Anansi’s...For reservations a nd info contact Patricia O’Brien, General Manager JIM LE A R D , A R TIS TIC D IREC TOR p resent s GIFT OF STORIES Anansi’s 1291 Gladstone Avenue

For reservations and info contactPatricia O’Brien, General Manager

J I M L E A R D , A R T I S T I C D I R E C T O R

p r e s e n t s

GIFT OF STORIESAnansi’s

1291 Gladstone AvenueVictoria, BC V8T 1G5 Tel 250-383-4140

Fax 250-385-6336

Toll free - 1-800-353-0001 [email protected]

A TEACHER’S GUIDE

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A Teacher's GuideCompany Information .....................................................................................................................3

Artist Information ............................................................................................................................3

Performance Synopsis ......................................................................................................................5

The Rule of Three in Fairy/Folktales...............................................................................................6

Storytelling Resources.......................................................................................................................7

Helping Children Write Stories.......................................................................................................7

List of Adjectives ............................................................................................................................10

Music and Art Activites .................................................................................................................12

Math Activity ..................................................................................................................................13

Crosswords.......................................................................................................................................16

Mazes............. ..................................................................................................................................18

Word Search.....................................................................................................................................19

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CoMPAny InFoRMATIon THE SToRy THEATRE CoMPAny from Victoria, British Columbia began touring across Canada and The United States in 1981. Since those early days Story Theatre has been traveling from coast to coast visiting schools and communities and sharing its infectious blend of storytelling, music, and games. The com-pany receives rave reviews wherever it plays ... and is always invited to return as soon as possible. The simple imaginative staging of traditional folklore, fairy tales, and legends brings well-known stories to life in a style that is fun for everyone from the younger ones in the front rows through the upper Elementary kids, as well as for the teachers and adults who have come along with them. The music and storytelling games lift the per-formance beyond the ordinary and make it a truly memorable event that will keep the audience enthralled, entertained, and wishing for more. Besides traveling through almost every Province in Canada, with notable stops at a number of Children’s festivals and several appearances at the national Arts Centre in ottawa, this professional troupe from Victoria is also becoming well-known along the Eastern seaboard from Florida to Washington, DC to new york City Artistic Director JIM LEARD continues his long standing tradition of “getting the message across” while creating shows filled with warmth, humour, and respect for the audience. Jim has been involved in BC Arts and Education since graduating from the University of Victoria in 1970 and is an accomplished writer, director, educator and actor. He spent several years touring to the schools with Company one and Bastion Theatre, taught Children’s Theatre and Creative Drama classes, developed workshops for ABCDE confer-ences, worked in collaboration with the Royal British Columbia Museum, and has held workshops across the country. He has taught at The national Theatre School of Canada, and had his work showcased internation-ally over the past 30 years. He continues to write stories and poems for young people and can often be found in local classrooms as a storyteller spinning tales old and new. “…the company is a storytelling group that exudes fun and excitement. The social and educational values are naturally a part of what we create but first and foremost it has to be entertaining... I figure if I have a good time putting it together then the audience will have a good time too”

ARTISTS’ BIoSJIM LEARD – ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/WRITER Jim Leard created The Story Theatre Company in 1981 while teaching acting classes at the Univer-sity of Victoria. He hired the students he had been working with in a senior acting class. The company has continued to hire local, recent graduates from both the University of Victoria and the Canadian College of Performing Arts where Jim is now the chair of the Acting Department. Jim also works as a performer and director working with most local theatres and on film in such shows as The X Files , High-lander, DaVinci’s Inquest, and Little Women. Jim has developed a long standing relationship with The Royal BC Museum, developing and direct-ingfor special events from creating stories around permanent displays to directing the performers for the popular TITAnIC installation. He is presently working on the ongoing commemoration of WW1for Veterans affairs and Heritage Canada.

