or say something to make them hesitate? - Why didn’t they follow Standish through the tunnel? - Remind them that Standish doesn’t get hurt, and no one touches him. • Once the groups have created three still images, ask them to bring the scenes to life and connect them together by adding the following: - A line of speech from one or two characters, but no more, for each image. - Slow motion movement of the action in the scene, linking the three images together. • Share examples of the scenes created. • Discuss why Standish went through the tunnel and why the others didn’t follow him. • What do they imagine might be on the other side of the railway tunnel? Scribing - what is through the railway tunnel? • Ask the class to draw what they imagine might be on the other side of the tunnel, beyond the skull and crossbones sign. Story Whoosh - the other side of the tunnel A Story Whoosh is a way of acting out a story with the whole class which allows you to see the narrative line, the action, and the characters in broad brushstrokes. It is important to go around the circle with Page 27
TEACHER RESOURCES each child taking part in turn, making it an inclusive and accessible activity in which all the children contribute to telling the story. The teacher takes an active role as narrator/director and supports the children in the creation of the images. • Organise the class into a circle and explain that you are going to act out what happens to Standish when he goes through the tunnel using a Story Whoosh. They may be asked to play the character of Standish or they might create elements of the world using their bodies, as they did during the See and Be warm up earlier. • Read out each moment of the Story Whoosh (resource four) and ask the children in sequence around the circle to come into the middle and make an image showing what is happening. The words in bold indicate when you need to add people to make a new element of the image. • When you say ‘Whoosh!’, that group of actors is whooshed back into their places in the circle and the next children in turn will step in to act out the next episode in the story. • When you have finished the Story Whoosh, discuss with the class what new information they have found out about Standish’s world and ask them to consider: - Why were the football and raspberries important to Standish? - What might happen to Standish now? - How might Standish get back home? Group map - Zone 7 • Explain that we have now heard about a number of different places and locations in Zone 7. • Ask the class if they can list the locations they have encountered so far, reminding them of the following if needed: - The disused railway tunnel - The oak tree - The forbidden field with the raspberry bushes - The wall of Zone 7, topped with glass of shards - The People’s Palace - Standish’s house in a row of empty houses, some derelict - The school • Give the class large pieces of paper and art materials. • As a whole group or in small groups, ask the children to create a map of how they imagine the different locations in Zone 7 that they have learnt about so far link up. This is not intended to be an accurate map at this stage, but a way of recording different places we have learnt about and how they connect and relate to each other in the story. • The class could consider which locations Standish might feel afraid of and which he might feel safe or happy in and how they can reflect this in their drawings. You can add more locations and details to this map after seeing the play and learning more about the places in the Motherland and what more lies on the other side of the tunnel. Page 28
TEACHER RESOURCES
SEQUENCE THREE
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES AIMS
To explore the concept of trust and consider why we trust some people and not others. To introduce the character of Hector and explore how he is different to Standish. To consider how Hector and Standish’s differences help form their friendship, and how seeing things differently from others might offer benefits.
RESOURCES The first meeting story (resource five), pencils, and paper.
STRATEGIES Reflective discussion, paired sculptures, scene-building, drawing/scribing.
INTRODUCTION In this sequence we are introduced to Hector Lush, Standish’s best friend. Hector is everything the Motherland wants from their people: strong, organised and clever. It may appear that Hector has little in common with Standish, but both of them share a need to question the authority of the Motherland. Here we consider their differences, and how these differences complement each other and form the basis of their friendship, improving both their lives. The introduction of the Lush family allows students to explore the relationship between Zone 1 and Zone 7 and how people make new friendships in a place like the Motherland, where trust is understandably in short supply. The scene-building exercise asks us to consider how trust is built between friends and explores how the Lush family and the Treadwell family build trust in each other. The drawing/scribing activity expands the Motherland world into Zone 1, where Hector lived previously. By considering Standish and Hector’s different ways of describing their homes we can understand how their contrasting qualities may be of benefit to each other.
