This pack includes speaking, listening, reading, writing, illustrating and drama activities to help explore the Beauty & the Beast tale – its original text, its many retellings and the stage version at Theatre by the Lake from 23 November 2018 to 12 January 2019. It’s aimed at Key Stage 2, but selected tasks could easily be applied or adapted to younger or older children.

Research & Explore Research into the story of Beauty and the Beast suggests it might date back to 4,000 years ago, but the first substantial version was published in 1740 in France. La Belle et la Bête by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve was then abridged in 1756 by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and again by Andrew Lang in the Blue Fairy Book in 1889. These shorter versions gave rise to many more modern retellings of the tale.

Read the 12-part plot of one of the earliest versions of the story: o Note how the three brothers are often missing from modern versions. o In an earlier version there were six boys and six girls in the family. o The father’s fortune and the loss of it often relates to shipping as in this

version. o In many versions, the story plays out over a number of years. o It’s always a rose that is selected for Beauty, but it’s sometimes white,

sometimes red. In one version, he picks three roses, one for each daughter. In another, Beauty asks for a bunch of white roses.

o Beauty’s two sisters are always vain and selfish – and sometimes worse! But in one version, they become loving aunts to Beauty’s children.

o Some versions contain more magic than others – magical rooms at the Beast’s castle; an enchanted mirror; a magical ring.

o The backstory of how the Beast was transformed to begin with is sometimes explored, sometimes not.

o Beauty will sometimes be called Belle, sometimes Bella, other times just Beauty.

1. A rich merchant lives in a mansion with three daughters and three sons. Beauty is

the loveliest of them all. Her sisters are selfish and spoiled.

2. A storm at sea wrecks the merchant’s fleet and the family are forced to move to a small farmhouse to work for their living. Beauty does the housework. Her sisters taunt her.

3. Years later the merchant hears that one of his ships has returned. Heading off to meet it, his sons ask for weapons and horses, his oldest daughters ask for dresses and jewels. Beauty asks for a rose as none grow near them.

4. At the port, the merchant finds that his goods have been seized to pay his debts. Returning home empty-handed, he gets lost in a storm and seeks shelter in a castle.

5. A hidden figure opens the door and the merchant discovers food and drink seemingly laid out for him. He stays the night, then next day sees a rose garden and picks one for Beauty. The Beast discovers him and says he must die for abusing his hospitality. The merchant explains why he has picked the rose and the Beast agrees to let him return home providing he or one of his daughters returns.

6. The Beast sends him home with jewels and fine clothes, ordering him not to tell Beauty about the deal which has been struck. In the end he does tell her. The sons want to fight the Beast, but the merchant says they will lose, so Beauty agrees to go back to the Beast’s castle.

7. On arrival, the Beast treats her extremely well with fine food and clothes, engages her in long conversations and each night, asks her to marry him. Beauty refuses each time, followed by a dream in which a prince asks her why not, her answer being that she loves him only as a friend.

8. Beauty believes the Beast is holding the prince as a prisoner and searches the castle, finding magical rooms, but no prince.

9. Months pass, but despite being very happy with her life at the castle, Beauty becomes homesick and the Beast allows her to go home, providing she returns one week later. She takes with her a magic mirror and ring: the mirror allows her to see what’s happening in the Beast’s castle; the ring allows her to return to the castle with three turns on her finger.

10. Beauty shares her finery with her sisters, but on them the dresses turn to rags. They are envious of her new life and when they find out she must return, they persuade her to stay, using onions to make themselves cry, in order to get her into trouble with the Beast.

11. Feeling guilty, Beauty uses the mirror to see what is happening at the castle and sees him lying motionless in the rose garden. Straightaway she uses the ring to return.

12. Kneeling by the Beast, she weeps, telling him she loves him. When her tears fall on him, he is transformed into the prince in her dreams. He tells her that a fairy put a magical curse on him and that the spell would only break if he found true love. They marry and live happily ever after.

Using the 12-part plot from above, try one of these different ways of exploring the story using drama techniques. This is best done in the school hall or in a classroom with the tables and chairs pushed to the sides.

Snappy Statues. As a physical warm-up and to get the imagination going, ask the children to stand in a space and be ready to turn their body into statues based on images from the story

o Tell them what the first one will be and then count them in e.g. “3-2-1-Candlestick!”.

o Point out that this is physical drama, so when you hold a position it will work particular muscles.

o Explain that only expert gymnasts can keep still when balanced on one foot, so it’s wise to have two points of contact with the ground.

o Tip – to keep your eyes still, focus on a small, distant object in the room. o Reminder – statues don’t make a noise and they don’t move. o Try two or three images both with a countdown plus give them advance

knowledge of the image. o Give relaxing time in between, perhaps spotlighting a few volunteers around

the room. o Next, make it harder by cutting out the countdown, removing the relaxing time

and not telling them what the images will be in advance. o Suggested images: rich merchant, mansion, candlestick, piano, book, selfish

sister, Beauty, storm, ship, farmhouse, chicken, tree, flower, ship, horse, diamond, a rose, castle, glass, plate, roaring fire, the Beast, enchanted mirror, magic ring, an onion, a tear, a prince, happiness.