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DAVID MACPHERSON – COMPANY MANAGER David is a story teller, actor, director and playwright who has based himself in Victoria for 28 years. After graduating from the University of Victoria with a BFA in Theatre, he started working with many com-panies in the community including The new Bastion Theatre, Kaleidoscope, Theatre Inconnu and his own company Real Canadian Mounted Production. R.C.M.P. toured across the continent for five year producing mostly Canadian and original works on the Fringe Circuit. out of these adventures David created his origi-nal works Hunting Humans and Whiskey Fugue and Requiem (about the historical character John ‘Cariboo’ Cameron).

He continued to work in Victoria with local companies; The Belfry, Theatre Skam, Victoria Shake-speare Society, and many others. Many years later his second company Where’s noonan? was created. It produced original and difficult works along with more traditional shows including Oleanna, Angels in America, and David’s original script 300 yards of Silk. For almost 8 years David has worked with Story The-atre as a storyteller, actor, stage manager, tour coordinator, company manager and most recently playwright. He looks forward to visiting the many schools and communities across this beautiful country.

KIRSTI HACK - ACTOR Kirsti is a recent graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts where she further developed her skills of acting, singing and dancing. She was an integral part of the Company C 2014/2015 season where she worked as an artist and as well as a member of the production team. This past summer she worked in Rossland with the Gold Fever Follies in a musical called Summer is Coming based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with a local twist.

Kirsti grew up in Penticton. one of her first and fondest memories of theatre includes storytelling. When she was young Kirsti saw a staged version of Robert Munschs’ Mortimer. At the time, she couldn’t pro-cess that this was actually someone’s job. She feels extremely lucky to be part of the magic of Story Theatre. Some favourite past credits include: Ilse in Spring Awakening, Little Girl in Six Characters in Search of an Author, Wemmick in Great Expectations (CCPA); and Autumn Goattree in Slotherhaüs Sing-a-long (Atomic Vaudeville).

INGIRD MOORE - actor Ingrid is so excited to be out on her second tour with Story Theatre! After last year’s tour full of big laughs (from the kids and from us), big screams and long drives (traveling as far as the northwest Territo-ries!), she can’t wait to take this year’s shows and stories out on the road. originally from Spruce Grove, Al-berta, Ingrid attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria, graduating from their Company C program in 2013.

Since her graduation, she’s performed in productions across Western Canada. Favorite past roles in-clude: Viola in Twelfth night (Company C), The Leader in Zorba  (Company C), Violet in The Blind Pig (CHAS Alumni Co), Little Miss nunavut in That Maple Feeling (Atomic Vaudeville), Rose of Sharon in The Grapes of Wrath (CCPA), and her two summers working in Rossland, BC with the Gold Fever Follies. It’s another great year of stories ahead, and Ingrid can’t wait!

ERIN MACKLEM- COSTUME DESIGNER Erin, designer and playwright, has been the BELFRy THEATRE’s Artistic Associate andoutreach Coordinator for nearly nine years. She has designed costumes for Caravan Farm Theatre, Belfry Theatre, Pacific opera Victoria, Intrepid Theatre, Arts Club, Theatre SKAM, Story Theatre and Suddenly Dance. As a playwright, Erin’s work has been seen at the Belfry’s SPARK Festival, Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival, Rumble’s Tremors Festival, Solo Collective, and Theatre SKAM.

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Synopsis of Anansi’s Gift of Stories AnAnSI is a favourite character in stories from Africa and Jamaica. He is sometimes a tiny spider and sometimes a skinny old man, sometimes a trickster and sometimes someone who helps others.

The first story about Anansi demonstrates his trickster side. By calling himself “both of ya”, he tricks two hyena cubs into thinking that the food their mother brings is for him instead of for them.

The second story shows a different side of Anansi.. He decides to help people by giving them stories and ap-proaches the Sky God nyame who keeps all the stories of the world in a box.

nyame agrees to give Anansi the box of stories if he will do three things.

First, he must bring nyame the python, onini, who can swallow a buffalo.