STAGE ONE: WHO CAN YOU TRUST? Focusing activity - eye contact • Ask the class to walk around the room, using the whole space and moving at a unified pace. You can use STOP/GO as a way of getting the class focused and ready to work. • As the class move around the space, ask them to be aware of everyone else in the room using their peripheral vision, but not to make eye contact. Notice how it is easy to avoid bumping into people without looking at them directly or making eye contact. Page 29
TEACHER RESOURCES • Now ask them when they pass someone to make eye contact briefly, for a split second, and then look away. • Give them a new instruction: to make eye contact for a little time, about the length of time which might feel normal when passing someone – so maybe one or two seconds. • Finally ask them to hold eye contact with people as they pass for as long as possible; this may entail turning as they walk in order to hold the gaze as long as they can. • Discuss what the children noticed about the difference of holding eye contact for varying lengths of time. Did they read any story or character dynamic into the different stages of this exercise? • Ask half of the class to watch the other half do the activity and hear their reflections about what each stage of the activity looked like from the perspective of audience, and what they imagine or read into each stage. Wink murder • Sit in a circle and ask the pupils to close their eyes. Explain that you will tap one person on the shoulder and they will be the ‘murderer’. • When everyone opens their eyes, the ‘murderer’ must wink at people without being seen. If you have been winked at, you must count to three and then die, falling to the floor with your eyes closed, and be still. • If someone thinks they know who the ‘murderer’ is they can accuse them, however if they are wrong then they too must die. • The group can have up to three guesses, after which if they haven’t been detected the ‘murderer’ has won. Discuss how it felt to be in a game based on being suspicious of each other. What kind of behaviour were people looking out for to detect the ‘murderer’? What did the ‘murderer’ have to do in order to be successful? How does it relate to the way people have to live in the Motherland? Recap and reflect - who can Standish trust? • Briefly recap the key information the group have learned from earlier sequences, and ask the class to consider: - Who can Standish trust in this world? - Why do some people not like Standish? - How can he identify his friends from his enemies?
STAGE TWO: HECTOR AND STANDISH Paired sculptures – Images of Hector and Standish • Remind the group that Standish has new neighbours who have moved in next door, who are called the Lush family. They been moved from Zone 1 to Zone 7. The Lushes have one son called Hector who is the same age as Standish. Page 30
TEACHER RESOURCES • Tell the children that we have some information about what Hector might be like; these are the words Standish uses to describe him: - Hector is 15 years old. - His hair is ‘floppety thick’. - Hector is serious. - He is tall and has a perfect-shaped head. - He plays the piano. - Hector is self-assured. - He is supernova bright. - Hector never takes it easy. • Place the children into pairs and ask them to name themselves A and B. • Ask them to imagine A is a sculptor and B is a block of clay. • Based on the description you have been given of Hector, ask A to model B into a sculpture of Hector by gently moving B into a pose. • This activity should be negotiated between A and B; A may show B what they want them to do, particularly when creating the facial expressions, as well as physically moving them. • Ask the sculptor to consider: - What might the expression on Hector’s face be? - How can his positioning suggest that he is self-assured and clever? • Share some examples of the ‘sculptures’ the group have created, pointing out examples of where the qualities you described are clearly and imaginatively shown. • Remind the class that Standish is quite different to Hector, and ask the group to offer examples of how Standish has been described so far. • Remind the class that some of the descriptions of Standish’s qualities come from his enemies rather than friends. For example, ‘Standish Treadwell isn’t bright’ is the kind of thing they would say. - Standish is 15. - He has one brown eye, and one blue. - His shirt is often buttoned incorrectly, his shoe laces untied, and his tie undone. - Standish struggles with reading and writing. - He is creative and imaginative. - Standish is an original. - He notices things others do not. - Standish is brave. • Ask the children to return to their pair, and this time, ask B to sculpt A into an image of Standish. • Share some examples of the ‘sculptures’ the group have created, pointing out examples of where the qualities you described are clearly and imaginatively shown. Page 31
TEACHER RESOURCES • Discuss with the group: - Do these boys have anything in common? - How might they help each other if they are friends? - What might they be able to offer each other? • Explain that when Standish first meets Hector, he thinks ‘I thought I knew him. But I knew I didn’t know him. I had never seen him before.’ Standish hands him the raspberries he found in the forbidden field, and they are friends from that point onwards. • How can you tell whether you can trust someone?
