In this Issue Before/After the Show Activity Ideas

Goals of the Study Guide

Class Acts Program

Evaluations

How to Get to the Performance

How to Contact Us

The Activities L.A.A.1.1.3 TH.E.1.2.3 LA.A.2.2.7 LA.A.1.1.3 TH.E.1.2.2 LA.A.1.2.3 LA.E.2.1.1 LA.B.1.1.2 LA.E.2.2.3 LA.B.1.2.3 MA.D.1.1.1 LA.A.2.2.7 MA.D.1.2.1 LA.E.2.1.1 LA.E.2.2.4 LA.C.1.1.3 LA.C.3.2.2 LA.C.3.1.2 LA.C.3.2.2 LA.C.3.2.5 LA.E.2.2.4

The Producer

Resources

Rumplestiltskin© Copyright Stages Productions, All Rights Reserved

Monday, January 9, 200610:45 A.M. and 12:15 P.M.The Coliseum

When the poor miller boasted so bold,“My daughter will spin straw into gold.”She wept and she cried “An impossible chore,”When a strange little man appeared at the door.“I’ll do it for you,” he fiendishly smiled,“If you will give me your first-born child.And even then I’ll relinquish my claim,If on that day you can guess my name!”

Who is this mysterious man? Why, it’s RUMPELSTILTSKIN of course. Join the Queen, the Prince, the Miller and his daughter as they match wits with the original man of mystery in this new musical based on the classic tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Theatre Is A Special Treat Matinee Manners by Peggy Simon Traktman

The Expert Sheldon Cashdan. Ph.D. Emeritus professor of Psychology, University of Massachussetts

The Message from Sheldon Cashdan’s critically acclaimed book: “The Witch Must Die: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives”

The Value of Spinning

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Class Acts Teacher Resource Guides are spon-sored by the Mahaffey Theater/City of St. Peters-burg, FL and their partner the Mahaffey Theater Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Supervising Editor …….......Elizabeth Brincklow, Education Program CoordinatorCoordinating Editor ……..........Fremont Sheldon, Education AssociateWriting and Artistic Design........Missy Schlesman

EVALUATIONS can be completed on the form provided. Your input is very important and useful to the theater’s education program. Plus, your evaluations will be placed in drawings for class appropriate prizes!

Class Acts is presented by the Mahaffey Theater for the Perform-ing Arts and the Mahaffey Theater Foundation with the support from the Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Arts Council, Flori-da Department of State, Pinellas County Arts Council, and the City of St. Petersburg.

YOUR ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION

ARRIVAL Please plan to arrive at least 20 minutes before show time. Proceed to the en-trance with your group and look for the sign-in table. A designated representative must stop and sign in for the entire group.

Upon entrance, ushers will seat groups on a fi rst come, fi rst served basis and will seat your group as quickly and as effi ciently as possible. After your group is seated, the restroom may be visited. Young students should be escorted.

EXITING Ushers will help your group move out of the theater in a quick and orderly fash-ion. You will be directed to the parking area using various routes. Exit routes may be differ-ent from your entrance path due to the ingress of students entering for the next performance. Please follow the ushers’ directions.

DIRECTIONS TO THE COLISEUM

QUESTIONS AND CORRESPONDENCEClass Acts, The Coliseum535 4th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701-4346ATTN: Class Acts/ Perkins Elementary SchoolPony Route #5 Phone 727-892-5800Fax 727-892-5770 www.stpete.org/classacts.htm

Take I-275 to Exit 23A then Exit 2 which becomes 4th Avenue North.

The Coliseum is on the left and north side.

Follow the directions of our parking staff.

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� T hroughout the study guide, this symbol means that specific Sunshine State Standards are being addressed that directly cor-relate activities to FCAT testing.

THE THEATRE IS A SPECIAL TREAT

Let us concentrate for a moment on a vital part of youth theatre: the young people. Mil-lions of youngsters attend plays every season, and for some the experience is not particularly memorable or entertaining. The fault may lie with the production - but often the fault lies in the fact that these youngsters have not been properly briefed on appropriate theatre manners. Going to the theatre is not a casual event such as flipping on the TV set, attending a movie or a sports event. Going to the theatre is a SPECIAL OCCASION, and should be attended as such. In presenting theatre manners to young people we take the liberty of putting the do’s and don’ts in verse, and hope that concerned adults will find this a more palatable way of in-troducing these concepts to youngsters.