Second, he must bring nyame the leopard osebo, whose teeth are sharp like spears

And third, he must bring nyame Mmoatia, the invisible fairy who is quick to anger.

Anansi uses his tricks and wit to capture each of these three and brings them to the Sky God nyame to complete his task and receive the story box. Anansi opens the box and releases stories into the world.

The Story Theatre Company performance of Anansi’s Gift of Stories concludes with interactive storytelling games that use student suggestions to create new adventures. The production finishes with our perennial audience favourite, The nursery Rhyme Revue, which uses a simple poem to demonstrate different aspects of musical styles and choral speaking.

(This is one of the signs for “nyame” which admonishes people not to fear anything except God. It is the highest of the Adinkra symbols and describes the all-encompassing God and his omnipotence.)

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BACKGRoUnD To THE AnAnSI SToRIES excerpted from: http://kidworldcitizen.org/2013/11/10/anansi-stories-trickster-spider-west-africa-caribbean/ It is thought that Anansi was originally found in stories from the Ashanti and then the Akan people in Ghana, and from there the stories spread through West Africa. During the Atlantic slave trade, the stories crossed the ocean with the slaves through oral tradition. Especially in the Caribbean, Anansi’s cunning ways symbolized a resistance to powerful slave owners. Anansi stories (and their variants: in the US he is known as “Aunt nancy”) are considered “trickster” folktales because the small spider uses his intelligence and trickiness to triumph larger creatures. Stories such as these are told by elders to pass down knowledge and moral messages to the younger generations. Some-times the stories were acted out by the storyteller, or even sung with dancing and drumming. In the 1950s people began collecting the famous stories and writing them down so that school children in Ghana could learn them.

Please write to us! We love to receive letters and pictures from the many schools that we visit and we hope to keep getting those letters.

IDEAS TO ExPLORE:

the rule of three in fairytales/folktales 3 characters: Puss in Boots - oldest son, middle son, youngest son The Three Little Pigs Goldilocks and the Three Bears The Three Billy Goats Gruff

3 wishes: The old Woman and the Vinegar Bottle A link to a number of foolish wish stories http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0750a.html

3 events: Jack and the Beanstalk - up and down the beanstalk three times to collect three items

Story Theatre1291 Gladstone AvenueVictoria, BC, Canadat: 250.383.4140 or1.800.353.0001e: [email protected]: 250.385.6336

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3 problems to solve: The Simpleton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-L6aAo8ns Rumpelstiltskin story http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Rum.shtml

More about the rule of three

THE GIFT oF SToRIES:Anansi gave the gift of stories to the people. one of the things that chidlren may enjoy doing is giving storieso the people in their lives. They can do this by telling a story, reading a story, and/or writing a story.

storytelling resources:nine videos of traditional stories and storytelling tips: http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/storyteller-videos Watch these professional storytellers read a selection of the oxford Reading Tree Traditional Tales books - see Chip and Amy’s notes below for hints on how to recreate their simple storytelling techniques.

MP3s of storytelling records from the 1950s including Danny Kaye

The Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du CanadaThe purpose of SToRyTELLERS oF CAnADA/ConTEURS DU CAnADA (SC-CC) is to function as the national representative for those involved in maintaining and practicing the oral tradition of storytelling across the country. SC-CC is dedicated to furthering the art of storytelling and bringing the diverse peoples of Canada together through story. Links to storytellers.

International Storytelling Center The power of storytelling is unquestionable. We are all storytellers and we live our lives through a network of stories. The cornerstone of the International Storytelling Center is a belief in a single, immutable principle of life—storytelling. People crave, remember, and honor stories. And now, after years of scientific research in 17 different fields, analysts conclude that storytelling is our most powerful tool for effective communication.

helping children create Their own stories: Story DiceCreate a story by rolling three story dice, use the pattern on the following page. you need three dice per stu-dent, one for each of the three main elements of a story - character, setting and problem. Fill in each square appropriate for that die before taping it together. Card stock works well.

