THE BEE
IN ME TEACHER RESOURCE PACK FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH PUPILS IN YEARS 4 - 7
A Unicorn Production
THE BEE IN ME By Roland Schimmelpfennig Translated by David Tushingham Directed by Rachel Bagshaw
FROM FRI 31 JAN - SUN 1 MAR 2020 FOR PUPILS IN YEARS 4 - 7 LET’S FLY AWAY. One ordinary boy living an ordinary life. Every day the same: parents still asleep, late again for school, can’t find his clean trousers. But today is different. Today is a game. Today he has wings. Fly out of your room. Congratulations! Level two. Get dressed, find breakfast, don’t wake your parents, get to school, reach level three, keep going… Don’t get flattened… Level four… Rachel Bagshaw directs the UK première of The Bee In Me, written by one of Germany’s most exciting contemporary playwrights. This exceptional new production is both joyful and demanding, touching on the challenges of urban life for an isolated and neglected child overcoming day-to-day encounters. Full of warmth and sorrow, dreamlike and kaleidoscopic, it celebrates a child discovering inner resources – resilience, determination and ingenuity – and finding a kind of freedom.
Duration: 1 hr 10 mins (approx)
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TEACHER RESOURCES
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
p. 4
ABOUT THE PLAY MAKING THE PLAY
p. 5 p. 7
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR RACHEL BAGSHAW
A NOTE ABOUT THE BEE IN ME AND SENSITIVE CONTENT DRAMA ACTIVITIES
p. 10
p. 11
SEQUENCE ONE: A DAY IN THE LIFE SEQUENCE TWO: IMAGINATION
p. 17
SEQUENCE THREE: VIDEO GAMES SEQUENCE FOUR: THE QUEEN BEE
RESOURCES FOR ACTIVITIES
p. 12
p. 23 p. 25
p. 27
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TEACHER RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION This is the teacher resource pack to accompany the Unicorn Theatre’s production of The Bee In Me by Roland Schimmelpfennig. The production is aimed at children in school Years 4 to 7, and these resources have been written with both primary and secondary teachers in mind. The purpose of this resource pack is to provide useful contextual information about the production and a series of exploratory drama activities, so that teachers feel equipped to support and extend pupils’ visit to the theatre, enabling them to get the most from the experience. The Bee In Me is a beautifully told, funny and moving play for children aged 8 to 12. The piece follows a day in the life of our protagonist, a child, as they move through a series of challenges in a parallel reality in which they are playing a video game and winning: a game where they become a bee that is able to escape their reality and fly away. In the game, the child has to face a series of life challenges. They have to get themselves ready for school and find something to eat for breakfast without the help of their parents, deal with the fact that they are late and haven’t got their homework with them, and face bullies as they try to make their way home. Through resilience, ingenuity and the power of their imagination, they manage to beat all six levels of the game, and return home safely to his bedroom. When the child wakes the next morning, the game begins again. But this time they know what they need to do. Performed by three actors, this poetic, highly physical and visual piece will bring the world of the child and the video game they imagine vividly to life.
CPD: MON 25 NOVEMBER, 10AM - 4PM There will be a free teacher CPD day for The Bee In Me, 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 Roland Schimmelpfennig’s powerful and moving play will be performed by three actors, sharing the storytelling, in a sparse, open and beautiful space in the Weston Theatre. The poetic text will be passed back and forth between the three actors as they conjure images of the child’s reality: a difficult home life of poverty with parents who are physically present, but emotionally absent; school, where they struggle to keep up with what is expected of them; and on the streets, where they are alone and vulnerable to bullies. The child imagines themselves in a video game; a game where they are a bee, where they can fly and escape the constraints of their life. As the bee, they are able to face the challenges of their day and succeed, moving through levels 1 to 6 of the game. As they play, the child finds their internal strength and resilience and the knowledge that the child has the ability to win out against the odds. The play begins when the child wakes; it is a beautiful day. The sun is shining: ‘you can hear its fire roaring’. Gradually, as they come into consciousness, they realise they are a bee. You’re a bee And you’re crawling Across the white pillow case that you were just sleeping on If you’re a bee - then you can also fly. The child finds they can fly, and as they do so they looks down on their bedroom, seeing their clothes lying around and a ruler which they lost, on top of the wardrobe. And then they fly out of the window up towards the sun. Outside, from high up in the sky, the child sees a red thing far below and is drawn to it; it is a flower. When they crawl deep inside the flower, they have completed LEVEL 1. But they suddenly can’t fly anymore; they’re back at home and need to go to school, and they’re late. In LEVEL 2 of the game, the child has to get themselves off to school. Their mum and dad aren’t there to help them get dressed and find their school bag. In fact, dad is asleep at the kitchen table with a bottle of beer next to him and the TV still blaring from the night before. The child tiptoes around trying not to wake their parents, but when they trip over a bottle of beer on the floor they wake dad, and dad’s shouting wakes mum. The child realises they doesn’t have their school bag, but they’ll have to get past dad to get it out of their room. Instead they decide to leave for school – without the bag. They’ve completed LEVEL 2. At LEVEL 3 the child is in school, where the teacher asks everyone to get their books out, but the child hasn’t got their bag. They desperately want to turn back into a bee - they try really hard to make it happen - then suddenly find they are a bee, crawling across Susie Matzanke’s exercise book. Susie spots the bee and tries to hit it with her pencil case. A bee in the classroom - chaos ensues. All the children scream and run. The bee tries to find its way out of the window, bumping and bumping Page 5
