A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Teacher’s Resource Pack KS2
Registered Company No. 06357511
53 Nelson Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent. TN9 1XA
tel - 01732 354696 mob – 07931 423893
email – [email protected]
www.strangeface.co.uk
Contents
The Play:
A Christmas Carol Synopsis 3-5
Charles Dickens & Context 6
Themes
7-9
The Production:
About Strangeface
The Production Team!
Mask Theatre
Other Activities
10
11-12
13-14
15
Activities are shown throughout in boxes shaded with grey
2
A Christmas Carol Synopsis
Act 1
A chorus of poor Victorian Londoners welcome the audience into the theatre and
chat about Christmas, Victorian Times, the interval refreshments and so on!
Scene 1 – London Streets
The chorus set the scene by describing a bitterly cold street. They explain that a
man named Jacob Marley had died seven years before on this very night Christmas Eve. His only mourner was his business partner Ebenezer Scrooge.
They were both extremely mean, and feared and hated by all their neighbours.
Scene 2 - Scrooge’s counting house
A shivering clerk comes to ask for coal to put on the fire – Bob Cratchit - he is
given 1 tiny piece. Scrooge’s nephew Fred comes to ask his uncle to eat with
them the following day but is sent away with a “Bah Humbug!” Two charity
workers call on the miser and ask for some money towards their good causes.
They leave without a penny. A carol-singing boy has the door slammed in his face
too. Bob Cratchit is allowed to take the whole of Christmas day off with his family,
but Scrooge complains that he will still have to pay him. At 7pm they both go
home for the holiday.
Scene 3 – Scrooge’s suite of rooms
Just as Scrooge goes to unlock his door he thinks he sees the doorknocker turn
into the face of his old partner Marley but then it disappears again. Too mean to
buy a candle he climbs up to his lodging in the darkness and double locks his
door. Too mean to eat a bowl of gruel he takes himself to bed with a loud “Bah
Humbug!”
Scene 4 – Scrooge’s Bed
Just as he is sitting in his bed Scrooge thinks he sees ghost of Jacob Marley
again. At first he refuses to believe it but his old partner warns Ebenezer that he
will be doomed if he doesn’t change his ways. There is only one chance of
redemption left; three spirits will haunt him on three following nights.
As Marley disappears Scrooge laughs at the idea he was scared. The bell chimes
again and the Ghost of Christmas Past comes bearing a bright light and offering
to show the old man scenes to make a difference. Through the curtains of his bed
he sees a lonely child crying and realizes that it is himself. Although he tries to
help the boy he cannot reach him, the ghost offers to show a happier Christmas.
3
Scene 5 – Fezziwig & Co
Scrooge sees himself again, a young man apprenticed to the kind and jovial
Fezziwig. Scrooge already works with Jacob Marley and they already talk about
loving money instead of the celebrations. Fezziwig arrives and their party begins,
it is a truly happy night and old Scrooge remembers how much he was able to
enjoy himself then.
Scene 6 – A London street outside a party
A beautiful girl runs into the lamplight followed by Young Scrooge. She is crying
and says that he seems to care more about money than her. She says that he
has changed she gives him back an engagement ring, wishing him well in the
future. Old Scrooge asks the Ghost of Christmas Past to take him away, it is too
sad to see. He is returned to his bed and is lulled to sleep by the chorus for the
interval.
Act 2
Scene 1 – Scrooge’s Bed
The chorus welcome the audience back with a carol and remind them that
Scrooge has two more ghosts to face, and one of them is coming very soon. As
the bells toll again Scrooge wakes and looks around nervously. Suddenly we all
see the Ghost of Christmas Present surrounded by a cornucopia of decoration.
Scrooge is willing to follow the ghost and they leave quickly. As they exit though
we see two gaunt children appear at a window and disappear again
Scene 2 – London
The Ghost drags Scrooge into the air and they fly over London seeing everyone
getting ready for Christmas. They settle in the Cratchit’s home.
Scene 3 – Bob Cratchit’s House
Bob brings his son Tiny Tim home from church. Tim can’t walk and has to be
carried but Bob recounts that Tim had said in church it was good for people to see
him at Christmas so that they would remember that Jesus made lame beggars
walk. Despite being poor they are happy and Bob even raises a glass to “Mr
Scrooge, the founder of the feast”. Scrooge asks the ghost if Tiny Tim will live
and the answer is not clear. They fly on.
Scene 4 – London Street
Fred and his wife, Clara, are on their way to a party and sad that Scrooge
wouldn’t join them for dinner the following day. They play a guessing game
gently teasing Fred’s uncle. As Scrooge is left alone he sees the two haunted
children again. The Ghost of Christmas Present explains that they belong to
everyone: Want and Ignorance; then fades away. In his place appears the Ghost
of Christmas Yet to Come. This spirit is terrifying and doesn’t say a word.
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Scene 5 – Gentleman’s Club
Two rich men Scrooge knows are talking about a man’s death and laughing– it
will be a cheap funeral they say as no one one will go.
