RESOURCE PACK

A huge thank you to our Work Experience participants who worked

closely with us to produce this Resource Pack.

An Oxford Playhouse Pantomime

Friday 24 November 2017 to Sunday 7 January 2018

oh yes it is! And this year Oxford

Playhouse is very excited to be sharing with you our brand new

production of the classic tale Jack and the Beanstalk, written and

directed by Steve Marmion.

This resource pack is designed to share lots of information with you

about the magic behind our story, as well as lots of ideas for games

and tasks that you can take away and complete at home or at

school.

You can find different ways of getting in touch on the back page of

this pack.

(Illustrations by Korky Paul www.korkypaul.com)

Getting to the roots

The earliest written version of Jack and the Beanstalk that we

know about was published in 1734, in a book called Round About

Our Coal-Fire.

However, the story had been passed down through many

generations before then, often to share many deep-rooted

messages and morals. For example, mean mums used to tell their

naughty children that a giant would come down from a sky-high

not true! Better ...

Since then there have been many different versions of the story,

told in books, on television, and in many different films. In fact, a

brand new film produced by Disney, called Gigantic, will be

released in the next year or so.

DID YOU KNOW that the story

of Jack and the Beanstalk is over

5000 years old?

Dame Trott!

Story outline.

A long time ago, in the far, far away region of Pantoland, the small village

of Oxford lived fearfully in the shadows of a towering Giant, who owned a

factory high above the clouds.

Within the village lived many poor families, indebted to the Giant. One

such family, that of Dame Trott and her two children Jack and Smart

Simone

after he

sent his evil henchmen, Judy Hench and

they had no choice but to sell their beloved

cow, Jagger. And so, Dame Trott sent Jack

Luckily, Jack was able to find a buyer for

their cow, who gave him five beans. When

he returned to tell his mother, she was

furious and angrily threw the beans out of the window.

Overnight the beans grew into a gigantic beanstalk, reaching all the way to

the clouds, and Jack, being a curious lad, decided to climb to the top to see

exactly what lay up there. Much to his surprise, he found his childhood

sweetheart Jill and her good friend Goosey

factory.

Jack helped his friends and Jagger the cow to sneak

away, much to the anger of the Giant, who chased them

down the stalk. With the help of the villagers, they

chopped down the beanstalk before the Giant was able

to get to the bottom, and sent that evil, tall beast to his

death. Jack saved the day, and the people of Oxford

they may now have spent it all at the new Westgate

shopping centre.

-FI-FO-FUM

I SMELL THE BLOOD

DID YOU KNOW that these

famous words were first

uttered in a Shakespeare play?

ACTIVITY #1: s Smart Quiz

1) What is the name of our pantomime cow?

2) Why must Jack and Smart Simone sell their cow?

3) What did Dame Trott do when her children brought back a

bag of beans?

4) Who was Jack surprised to find at the top of the gigantic

beanstalk?

5) What does Jack do to the beanstalk to stop the Giant?

ANSWERS:

1) Jagger

2) Because they cannot afford to keep her

3) Throws them out of the window

4) Jill and Goosey

5) Chops it down

ACTIVITY #2: -Up

For this activity, you need to match each character name to the

Dame Trott

Smart Simone

Judy Hench

Jill

Our pantomime cow.

Jagger

ANSWERS:

1) Dame Trott is Jacks poor widowed

mother

2) Smart Simone is Jacks very clever sister

3) Judy Hench is the Giants evil

henchwoman

4) Jill is Jacks childhood sweetheart

5) Jagger is our pantomime cow

History of Pantomime

In Britain, our performance

traditions have drawn influence

from all over the world, especially

from the ancient civilisations of

Greece and Rome. Performances

back then would be an important

part of society, and actors were

respected as very important

people. Each performance would spread an important message

Fast forward to the Middle Ages, and in medieval Britain troupes of

performers would travel the country to act in the Mummers Play,

which told the brave story of Saint George slaying the evil dragon.

These performances were normally performed during Christmas

gatherings and would show the importance of good defeating evil.

Further influence from the Italian theatrical form of Commedia

ick comedy,

slowly started to shape our theatre still further, and by the late

Victorian era, music halls and playhouses began staging the

beloved pantomime that we know today.

With features such as cross-dressing, buffoonery and audience

participation, the traditional Christmas Panto has found an annual

home in most British theatres ever since. Popular catchphrases,

-known to

the masses. Oh yes they have!

DID YOU KNOW that we can

trace the origins of Panto back

to Ancient Greece?