TEACHER RESOURCES against the glass, but the window is closed. Susie builds a tower out of chairs and desks to chase the bee and swat it with her pencil case; the bee flies around and around Susie, buzz, buzz, buzz. But when she’s at the top, she falls, and her shoe gets flipped off her foot, flying through the air into the window. The window smashes and the bee flies through to freedom. The child has escaped and completed LEVEL 3. Outside, it is drizzling and cold and the child is no longer a bee, and now has to walk home on their own, wet and hungry. On their way, they pass the sailor’s house: The sailor’s got a white house and the kids call him the sailor because apparently he’s got a wooden leg – but it’s not certain whether he does have a wooden leg, nobody has ever seen the wooden leg because he always wears long trousers. The sailor invites him in to get out of the rain and offers to make him something to eat. He appears to be sympathetic and kind, and the child is very hungry today; all they’ve had to eat is the apple they had for breakfast. The child is tempted, but doesn’t go in – they need to press on and complete LEVEL 4. When they do, they feel like a hero: invincible. But at LEVEL 5, the child is cornered by two brothers; bullies, who start to threaten them. They say ‘Give us your phone’, but the child doesn’t have a phone, or an MP3 player. The brothers start going through the child’s pockets. But this is their area, and they know every nook and cranny. They know that there is a gap in the fence. They find the gap and, being small, slip through. The brothers are too big and cannot follow. They’ve completed LEVEL 5. When the child finally gets home, their parents are still in bed. Mum says to make some ravioli for tea. At LEVEL 6, they have to make their food: find the ravioli, and a can opener, open the can without cutting their hand and then put the food in the microwave – but not in the can, as it will explode! Finally, the child goes to bed. On their way to their room they shout ‘Good night’ down the hallway. Next door they can hear the TV is on; the parents are watching their programme. Having completed LEVEL 6, they try to sleep, breathing deeply, in and out. But then the child realises realises a beautiful woman is sitting on their bed. It is the Queen Bee, and everything around her is glowing. She’s come to tell them something important. She tells them that they are special and that they have achieved so much. She listens to the child talk about their day, and tells them that tomorrow they will know what to do: that though they aren’t a bee, they will know what to do. When the child wakes the next morning, they are a bee. They can fly, and they take off, flying, into the sun. The Bee In Me plays with the relationship between reality and the imagination; using light, projection and sound, the play will bring to life the child’s day-to-day reality and the exciting, fast-moving and empowering world of the video game, where they feel invincible. Page 6
TEACHER RESOURCES
MAKING THE PLAY
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR RACHEL BAGSHAW WHY DID YOU WANT TO DIRECT THIS PIECE? I think there is something in the title, in terms of the idea of what our imagination releases in ourselves, that really connects with me - the idea of this boy, in what are really dire circumstances, having the facility, the ability, to imagine himself in a different space. As a theatremaker, that is one of the most extraordinary and profound examples of how theatre can change our perception of the world. We have this ability to create a space in which through theatre, through literature, we can imagine a different way of being. And creatively, what’s very exciting is the language of the play: this extraordinary, lyrical poem, that even though it has these set levels, 1 to 6, and it has set times in the day, doesn’t really stop. It just keeps going. It is this constant, moving thing. It’s three storytellers on the stage trying to figure out how to tell this story. So there’s a lovely interplay between text and story, and what feels like this very real experience of this one boy. On stage you have three performers trying to create these images live for us, which also feels really exciting.
COULD YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THE PLAY IS ABOUT, AND WHAT YOU THINK WILL RESONATE FOR THE YOUNG AUDIENCE WHO COMES TO SEE IT? The play is a day in the life of one boy from the moment he gets up to the moment he goes to sleep, going through his everyday life. And his everyday life has some hardships in it: he’s got quite a difficult home life, and he finds school difficult too. And alongside that, over the course of the day, he is playing this game in his head, about becoming a bee. There are six levels; he plays through the levels, and finally, at the end of the show, he becomes a bee and flies away. At the end of the play he learns he doesn’t need to be a bee. He can be himself, and doesn’t need to be a bee in order to have a life. It’s about a boy living in extreme poverty, in very difficult home life circumstances, who doesn’t fit in, and who is on the outskirts of his own life. There’s something really interesting about the way that the show is constructed in terms of it being told in second person. It’s almost like he doesn’t inhabit his own life, like he is on the outskirts of it all the time. I think for us, living in the tail end of austerity, which feels like it’s never going to go away, the day in the life of this boy hits home really hard in terms of the real, dire levels of poverty that are experienced. That is his reality. There is a real tension in the play, intentionally, between reality and fiction, imagination, and a space Page 7
TEACHER RESOURCES in which he can imagine himself not in his reality. How we position that for 8 to 12 year olds is going to be a challenge. The route “in” is very much through it being a game, and the way he gets further and further up the levels of the game.
HOW DO YOU IMAGINE THE THREE ACTORS WILL PERFORM THE PIECE? It’s a one day journey; from beginning to end, it’s almost one breath. What I want to create is something that has that feel of being not breathless, but continually moving. There’s a sense in the way that the three performers share that language; there’s a lot of shape-shifting and roleplayshifting, and of course that’s all borrowed from the gaming language that’s holding the whole thing together. The story is mostly told in the second person, although sometimes the performers move into the role of the boy. I think there is something poetic in terms of the power of threes, and the tension that gives you across a triangle. With two people, or four, you get a very different bounce in terms of the rhythm. Three are constantly trying to figure it out and make offers to each other and pass the baton, and change what’s seen and not seen on stage. So the description might be altered, where one person says one thing and the second person interrupts and changes it somehow. There’s a real fluidity to a trio telling that story; it’s a little bit like acrobats. There’s a sense of that in an acrobatic troupe: that there’s one providing the base bassline, another playing the harmony in the middle and there’s someone singing the melody over the top. That shifts all the time, but that is something a trio gives you. Told in the second person, it’s ‘you’ throughout, so there is a tension there. Who do we talk to? Do we talk to the audience? Are we talking to a space on stage? Who is the you? How do we create that boy, and is that boy also an ‘every-boy’? It’s a very specific and quite detailed picture of this one boy’s devastating existence, but the ‘you’ gives us the scope to allow us our own imaginative routes in.
