teacher resources...the wind in the willows is a delightful story about animal friends; moley,...

RAVA PRODUCTIONS [email protected]

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TEACHER RESOURCES


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The Wind in the Willows is a delightful story about animal friends; Moley, Ratty,

Badger and the often-mischievous Mr Toad.

Mr Toad's insatiable need for speed triggers a daring adventure as he discovers

motor cars and the thrill of the open road. His friends, Ratty, Moley and Badger try

to stop his reckless and destructive ways encouraging him to be a sensible Toad.

Meanwhile, his home Toad Hall is invaded by the wild-wooders. His friends step up

to help going into battle to evict the invaders and recapture Toad Hall.

With original music and playful whimsical characters, The Wind in the Willows is

bursting with imagination and excitement. This classic story is re-imagined for 21

century audiences, focusing on themes of friendship,

Featuring a multi-talented cast - Harrison Paroz (Toad), Angela Ponting (Moley),

Michael Escober (Badger) and Jacob Watton (Ratty) deliver this heart-warming story

perfect for family audiences.

Play Duration: 60 mins approx

Suitability: Ideal for Students from pre-school to Years 1 to 3, children and

their families.

About The Wind in the Willows


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About the Author Kenneth Grahame Scottish novelist Kenneth Grahame enjoyed a moderate literary career best known

for his children’s novel The Wind in the Willows. The characters and stories of Toad,

Moley, Ratty and Badger were created during nightly bedtime stories for his only

child Alastair. His son, nicknamed mouse, was born premature and suffered health

issues including blindness in one eye.

Grahame’s home in Berkshire provided the pastoral setting for the stories. He was

inspired by human characteristics he observed in his son attributing them to Toad’s

behaviours. Consequences of Toads adventures and choices were meant as moral

lessons for his son.

After taking early retirement, Kenneth Grahame adapted his bedtime stories into the

manuscript that was published as The Wind in the Willows in 1908. Kenneth

Grahame was born in Edinburgh on 8 March 1859 and died 6 July 1932.

About RAVA Productions

RAVA Productions is a collaboration between arts industry

professionals Ruth Atkinson and Alison Vallette who join

forces to produce live theatre readily accessible to audiences in regional and remote

Queensland and suitable for a variety of venues.

RAVA Productions works to identify emerging professional artists connected to the

Darling Downs area, building opportunities for them to extend their experience and

connecting them to industry career pathways.

Alison Vallette is a director/choreographer with professional dance credentials,

having danced internationally and performed in touring music theatre productions

that toured the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. She has directed major

musicals including Mary Poppins, Wicked and Kinky Boots. Alison is Principal of

Dance Central in Toowoomba.

Ruth Atkinson is a creative producer and presenter with experience across venue

management, programming and marketing for the Empire Theatre Toowoomba,

QUT Gardens Theatre, as Director of the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts

in Brisbane and most recently, as Co-Director for the Curious Arts Festival.


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Story Themes and Curriculum Links

Story Themes:

Friendship,

Adventures out in the world contrasted with the importance of home,

Consequences of actions,

Understanding difference and progression through life, mentorship relationships

Primary:

Literacy, Storytelling, Play building, Personal and Social Capabilities

Secondary:

Children’s Theatre, Transforming text to

stage, Ensemble Theatre, Design


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Pre-Performance Activities

Introduction to characters The main characters in The Wind in the Willows are:

Toad: an aristocratic and wealthy fellow drawn to new adventures. He is erratic and unreliable, often acting on impulse without regard to the consequences of his actions. A complex character, Toad is generous towards his friends who help him learn to act sensibly.

Mole: a young and trusting animal, generous and extremely loyal. An underground animal by nature, Moley explores the world above the surface maturing into a self-reliant, brave and clever companion.

Rat: a kind, social animal with a strong sense of hospitality, manners and inclusion. While he has a comfortable life close to home, he is loyal as travels with his friends, and becomes mentor to Moley.

Badger: a wise and patient animal who lives in the Wild Wood. He seems gruff and serious at first, although proves he deeply cares for his friends and works hard to improve Toady’s habits.

Discuss what students know about the main characters.

Discuss some of the character traits of other characters they will see in the play:


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Theatre Etiquette

It’s exciting to go to your first live performance!

Live theatre can be quite unfamiliar for students and it’s important they know it’s OK to respond and react to what’s happening on stage. Being in an audience is a different experience to watching a television show or even going to the movies.

Live theatre is at its best when it draws a reaction from the audience. It’s OK to clap, laugh, sing along and interact when encouraged by the performers.

