Music Composed by Michael Koerner “Do You Like My Hat? ..... other plays for
young audiences including Even Steven Goes to War and Junie B. In Jingle Bells
, Batman ... Make a paper bag or sock puppet of one of the dogs in the play.
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
A CREATIVE & THEATRICAL STUDY GUIDE FOR TEACHERS As part of DCT’s mission to integrate the arts into classroom academics, the Behind the Curtain Resource Guide is intended to provide helpful information for the teacher and student to use before and after attending a performance. The activities presented in this guide are suggested to stimulate lively responses and multi-sensory explorations of concepts in order to use the theatrical event as a vehicle for cross-cultural and language arts learning. Adapted by Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz. Adapted from the book “Go, Dog. Go!” by P.D. Eastman. Published by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Copyright © 1961 by P.D. Eastman Copyright © renewed 1989 by Mary L. Eastman. All rights reserved. Music Composed by Michael Koerner “Do You Like My Hat?” Lyrics by Michael Koerner
AGES 4 AND UP
JAN 28 - FEB 28 STUDENT MATINEE JAN 24 - FEB 23 PUBLIC SHOWS
Please use our suggestions as springboards to lead your students into meaningful, dynamic learning; extending the dramatic experience of the play.
Dallas Children’s Theater
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
A Creative & Theatrical Resource Guide for Teachers DCT Executive Artistic Director and Director of Production.............................................Robyn Flatt Resource Guide Editor......................................................Virginia Preuss Additional Content............................................................Marty Sherman Resource Guide Layout/Design.....................................Kim Lyle Play..........................................................................................GO, DOG. GO! Adapted for the stage by.................................................Allison Gregory & Steven Dietz From the book by...............................................................P.D. Eastman Music by.................................................................................Michael Koerner Cover Illustration by P.D. Eastman from the book Go, Dog. Go! © 1961 by P.D. Eastman, © renewed 1989 by Mary L. Eastman
DALLAS CHILDREN’S THEATER, one of the top five family theaters in the nation, serves over 250,000 young people from 196 zip codes, 146 cities and 78 counties and 32 states each year through its main stage productions, touring, educational programming and outreach activities. Since its opening in 1984, this award-winning theater has existed to create challenging, inspiring and entertaining theater, which communicates vital messages to our youth and promotes an early appreciation for literature and the performing arts. As the only major organization in Dallas focusing on theater for youth and families, DCT produces literary classics, original scripts, folk tales, myths, fantasies and contemporary dramas that foster multicultural understanding, confront topical issues and celebrate the human spirit. DCT is committed to the integration of creative arts into the teaching strategies of academic core curriculum and educating through the arts. Techniques utilized by DCT artist/teachers are based upon the approach developed in The Integration of Abilities and Making Sense with Five Senses, by Paul Baker, Ph.D. DCT founder and Executive Artistic Director, Robyn Flatt defines the artistic mission and oversees the operations of the organization, consisting of twenty-five full time staff members and more than 200 actors, designers, theater artists and educators.
See page 17 for the TEKS that your field trip to Dallas Children’s Theater satisfies!
Permission is granted for material included in this Resource Guide to be copied for use in the classroom
CURTAINS UP ON PUTTING A PERFORMANCE TOGETHER Every DCT performance you see is the result of many people working together to create a play. You see the cast perform on stage, but there are people you do not see who help before, during, and after every production. The DIRECTOR Determines the overall look of the performance. Guides the actors in stage movement and character interpretation. Works with designers to plan the lights and sounds, scenery, costumes and make-up, and stage actions. The DESIGNERS Plan the lights, scenery, costumes, make-up, sound, and actions to help bring the director’s vision to life. There are also designers who work to create the posters, advertisements, programs and other media for the performance. The STAGE MANAGER Before the performance, creates a cue sheet to guide the crew in getting things on and off the stage during the performances. During the performance, uses this cue sheet to direct people and things on and off the stage. The CREW Builds and operate the scenery, costumes, props, and light and sound during the performance. The CAST Performs and presents the story to the audience. The AUDIENCE That’s right! There can be no performance without you- the audience. The role of the audience is unique because you experience the entertainment with the performers and backstage crew. You are a collaborator in the performance, and it is important to learn your role so you can join all the people who work to create this Dallas Children’s Theater production.