HOW DOES THE IDEA OF THE VIDEO GAME WORK IN THE PRODUCTION? The language is very much that of a video game or a computer game. It’s got levels, and there are particular rules to each level. It’s got that element of, when I watch my six year-old playing a game, when he achieves a level he gets that real endorphin rush of ‘Yes, I’ve succeeded at the level’. So it’s built around video games and their language, and what we know and understand around that. Part of the game is him challenging himself. If he’s going to get through this - get through this day, get through this life - how can he challenge himself to ensure that he can survive all of this? It’s a survival game. The story of the game is also about how his imagination can help him to survive.
CAN YOU TELL US YOUR IDEAS FOR STAGING AND THE DESIGN OF THE PIECE? The big question is to what extent we will pull out the gaming language from the show visually, and how we might create the space in which this boy lives. I think there will be very little set. I’m thinking a lot about light. I think there’s a version of it that is a really empty space sculpted in light and projection, and it’s about colour and colour shifts which move us through different points in the world. There’s something about the threads in the space between the storytellers. I imagine in rehearsals Page 8
TEACHER RESOURCES we’re going to do lots of physical work that’s about creating that ‘passing the baton’ feel to the story that will give us something to interrupt, and there’s this constant elasticity as the performers move in the space. My big question then is how to make this a very beautiful thing to watch, and try to balance that with the boy’s reality. The video game is maybe the most real thing in it. One thing I have been thinking about is maybe the last moment, with a fully hyperreal, projected sky. So that actually, the last moment, which is the most unrealistic moment of the entire thing, gives us the idea that there is hope, that you create this vision of hope, of the full sky, and the bee flying out into the sky, and flying up and up and up.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
A NOTE ABOUT THE BEE IN ME AND SENSITIVE CONTENT The Bee In Me follows the day in the life of a child during a particularly difficult day in which they have to face a series of challenges. The play is performed by three actors who all play the child at different times, allowing the audience to picture the child for themselves rather that being pinned down to one particular actor’s characterisation. This form of shared representation offers a distancing from which to view the child’s journey through the day. Following in the tradition and language of fairytales and popular children’s fiction, wherein a child often has to face danger alone, the play touches on themes of poverty, neglect, bullying, and keeping safe from strangers. The play frames the day as a video game. The set and sound will create the aesthetic of the game, with colourful lights and the sound design building each moment of play and the sense of achievement. Each moment of difficulty, frustration or danger is seen as a challenge in the game which the child has to overcome before they can get to the next level. One unexpected way that the child finds their way through is by transforming into a bee: a bee that can escape, and attack. The bee symbolises freedom, possibility and the power of the child’s imagination. Funny, exciting and deeply moving, The Bee In Me sees the child reach each level and feel the exhilaration of getting through. They discover their inner resources: resilience, determination, courage, and creativity. There isn’t a simple solution to the child’s difficulties and the play doesn’t offer any easy resolutions. But it is hopeful; the child keeps going, doesn’t give up, tries their hardest and learns as they go – with the help of their narrator friends and The Queen Bee who tells the child: You are something very special. You must never forget that Even if things are difficult – You’ve already achieved so much. You’ll see. The experience of watching the child achieve each level of the game will give all children in the audience the opportunity to develop empathy and understanding of a child who is struggling to do what is expected of them – but is doing it alone. At the end of the play we know that the child has to get up the next day and try again, but it ends on a theatrical moment of beauty and release, with lights, sound and an opening out of the set, which will provide the audience with the sense of the possibility of transformation and transcendence. The NSPCC reports that 1 in 10 children have experienced neglect, so there may well be children in your class who recognise themselves more acutely in the child’s situation than others. As a child, having your experience acknowledged and recognised can be important - knowing that this is an experience other children have and that they are not alone.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
DRAMA ACTIVITIES CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES The full series of drama activities 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 are intended to extend the imaginative reach of the play and allow pupils 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 that 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 before and after visiting the Unicorn to see the show. The activities are designed to build sequentially, but also to be flexible enough for you to adapt to your own classroom priorities and curriculum planning. Sequence One introduces the idea of ‘a day in the life’ of an ‘every child’. Drawing on children’s own lives, the activities will look at all the small challenges a child could face in an average day and how they might overcome some of those challenges. Sequence Two explores the power of imagination and transformation. Looking at the idea of transforming into animals at times of difficulty, these activities will connect to the way the child in the play transforms into a bee at times of difficulty. It also introduces the beginning of the story in a simple Story Whoosh. Sequence Three asks the children to think about the challenges they have been exploring in the previous sequences as if they were levels in a video game. The child in The Bee In Me experiences their day as if it were a video game, with six levels they have to complete to finish the game. The game format encourages them to continue onwards with a sense of achievement and reward. Sequence Four is designed to be explored after your group has watched the performance of The Bee In Me. While earlier sequences considered the daily challenges faced in their own lives, this sequence asks them to focus on the character of the child in the play. The sequence will provide ways for the children to respond to the child in The Bee in Me and through words and drawings offer support and advice for the character in the story.
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TEACHER RESOURCES
SEQUENCE ONE
A DAY IN THE LIFE AIMS
To draw on the group’s collective experience of daily routines on an average school day. To develop improvisations and scenes with a narrator and actor working together. To consider how we deal with everyday challenges and setbacks and how we can build resilience.
RESOURCES Paper, pens, timeline (resource one), post-it notes.
STRATEGIES Group storytelling, narration and mime, improvisation, scene-building.