Some behaviours may be disruptive and spoil the experience for the student and those around them in the theatre. Students might be surprised how much the actors on stage might see them in the audience and feel their energy and excitement from the auditorium.

Construct a T-Chart of Expected and Unexpected behaviour during a live performance Things to include:

Expected: laughing, applauding, singing and clapping along with songs by the performers, sitting still so other can see, and listening quietly so others can hear and not be distracted, following instructions

Unexpected: Chatting, eating and drinking (it can be very noisy!), moving about (unless it’s an EMERGENCY! Then it’s quick and quiet), using mobile phones or have them ringing, filming, photography particularly using flash, kicking chairs or backs of seats, touching theatre equipment or going onstage uninvited.

Who helps to make the theatre experience?

Teachers can construct a list of different jobs performed by different people from the staff at the theatre to the creative work of the production team.

Children will encounter the front of house team as they are welcomed to the theatre and ushered into their seats. Teachers should take a moment to make sure children have used the bathroom if required.

When the show begins, the theatre is darkened so that the stage lights can help the audience feel like they are in the story. In The Wind in the Willows, the play uses sound effects and image projection to set the play in places including countryside and by the river. There are sound effects played through speakers to help tell the story, like train noises, water bubbling in a creek and the crashing of carts and motor vehicles.

Actors have worked very hard in many rehearsals to find the best way to tell the story of their characters and will do their very best to perform energetically every time. They may address


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the audience and invite them to clap along with songs and join them in simple seated dance movements.

The actors will use a number of block shapes and props on stage to help imagine elements of the play from the doorstep of Badger’s house to a motor car driving down the road. Actors create a boat, caravan, Toad Hall, a cosy fireplace from colourful blocks then use props like hats, a steering wheel, picnic rugs and kazoos help the children to use their imaginations.

Technicians in the theatre work to make sure the sound and lights are suitable for each different venue and spend many hours outside of the actual play preparing everything and re-packing at the end!

Stage managers are a very important part of the team who make sure everything is running smoothly from the moment they arrive hours before the play starts until the moment they leave long after it finishes.

Directors work with actors and the rest of the team to develop a consistent story. They see what the play looks like as it is being developed and help performers find ideas that work well.

Producers find the resources to help fund the production, supporting the creative and pulling together the logistics including technical specifications, marketing materials and other schedules. They liaise and organize venues and work with communities to share the production the team has made.

Being a Good Friend

Friendship is one of the ‘take-home’ messages of the play and in creating this production, the team has sought to emphasis this theme through both actions and the original song included in the finale. Our animal characters develop strong bonds of friendship through the adventures of the play.

True friends like you for who you are. They help you talk about problems and day to day stresses in your life. They share good times and cheer us up when we are sad.

1. Brainstorm ways to be a good friend. What are some of the traits of a good friend that you see from each character (being generous, kind, trusting, loyal and selfless).

Are friends’ good listeners; would they interrupt conversations; do they speak respectfully and use nice words; do they share and take turns? How can you be a better friend?

2. Three ways I could be a better friend. What could you do?

• If you saw somebody without lunch?

• If a student was sitting alone during break?

• If someone was mean to a person in your class?


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Post-Performance Activities

Scavenger Hunt Brainstorm ways to make a new friend. These might include smiling, cheering someone up when they’re sad, asking someone to join you in an activity, sharing with someone who is by themselves etc.

Talk about things children may have in common with their friends. Maybe they like the same colours, have dogs at home, enjoy playing the same games or like the same subjects at school.

Children write down three of their favourite things. Then have children find others in the class that share at least one or more of their favourite things.

New Endings Read an excerpt from the book – for example:

RAT: Would you like a ride in my boat ?

MOLE: Well…yes.

RAT: I'll come over then.

(RAT paddles towards MOLE up the 'stream'.)

MOLE: Do you know, Rat, I've never been in a boat before in all my life.

RAT: Never been in a - well I never - what have you been doing then?

MOLE: Is it as nice as all that?

RAT: Nice? It's the only thing. Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing

- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing

about in boats. Look here! If you've nothing else on hand this morning,

supposing we drop down the river together and make a long day of it?

MOLE: What a day I'm having! Let us start at once!

Read this short except from the script and ask the children to tell the story of what happens next. Where do they go on the river? What and who do they discover?

What happens next?

A character’s story continues after the resolution. At the end of The Wind in the Willows the four main characters are triumphant and celebrate.

Write a story about what happens the next day? Could they make friends with the Wild Wooders? What common interests might they share? How could they all live in peace? Could they call a truce?


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Diorama Design Brief

Design artists have very specific briefs of what they need to include in a set.