DIRECTOR
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STAGE MANAGER
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CURTAINS UP ON THE ROLE OF THE AUDIENCE Watching a play is different from watching television or a sporting event. When you watch T.V., you may leave the room or talk. At a sporting event you might cheer and shout and discuss what you’re seeing. Your role as a member of the audience in a play means you must watch and listen carefully because: • You need to concentrate on what the actors are saying. The actors are affected by your behavior. Talking and moving around can make it difficult for them to concentrate on their roles.
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Extra noises and movement can distract other audience members.
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Are you ready for your role in this performance?
Check the box next to the statements that describe proper etiquette for an audience member during the performance.
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Try your best to remain in your seat once the performance has begun.
Share your thoughts out loud with those sitting near you.
Wave and call out to the actors on stage.
Sit on your knees or stand near your seat.
Bring snacks and gum to enjoy during the show.
Reward the cast and crew with applause when you like a song or dance and at the end of the show.
Arrive on time so that you do not miss anything or disturb other audience members while you are being seated.
Keep all hands and feet and items out of the aisles during the performance.
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CURTAINS UP AFTER THE PERFORMANCE Attending a play is an experience unlike any other. Because a play is presented live, it provides a unique opportunity to experience a story as it happens. Dallas Children’s Theater brings stories to life through its performances. Many people are involved in the process. Playwrights adapt the stories you read in order to bring them off the page and onto the stage. Designers and technicians create lighting effects so that you can feel the mood of a scene. Carpenters build the scenery and make the place of the story become a real place, while costumers and make-up designers can turn actors into the characters you meet in the stories. Directors help actors bring the story to life before your very eyes. All of these things make seeing a play very different from television, videos, computer games, or CDs and audiobooks of stories. ACHER T
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Hold a class discussion when you return from the performance. Ask students the following questions and allow them to write or draw pictures of their experience at DCT.
What was the first thing you noticed when you entered the theater? What did you notice first on the stage? What about the set? Draw or tell about things you remember. Did the set change during the play? How was it moved or changed? Was there any space besides the stage where the action took place? How did the lights set the mood of the play? How did they change throughout? What do you think “house lights” are? How do they differ from stage lights? Did you notice different areas of lighting? What did you think about the costumes? Do you think they fit the story? What things do you think the costume designers had to consider before creating the costumes? Was there music in the play? How did it add to the performance? What about the actors? Do you think they were able to bring the characters to life? Did you feel caught up in the story? What things do you think the actors had to work on in order to make you believe they were the characters?
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• Draw a picture of what the audience might look like from the stage. Consider your work from the viewpoint of the actors on stage. How might things look from where they stand? • Write a letter to a cast member telling them what you liked about their character. • Write how you think it might feel to be one of the actors. Are the actors aware of the audience? How might they feel about the reactions of the audience today? How would you feel before the play began? What about after the show ends? • Which job would you like to try? Actor, Director, Lighting or Sound Crew Member, Stage Manager, Set Designer, Costume Designer, or another role? What skills might you need to complete your job? • Choose a favorite story and draw or use the computer to create a program cover design for a theatrical adaptation of your story. 5
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CURTAINS UP ON THEATER VOCABULARY ACTOR
any theatrical performer whose job it is to portray a character
CAST
the group of actors in a play
CENTER STAGE
the middle of the stage
CHARACTER
any person portrayed by an actor onstage. Characters may also be animals, and sometimes things.