Examples:Character die - troll, king, frog, etc.Setting die - swamp, forest, city street, etc.Problem die - mom’s diamond ring sucked up by vacuum cleaner, trapped, lost, etc. The Hand-book of Fairy Tale Predicaments can be a helpful tool to create problems for the problem die.

Children then roll all three dice and start their story using the things that come up. This, like the story starts, may help students begin to create a story. These could also be used to generate impromptu skits.

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Fold the cube on the lines and tape together.Roll them and use what comes up to create a story.Have fun!

Cut around outside edges onlyFill in each square Character cube - i.e. dwarf, mother, giant, king, etc. Problem cube - can't �nd way home, �re, etc. Location cube - swamp, city street, kitchen, etc.

Story Dice

www.martylayne.com

www.martylayne.com

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Story Starts – A way to help students begin a story

Students sometimes find it hard to start a story. Here are two story starts that might help:

1. A blue balloon floated off not very high above the crowds. Sarah tried to grab the string and ...

2. Allan saw something out of the corenr of his eye and started to turn when ....

you can use story starts with the whole class and ask students to contribute one sentence at a time writing each sentence on the board.

The power of active verbs

1. Write two sentences on the board that describe an activity:Going fast was exciting.The sound the sled made on the snow was sort of a whizzing sound.

2. Demonstrate how an active verb adds excitement to the sentence We sped down the hill on our magic carpet.The sled sizzled as it went down the hill.

Ask students to work on creating some descriptions of activities using active verbs.

A list of 49 active verbs addallowbakebangcallchasedamage

dropendescapefastenfixgathergrab

hanghugimagineitchjogjumpkick

knitlandlockmarchmixnamenotice

obeyopenpasspromisequestionreachrinse

scatterstaytalkturnuntieusevanish

visitwalkworkyawnyellzipzoom

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ADJECTIVESAppearanceadorableadventurousaggressivealertattractiveaveragebeautifulblue-eyedbloodyblushingbrightcleanclearcloudycolorfulcrowdedcutedarkdrabdistinctdullelegantexcitedfancyfilthyglamorousgleaminggorgeousgracefulgrotesquehandsomehomelylightlongmagnificentmistymotionlessmuddyold-fashionedplainpoisedpreciousquaintshinysmoggy

Appearance(continued)

sparklingspotlessstormystrangeuglyugliestunsightlyunusualwide-eyed

Conditionaliveannoyingbadbetterbeautifulbrainybreakablebusycarefulcautiouscleverclumsyconcernedcrazycuriousdeaddifferentdifficultdoubtfuleasyexpensivefamousfragilefrailgiftedhelpfulhelplesshorribleimportantimpossibleinexpensiveinnocent

Condition(continued)

inquisitivemodernmushyoddopenoutstandingpoorpowerfulpricklypuzzledrealrichshysleepystupidsupertalentedtametendertoughuninterestedvastwanderingwildwrong

Feelings (Bad)angryannoyedanxiousarrogantashamedawfulbadbewilderedblackblueboredclumsycombativecondemnedconfused

Feelings (Bad)(continued)

crazy, flipped-outcreepycrueldangerousdefeateddefiantdepresseddisgusteddisturbeddizzydullembarrassedenviousevilfiercefoolishfranticfrightenedgrievinggrumpyhelplesshomelesshungryhurtillitchyjealousjitterylazylonelymysteriousnastynaughtynervousnuttyobnoxiousoutrageouspanickyrepulsivescaryselfishsoretenseterrible

Feelings (Bad)(continued)

testythoughtlesstiredtroubledupsetuptightwearywickedworried

Feelings (Good)agreeableamusedbravecalmcharmingcheerfulcomfortablecooperativecourageousdelightfuldeterminedeagerelatedenchantingencouragingenergeticenthusiasticexcitedexuberantfairfaithfulfantasticfinefriendlyfunnygentlegloriousgoodhappyhealthyhelpfulhilarious