Create tableaux. Ask the children to create a still picture using their bodies. o Organised in twos or threes, groups could be given one plot point each. o Organised in larger groups, the children could be given two plot points to work

on. o Ask them to think about providing interest for the audience at three different

levels (head height, mid-level, ground-level) and to three different stage depths (background, middle and foreground).

o Present the finished tableaux to the group. o Take photographs of the tableaux – review these in class afterwards or make

a display o As an extension, ask the children to begin with a tableau, add some live

action next where the objects come to life and some dialogue might be included, then finish with a freeze-frame to end the presentation.

Improvise a scene. Ask the children to create live action scenes to tell the story of their given plot point(s).

o These might contain humans, objects, dialogue. o Freeze-frames and slow-motion could be used. o A small amount of time could be given over to creating a brief script. o The scene could be done in silent movie style. o For reluctant performers, suggest a non-speaking part or that they take the

role of a director within the group work.

o Perform the outcomes. o Photograph or video the performances for review in class afterwards

Create a modern version. Using all of or part of the 12-part plot, discuss how it might be set in the modern day then act out the selected parts of the story.

o Could it be set in your school, village or town? o Who might be in the family and where would they live? o What job would you give to the father? o What presents would the selfish sisters always ask for? o Would the characters have modern names? o Would the Beauty character still ask for a rose? o What kind of place would the family have to downsize to? o What kind of building would the Beast live in? o What mode of transport would the father use?

Using the 12-part plot, have a go at these activities in pairs, threes or fours. These can be done in the classroom or for more freedom of expression, again use the school hall.

Hot-seating. One person plays a character at a given point in the story. A partner then asks them questions to answer in role.

o Encourage the children to ask open questions rather than closed questions – a closed question only has one answer.

o Remind the children that they are trying to give the hot-seater a chance to succeed and do well. Don’t try to trip them up with difficult questions and if the hot-seater is struggling for an answer, try to rephrase it or give a hint to help.

o Give all hot-seaters the option to say they don’t know an answer or to refuse to answer it – so long as they stay in character, this is fine!

o After five minutes of hot-seating, ask the children to swap a different person into the hot-seat.

o Once everyone has had a go at the hot-seating in pairs or threes, ask for volunteers who are brave enough to come onto the ‘stage’ at the front of the class to take questions from a now much larger audience.

o Suggested character choices for the hot seat: father, Beauty, sisters, brothers, a suitor, a servant, a shopkeeper, a sailor, a farmer, a traveller who meets the father on his journey, The Beast, a talking object.

Story-telling. Beginning with the words ‘Once upon a time…’ ask the children to make up the words to tell all of or part of the 12-part plot.

o Decide who will start and who will go next. o You are only allowed to say one word at a time. o Use your tone of voice to try to indicate when a sentence is ending. o Don’t worry if when it gets to your turn, you’re always forced into saying words

like the, and, a, so, but, she, he, etc. as these words are hugely important when building up a story.

o Ask the children to think about using interesting adjectives, adverbs and verbs.

o If anyone is brave enough after the small group work, select five or six volunteers to come to the front of the class and have a go at a brand new version with a bigger audience.

Improvised dialogue. In each pair or group, decide on who is going to play which character, where they will be and at what point in the story. One person volunteers to start a conversation and the others join in. The task is for everyone to work hard at staying in role.

o Tell the children that this is quite hard and, if the conversation fizzles out, not to be afraid to either start again, choose different characters or put them into a different situation.

o The idea is not to write anything down, but to just play with words and characters.

o If anyone is brave enough to show to the class, tell them that it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t go exactly the same way as when they first did it in their small group.

o Suggested characters + situations: The family are at breakfast at the opening of the story. Father finds out that his fortune has been lost at sea. Father has to explain to his children that they must move to a smaller

house. Hearing that new money might be made, father says goodbye to his

children, asking them what they’d like him to bring back for them. The Beast discovers the father plucking a rose from his garden. Beauty’s first meeting with the Beast. The selfish sisters trying to persuade Beauty to stay at home, knowing

that this will cause trouble with the Beast.

Using the 12-part plot, have a go at these written activities. These can be rough pieces of work designed for reading out or more considered, redrafted work, perhaps done on a computer screen or for display. Some of them are appropriate for paired or group working rather than just as individuals.

Diary. Choose a character and write their diary as if you are them at given points in the story.

o Beauty or the father are good choices as they feature in large parts of the plot o Try to get at how they feel – their emotions – as well as recording what

they’ve done, seen or heard. o Perhaps try two different voices at a point where the diary entries might be

hugely contrasting, for instance one for Beauty, one for a sister at the point when father tells them they must move to a smaller house.

o Think about other aspects of daily life that might get a mention – diaries will often comment on the small things of life as well as the big things – perhaps do some research for this part to find out what people’s daily lives were like in 1740 in France. What would they eat? What books might be around? What games might they play? What possessions might a rich family have? Or a poor family?