Scene 6 – Old Joe’s Parlour
Three thieves pick over bundles of goods stolen from a dead body – so wicked
when he was alive that nobody had come to look after him now he is dead.
Scrooge realizes that he must change his ways as he will end up without
mourners too. The silent ghost leads him on.
Scene 7 – The Cratchit’s House
Mrs Cratchit is reading from a bible, Bob comes home and describes a meeting
with Scrooge’s kind nephew Fred who had said how sorry he was to hear that
Tiny Tim had died and how sorry he was for Mrs Cratchit. He felt almost as if Fred
had known their son – before breaking down into tears. Mrs Cratchit comforts him
as best as she can. Scrooge begins to realize that he is the man without
mourners, stolen from, a man who didn’t prevent a child’s death. He asks the
ghost if the future will happen or simply may happen. The Ghost reveals a
gravestone with his name upon it. He promises to change and learn the lessons of
the Spirits.
Scene 8 – Scrooge’s House
There is a great sound of laughter – Scrooge wakes up overjoyed to be alive and
with a chance to make himself a better man. He doesn’t know what day it is. In
fact he has met all three ghosts in one night and “today is Christmas Day”. He
calls out to a boy to go and buy the prize turkey in the butchers and to take it to
Bob Cratchit’s house. Scrooge’s nephew, Fred enters and is confused by his
Uncle’s change of heart – Scrooge he asks to join them for dinner, if they will still
have him. The two charity workers are offered an enormous secret sum. As a
final act the old man decides to double his clerk’s salary, and thanks his old
partner Jacob Marley for a chance to save his own life and that of Tiny Tim.
Mourner - person who goes to a funeral as relative or friend of the dead person
Clerk - person employed in an office or bank to keep records or accounts
Miser - a person who hoards wealth and spends as little as possible
Doomed - going to certain destruction or failure
Redemption - a thing that saves someone from error or evil
Jovial - cheerful and friendly
Lulled - calmed or sent to sleep with soothing sounds or movements
Cornucopia – a great supply of good things
Gaunt - thin especially through suffering, hunger, or age
Ignorance - lack of knowledge or information
Funeral a ceremony in which a dead person is buried or cremated.
5
Charles Dickens & Context
Charles Dickens had 25 books published between 1836 and 1870. He was born in
1812, died in 1870 and has become one of the most famous authors to write in
English. His first book was printed the year before Victoria became a queen and
his descriptions are both a record of the time in which they lived and tell us about
people in all times.
He became well known for performing extracts from his books, which were also
sold as episodes in magazines such as his own Household Words. His famous
characters are now found in theatre, film and TV productions, musicals,
waxworks, board and card games, walks, theme parks, mugs and museums.
He decided to write A Christmas Carol whilst visiting his sister in Manchester. He
had been thinking a great deal about the ragged schools, labouring children and
industrialism, working men and his own past. He was only in his 20s and also
wanted to write a book that would be popular in order to support his family.
He used parts of earlier books in his new story – he had already written about an
old man visited by goblins in Pickwick Papers and used parts of a dream he had
had about a door knocker becoming a face. He also included lots of descriptions
in his book that were based on the details of his own life. In fact his own brother
had been called Tiny Fred.
He knew that he needed to earn money to live and be careful not to spend too
much. When he was 12 years and 2 days old Dickens’ father John was taken to
the Debtor’s Prison at Marshalsea for unpaid bills. Charles was sent to work in
order to help pay the bills and he had to work in a blacking factory. He was at his
bench for 10 hours a day putting labels on bottles of polish.
Although he didn’t talk about this much in his lifetime he writes about it many
times. Having enough money was important but he seemed to keep be asking the
question “when does getting enough become getting greedy?” His cousins, aunts
and uncles were asking him to pay for their lives now he was successful. Could
money destroy his family? Would it make him impatient and cruel? He was writing
a book that was both holiday reading and thought provoking.
It took him 6 weeks to write and was bound in red cloth with a golden decoration.
There were colour and black and white pictures in the book but the price was kept
low at 5 shillings. This might have bought a week's rent in a 2-bed house, a new
suit or 20 pints of beer in 1843 – but it was a great success, selling into the newyear. It was so popular there were pirate copies available in no time!
He celebrated Christmas as a magician that year at home, with many friends
dancing everyday until their 12th Night Party with sweets and crackers and lights.
6
Themes
Christmas
The Victorians created many of the customs that we celebrate at Christmas time
today. Discuss why you think it was such an important festival for them.
True or False:
The Victorians were the first to make Christmas go with a bang!
True, a sweet maker called Tom Smith invented the cracker to wrap up his
sweets with a motto, he added the bang in 1847 and swapped the sweets for a
surprise gift.
The Victorians were the first people to have a tree for Christmas.
False, it was a popular tradition in the German states before it was a success
here. America claims to have had a Christmas tree in 1777!!
As our royal family had German family they brought it into the public eye in the
1840s, complete with candles!!