Negative

Positive

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Feelings (Good)(continued)

jollyjoyouskindlivelylovelysuccessfulthankfulthoughtfulvictoriousvivaciouswittywonderfulzealouszany

Quantityabundantemptyfewheavylightmanynumeroussubstantial

Shapebroadchubbycrookedcurveddeepflathighhollowlownarrowroundshallowskinnysquaresteepstraightwide

Sizebigcolossalfatgiganticgreathugeimmenselargelittlemammothmassiveminiaturepetitepunyscrawnyshortsmalltallteenyteeny-tinytiny

Time ancientbriefEarlyfastlatelongmodernoldold-fashionedquickrapidshortslowswiftyoung

Soundcooingdeafeningfaintharshhigh-pitchedhissinghushedhuskyloudmelodicmoaningmutenoisypurringquietraspyresonantscreechingshrillsilentsoft squealingthunderingvoicelesswhispering

Taste/Touchbitterdeliciousfreshjuicyriperottensaltysourspicystalestickystrongsweettarttastelesstastythirstyflutteringfuzzygreasygrubbyhardhoticyloose meltednutritiousplasticpricklyrainyroughscatteredshaggyshakysharpshiveringsilkyslimyslipperysmoothsoftsolidsteadystickytendertightunevenweak

Taste/Touch(continued)

wetwoodenyummy

Touchboilingbreezybrokenbumpychillycoldcoolcreepycrookedcuddlycurlydamageddampdirtydrydustyfilthyflakyfluffyfreezinghotwarmwet

ADJECTIVES ConTInUED

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Music and Art

Raffi wrote and recorded Anansi - available on his recordings The Corner Grocery Store and Animal Songs

Listen to Raffi’s Anansi sung by Matthew Vaughan

ART PRoJECT - MAKInG KEnTE CLoTH *Background of Kente cloth http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/kente-cloth-and-the-history-of-the-ashanti-people.html

*Weaving with paper strips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL6QTVvDTgc *Information about Kente clotha nd what the colours represent as well as simpler paper weaving http://umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum/education/curriculum/kente-cloth-project/

*Making Kente patterns with paper and markers http://www.education.com/activity/article/kente-cloth/ Anansi Sukoku Using pictures related to this story, two Sudoku games follow. The first is fairly simple. The second is a bit more difficult. An answer key follows. Print these on card stock and then have students cut out the small pictures to use to place them on the grid in the appropriatte places. you can laminate them, too, to make them last longer.

SPIDER WoRD SEARCH easy and more difficult

TWo CRoSSWoRD PUZZLES AnD SPIDER MAZES

AnansiWords by Bert Simpson, music by Raffi© 1979 Homeland Publishing SoCAnFrom the album Corner Grocery StoreChorus:Anansi – he is a spider, Anansi – he is a manAnansi – he is a lazy one, do little as he canyeah, do little as he canAnansi has a mango tree, he loves the fruit so ripeHe cannot reach the mangos but he longs to have a bite(chorus)So – Anansi tells his friend the crow, “you’re beautiful to me.”old crow calls her friends so they can hear his flatteryThe crows fly to the mango tree, they bend thebranches downAnansi watch them swing and sway and mango hitthe groundAnansi – he is a spider, Anansi – he is a manAnansi – he is a clever one, he always have a plan(chorus)

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Anansi - The Gift of Stories Sudoku Level One

Anansi Osebo (the Leopard) Mmoatia Mmoatia Onini Onini Onini

(the Invisible Fairy) (the Python)

Anansi - The Gift of Stories Sudoku Level Two

cat

cat

cat

Osebo (the Leopard) Anansi Mmoatia (the Invisible Fairy) Onini (the Python)

Knete cloth Adrinka symbol for Nyame

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cat

cat

cat

Solutions Level I

Level II

www.ActivityVillage.co.uk - Keeping Kids Busy

vw x

Which Web?Which web is the spider

hanging from?

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Can you help the fly escape the maze before the spider catches her?http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/PencilPuzzles/Halloween/SpiderWebMaze.html

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