INTRODUCTION This sequence explores a typical ‘day in the Life’ of a child using storytelling and improvisation techniques. The Unicorn Theatre’s production of The Bee in Me uses three narrators who tell the story of a child who faces some difficult challenges each day (mostly) in the second person: #1 You want to get out into the summer morning, and look! That’s good! The window’s open, #2 You hadn’t even noticed the window was open but the window is wide open. #3 Come on, let’s get out of here. This sequence introduces storytelling and narration techniques through which the children can explore different ways of telling a story, and consider the story from different perspectives. These techniques are used in the Unicorn Theatre’s production. Using examples of activities and tasks which children undertake each day, they will build a story that incorporates their own experience, as well as considering the experiences of others. In the drama work they will be encouraged to consider the challenges they face each day and the strategies they might employ to overcome them. The use of narration in this work will mirror the form of the play; at times the narrators describe what is happening, while at other times they offer words of encouragement to the actor who is playing the child. Page 12
TEACHER RESOURCES STAGE ONE: RULES Paired work: counting in pairs • Begin by placing the children in pairs around the space and asking them to name themselves A and B. • In their pairs, ask them to repeatedly count from 1 to 3, each taking the next number. - A says 1 - B says 2 - A says 3 - B says 1 - A says 2 etc. • Explain that they must repeat 1, 2, 3 over and over getting faster and faster. Acknowledge the fact that it’s trickier than it seems. Encourage the children not to give up if they make a mistake. Ask a pair who are focusing well to share an attempt and question them on their approach – how are they succeeding? • Explain to the group that this was just Level 1 of the task. They are now going to attempt Level 2, which will be more challenging, so it will take practice and focus to get better. • At Level 2, they must repeat what they have done before but replace saying ‘one’ with a CLAP. - A claps - B says 2 - A says 3 - B claps - A says 2 etc. • After practising Level 2, introduce Level 3: now not only is ‘one’ replaced with a CLAP but ‘two’ is replaced with a STAMP. • Finally, introduce Level 4, for which the group must replace ‘three’ with a JUMP. • Ask for some volunteers to share their attempts with the group. • Discuss with the group the feeling of wanting to give up: - Why do we sometimes want to give up? - What happens if we keep trying? - What words of encouragement might we offer to someone playing this game? Whole group storytelling: I woke up this morning... • Ask the group to form a circle sitting on the floor, and tell them you are going to tell a story as a whole group. • Explain that you will start with the sentence ‘I woke up this morning…’ and then each person around the circle will say the next word in the story. The group as a whole needs to keep track of the story so that it has a beginning, middle and end. Page 13
TEACHER RESOURCES • Make clear that while the story can be imaginative, it does need to make sense. Therefore, the group must listen carefully to what is being said. They are working as a team, so they need to help build the story together. Continue around the circle until the group has completed a story. • Ask for volunteers to recap the story and consider what kind of story they have created: - Did the story make sense? - Did it have a beginning, middle and end? - What challenges did the character face in their story?
STAGE TWO: A DAY IN THE LIFE Group discussion - daily routines • Explain to the group that the Unicorn’s production of The Bee in Me tells the story of ‘a day in the life’ of a child. You are going to explore a typical day in their lives, which may have some similarities to the child in the story. • Create a timeline (similar to resource one) on a large piece of paper. You will return to this timeline throughout the sequences. • Discuss with the class what their typical day is like and write up their answers. Alternatively, you could ask them to write or draw their answers on post-it notes which they can stick on to the timeline and then discuss. • Ask for examples of activities or tasks they perform at through the different stages of their day: - When they first wake up - Before they leave the house - On their way to school - When they arrive - Lunchtime - Afternoon - The journey home - When they arrive home • As part of the discussion, ask the children to give examples of jobs and responsibilities they have as part of their daily routines. Ask them to consider how old they were when they started doing some tasks independently and where others might help them; for example, parents, siblings, friends and maybe helpful strangers. • Once you have collated their examples, ask the group to identify which activities and tasks everyone has in common, as well as those that are the most different. Explain that you are now going to turn some of the timeline into a story and they are going to become the character of the child in the story you create. Individual mimes - a day in the life of a child • Ask the children to find a space on their own in the room and sit down.
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TEACHER RESOURCES • Explain to the group that you are going to tell a story called ‘A day in the life of a child’. You will act as the narrator by describing each stage of the story. As you describe what is happening, each child will individually act out the story. They must mime a response to your narration but can add their own details into their mimes. For example, if you say they are putting their shoes on, everyone mimes this action, but they must decide whether they are putting on shoes or boots and must show this in the type of mime they perform (tying laces, doing up buckles, slip-ons etc.). • Check with the class that they understand what you mean by ‘miming’: that they need to remain silent and show their ideas through their actions rather than word or sounds. Try out a couple of simple mimes, such as drinking a hot drink or tying shoelaces, for example. • Ask the class to find a space on their own in the hall and to lie down – imagining that they are in bed. Begin with ‘You wake up in the morning and open your eyes. ’ • Continue to narrate your ‘day in the life’ in the second person, starting each sentence with the word ‘You’. You wake up in the morning and open your eyes. You don’t want to get up – it’s warm and cosy in your bed. Eventually you know you have to get up so you stretch and get out of bed. You make your way to your bedroom door but as you do, you knock your school bag over and all the books fall out so you have to pick them up… • Continue using some of the things that you discussed in your timeline and include a few everyday challenges: having a shower but the water turns cold; not being able to find your trousers – then finding them under the bed, dusty and crumpled, but you have to put them on; there’s no milk for your cereal; you can’t find the homework that you’ve done, etc. Take the improvisation up to the point where you go to the front door to leave. Group discussion - challenges • Ask the the group to give other examples of the small challenges they might face in a day, a day when little things go wrong. Write up their suggestions for these every day challenges on the timeline.