For The Wind in the Willows, the RAVA Production team chose to use audio-visual projections and sound effects as a backdrop to the set. The actors on stage have a range of coloured blocks including cubes, prisms to cylinders to use in constructing the set elements they need.

This design makes it easy for actors to move the set blocks while on stage and is simple to pack up and load into a vehicle for a different venue. If students were to design a set, what could it look like?

Using shoeboxes as a stage space, students choose and construct a scene from The Wind in the Willows.

What materials would students need to construct a movable set? (card, glue, pens/pencils/paint, sticky, tack, cloth etc)

Which scene are they presenting? How will the actors move through the scene? What lighting could be used to help the mood?

The RAVA team would LOVE to see some of the work made by your students!

Share photos with us via Facebook #ravaproductions or send to our email [email protected]


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Retell the story from another character’s point of view

Each character has their own point of view of the events of the story. They each have things that they do before and after their scenes.

Students pick a character and retell the story from that character’s point of view.

What settings has that character been in? Does the character know all of the other characters in the story? Does that character know everything that happened to Toad?

Character Analysis and Comparison

Students analyse the differences and similarities of characters described in the book and compare how they are adapted for the play.

Which characters were most different? Which were the same? Which characters do you wish were included? Give evidence and support for your ideas.

Show Review

After the show, ask students to write their own review.

What were the best parts of The Wind in the Willows?

Which character was your favourite and why?

If you could perform in the show, which character would you want to be?

What made you laugh?

What would you change about the show or the story?

What is the moral of the story or the message you take from the play?

Colour In Characters – follow next pages


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More about The Wind in the Willows

Acknowledgements Performers:

Harrison Paroz (Toad)

Angela Ponting (Moley)

Jacob Watton (Ratty)

Mike Escober (Badger)

Director: Alison Vallette

Creative Producer: Ruth Atkinson

Design: Kerry Saul, Ralph Atkinson

Produced by RAVA Productions


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CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Harrison Paroz (Toad) Harrison is a professional musician, born and raised in Toowoomba. He has always been involved in the local arts community, performing in his first musical at age 5. He has been gigging professionally all-around South-East Queensland for the last four years. Along with music, he is a multi-skilled artist, dabbling in workshop facilitation, stage management, magic, clowning, juggling, stand-up comedy, MC-ing, and theatre-making.

In 2019, he released his first original single “Certain”, receiving playback via Triple J Unearthed. Harrison is also in creative development of a 2-hander cabaret show “Please Swipe Right” featuring original music with plans to premiere in 2021/22. Harrison is always looking to add strings to his bow, working as a guitar teacher, drama facilitator, karaoke host and regular acoustic singer/songwriter at venues across the Darling Downs. He has been involved in theatre for most of his life, with highlights including playing ‘Barfeé’ in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Aaron’s mate in First Date, both by Shoebox Theatre Company as well as his involvement with the Empire Theatre’s IMPACT Ensemble from 2012 to 2016. Harrison will revive his role as Wilbur the Pig in the RAVA Production of Charlotte’s Web, touring Queensland venues in June/July 2021.

Angela Ponting (Moley)

Angela loves to perform onstage, singing and making people laugh. In 2017, Angela wrote and performed her own cabaret, Smiling at Strangers for the Empire Theatres Homegrown Series. She performed as Ruth in the Empire Theatre’s Pirates of Penzance opposite Michael Cormack, and for Shoebox Theatre Company, took roles in First Date, in Avenue Q (and its 2021 return season) and in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. For RAVA Productions, Angela is set to play the roles of Narrator and Gander for the Queensland tour of Charlotte’s Web in 2021. She is working on a new cabaret show Please Swipe Right with Harrison Paroz with plans to premiere in 2021/22.

Angela is skilled behind the scenes with regular professional work as a Stage Manager for QPAC, the Empire Theatre and the Curious Arts Festival. She completed her Bachelor of Theatre Arts in Stage Management and Technical Production at the University of Southern Queensland in 2007.


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Jacob Watton (Ratty)

Jacob Watton is a Queensland-based choreographer and performer working primarily in Brisbane and Toowoomba. Watton graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (distinction) in Dance Performance from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and completed first class honours in 2017. Jacob’s premiered work ‘and JULIET’ (2017) for Brisbane’s SUPERCELL Contemporary Dance Festival showcased to a sold-out audience. He went on to secure funding to tour ‘and JULIET’