MATINEE MANNERS By Peggy Simon Traktman

The theatre is no place for lunch,Who can hear when you go “crunch?”We may wear our nicest clothesWhen we go to theatre shows.Do not talk to one another (That means friends or even mother)When you go to see a show,Otherwise you’ll never knowWhat the play is all about And you’ll make the actors shout Just to make themselves be heard.So, be still - don’t say a wordUnless an actor asks you to…A thing they rarely ever do.A program has a special useSo do not treat it with abuse!Its purpose is to let us knowExactly who is in the show It also tells us other factsOf coming shows and future acts.Programs make great souvenirsOf fun we’ve had in bygone yearsKeep your hands upon your lap

But if you like something you clapActors like to hear applause.If there is cause for this applause.If a scene is bright and sunny,And you think something is funnyLaugh- performers love this laughterBut be quiet from thereafter.Don’t kick chairs or pound your feetAnd do not stand up in your seat,Never wander to and fro -Just sit back and watch the show.And when the final curtain fallsThe actors take their “curtain calls”That means they curtsy or they bowAnd you applaud, which tells them howYou liked their work and liked the showThen, when the lights come on, you goBack up the aisle and walk - don’t runOut to the lobby, everyone.The theatre is a special treatAnd not a place to talk or eat.If you behave the proper wayYou really will enjoy the play.

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THE EXPERT Sheldon Cashdan. Ph.D. Emeritus professor of Psychology, University of Massachussetts

What accounts for the enduring charm of fairy tales? Where in the horror story of Hansel and Gretel’s abandonment, and their subsequent committing of murder, does its archetypal power lie? Why do gen-erations of parents continue to read this tale and others to their young children?

In The Witch Must Die: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives, Sheldon Cashdan explores how fairy tales help children deal with psychological conflicts by projecting their own internal struggles between good and evil onto the battles enacted by the characters in the stories. Rumpelstiltskin, Pinocchio and Ra-punzel vividly dramatize deceit, envy, avarice and sloth on a safe stage, allowing children to confront their own “deadly sins.”

THE MESSAGE From Sheldon Cashdan’s critically acclaimed book: “The Witch Must Die: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives”

Lying, fraud, and other forms of deceit are frequent visitors in fairy tales. In Rumpelstiltskin, practi-cally everyone lies, including the heroine and the little man after whom the story is named. Rumpel-stiltskin makes the queen a proposition, offering to relinquish his claim to the child if she guesses his name. But his seemingly gracious offer is steeped in duplicity.For one, dwarfs and gnomes do not have names in fairy tales. The seven dwarfs in the Grimm broth-er’s Snow White are simply referred to as “the dwarfs.” Sneezy, Grumpy, Bashful and the rest were names invented by Walt Disney. The term “Rumpelstiltskin” is a combination of the Middle German word Rumpel, meaning creased or wrinkled, and steln, to obtain by illegal means. Adding the suffix kin, signifying small, results in a description of a little man who is a “wrinkled dwarf that acquires things illicitly.”

The strange manner of Rumpeltstiltskin’s death—torn in two by his own hand—dramatically brings a splitting dynamic to the fore. People often speak about being pulled in two directions when forced to tell a lie, and Rumplestiltskin’s final act puts a concrete face on this conflict. Separation of the little man in two parts mirrors the psychological split in children who struggle with competing tendencies when it comes to telling the truth: the desire to be honest—to be good—versus the tendency to lie.Such fairy tales that feature deceit help to combat tendencies in the self that undermine meaningful relationships. Situations involving deceit crop up throughout life, and it sometimes is difficult to know the right course of action when the options are cloudy and the consequences murky. Is it permissible to lie and, if so, under what circumstances? What conditions must prevail to violate an agreement made in good faith? Fairy tales do not pretend to have all the answers, but they teach readers there are important issues to be considered when the truth is at stake.

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THE VALUE OF SPINNING

Spinning is extremely tiresome work, but because it contributed to the economic viability of the community, it is a common metaphor for industriousness in fairy tales. The fairy tale historian Jack Zipes points out that before the Industrial Revolution, spinning was an essential occupa-tion for women and considered a measure of a woman’s worth. Not only could a woman earn a living as a spinner, but she could more easily attract a husband by dint of her ability to spin. The term “spinster,” used today in a pejorative way, in early times had positive connotations: it described a woman who earned her livelihood because of her spinning skills.

Since fairy tales often were spun, so to speak, by women working side by side in communal spinning rooms, it is not surprising that spinning became a way of describing how young girls might improve their lot in life. Though the miller’s daughter in Rumpelstiltskin gets into trou-ble because of her father’s ill-conceived boast, she nevertheless can become the queen if she is able to spin—in her case, straw into gold.

Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress

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THE ACTIVITIES

BEFORE THE PLAY:

1. Read to your students the tale of “Rumpelstiltskin.” Explain to them that there are hundreds of versions or adaptations of this story and that the version they see will not be exactly like the book or video.