STAGE THREE: THE JOURNEY TO SCHOOL Paired work: exploring narration • Put the children in pairs and ask them to create two short scenes based on a typical morning. For each scene, one of them will narrate what happens on the journey to school and the other will become the child in the story, miming the action described. Remind them of the way in which you narrated the action in the previous activity and they acted it out through mime. They will swap over who is narrating and who is miming in the second scene. • Ask the children to include an everyday challenge, and make their scenes as realistic as possible. • Once the pairs have created their two scenes, share them with the group. Ask the groups watching to identify what challenges the child encounters in each moment.
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TEACHER RESOURCES Whole group and paired discussion - words of encouragement and advice • Explain to the group that the character of the child in their stories is having one of those days when it feels like everything goes wrong. The child may feel like they want to give up. • Considering the examples of the challenges they showed in their scenes, discuss with the group: - How does it make you feel when things go wrong? - What do you do when things go wrong? - What might help the child in these moments? • In their pairs, ask the class to think of what they might say to the child when everything is going wrong that might help them feel stronger and able to carry on with their day with a positive attitude. • Listen to some of the words of encouragement and advice that the children have thought of. Whole group and paired discussion - words of encouragement and advice • Divide the children into groups of four, and ask them to find a space to work in. Explain that they will now create a scene showing the child later that day, in a lesson after lunchtime. Begin by asking each group to choose what kind of lesson they want this to be; it could be PE, art, history, maths etc. • Ask the groups to create a normal school day scene, with the children and teachers in the class doing usual things. Ask them to find some simple actions and dialogue (with one or two lines for each of them, but no more). • Ask the group to select one person to be the character of ‘the child’. The other members of the group can be friends or members of staff. Explain that this time, there are no narrators. • When they have the beginning of their scene, ask them to add something going wrong for the ‘child’ in their scenes, a moment when things don’t go to plan - this should be an everyday challenge they might face at school, as discussed earlier, not a major incident. • Ask the children to take their scene up to the moment when the thing goes wrong, but no further, so that the incident is not resolved and to finish their drama at this moment. • When they have rehearsed their scenes, ask them to make sure they start their scenes with a clear still image of the moment before the action begins, and end them with a still image of the moment of things going wrong for the child. • Once completed, ask each group to share their scene. • Explain to the group that they will get the chance to return to these scenes and complete them in the next sequence. Therefore, they need to remember what they have created. Ask them to write a summary of their scenes or a script to help them remember which includes dialogue and stage directions (recording the main actions of the performers). • Complete this sequence with a discussion of the challenges the child faces in the scenes they created. We don’t know what will happen to the child next – how do we feel not knowing what will happen to the child? Page 16
TEACHER RESOURCES
SEQUENCE TWO
IMAGINATION AIMS
To explore the power of imaginative play and introduce improvisation techniques that develop imagination. To consider the characteristics of different animals, and how we might embody these characteristics to help face different challenges. To introduce the beginning of the story of The Bee in Me and its main character.
RESOURCES Pens, paper, Story Whoosh (resource two).
STRATEGIES Frozen images/statues, group storytelling, improvisation, staggered scene building, Story Whoosh.
INTRODUCTION One of the central metaphors in the play is the transformation by the child into a bee - but this isn’t easy: #3 You can or you could fly, you just don’t know how to do it. #1 You’ve got to - or you just need to learn how to do it. (#2 tries to fly) It’s really not so easy (#1 buzzes with effort) #3 You move your bee’s wings as fast as you can, (#2 makes an even louder buzzing sound than #1 did) But for some unknown reason you can’t get up, you can’t take off, no matter how hard you try (#1 buzzes as loudly as possible, their head goes all red with buzzing.) #3 But then suddenly #2 You do something different from before, Page 17
TEACHER RESOURCES something, you don’t know what exactly #1 And suddenly you’re in the air This sequence explores imaginative play and improvisation. It asks the group to consider how their imaginations might help them in their lives. In the Unicorn’s production of The Bee in Me, the child’s imaginative response transcends their day-to-day reality, by becoming a bee. The qualities of a bee are powerful; they have the power to fly, to explore, to hide or to attack. The sequence begins with exercises that encourage the class to explore the power of their own imaginations. Using improvisational games and exercises the children will consider the characteristics of different animals, and imagine themselves transforming into those animals to respond to everyday obstacles.
STAGE ONE: EXPLORING IMAGINATION Focusing activity - See and Be • Ask the children to move around the room on their own, keeping evenly spread across the space and not moving too quickly or too slowly, finding a common pace together. • 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 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 sun rising over a rooftop, or be the sun rising over a rooftop. • At the end of the ten second countdown, ask them to hold the position for a few seconds and draw the class’ attention to images that are interesting and surprising. • Encourage the groups to be imaginative in how they use their bodies to represent these images. See: The sun rising slowly over a rooftop Be: The sun rising slowly over a rooftop See: A group of children seeing another child being told off for being late by a teacher Be: A pencil case, a pencil, a pencil sharpener and a rubber See: A delicious cake in a shop Be: A delicious cake in a shop See: A bee crawling across your desks at school Be: A school See: A window smashing in your classroom Be: A window smashing in your classroom See: A tiger walking across the street Be: An elephant Page 18
TEACHER RESOURCES • When the children are holding their images around the room, you can thought track some of them in their image; when you tap their shoulder, ask them to speak their thoughts in the first person. Group discussion - imagination • Ask the group to discuss: - What is imagination? - What happens when we imagine? - Why do we imagine? - How is imagination powerful? Consider the role of imagination in the previous exercise. How did they come up with ideas for the images they made?