Pantomime comes from the

Ancient Greek word, παντόμιμος

Stock Characters in Panto

Below are the roles which we can usually find in traditional

pantomimes. We use each of these roles to illustrate the strong

moral messages and the theme of good triumphing evil.

The Dame Usually played by a man. She is funny and makes the

audience join in by telling jokes. She has a motherly

relationship towards one of the characters and often

chooses one member of the .

So watch out, it could be you!

Principal Boy Sometimes played by a female actor. They are often

doubted at the beginning of the pantomime, but they

triumph over evil or misfortune to gain the title of the

hero and generally win the love of the principal girl.

Principal Girl Often a princess or a peasant. She is always good, despite

the threat of evil or injustice.

The Baddie Always has an evil plan to disrupt and ruin one of the

lives. This is sometimes done

through their evil magical powers, which they use to

control people, but they are always defeated in the end.

Pantomime Often the sidekick of the principal boy or principal

Animal girl. The animal is normally created with two actors

playing the front and rear.

The Chorus or Many male and female performers who play lots of

Ensemble different smaller roles, and perform the complicated

dance routines.

Can you identify all of the stock characters in our

production of Jack and the Beanstalk?

p

-the-

Henchmen

There are lots of people who work

very hard to make sure our Christmas

Pantomime is a huge success. Below are

some descriptions of the kind of work they get up to.

THE PLAYWRIGHT

This is the person who writes the

script. Without a script, the

to say.

THE DIRECTOR

This is the person who tells the

actors where they need to stand,

and how they should say their

lines.

THE CHOREOGRAPHER

This is the person who plans and

teaches the dances moves to

everybody in the cast.

THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR

This is the person who arranges

and teaches the songs to

everybody in the cast.

THE STAGE MANAGER

This is the person who makes

sure that all of the props and

scenery are in their correct

places.

ACTIVITY #3: Wand-Waving Wordsearch

Can you find all of the words in our wordsearch?

B Q X T S J I L L D J E J G O O S E Y B U F A I R Y N U F F D B G N K H V Y R V Y S G X S D U O L C H I E T A T J L E F E M R I P W A Z H J N O V T B S C L E L C N D A N B K S K T H E N C H M E N J U

BEANSTALK FAIRY NUFF JAGGER

HENCHMEN JUDY HENCH SIMONE

JILL CLOUDS GOOSEY

JACK

ACTIVITY #3: Wand-Waving Wordsearch

ANSWERS

B Q X T S J I L L D J E J G O O S E Y B U F A I R Y N U F F D B G N K H V Y R V Y S G X S D U O L C H I E T A T J L E F E M R I P W A Z H J N O V T B S C L E L C N D A N B K S K T H E N C H M E N J U

ACTIVITY #4: -to-Dot

Goosey has gone missing! Can you help Dame Trott find her and her

golden eggs? Join the dots by following the pattern of numbers.

1

2 3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19 20

21 22 23

24

25

26 27

28

29

30

31

32 33

34 35

36

37

38

39 40

41

42 43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52 53

54

55

56 57 58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

ACTIVITY #4: -to-Dot

ANSWERS

1

2 3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19 20

21 22 23

24

25

26 27

28

29

30

31

32 33

34 35

36

37

38

39 40

41

42 43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52 53

54

55

56 57 58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

ACTIVITY #5:

k

Can you answer all of the clues in our crossword puzzle?

DOWN ACROSS 1. 7. write the

script

2. 8. The name of the large green plant

that stretches up to the clouds

3. Geese have long been associated

with this

9.

4. This number of actors play our

Pantomime cow, Jagger

10.

5. The story of Jack and the Beanstalk

is _____ thousand years old

6. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum was originally said in

a play written by this playwright

1

2

3

4 5 6

7

8

9

10

ACTIVITY #5:

ANSWERS

T F S

P L A Y W R I G H T

F O V A

E E K

E T E

F R W B E A N S T A L K

S I M O N E P

F T A E

O T L A

F T R

U H E N C H M E N

M

DOWN ACROSS 1. 7.

script

2. 8. The name of the large green plant

that stretches up to the clouds

3. Geese have long been associated

with this

9.

4. This number of actors play our

Pantomime cow, Jagger

10.

5. The story of Jack and the Beanstalk

is _____ thousand years old

6. Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum was originally said in

a play written by this playwright

ACTIVITY #6: Gigantic Greenery

k

Use the box below to design your very own giant beanstalk.

Which colours could you use to make it look realistic?

ON

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