alongside two smaller works to perform at Toowoomba’s Empire Theatres. He presented ‘1:1’, a dance and technology performance about the onstage relationship between a human and a robot at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria (2017). Jacob Watton performed ‘Turbine’ with Collusion Music and Dance as part of the Brisbane Powerhouse’s Melt Festival (2018), returning to the role for Collusion’s tour to China later that year. Watton also secured a bursary to professionally develop his skills with internationally acclaimed choreographer Crystal Pite and her company Kidd Pivot in Perth working with Sandra Marin Garcia and STRUT Dance Company. Jacob has danced works by Richard Causer (We Are Schadenfreude), Gareth Belling (Before), Yolande Brown (The Tipping Point, The Tipping Point: Beijing Dance Tour), Jen Murray (Brief Encounters, Vacancies of the Heart), Matthew Lawrence (A Short History of Life), Csaba Buday (Pack), Lucas Jervies (Smile) and Jack Chambers (Until Late). Jacob worked with theatre director Angela Chaplin on ‘If Only I Could’, a performance partnering with old age care practitioners and residents of aged care facilities to unpack the themes of age and dance. He explored circus with director Chelsea McGuffin during a creative development of a circus and contemporary dance hybrid, Small Town Stuff. Jacob Watton danced in The Play of Light choreographed by Elise May (Expressions Dance Company) for its premiere at the Curious Arts Festival 2019 and travelled to showcase his choreography at the Busan International Dance Festival in South Korea. In 2020, he premiered Alexa, Turn the Lights On an performance installation and interaction between technology and humans for the Curious Arts Festival Toowoomba. Jacob plays Templeton the Rat in RAVA Production’s Charlotte’s Web, set to tour to 12 communities in Queensland during June/July 2021.

Mike Escober (Badger)

Michael is a frequent contributor to the Toowoomba stage. He performed the role of Boq in Wicked and Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia (both for Empire Theatre Productions) and Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Shoebox Theatre Company). He plays multiple roles as the farmer Homer, Old Sheep, a Spectator, Judge and Avery in the RAVA Production of Charlotte's Web provides a great opportunity for him to feature a range of characters and to present one of his favourite stories. Michael works as a teacher in Toowoomba primary schools to pay the mortgage.


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Alison Vallette: RAVA Productions Director/Choreographer Alison has a long background in classical ballet and musical theatre commencing her professional career at aged 10. She has danced in many productions both in Australia and overseas, including working for Cameron Macintosh in Oklahoma both National tour and London West End. Alison returned to Australia where she toured with “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” for Bill Kenwright Productions. Her dramatic credits include Gwennie – “Under Milk Wood”

Louise – “Carousel”, Alice – “Go Ask Alice” Louise Beauchamp – “Night of the Ding Dong” U/S Ado Annie and Aunt Ella - “Oklahoma!” Justine – “Cosi” and Kate in “Sylvia”. Her choreographic credits to date include “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “West Side Story”, Oklahoma”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Sweet Charity” ,“Beauty and the Beast”, ”Cabaret”, “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, “Singin in the Rain”, "Spamalot" "The Boy from Oz", "Phantom of the Opera" & Esgee’s Pirates of Penzance . Her directorial credits include "Cats", "Hairspray", "The Wizard of Oz", "Mary Poppins" and “Wicked” for Empire Theatre.

Ruth Atkinson: RAVA Productions Creative Producer Ruth was Director at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts (2008-2016), where she founded the Fresh Ground artist-in-residence program aimed at the development of contemporary performances by Queensland artists. As well as Creative Producer of RAVA Productions, Ruth is working with two regional artist collectives under her Higher Ground project, supported by USQ Artsworx and made possible by the Regional Arts Fund and is co-Director for the 2019 Curious Arts Festival.

Ruth's career began directing television productions and radio programming before segueing to performing arts tour management for the Northern Australian Regional Performing Arts Centres Association (NARPACA now known as Stage Queensland). Her career continued to grow through arts marketing, venue programming and event management roles at Empire Theatre Toowoomba, QUT Garden’s Theatre and QUT Art Museum. She is currently Managing Director of Visual Focus, an audio-visual integration company based in Toowoomba. She holds an MBA and Post Graduate qualification in Arts and Cultural Management from Uni SA and a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from CQU.


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Connect with RAVA Productions

www.ravaproductions.com.au

www.facebook.com/RAVAProductions

Give us your Feedback

We’re always keen to hear feedback from our audiences, from students and from teachers. It helps us to grow and adapt to deliver the best arts experiences for schools and teachers. We also love to hear good news stories from students, learn how the show had impact and what students thought, what they took away from the production. If you want to share some of their creative work inspired from their visit to the theatre, we’d love to see it.

Please send your feedback to: [email protected] Please make sure you add the name of your school, student class details and an email address for return contact.

Thank you

http://www.ravaproductions.com.au/

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teacher resources...the wind in the willows is a delightful story about animal friends; moley,...

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