CHOREOGRAPHER
the person who designs and teaches the dances in a production
COSTUME DESIGNER
the person who creates what the actors wear in the performance
DIRECTOR
the person in charge of the entire production
DOWNSTAGE
the area at the front of the stage; closest to the audience
HOUSE
the area in the theater where the audience sits
LIGHTING DESIGNER
the person who creates the lighting for a play to simulate the time of day and the location
ONSTAGE
the part of the stage the audience can see
OFFSTAGE
the part of the stage the audience cannot see
PLOT
the story line
PROSCENIUM
the opening framing the stage
PROJECT
to speak loudly
PROP
an object used by an actor in a scene
SET
the background or scenery for a play
SETTING
the time and place of the story
SOUND DESIGNER
the person who provides special effects like thunder, ringing phone, or crickets chirping
STAGE CREW
the people who change the scenery during a performance
STAGE MANAGER
the person who helps the director during the rehearsal and coordinates all aspects of the lights, sound, and scenery with the actors during the performance
UPSTAGE
the area at the back of the stage; farthest from the audience
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CURTAINS UP ON ADAPTATION An adaptation is a change made in something so that it can fit a new use. This performance of Go, Dog. Go! is an adaptation of a book, which is meant to be read, into a play, which is meant to be performed and viewed. Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz worked to take the story written by P.D. Eastman and adapt it so that it could be performed for an audience on stage.
Consider these questions for discussion before you attend the DCT production: •
What kinds of things did the authors have to consider in writing a script of the story?
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What kinds of things would an author be concerned about in making a musical adaptation of his story?
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Do you think the performance will be shorter or longer than the book?
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What will the characters look like? Will they match their illustrations? What differences can you expect?
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What about the story? What changes might you expect in adapting it for the stage? Why would these changes be necessary?
After the performance, consider these questions: •
Were there any characters or events that were in the book but not in the play? Why do you think these choices were made?
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Did the changes make the story stronger or was it weaker because of them?
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What do you think the sets and costume designers need to consider when bringing the book to the stage?
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What things helped to tell the story on stage?
CURTAINS UP ON THE BOOK’S AUTHOR P.D. Eastman was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1909. He worked as a screenwriter, illustrator, and film producer for Walt Disney Productions and Warner Brothers. In the 1950’s Mr. Eastman began writing children’s books and worked with Dr. Seuss with whom he is often confused. He collaborated with Dr. Seuss on The Cat in the Hat Dictionary but authored Go, Dog. Go! , Are You My Mother and other beginner books for children on his own. P.D. Eastman died in 1986.
CURTAINS UP ON THE PLAYWRIGHTS Steven Dietz and Allison Gregory wrote Go, Dog. Go! for the SEATTLE CHILDREN’S THEATRE, where it was produced in 2002. Mr. Dietz directed the original production and Ms. Gregory did the choreography. Steven Dietz’s other plays include Honus and Me, Still Life with Iris, and The Rememberer. These plays have been produced at some of America’s leading theaters for young people including DALLAS CHILDREN’S THEATER. Allison Gregory has written other plays for young audiences including Even Steven Goes to War and Junie B. In Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! Mr. Dietz and Ms. Gregory are married and live in Austin with their two children.
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CURTAINS UP: A NOTE FROM THE PLAYWRIGHTS This play is adapted from a book renowned for its ability to generate fun, learning, adventure and surprise with a minimum of text. P.D. Eastman’s timeless work honors the joyous simplicity of the world around us. Therefore, in crafting a stage version of Go, Dog. Go!, it is not our intension to “fill out” or “open up” the story in the style of many traditional adaptations. (We have, in fact, added virtually no words of our own.) “Expanding the book in this way would, we believe, rob it of its essential wondrous and loopy anarchy. Insead, we hope to celebrate and explore the existing words and pictures; to look not “outside the book”, but more closely “within it” -- in the same way that a child (and parent) can read through Mr. Eastman’s book night after night and find something new and remarkable with every turn of the page.
CURTAINS UP ON POETRY
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Poetry is an ideal medium for helping children develop a keener appreciation for the expressive use of language as well as a heightened ability to “read between the lines.” In making use of the activities described below, remember that a good poem - like a true friend - keeps growing on you the better you get to know each other.
Directions: Explain that you will be sharing with students, over the next few days, poems (books) by Dr. Seuss. Some may be books students have heard before and some may be new. Follow up with selections such as those listed below. After a book has been introduced, continue to read it from time to time (at least twice a week in the beginning), encouraging children to join in repeating lines as these become familiar. Add other activities such as those described below.
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• Add clapping or other rhythmic accompaniment to predictable lines in The Cat in the Hat. • Act out books such as Hop on Pop , Yertle the Turtle, or Go, Dog. Go! • Use hand, arm and leg movements (in place) to act out One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish • Substitute students’ favorite foods for Green Eggs and Ham
CURTAINS UP ON DOGS ACTIVITY 1 Make a paper bag or sock puppet of one of the dogs in the play. Prepare a speech about a funny or amazing incident that happened to the dog - either from the play or something you imagined. Share the speech with the class. ACTIVITY 2 Knowing what you know about the dog you have chosen, pretend he/she is lost. Write five details you would give about the dog’s appearance to help find him/her. 1.______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4.______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5.______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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ACTIVITY 3 In small groups of 3 or 4 students, design a treat for your dog. Give the treat an original name, design a box for the treat. Make a sample treat. Show your group’s work to the rest of the class. ACTIVITY 4
Discussion Questions: 1. What is the difference between the way dogs really play and the way they played in the play? 2. If the dogs in the play could read, what kind of books do you think they would like? List specific titles. 3. Describe your favorite Dr. Seuss book. Tell why it is your favorite. 4. Describe an animal you love. Use lots of detailed description of the animal. What is its personality? Where and when did you get it? What does it like to do? Draw a picture of your animal.
CURTAINS UP ON DOGGIE DREAMS In the play, the dogs didn’t want to go to sleep. Were they having a dream about the carnival or did it really happen? Have you ever heard sleeping dogs make noises? Think about what they might be dreaming about. Draw a picture of a scene from a “doggie dream”. Then write a few sentences telling about the dream. What kind of noises did the dog make while he was sleeping?
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CURTAINS UP ON MOVING! Go, GO, GO! Then STOP! You will need: Paint stirrer stick or a Ruler Red construction paper or tag board Green construction paper or tag board Glue or double sided tape Scissors 3x5 index cards Black Marker Large play area
Here’s what to do: Create a stop and go sign by cutting two large circles from the construction paper: one red and one green. Use the black marker to label the red circle STOP and the green circle GO. Glue or tape them back-to-back with the ruler or paint stick between them so you’ll have a two-sided stop and go paddle sign. Provide students with an index card and ask them to write or draw an action on one side of the card. Encourage a vivid variety of verbs like hop, skip, wiggle, walk, crawl so that you have a wide range of motions. Put the finished cards in a basket or bag to use with the game.
Here’s how to play! Allow one student at a time to draw an action card from the bag and describe it to the class. This will be how the students will move about the play area when the sign says “GO”. Watch carefully, because when the sign says “STOP” students must freeze in place until a new action is pulled and the “Go” sign appears. Allow students to take turns pulling action cards and taking charge of the “Go” and “Stop” sign. Encourage them to work together and follow directions carefully.
CURTAINS UP ON MUSIC Music is used throughout the play to assist the action and extend the story. Discuss with the students the ways in which this happens. Encourage students to remember and play games in which music plays an integral part; such as Musical Chairs. In Go, Dog. Go!, how did music control the action of the characters? How was music used to enable the characters to communicate with each other?
Games you play that require music _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________
Games the dogs played which used music _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________
Communicating with music _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________
CURTAINS UP ON BOOKS Make a tiny book following the instructions below. Write your own story following the pattern developed in Go, Dog. Go! Choose an animal such as a cat or hampster and write Climb, Cat. Climb! or Run, Hampster. Run! 1. Give each student a Book Template photocopied from the Blackline Master on the next page. 2. Cut out along the thin-line outer border to make page look like figure 1 3. Fan-fold the paper across the shorter (7.5 inch) horizontal lines. (figure 2) Open and fold along the longer (10 inch) vertical line so that the pages are facing you as you fold. (figure 3) 4. Open the paper and fold it in half across the middle 7.5 inch dotted line. Cut along the center dark line through both halves. (figure 4) 5. Unfold and re-fold in half horizontally across the 10 inch length. (figure 5) 6. Fold the ends in so that page 2 is back-to-back with page 3 and page 6 is back-to-back with the back cover. See figure 6 below--the view looking down from the top of a completed book. (If correctly assembled, the front cover and back cover will be side-by-side facing the back when the book is standing.) CLOSE THE PAGES TO FORM A BOOK!
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CURTAINS UP ON PUPPETS Make a dog paper plate puppet by cutting out the pieces as indicated below. Materials: One 9” paper plate One 6” white paper plate Brown construction paper Black construction paper Black marker
Pencil Scissors Glue Tape
1. Roll tape into 5 loops and tape the 6” plate about halfway down on the 9” plate. 2. Glue the ears on the sides of the 6” plate. 3. Glue the brown eyes on the 6” plate. 4. Glue the black eyeballs n the eyes. 5. Glue the nose on the face. 6. Glue the legs on the 9” plate. 7. Glue the tail under the 9” plate. 8. Draw a mouth on the face.
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PUPPET PIECES
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Here’s a matching game with several applications. Try more than one!
You will need:
Colored paper or cardstock Scissors Dog stickers (two matching sets)
1. Use the dog bone template sheet (page 15) to copy bones from different colored papers. You’ll need at least two bones in each color for this activity. Provide a bone to each student and encourage him to find the student with a bone of matching color. 2. Copy and cut out the bone shapes. Cut each shape into three or four zig zag pieces to create a puzzle. Allow each student to put together her own bone and glue it onto a sheet of paper. 3. Cut enough bones for half the class. Cut each bone in two with interlocking or zig zag cuts. Mix the bone pieces and allow students to pull one piece from the pile. Instruct them to find the student who has the half that fits with his or her bone to make a whole. 4. Cut the bone shapes from construction paper or cardstock and place matching stickers on two bones. Laminate the bones to create a memory matching game for students to play. You can extend the activities above by creating folder games with file folders and provide them as independent activities for your students.
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CORNER
GO, DOG. GO AND FIND YOUR BONE!
BONE TEMPLATE
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CURTAINS UP ON MORE More books… By P.D. Eastman:
Are You My Mother? Big Dog…Little Dog A Fish Out of Water The Best Nest Fred and Ted Go Camping
For fun:
Bark George by Jules Feiffer Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats Harry, the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion The Henry and Mudge Series by Cynthia Rylant Bow wow meow meow: it’s rhyming cats and dogs by Douglas Florian
T.E.K.S. satisfied by GO, DOG. GO! 117.4 - Theatre, Kindergarten. K.5 - Response/evaluation. The student responds to and evaluates theatre and theatrical performances. A - Begin to identify appropriate audience behavior. B - Respond to dramatic activities. 117.7 - Theatre, Grade 1. 1.5 - Response/evaluation. The student responds to and evaluates theatre and theatrical performances. A - Identify appropriate audience behavior. B - Respond to and begin to evaluate dramatic activities. 117.10 - Theatre, Grade 2. 2.5 - Response/evaluation. The student responds to and evaluates theatre and theatrical performances. A - Identify and apply appropriate audience behavior. B - React to and begin to evaluate dramatic activities.
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