STAGE TWO: ANIMAL TRANSFORMATIONS Individual statues: Animals • Over a count of five, ask everyone to bring their statue to life for five seconds on the spot and in slow motion, showing the movement and making the sound of that animal, and then freezing again into their statues. • As a class, look at some of their statues coming to life and ask the group to identify the animals. • Discuss with the class: - Why did you choose the animal that you did? - What do you like about these animals? - What qualities do they have that you would like to have? - What characteristics do we identify with those animals? • Write up the animals the children have chosen and the reasons they chose them. • Now ask them to transform into a few more animals and, once they are in their statues, to bring the animal to life on the spot for a count of five. Some animals you could try are: - A camel - An ant - A porcupine - A snake - A dog - A bee Group discussion - animal characteristics • Tell the group to consider the characteristics of all of the animals into which they transformed. What kinds of things can those animals do that others can’t? • Explain to the group that in the play The Bee In Me, there are points in the story when the main characters of the child transforms into a bee. Page 19
TEACHER RESOURCES • Discuss with the class: - What characteristics do we associate with bees? - Can we imagine why the main character might want to turn into a bee? - What can a bee do that humans cannot? Animals to the rescue • Ask the children to once again find a space on their own and to stand still. • Explain to the children that they will explore the idea of transforming into animals in different situations, like the child in The Bee in Me. • Working individually, ask the children to create a frozen image of someone looking at a burning building. Ask them to clearly show how the person feels seeing this building in flames. Thoughttrack a few of the children in their still images; what is going through their head at that moment? How are they feeling? • Now ask them to imagine that they can transform into an animal, and to think of what animal they would most like to be in this situation: perhaps an animal that could escape quickly, or deal with the fire somehow. Ask the children to choose a real animal, rather than a mythical creature, and over a count of five to transform into a statue of this animal responding to the burning building. • Select some examples of the images they created to share with the group, and discuss what animal they are, and what they are doing in their images. • Repeat the process for a few more situations, beginning with the still image of a person reacting to the situation and then transforming over a count of five into an animal that would be good to turn intohelp in each scenario: - You have kicked your football over a high wall - Someone has fallen into a river - You have broken your grandmother’s favourite vase - Your brother has forgotten to pick you up from school • After each image see a couple of examples from the children and briefly discuss why they have chosen the animal that they have for that situation. What is it that the animal can do that they can’t do in human form? What would it feel like in those moments to be able to transform into the animals they have chosen?
STAGE THREE: A DAY IN THE LIFE - TRANSFORMATIONS Groups of four - scene-building • Explain to the group that we will now draw the ideas from the last sequence together with their work around transforming into animals. • Move the class back into their groups where they created scenes in which a child faced a challenge during their school day – if you have written scripts, or recorded their scenes in some way, bring them out now. Page 20
TEACHER RESOURCES • Ask the children to run through their scenes, including their still images at the beginning and the end of the scene. • Once they have remembered their scenes, explain that they are now going to develop what happens next in the scene. Explain that the character of the child who is facing the challenge can transform into an animal. • Ask them to create a slow motion ending to the scene that shows the child transforming into an animal that the group decides on, and how becoming that animal helps the child cope with the situation they are in. The rest of the group also need to show slow motion reactions to the transformation. • Give the groups time to develop their endings and then rehearse their scene the whole way through before they share their completed scenes with the rest of the class. • You can go on to create more scenes in the ‘day in the life’ dramas that occur later in the day, on their way home, or at home after school. Ask the children to take it in turns to play the child in their scenes, mirroring The Bee in Me. • Discuss the scenes the groups have created and what happened when the child transformed, and what they imagine might have happened if the child hadn’t transformed. What are the ways the child in the different situation might have coped? Is there someone who could step in and help them? • Talk about the way in which in our drama work, the child is having a day when lots of things go wrong. What does it feel like on those kind of days, when everything goes wrong? Who or what helps them get through those days? How did they feel different when they transformed into animals? • Go on to discuss what we understand by the word ‘resilience’. What makes people resilient? Is it possible to become more resilient, and if so, how? • In their groups, ask the children to come up with four (or the number of children in the group) things that a friend might say to the child in their drama at the end of the day to encourage them, make them feel better, and to help them feel more resilient.
STAGE FOUR: STORY WHOOSH Introducing the play 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 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 explore the beginning of the story of The Bee in Me using a Story Whoosh. They may be asked to play the character of the child or they might create elements of the world using their bodies, as they did during the See and Be warm up earlier. Page 21
TEACHER RESOURCES • Read out each moment of the Story Whoosh (resource two) and ask the children in turn to come into the middle and to 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 of the story. • When you have finished the Story Whoosh, complete this sequence with a discussion about the different challenges the child has faced in the story. • Talk about how the child in our story transforms into a bee – why do you think the playwright chose a bee? What were the advantages of becoming a bee for the child? What were they able to do and how did they feel as a bee? • You may also want to talk about the way the child in the play is not dealing with the kind of ‘everyday’ challenges you explored earlier, but has a few more difficult challenges to face. The Story Whoosh activity should, like the play itself, feel quite playful and have a light touch; the child faces the challenges as a game, they succeed and feel a sense of achievement as they get through the levels. It will be useful to think in advance about how you might address some of the sensitive issues raised: for example, why mum and dad don’t get up to help the child get ready for school, and why dad is still asleep in the kitchen with empty beer bottles. In the play we are given a little information about the family – the dad hasn’t had regular work for some years. However, the play doesn’t explain the parents’ behaviour, but leaves it open to interpretation. The play is written from the child’s perspective and how they experience their day. It should be possible to touch on these issues with the whole class; when we did this activity with our Collaborate partner school, we discussed the possibility that the mum didn’t get up because she wasn’t well. It could be that the dad has been working nights and has dropped off to sleep in the kitchen when he got home.
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SEQUENCE THREE
VIDEO GAMES AIMS
To explore the appeal of video games for children. To give the children the opportunity to design their own video game. To incorporate the drama work from the previous sequences in designing a game based on a typical day in a child’s life.