L.A.1.1.3 - (PreK-2) The student knows the basic characteristics of fables, stories, and legends. LA.A.2.2.7 - (3-5) The student recognizes the use of comparison and contrast in a text.

TH.E.1.2.2 - (3-5) The student understands the artistic characteristics of various media and the advantages and disadvantages of telling stories through those artis-tic media.

2. Rumpelstiltskin explores the consequences of telling lies by recounting the story of a miller who lies to the king about his daughter’s alleged ability to weave gold from straw. In reading the story to your students, ask them to come up with a reason for the miller’s preposterous claim. Help them to understand that he lies in order to puff himself up in the king’s eyes. Encourage them to describe instances in which they themselves have told fibs to exaggerate their accomplishments. They also should be made aware that the miller’s lie has dire consequences in that it places his daughter’s life in jeopardy, and that their own efforts at self-aggrandizement may also produce unpleasant results.

LA.E.2.1.1 - (PreK-2) The student uses personal perspective in responding to a work of literature, such as relating characters and simple events in a story or biography to people or events in his or her own life.

LA.E.2.2.3 - (3-5) The student responds to a work of literature by explaining how the motives of characters or the causes of events compare with those in his or her own life.

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3. Have the students look and listen for patterns during the play. See how many patterns they can recall and how they are used in the context of the play. Back in the classroom, discuss their findings.

MA.D.1.1.1 - (PreK-2) The student describes a wide variety of classification schemes and patterns related to physical characteristics and sensory attributes, such as rhythm, sound, shapes, colors, numbers, similar objects, and similar events.

MA.D.1.2.1 - (3-5) The student describes a wide variety of patterns and relation-ships through models, such as manipulatives, tables, graphs, and rules using alge-braic symbols.

4. Ask your students to discuss the difference between television and live theatre. It is important that they know about “theatre etiquette,” or manners. Refer to the poem “Matinee Manners” listed above.

TH.E.1.2.3 - (3-5) The student understands theatre as a social function and theatre etiquette as the responsibility of the audience.

5. Have the students learn the following vocabulary words and listen for them during the play. See how many words they can recall and how they were used in the context of the play.

bachelor burgomaster circumstance coincidence contrary damsel deceit demise destiny destitute disgrace dungeon exquisite fret incantation luxurious miller millstone misery mystic ordeal precocious relinquish surpassing

LA.A.1.1.3 - (PreK-2) The student uses knowledge of appropriate grade-, age-, and developmental-level vocabulary in reading.

LA.A.1.2.3 - (3-5) The student uses simple strategies to determine meaning and increase vocabulary for reading including the use of prefixes, suffixes, root words, multiple meanings, antonyms, synonyms, and word relationships.

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AFTER THE PLAY:

Part I

1. Discuss the production with your students. What did they like or dislike about the play? Who was their favorite character? Why? Have the students draw a picture or write a letter to the cast of “Rumpelstiltskin” telling them what they have learned.

LA.B.1.1.2 - (PreK-2) The student drafts and revises simple sentences and passages, stories, letters and simple explanations that: express ideas clearly; show an awareness of topic and audience; have a beginning, middle and ending; effectively use common

words; have supporting detail; and are in legible printing.

LA.B.1.2.3 - (3-5) The student produces fi nal documents that have been edited for: correct spelling; correct use of punctuation, including commas in series, dates, and addresses, and beginning and ending quotation marks; correct capitalization of proper

nouns; correct paragraph indentation; correct usage of subject/verb agreement, verb and noun forms, and sentence structure; and correct formatting according to instructions.

2. Have the student compare the different versions of Rumpelstiltskin (book, movie versions and the play). What are the similarities? What are the differences? What limitations are there for a live stage play (real actors, settings, no computer generated special effects, etc.)? Which was their favorite and why?

LA.A.2.2.7 - (3-5) The student recognizes the use of comparison and contrast in a text.

Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress

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Part II

RELEVANT THEMES:

1. Honesty is the best policy2. Promises are made to be broken3. Hard work vs. laziness Refer to the themes listed above. Ask the following questions to relate the themes to every-day life:

1. In addition to exploring the consequences of deceitfulness, Rumpelstiltskin also considers the circumstances under which it may be permissible to be less than truthful. Children sometimes lie to spare the feelings of others—telling Grandma they love her birthday gift, when they really don’t. Discuss the moral dilemmas involved in telling lies including the concept of “little white lies.” When is it acceptable to be less than truthful? Is honesty always the best policy?

LA.E.2.1.1 - (PreK-2) The student uses personal perspective in responding to a work of literature, such as relating characters and simple events in a story or biography to people or events in his or her own life.

LA.E.2.2.4 - (3-5) The student identifies the major theme in a story or nonfiction text.

