Anansi the Spider Classroom Pack | Nursery - Year 3

ABOUT THE UNICORN

WE CREATE INNOVATIVE PRODUCTIONS THAT ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO QUESTION AND EXPLORE THE WORLD.

WE CREATIVELY COLLABORATE WITH CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES.

WE MAKE OUR WORK AS AVAILABLE AS POSSIBLE. WE ARE REDUCING OUR IMPACT ON THE PLANET.

WE BELIEVE IN EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION.

We offer innovative and thrilling theatre experiences for children aged up to 13, producing and presenting new shows alongside adaptations of classic texts. We are the largest children’s theatre in the UK, welcoming 65,000 families and schools to our venue every year, and thousands more through our new Unicorn Online programme of free digital theatre experiences.

We offer subsidy to groups to enable them to attend where needed, and make our work with the values of curiosity, respect and courage, partnering with schools from our local boroughs and community groups from across London to ensure that young people have a voice in shaping our shows.

We believe that young people of all ages, perspectives and abilities have the right to experience exciting, entertaining and inspiring work - we want all children to experience our theatre and actively seek out children who wouldn’t otherwise attend. We maintain a strong commitment to representing diversity in our audiences, as well as on our stages, and we prioritise accessibility and inclusion across our organisation.

ANANSI THE SPIDER

FRI 20 JAN – SUN 25 FEB 2023

People say that in a time long, long ago, animals walked on two feet and spoke with words, like we do. And back then it was known by everyone that the cleverest of all the animals in the kingdom was a spider – the infamous Anansi – the original trickster and the master spinner of yarns.

But sometimes Anansi could be a little too clever for his own good…

These classic West African and Caribbean tales about the spider hoaxster are brought vividly to life as our hit production returns.

A Unicorn Theatre Production

Creator Justin Audibert

Co-Directors Justin Audibert and Alice Wordsworth

Designer Sadesya Greenaway-Bailey Movement Director Lucy Cullingford

Lighting Designer Jai Morjaria

Composer & Sound Designer Duramaney Kamara Associate Movement Director DK Fashola Voice & Dialect Coach Gurkiran Kaur

WELCOME – A GUIDE TO USING THIS PACK

Thank you for downloading this pack! We hope that it provides you with some simple opportunities to continue thinking about the play. These activities are designed so that you can pick as many or few as you like and with the resources you have available. We also encourage you to reflect on the production with the children together during carpet time.

Some prompt questions that might be useful:

– Which was your favourite part?

– Was there anything you weren’t sure about?

– What was funny?

– Who was your favourite character from the stories and why?

– What do you remember about the lights, sound or the set?

(You might need to explain the set is everything on the stage that the actors perform on)

– How do you feel about telling stories? How about listening to stories?

– What is your favourite thing to eat and why?

– Would you like to go back to the theatre? What story would you like to see?

We always welcome feedback – so if you have any questions about the activities or thoughts about this pack please email engagement@unciorntheatre.com

ACTIVITIES

ANIMALS OF WEST AFRICA STOP/GO

TIME: 20 – 30 minutes

SKILLS DEVELOPED: Discussion, speaking and listening skills in presentation to the group, observation, spatial awareness

RESOURCES: Photos of Ghanaian landscapes and animals, map of Africa or the world

CONTENT:

Remind the children that in Anansi stories, the main character Anansi is a spider, and that most of the other characters are different animals that you would find in Africa. Discuss in pairs what other animals you might find in Ghana, and share back their suggestions. Then show the children pictures of Ghanaian landscapes, and discuss the difference between Ghana and London.

Now look at pictures of some of the animals that live there. Can they spot any of the animals they suggested? You may need to discuss some of the animals the children guessed might live in Ghana but don’t (for example, there are no giraffes in Ghana!). Use the map to look again at how many countries there are in Africa and where Ghana is.

Play a game of STOP/GO. Ask the children to walk around the room independently, using all the space available, and when you say STOP, to freeze like they are a statue. You could play music, and when the music stops they should freeze. When you say GO, they should move around the space again. Explain that when you now say STOP, you will call out an animal and they should make themselves a statue of that animal. Now bring the animals to life when you say GO, and ask the children to make the noises they imagine the animals would make and move how they would move. You may want to control this activity by asking the children to move in slow motion as the animals.

LIVING LANDSCAPE

TIME: 15 minutes

SKILLS DEVELOPED: Working as a team, using imagination, developing confidence, critical thinking about the choices they make and explaining why, spatial awareness

RESOURCES: West African music, Ghanaian landscape photos

CONTENT: Play some West African music in the background for the next activity. Explain that as a class you will be recreating your own photograph or postcard of Ghana, using the images you have of landscapes, and ask the children to imagine those elements in the space.

Ask for volunteers to make a pose one by one to create a living photograph of Ghana and its animals like in a photo. Ask the children to choose an animal they want to be and create a statue of it with their body.

One by one, ask the children to add themselves to the picture, positioning their animal in relation to the others already in place. For example, if one is a lion and the other is an antelope, the lion might position themselves creeping up on the antelope.

Once the whole group is up, tap animals on the shoulder to see them brought to life on the spot and hear the noises they would make. Children can step out of the image and say what they see, describing it to the rest of the class. This child can also “play” the group, choosing to tap one or two animals on the shoulders bringing the statues to life.

SOUNDSCAPE

TIME: 20 minutes

SKILLS DEVELOPED: Sensory activity – learning to take turns and observe others, gross motor skills/hand-eye coordination, using imagination, listening skills, leading and following

RESOURCES: Percussive instruments

CONTENT:

Move the group into a circle and ask them to share the different sounds they created and heard in the living photograph. Ask the group if there are other sounds they think they might hear in a Ghanaian landscape: maybe other animals, or leaves in the wind.

Introduce a range of percussive instruments, and ask for volunteers to choose one to help bring the sound of the West African landscape to life – is there one that can make the sound of a rattlesnake? Is there something that could make the noise a hyena makes? Explain that they can also use their bodies and voices as instruments to create different sounds.

Explain how conducting works: when you point at a child, they should begin their chosen sound, and if you point at them again they should stop. When you lift up your hand, this means they should increase the volume, and when you lower it, they lower the volume. When you move your hand swiftly across in a cutting motion, this is the signal for everyone to stop.

Stand in the middle of the circle and conduct the group: start by indicating to one child to begin their sound, and then gradually bring more children into the soundscape. Control the volume and bring different children in and out of the soundscape.

When you have conducted the class soundscape, give one or two children the opportunity to be the conductor.