RESOURCES Pens, paper, video game moodboard (resource three).
STRATEGIES Drawing, notating, presenting, discussion.
INTRODUCTION This sequence asks the children to think about the challenges they have been exploring in the previous sequences as if they were levels in a video game. The child in The Bee in Me experiences their day as if it were a video game, with each problem becoming a challenge they must face in order to complete a level in the game. The game format encourages them to continue onwards with a sense of achievement and reward. By asking the class to design their own video games, based on the ‘a day in the life’ structure developed in Sequence One, the children can consider the types of skills needed to face different daily challenges and apply imaginative solutions.
DESIGNING YOUR OWN VIDEO GAMES Group discussion - games • Begin by discussing who in the class plays video games and what kind of games they enjoy. Ask the group: - Why do you enjoy playing video games? - Can you describe how the games work? - What are the aims of different games? - Who or what are you trying to beat? - What are the obstacles to be overcome? - What do you need to do to get to the next level? - Why do you think people enjoy playing video games? - How does playing a video game make you feel?
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TEACHER RESOURCES Small groups - design a game based on ‘a day in the life’ of a child • In their groups, give the children a large piece of paper and ask them to draw a timeline of the ‘day in the life’ of a child, drawing on their previous drama work, although they can add new ideas at this stage. Ask them to think about the day, breaking it down into five or six different episodes; each one representing a level in a game that the child would have to get through before they get back home and into bed, which is when they have completed the game. For example, they may want to break it down into: getting up and ready to leave home, travelling to school, lessons., lunch time, travelling home, and at home. • We know many games are about fighting or destroying something - acknowledge this, and discuss some of the possible tasks that might be completed in a game based on ‘a day in the life’ of a child. So, for example, the task necessary to complete the first stage might be finding and collecting all six items of clothing before they can get dressed, or after school they might have to find the answers to ten geography questions for their homework, etc. • Give them the template (resource three) and ask them to work in pairs or small groups on Level 1 of the game, which takes place first thing in the morning. Based on the child they have created they need to decide: - What does the child want to achieve? - What special skills does their character have? - What weaknesses do they have? - What do they need to do to get to the next level? - What is getting in their way - what challenges do they face? - Do they transform into an animal in order to help them at this level? • You could work on all six levels of the game in this way. Or you could find another way to record each level of the game, deciding on the nature of the challenge at each level and what a player needs to achieve to win and complete the game. Through their drawings of the different levels they can show what the aesthetic of their game is like; what the player looks like, the other characters, and the background or setting. Are there sound effects that they would like to add to each level? • When the class have designed their games, bring them back together and ask them to present to each other; the other children can ask questions about the games and how they work.
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SEQUENCE FOUR
THE QUEEN BEE AIMS
To give children the opportunity to explore their responses to the play. To reflect on the particular challenges the child in the play has had to face. To offer advice and encouragement through images and words.
RESOURCES Postcards, pens, role on the wall outline (resource four), The Queen Bee’s words (resource five).
STRATEGIES People to People, Group discussion.
INTRODUCTION This final sequence is designed to be explored after your group has watched the performance of The Bee in Me. While earlier sequences considered the daily challenges faced in their own lives, this sequence asks them to focus on the character of the child in the play. The Bee in Me acknowledges that there are no simple solutions to the issues it explores. Instead, it offers the child’s story and asks the audience to find empathy for those facing similar challenges. It also demonstrates the courage and resilience of the child and the power of their imagination in helping them to get through each day. The child in the play ends their day with a hopeful message from the Queen Bee: that they are special, that they can do things others cannot, that they must not give up. This sequence explores this message by asking the class to consider how they might add their own words of encouragement and kindness to help the character of the child to persevere.
STAGE ONE: WORKING TOGETHER In the play, three actors narrate and all play the child – they encourage and support each other on to the next stage. This warm up activity encourages children to work collaboratively to support each other and achieve the task. People to People • Start by asking the children to find a space and stand still, ready to begin a game of People to People. • Place the children in pairs (or a three if someone is left over). • Explain that you will call out two parts of the body. The pair must both connect to each other using both body parts as fast as they can. • Explain that if you call out ‘People to People’, they must quickly find a new partner. Below are some Page 25
TEACHER RESOURCES examples of what you might call out. - Nose to little finger - Thumbs to shins - Wrist to eyebrow - Ears to shoulders - Head to elbow - Elbows to knees - Ankle to shoulder - Feet to knees - Knee to shoulder
STAGE TWO: THE QUEEN BEE’S MESSAGE Group discussion • Begin by discussing the play and what children remembered of the production. - What struck them about the way the story was told between three actors? - How did the set, lights and sound help to tell the story? - What questions are they left with after seeing the play? • Discuss the different challenges the child faced in the play at different points in their day. Role on the wall • Create an outline of a child on large paper and explain that this is going to represent the child in the play. Discuss how all three actors played the child and how it wasn’t clear whether the child was a boy or girl. Why do you think the writer wrote the play that way, and the director directed it as they did? • Ask the group for words that describe the child; these could be how they imagine the child might look, as well as other characteristics. • Remind the class that the character is having a difficult day, but they do find ways to face their challenges. Ask them for examples of the different ways they face their obstacles and add these to the role on the wall outline. • Ask them to discuss in pairs what is it in the play that helps the child through and helps them achieve each level? What do they do for themselves? What do others do for them? Do the other actors help when they are narrating - what do they do and say to help the child through the game? • Now ask the group to consider the character of the Queen Bee. Who do they think she is? Why is she there? How does she help the child? • Ask the children if they remember what the Queen Bee says to the child. You could then read the children some of the things she says to the child in the play. (resource five). • Ask the children to think about if there is anything they would like to say to the child in the story.