2. In the play Anne tries to go back on her word to Rumpelstiltskin and keep the baby. E courage the students to speculate on how Rumpelstiltskin must have felt when she went back on her word. Lead the students in a discussion on the old adage “promises are made to be broken.” Ask the students to recall instances in their lives when someone broke a promise to them. What happened? How did it make them feel?

LA.C.1.1.3 - (PreK-2) The student carries on a conversation with another person seeking answers and further explanations of the other’s ideas through questioning and answering.

LA.C.3.2.2 - (3-5) The student asks questions and makes comments and observations to clarify understanding of content, processes and experiences.

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3. In the play, the Queen was greedy for wealth and gold, yet she doesn’t seem to work for the things she wants. Reference the historical facts about spinning listed above to help the students, especially the girls, appreciate the role that spinning played in women’s lives in years gone by. Ask the students to consider the work opportunities available to women then and now. How is working with one’s hands different than working with ones head? What rewards derive from each? This can lead into a discussion of what the students wish to be when they grow up so as to explore the more general topic of sloth versus hard work and self-esteem.

LA.C.3.1.2 - (PreK-2) The student asks questions to seek answers and further expla-nation of other people’s ideas.

LA.C.3.2.2 - (3-5) The student asks questions and makes comments and observations to clarify understanding of content, processes and experiences.

LA.C.3.2.5 - (3-5) The student participates as a contributor and occasionally acts as a leader in group discussions.

LA.E.2.2.4 - (3-5) The student identifies the major theme in a story or non-fiction text.

The Art of FCAT Contributed by Patricia Linder:

Visual and Performing Arts Field Trips provide an excellent source of support for the development of skills necessary for success on the FCAT. We invite you to use these instructional strategies to enhance FCAT preparation through your theatre field trip.

Theatre Activities

FCAT Cognitive Level 1

Read the story (or play) your field trip performance is based on.Name the main character.List all the characters.Identify the setting.List the story events in the order they happened.

Describe a character (or setting).Explain the problem (or conflict) in the story.Explain how the actors used stage props to tell the story (or develop characterization).

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* Discuss how the blocking, or positioning of the actors on stage affected the performance.* Discuss how unusual technical elements (light, shadow, sound, etc.) were used in the performance.* Draw a picture of a character.* Illustrate or make a diorama of a scene from the performance.* Draw a poster to advertise the performance.* Work with other students to act out a scene.* Demonstrate how an actor used facial expression to show emotion.* Write a narrative story to summarize the plot of the performance story.* Use a map and/or timeline to locate the setting of the story.* Make a mobile showing events in the story.

FCAT Cognitive Level II

* Would the main character make a good friend? Write an expository essay explaining why or why not.* Create a graph that records performance data such as: female characters, male characters, animal characters or number of characters in each scene, etc.* Compare/Contrast a character to someone you know or compare/contrast the setting to a different location or time.* Solve a special effects mystery. Use words or pictures to explain how “special effects” (Lighting, smoke, sound effects) were created.

* Imagine the story in a different time or place. Design sets or costumes for the new setting. You’re the director. Plan the performance of a scene in your classroom. Include the cast of characters, staging area, and ideas for costumes, scenery, and props in your plan. Create a new ending to the story.

* Did you enjoy the performance? Write a persuasive essay convincing a friend to go see this production.* Write a letter to the production company nominating a performer for a “Best Actor Award.” * Explain why your nominee should win the award.* Create a rubric to rate the performance. Decide on criteria for judging: Sets, Costumes, Acting, Lighting, Special Effects, Overall Performance, etc.

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THE PRODUCER

Stages Productions is a professional theatre ensemble that specializes in bringing classic fairy tales to over 150,000 young people each year.

STAGES’ show credits include critically acclaimed performances of: The Water Pigs, Hansel and Gretel, Pinocchio and The Frog Prince. Be sure to join us for our 18th Season featuring a new musical production of The Ugly Duckling, Santa’s Holiday Revue, Mother Goose, Rumpelstiltskin and Snow White.

Stages is dedicated to making drama an integral part of education. Thank you for supporting our mission by choosing a Stages Productions play!

THE REFERENCES

Sunshine State Standards [Online] Available: http://www.fi rn.edu/doe/menu/ sss.htmBettelheim, B.,(1975). The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. (Vintage Books Edition, 1989). Random House.Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm. Grimm’s Fairy Tales. (1987). Longmeadow Press. Microsoft Encarta ‘98 Encyclopedia . (1998)Traktman, P., Matinee Manners.Cashdan, Sheldon, (1999). The Witch Must Die: How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives. (First Edition, 1999), Basic BooksZipes, Jack, (1997). Happily Ever After (Routledge, 1997) Routledge Press

Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress