Roald Dahl’s The B.F.G.

Monday, Nov. 16, 2015McAninch Arts Center

Making the Curtain Go Up

DIRECTOR: determined the overall “look” of the show. Guides the actors on where to move and how to make the character more real. Leads the design team.

DESIGNERS: each designer plans either the lights, costumes, makeup, sound/music.

STAGE MANAGER: creates and uses a cue-sheet which directs people to turn things on and off and move scenery and sets on stage.

CREW: builds and operates the scenery, costumes, props, lights, sound.

CAST: all the performers on stage. AUDIENCE: there can’t be a show without you in the

theater. You are a collaborator who responds to the entertainment.

This performance was put together by Dallas Children’s Theater. There are a lot of people who helped

before, during and after every show:

Gobblefunk!

A language created by Roald

Dahl by playing with language

and creating lists of new words for

the BFG to use.

The BFG instructs Sophie to

“Don’t gobblefunk around with

words”

Here is an image of his working

list for the BFG’s Gobblefunk

language taken from

listsofnote.com

Summary of play: B.F.G.The story begins at night during “the witching hour,” when an orphan

named Sophie is snatched out of her bedroom by a giant and whisked away to

Giant Country. Luckily, this is the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) and not the other

terrible, unfriendly Giants.

The BFG catches dreams from Dream Country and blows them through his

trumpet into the minds of sleeping children. The other giants eat children! The BFG

eats only disgusting Snozzcumbers (big vegetables) and drinks only fizzy

Frobscottle.

Sophie and the BFG hatch a plant to save the children from the other

Giants. They mix-up a dream about the giants and sent it to the Queen of England.

When the Queen awakens, she discovers Sophie in her room and Sophie tells her

the dream was true. When the Queen meets the BFG, she sends the Air Force

and the Army to round up the giants and drop them in a huge hole, where they

have nothing to eat forever after – except for Snozzcumbers. The BFG and Sophie

are given places to live next to the Queen's palace and live happily ever after.

Gobblefunk Dictionary1. Because you saw me. If anyone is ever seeing a giant, he or she must be taken away hipswitch.

2. Nothing is growing except for one extremely icky-poo vegetable. It is call the snozzcumber.

3. “No. I love the way you talk.” – Sophie How wondercrump. How whoopsey-splunkers. Thank you, Sophie.

4. A whizzpopper! Us giants is making whizzpoppers all the time! Whizzpopping is a sign of happiness. It is music in our ears!

5. I, Sophie, is a dream-blowing giant. I blows dreams into the bedrooms of sleeping chiddlers.

6. Oh my! It’s a phizzwizard! A golden phizzwizard! This will be giving some chiddler a very happy night when I is blowing it in.

7. Your majester, I is your humbug servant.

8. Delumptious fizzy frobscottle! Everyone must be drinking it!

Invent your own wordsPart One: Connect different combinations of prefixes (beginning of words) with suffixes (end of words) to create your own language.

Part Two: Create definitions for your new word

Part Three: See if a friend can understand your new language

PREFIXESFrob

Whizz

Snozz

Crackety

Mooch

Footch

Scudd

Crod

Sloshfunk

Jabbel

Piffle

Glump

Splatch

Chidd

Troggle

Boggle

Diddly

Hip

Snitch

Telly

Canny

Skump

Frump

Fizz

Slosh

Crump

Slime

Squiff

-switch

-ling

-bunkum

-dillies

-umptious

-some

-leers

-eling

-usterous

-able

-ant

-wise

-ly

-idgy

-scallop

-kin

-let

-wiggler

-flunking

-winkles

-ster

-scoddle

-crimp

-squiddly

-tickling

-splunkers

-tibbles

-bage

-popper

-squeak

-squash

SUFFIXES

AcronymsAcronym is a word formed with the initial letter of a name or word.

It derives from a Greek word that means “first letter name”. Examples:

Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters

• Scuba: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

• Laser: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

Pronounced as a word, containing a mixture of initial and non-initial letters

• AIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

• Radar: radio detection and ranging

Pronounced as a word or string of letters, depending on speaker and context

• FAQ: frequently asked question

• SAT: Scholastic Achievement Test

Translate the following list of acronyms

ET BFF gr8

FYI LOL CUL8R

www RU there? 4ever

ASAP zzz

USA w/e Extra Credit

TV EZ R.S.V.P.

Classroom Activities: Blowing Dreams

Roll a piece of construction paper into a cone shape and tape the ends to form a ‘dream-horn’.

Use the feather as a dream and blow it upwards through your horn.

Set up a ‘Dream-catcher’ basket.

Have the students work in teams to keep a dream afloat to travel a dream from one side of the room to the basket.

Classroom Activities: Dream Jar & Dream CatcherJournal about your goals and any dreams you have.

Turn these journal entries into a picture and one sentence statement.

Have each dream creation put into a jar

Extend the activity through each student sharing their dream, or having individual jars with each student decorating their own jar.

Native American legend tells of a spiritual leader who received a web from Iktomi, in the form of a spider, to help his people filter bad thoughts from good in searching for wisdom. Dream catchers of twigs, sinew, and feathers have been woven by ancient times by Ojibwa people. They were woven by family for newborn children and hung above the cradle to give infants peaceful, beautiful dreams. Legend holds that the slightest movement of the feathers in the dreams catcher indicates the passage of a beautiful dream while bad dreams are trapped in the web and evaporate in the morning sun.

Illustrate the similarities and differences between the book and this performance of the B.F.G.

Post Show: Compare & Contrast

Post Show: Discussion Questions

What was the first thing you noticed when the play started? Draw a picture or tell about those things you remember.

Did the set change during the play? How was it moved or changed?

How did the lights set the mood of the play?

What did you think about the costumes – did they fit with the story?

What there music during the play? How did it add to the show?

Did the actors bring the characters to life? What did the actors have to do in order to make you believe they were the characters?

Where there any characters or events that were in the book but not in the play? Why do you think these choices were made?

Did the changes make the story stronger or was it weaker because of them?

Seeing a live performance, what helped tell the story?

Special Thanks

SchoolStage Series is supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Sources

Dallas Children’s Theater Study Guide http://www.dct.org/nationaltour/2015season/

Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre: www.roalddahlmuseum.org

Official Roald Dahl website: www.roaldahl.com

Arden Theatre Company Study Guide https://www.ardentheatre.org/2007/bfg.html