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TEACHER RESOURCES • Give all the children a plain postcard and ask them to imagine that they can add to the Queen Bee’s words of encouragement by sending the child a postcard. • On the front of the card they can draw an image from the play that they think it would help the character to remember, or another image that they would like to send to the child. • On the back of the postcard ask them to write a message to the child. What would they like to say that would add to the Queen Bee’s words of encouragement? • Add the messages of support and advice to the role on the wall image and discuss amongst the class, making sure to hear all perspectives and responses.
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RESOURCE ONE
Wake up Travel to school
Arrive at school
Arrive at school
Lunch time
Travel home
Go to sleep
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RESOURCE TWO THE BEE IN ME STORY WHOOSH The sun rises. Very slowly. It’s summer. Birds are twittering. And the sun is bright red over the roof of the building next door. You’re still in bed, and in bed it is lovely, welcoming and comfy. And you’re still sleepy. You’re squinting into the red sunrise. It looks really beautiful. And if you shut your eyes and put your fingers in your ears then you can hear its fire roaring. (Ask everyone to put their fingers in their ears and close their eyes – what can they hear?) Whoosh You’re still in bed, when suddenly you’ve got wings. You look down and your body is black and yellow stripes. You’re a bee. And you’re crawling across the white pillowcase that you were just sleeping on. And you think: if you’ve got wings – then maybe you can also fly. You just don’t know how to do it. You need to learn how to do it. You try to fly but it’s really not so easy. You move your bee’s wings as fast as you can, but for some unknown reason you can’t get up, you can’t take off, no matter how hard you try. But then suddenly you’re in the air – and you’re up near the ceiling, and you’re flying round and round the light bulb. You’re flying and below you can see your bed and there’s the little table you do your homework on – if you ever do it. Whoosh You want to get out into the summer morning and look! The window is wide open. And you’re flying. Beneath you can the streets, trees, the bins, the footpath, the cars, the building next door, the chimneys, the aerials, you can see adults on their way to work and you can see children who are already on their way to school. Are they friends of yours? It’s hard to tell from so high up. Look out; a bird is flying towards you! Change direction! Whoosh You see something. A red dot in the distance. There, there on the grass. You dive bomb down and screech to stop by the red dot. You realise the red dot is a flower! (Add more children to the one playing the red dot and ask them to create the flower together.) You crawl inside. And you are inside a flower, and all around you everything is yellow and red. And it’s lovely - it smells amazing. But something is not right. The flower’s gone (ask the flower actors to sit back down). And you haven’t Page 29
TEACHER RESOURCES got wings any more. The moment you crawled inside the flower, you got to the next level, you’re on level two. This is some kind of game. Whoosh You’re back home again. You’re back in your bed. And you’ve got to go to school. NOW. It’s already quarter to nine. You’re going to be late. But nobody woke you up. They said they’d throw you out of the school if you keep on being late. You get dressed - pants, T-shirt, trousers – where are your trousers? You’ve GOT to find your trousers or else you won’t get to the next level. You find them, under the bed and put them on. Whoosh You open the bedroom door. This bit’s dangerous - the door creaks. You leave your room. You tiptoe down the hallway. You hold your breath as you reach your parents’ bedroom. You listen to hear if they’re still asleep and can hear someone snoring. You creep past the door and away. You made it! You’re in the kitchen. OH NO! Your dad’s asleep at the kitchen table. You’ve got to go round your dad to find something for breakfast – without him waking up and shouting at you because you’re going to be late for school again. You creep silently. He’s snoring. You’ve got to get round him. Otherwise you won’t get to the next level. You see an apple. It’s by the sink. You grab for it. You just manage to reach it. HURRAY! You’ve got your apple. But just as you leave, you knock over an empty beer bottle and it makes a noise. Your dad wakes up. You start to go. You open the door. But now you remember that you have forgotten something. You try to remember if it was something important. YOU’VE FORGOTTEN YOUR SCHOOL BAG IN YOUR ROOM! You’ve got to go all the way back to your room – you’ve got to pick up your school bag. But your dad is already getting up, he’s shouting. So you run for it, open the front door, close the front door, down the stairs, out of the building. You’ve made it; you haven’t got your bag but you’ve made it out of the house. Whoosh Page 30
TEACHER RESOURCES You’ve made it to the next level. Level 3. You’re in the classroom. With other children in the class. The teacher is talking about bees and flowers. Everyone takes their exercise book out of their bags – but you haven’t got your bag. There’s only one chance – you need to transform. You’re a bee again and you crawl across the page of an exercise book. Whoosh Susanne sees you (the bee), grabs her pencil case, and tries to swat you with it. The other children go wild - ‘It’s a bee, it’s a bee’ - and throw their school books at you. The teacher says ‘Let the poor creature alone.’ Whoosh You fly higher and then bang into something hard – it’s invisible. It’s a window. You keep bumping against the window, but you can’t get out. Susanne builds a tower out of chairs and then starts to climb it to get closer to you. When she gets on the top chair she takes off a shoe and throws it at you. It misses and goes through the window – the window smashes and you fly out into the sky outside. Whoosh
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RESOURCE THREE
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RESOURCE FOUR
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RESOURCE FIVE Queen Bee: I just wanted to tell you: You are something special. Yes, you. You are something special. You are something very special. You must never forget that. Even if things are difficult. You’ve already achieved so much. Because you’re alone. Because no one helps you. But you can do something that other people can’t do. Don’t you know? Then you’ll find out. You’ll see. Maybe as soon as tomorrow morning You’ll see. You’ll do it. Don’t give up.
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THE BEE
IN ME A Unicorn Production
By Roland Shimmelpfennig Translated by David Tushingham Directed by Rachel Bagshaw Resource pack written by Catherine Greenwood