STAGE THREE: ZONE 1 AND ZONE 7 Scene-making part one: Standish tells Hector about Zone 7 • Put the class into pairs. Ask them to decide who will play Standish and who will play Hector. • Ask the groups to imagine that Standish and Hector are getting to know each other and improvise a scene where Standish tells Hector what it is like to live in Zone 7, based on what we have learned so far. • Ask the class to consider: - Standish wants to warn Hector about certain things in Zone 7, but he doesn’t want to frighten him. How can Standish make Hector feel safe? - Hector must have a lot of questions about this new place. What would he want to know? • Ask the group to share some examples of these improvised conversations. Scene-making part two: Hector tells Standish about Zone 1 • Explain that Standish has a lot of questions about Hector’s life in Zone 1. Zone 7 is cut off from the rest of the Motherland, and so the only things we know about it are what the authorities want people to know. • Share with the group the following information about Hector’s life and Zone 1: - Hector’s dad was a scientist, and was highly valued by the Motherland. - Hector’s mother was a doctor. - Hector can’t tell Standish why the family have moved to Zone 7. - The capital city of the Motherland is situated in Zone 1 and is called Tyker. - The leaders of the Motherland and other important people live in Zone 1. - There is no rationing in Zone 1: everyone has enough to eat, and have other luxuries including television and radio. - There are large houses and people have servants. - The people of Zone 1 speak a different language called the Mothertongue. Hector speaks the Mothertongue as well as the language Standish speaks. • Back in their pairs, give them a pencil and some paper. Page 32
TEACHER RESOURCES • Ask them to continue their scene adding what it is Hector tells Standish about life in Zone 1. • As Hector tells Standish about Zone 1, Standish must ‘scribe’ some images of what he hears and how he imagines Zone 1 to be like. The two characters can then discuss the drawing that Standish creates as part of the scene. • Ask them to consider: - As Standish is very imaginative, what details might he add to the descriptions Hector gives him? - Standish is very inquisitive. What questions might he ask Hector about Zone 1 and why they have moved to Zone 7? - How might Hector answer Standish in a way that means Standish still trusts and likes him, even though he isn’t able to tell him about why they have moved? - Hector’s life has changed a lot now he has moved to Zone 7. How might Hector feel about his move to Zone 7? What does he miss about Zone 1? • Complete this sequence by asking the group to share moments from their scenes and their drawings. • Discuss what more you have discovered about the Motherland and what questions you have about it.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
SEQUENCE FOUR
DIFFERENT KINDS OF HEROES AIMS
To explore what we think makes someone a hero. To consider different kinds of heroes and their status in society. To introduce the Space Race, and its significance to the Motherland. To explore the concept of trust and consider why we trust some people and not others.
RESOURCES Role on the wall outlines, (resource one), Motherland banner (resource two), Hector stands up for Standish text extract (resource five), teacher in role script (resource six), pencils and paper, images of astronauts.
STRATEGIES STOP/GO, short scene-making, teacher in role, role on the wall, group and paired storytelling.
INTRODUCTION This sequence focuses on the different kinds of heroes we meet in the play. It introduces the Motherland’s intention to demonstrate their supremacy over other races by being the first nation to send a rocket to the moon, mirroring the actual Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s. In the Motherland the astronauts are described as heroes, demonstrating all the qualities the Motherland prizes in its citizens. These activities allow us to compare the Motherland’s concept of heroism with the qualities of Standish and Hector and ask us to consider what makes a ‘true’ hero. The short scene-making explores Hector’s heroic, non-violent approach to facing down Hans and the other bullies, and asks the children to consider what qualities Hector has that enable him to do this. The teacher in role activity introduces the Motherland’s mission to put the first man on the moon and considers the political nature of the space race. The group and shared story telling activity explores the idea of space travel, encouraging the class to adopt the imaginative approach that Standish takes in the play.
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TEACHER RESOURCES STAGE ONE: HEROES Discussion - heroic qualities • As a whole class, discuss the kinds of qualities you admire in other people; people you look up to and aspire to be like. Write everyone’s ideas up. • Now discuss the kinds of qualities you would consider to be heroic, and add these to your list. STOP/GO - positive and heroic qualities • Play a game of STOP/GO, filling all of the space available and finding an even pace that is not too quick, or too slow. • Now explain that that you are going to read some of the qualities you identified as being admirable, and when you say STOP, ask them to freeze in a position that demonstrates this characteristic. Sometimes they can work alone and sometimes in small groups. For example: solo: kind. In groups of four: team player. In pairs: funny, etc. Extension activity • Place the class into groups of three or four and ask them to think of a scene in which someone displays heroism. This should be a realistic scenario, in which the heroic person does something that could be achieved in real life. • Ask the groups to show what happens in three still images and then to bring the scenes to life, moving from one to the next. • Share the short scenes and discuss what they saw of heroic behavior. Is there anything you want to add to your lists of heroic qualities?
STAGE TWO: HECTOR Short scene-making - Hector stands up for Standish • Read out the extract of the text in which Hector stands up for Hector against Mr Gunnell and Hans Fielder and his gang (resource six). • Move into groups of four or five and ask the groups to make a short scene, choosing one of the two scenarios Standish describes. • Make sure they start and end their scene with a still image. • Share the groups’ scenes, and hold them in the final image. Ask the audience to thought track a range of the characters in the final moment. • Discuss what you observed in the scenes. - What is it about Hector that means he is able to stand up to Mr Gunnell and the bullies? - Why are Mr Gunnell and the bullies stopped in their tracks? - Where does he find the strength to behave in this way? Page 35
TEACHER RESOURCES STAGE THREE: MISSION TO THE MOON Teacher in role • Explain that you are going to take on the role of Mr Hellman, the school’s Headmaster, and the class are going to go into role as the students in Standish’s school again. • As before, set up the space using the Motherland banner (resource two) and the list of school rules referred to in Sequence One. • Explain that when you play the national anthem of the Motherland (we recommend using the hymn ‘Jerusalem’, available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDG8wHG1UqI) they should stand ready for the entrance of the Headmaster, Mr Hellman. • The aim of the in-role conversation is to: - Give the class information about the Motherland’s plan to send a rocket to the moon. - Consider qualities the Motherland thinks are heroic and the role of these heroes in the regime. • Use the script (resource six) as a guide for what to say. This is not intended to be followed in full, but will give you the main points for the improvisation with the children. • Take questions from the class, in-role, about the moon landings. - Make sure to only answer questions about the moon landings. - All your answers need to further the idea that the Motherland is strong, has superior scientists and technicians and will succeed in this mission. - If you are unsure how to reply to a question, return to the idea that the Motherland will succeed and is superior to all other countries. - Your answers don’t have to be scientific or truthful, as they are part of the propaganda. Role on the wall: A Motherland Hero • Continuing in-role, explain to the class that the astronauts are an example of a Motherland hero. • Ask the children to describe the qualities a perfect Motherland hero should have, and write their ideas on the role on the wall. - Encourage answers that accord with the values of the Motherland (ie. strong, clever, disciplined, obedient, patriotic, etc.). - Discourage answers that do not accord with the values of the Motherland (ie. kindness, creativity, independent thinking, etc.) and refuse to write them on the role on the wall whilst maintaining the logic of Mr Hellman’s perspective. For example: ‘Kindness is not useful on such a mission – astronauts have to make quick, logical decisions based on what is needed. If they are considering other people’s feelings, this can lead to weakness and poor judgements.’ • Tell the class that very soon, the rocket will be launched into space, and as a special event the school will install a television in the hall and students will be allowed to watch the historic event live. The journey will take around two days and the students, like the rest of the world, will then have the privilege of watching the astronauts step foot on the moon as it happens, live.
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TEACHER RESOURCES • Finish the assembly by instructing all pupils that they should aspire to the qualities of the heroic astronauts. • Come out of role and discuss: - Why does the Motherland want to be the first country to send a rocket to the moon? - Why would Standish agree with Mr Hellman about heroes and what they should be like? Paired improvisations – Standish and Hector discuss the moon landings • Explain that both Standish and Hector are excited and captivated by the idea of space travel. • Ask the class to move into pairs and improvise the discussion Standish and Hector have about the assembly. How do they balance their excitement about space travel with their distrust of the Motherland? • Use the listening hand to hear the improvisations between Standish and Hector. Discussion and reflection: what makes a hero? • Complete this sequence with a discussion about the different types of heroes the class have explored together. • Ask the group to consider: - What heroic qualities does Standish have? - What heroic qualities does Hector have? - What qualities do you think a hero should have? Can you give examples of your heroes?
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TEACHER RESOURCES
RESOURCE ONE
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TEACHER RESOURCES
MOTHERLAND
RESOURCE TWO
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TEACHER RESOURCES
RESOURCE THREE Good morning class. You will notice that Miss Connolly is not here today. I am your new teacher, Mr Gunnell, and things are going to be a little different going forward. Miss Connolly was soft and undisciplined, and I think we can all agree that this is not in your best interests as students, or in the best interests of the Motherland. We are going to start with appearance. Boys, your hair needs to be no longer than half an inch. (Point out those boys that need to have a haircut, including boys with shaved sides and long on top). Girls, you will have long hair kept neatly in either a single or two plaits. We will no longer tolerate untidiness; you will ensure that your shoelaces are tied, and all ties are neatly tied. Questions are welcomed where relevant to learning. Miss Connolly seemed to encourage questions on all kind of irrelevant subjects. No wonder she has been sent for re-education - not before time. You will also notice an increase in security around the school. We are installing more of the clockwork cameras to record what is going on. There will be more guards on the entrance gates to the school for your protection. We know that the Motherland is under threat from our enemies: those who would like to see our great country defeated. It is your duty to report to me or another member of staff anyone you think might be helping or passing information to the obstructors. They are a danger to our way of life. Any questions?
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TEACHER RESOURCES
RESOURCE FOUR THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TUNNEL STORY WHOOSH They had me (Standish) cornered under the old railway tunnel near school. At the end of the tunnel was a sign, with a cross and skullbones on it. The Motherland hates trespassers. It was either stay put and get duffed up. Or run into the long grass behind the sign and take my chance with the devil. So I ran through the tunnel. Whoosh I stopped by a huge oak tree, my heart an egg bumping against the side of a pan of boiling water. In the distance I could see the huge pointless building they called the People’s Palace, though it had been derelict for years. It was then I spotted it. A red football! Deflated, but whole. I stuffed it in my school bag. Further along the disused railway track I found a riot of wild raspberry bushes. I tied the sleeves of my shirt together and filled it with fruit. Whoosh By now I’d crossed the forbidden field and reached the wall. A word to describe that wall might be ‘impenetrable’. See? I might not be able to spell, but I collect words - they are sweets in the mouth of sound. The wall ran along the bottom of our street. Only then did it dawn on me that I hadn’t the foggiest idea how I was going to get over the wall and back home safe. There was glass on top, the artery- cutting kind. I had two choices. I would have to go back the way I came, which I wasn’t doing; and the other... Whoosh
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TEACHER RESOURCES
RESOURCE FIVE School was different. Better. No one messed with Hector. Scenario One When Mr Gunnell asked me a question, knowing that Standish didn’t know the answer, Hector would ask Mr Gunnell a question in return. A question so mindbogglingly clever that Mr Gunnell would be struck dumb. Mr Gunnell knew Hector had a bigger brain than he did. That shut Mr Gunnell up. Every time. Scenario Two When Hector joined the class. He wouldn’t let any boy mess with Standish. Not even Hans Fielder and his gang of bully boys. If they started with the chant, ‘Can’t read, can’t write, Standish Treadwell isn’t bright’, Hector would walk over to them and stare. Just stare. He didn’t need to resort to violence. He didn’t have to raise his fists. He would just look at them. And that look flattened them, stronger than any punch. He made them feel so small that they shrunk into their shoes and shuffled away. Standish could see Hans Fielder was itching to get his hands on him. Little Eric still watched me, telling his tales to Hans in the hope he would get in with the gang. But he was safe with Hector by his side. There was just something special about him. Something in his eyes that shouted, ‘Don’t even try it!’. So they didn’t. Not while he was around.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
FURTHER READING On the first moon landing: https://www.theguardian.com/gnmeducationcentre/from-the-archive-blog/2019/ jul/19/man-walks-on-the-moon-21-july-1969 https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/space-race-timeline
On ‘what if’ histories, explained by Sally Gardner: https://www.maggotmoon.com/background.php On the rise of fascism: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3bp82p/revision/2 On how Standish sees words on a page: http://maggotmoon.com/dyslexia.php https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/10/one-giant-lie-why-so-many-people-still-think-the-moonlandings-were-faked
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TEACHER RESOURCES
RESOURCE SIX Good morning all - you may be seated. I begin our assembly with a special announcement. Very soon we, the great Motherland, will demonstrate our technical supremacy over the corrupt countries who want to destroy us. We will be the first nation to launch a rocket to the moon. This will show our enemies that we are superior in all ways; that we have the technological and scientific knowledge to outdo all our enemies. We have selected three astronauts – perfect examples of the Motherland, great heroes – ARO5, SOL3 and ELD9. Posters of these heroes can be seen here and on the walls around the school and Zone 7. They are to be admired. You will aspire to be like them. Some people do not believe the Motherland can accomplish this, but they are wrong and we will prove them wrong. Soon we will be acknowledged as the greatest nation on Earth.
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MAGGOT
MOON
A Unicorn Production
Based on the novel by Sally Gardner Adapted for the stage by Jemma Kennedy Directed by Jesse Jones Resource pack written by Nicola Chambers and Catherine Greenwood