Interview. Imagine that you could go back in time to interview one of the characters. o Who would you interview? o What would you ask them? o Write out a set of questions with the answers they might give? o This could be done on your own or in a pair. o Once written, it could be read out in front of the class.

Description. Write a description of a place which might feature in a longer version of the story.

o Think about its size, shape and colour. o Perhaps start with the outside then move indoors. o You could add in an idea of what the weather is like. o Think about the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. o Try to include some similes and metaphors. o Maybe put a character into the description – it could be seen through their

eyes. o Ideas for places: a mansion, a ship at sea, a small farmhouse, a city by the

sea, a forest, the Beast’s castle, Beauty’s room, the Beast’s garden.

Poetry. Using the ideas for places, write an acrostic poem. o The initial letters of each line spell out the place which is being described in

the poem. o Your acrostic could spell out a character’s name instead of a place.

Script. Have a go at turning part of the story into a script. Here is the opening of the stage version for Theatre by the Lake.

SCENE ONE: IN THE TIME OF PLENTY. The family is posed on three platforms having its portrait painted, boys to the right, girls to the left, parents in the centre. Beauty steps off her platform… BEAUTY: Long ago in a city not so very far away there lived a

merchant… LOUIS: Who was so successful in all his business speculations that he

grew enormously rich! BEAUTY: Which was handy because he had six children! BOYS: Three boys! GIRLS: Three girls! HELENE: And a beautiful wife.

ALL: Maman! HELENE: Helene. BEAUTY: The merchant's eldest son… ALL: Andre! BEAUTY: Was incredibly… GIRLS: (Aside) Boring!!! ANDRE: Scholarly. Academic. Scientific. HELENE: He spent hours in the library studying… GIRLS: (Aside) Totally! Boring! Rubbish!

As you can see in this version, there is a mother called Helene. There are three girls – Beauty, Marie Claire and Veronique – and three boys – Emile, Phillipe and Andre.

o Who would be in your opening scene? o What names would you give them? o What would the setting be?

There are some real surprises in the Theatre by the Lake version by Laurence Boswell, which we don’t want to spoil, but if you were going to create your own play, what surprises might you include for the audience?

o Who would be on your cast list? There are fifteen named characters in our version – how many would you have?

o Would there be any magical characters? o Would you include any non-human characters? o If you were going to have 10-12 scenes, what would happen in each?

Harper Design, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-06-245621. This is a beautiful edition with fold-out maps, a pop-up palace and gorgeous illustrations. It uses the original 1740 text by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, translated in 1858 by J.R.Planché. The text is in places archaic, but it’s still very accessible for confident readers. It tells the story in 9 chapters.

In this version of the story, the chapter headings are as follows: 1 There Once Was a Merchant 2 The Palace of the Beast 3 Beauty Meets the Beast 4 Beauty Explores the Palace 5 Beauty Returns Home 6 Beauty Meets the Prince 7 The Beast’s Story 8 The Fairy Reveals All 9 A Happy Ending

Choose one of the chapters and write your own version of what might happen.

Choose a time period to set it in.

Decide on some names for the characters.

What objects might be in the chapter?

Who might speak and what would they say?

Harper Design’s illustrations by MinaLima give rise to some very inventive pages with lavish illustrations and interactive elements. Have a go at creating your own, using some of this book’s ideas:

A family tree with father at the top and his six daughters and six sons on the branches.

A map of the rich city.

Beauty standing by a tree and some flowers, holding a bird.

Father, lost in the forest, sheltering inside a tree.

Large, scenic pictures to introduce each chapter.

The Beast’s Palace.

A bowl of delicious fruit.

The Beast finding father in the rose garden.

Father riding home at night-time.

Beauty first meeting the Beast, his face huge compared to her body.

The Lavish and Never-ending Wardrobes of Beauty.

A library of books.

Two parrots and a cage. The above ideas are based on the illustrations for the first three chapters. What drawings might be in the remaining six?

We don’t want to spoil anything about our play, but have a think about the following ideas:

Found objects – what items might you find in the classroom or at home, which could be used to be something else – an image or an object to tell part of the story?

How could you create the rhythm and sound of a horse?

If there was an item of furniture on stage which could help to tell the story, what would it be and what smaller objects might it contain?

Rehearsal pictures

Other Versions of the Story: Beauty & the Beast, the Book of the Film, adapted by Elizabeth Rudnick, Parragon Books Ltd, 2017 Beauty & the Beast by Louie Stowell & Victor Tavares, Usborne Young Reading Beauty & the Beast by Michael Morpurgo & Loretta Schauer, Collins Big Cat Tales, 2012 Beauty & the Beast by Mairie Mackinnon & Laure Fournier, Usborne Early Readers, 2017 Beauty & the Beast by Ursula Jones & Sarah Gibb, Orchard Books 2013 Beauty & the Beast, Royal Shakespeare Production script by Laurence Boswell, Nick Hern Books, 2003 This Resource Pack was prepared by Dave Cryer, Learning & Participation Manager at Theatre by the Lake. If you would like more information about ways in which your school can work with the theatre, please contact dave.cryer@theatrebythelake.com.