The Victorians invented Christmas Cards
True, the first cards to buy were printed in the same year as A Christmas Carol
(1843) and had children, animals and a mother on it. 4100 were sold at a shilling
each by Sir Henry Cole, a man involved with the Penny Post!
It was lucky to have a piece of metal in your pudding
True, 3 or 6 pence pieces were added to the pudding mixture on Stir Up Sunday,
the Sunday “next before Advent” – about 4/5 weeks before Christmas. You
wished as you stirred. If you were served the piece with the coin it was said to
bring wealth in the following year.
Father Christmas was a Victorian idea
False, there were many kindly gift givers at this time in history. The story of St
Nicholas who gave money to a poor family by dropping it down the chimney,
landing in their stockings was popular in the Middle Ages. However, in 1822
Clement C. Moore wrote the poem The Night Before Christmas for his children. He
describes Father Christmas as we think of him today:
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly,
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
Saying “Merry Christmas” was made popular by Charles Dickens’
Christmas Carol
True! Before this time Merry meant pleasant, now it was accepted to mean jolly
Singing Carols became more popular than ever in Victorian times
True. Carols were originally dances made in circles, with chanted songs but the
publishing of Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern in 1833 was a success and
included I Saw 3 Ships, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and God Rest Ye Merry
Gentlemen.
7
Selfishness/Choices
Scrooge comes to realise that he needs to change the way he lives and wakes up
on Christmas Day making lots of new choices.
Unit 2 of Citizenship for KS2 can be addressed with this story.
1. What kinds of decisions do I make?
2. How do I make decisions?
3. What influences our choices?
4. How do we make informed choices in our everyday lives?
Families
Big families were typical in Victorian England, the Queen herself had 9 children.
There are lots of family relationships in A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas
Present says that he has over 1800 brothers (each being a version of the present
from 1AD), Scrooge remembers his sister and father and we see his nephew try
to win his uncle’s attention and affection. We also see the Cratchit family:
“Up rose Mrs Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned
gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for
sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her
daughters, also brave in ribbons; while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into
the saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar
(Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honour of the day)
into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show
his linen in the fashionable Parks. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl,
came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker's they had smelt the goose,
and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage-and-onion,
these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit
to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew
the fire, until the slow potatoes bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid
to be let out and peeled.
``What has ever got your precious father then.'' said Mrs Cratchit. ``And your
brother, Tiny Tim!””
Charles Dickens is very well known for his brilliant descriptions of people and their
relationships. Write a short piece in his style about a family paying attention to
little details such as the way that they are when they are talking and silent, the
phrases they have, the clothes they wear and surprising things they do. Think
especially about the adjectives you can use to describe each part of the scene.
8
“Doomed Childhood” - Ragged Schools And Labouring Children
Ragged Schools were not the first charity schools but built on that tradition from
the 1830s. They were in poor areas and the schools were often falling down. The
children were asked to come to school to help them avoid the same future as
their families – in poverty, prison or the gallows. The children who went were
sometimes already working, sometimes as thieves and were dirty, smelly and
could not read or write.
Children as young as 5 or 6 might to work to help their families make enough
money to live. Children were cheaper than adults and their bosses could send
them into small places such as chimneys, under machines and down mines where
it wasn’t possible to fit a grown up. It was very dangerous and many children
were killed and hurt before a law was passed in 1847 to stop Child Labour
A law was passed in the same year that Charles Dickens died that meant all
children should go to school but all through his life only 1 in 3 children had any
education of any kind. It was this fact that made Charles Dickens include the
characters of Want and Ignorance into A Christmas Carol to let his readers know
how worried he was.
Write a pamphlet (leaflet) telling the world about why you think children should
not be forced to live in Want and Ignorance
Helping Others
Charles Dickens believed in the power he had as a writer to learn about the
problems in his society and tell his readers so that they could all try to change the
parts they did not like. He joined many committees and groups to talk about
working hours, schools and child labour.
The most famous person in these groups was the Earl of Shaftsbury. He now has
a road named after him in London; Shaftsbury Avenue; with a statue of Eros (a
Greek child god, sometimes known as the liberator) to thank him for his help in
changing children’s lives for the better.
Other famous people who thought it was important to help others in Queen
Victoria’s reign were:
Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole (Nursing)
Edwin Chadwick (Public Health, e.g. open sewers causing disease)
Elizabeth Fry (Prisons)
Write a letter to Queen Victoria to ask her to help the children living in her time
Make a Timeline of new laws in Queen Victoria’s reign that helped the poor to
improve their lives.
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About Strangeface
Strangeface is now the only company dedicated to touring mask theatre in the
south of the country. We have been creating original shows for 8 years and our
distinctive style blends new writing, mask and puppet play and original music,
played live. It also acts as a resource for masks and puppets and provides
workshops and mask sets to groups and interested parties regionally, nationally
and internationally.
Artistic Director Russell Dean formed Strangeface Theatre Company in 2001 with
General Manager Bethan Tomlinson after meeting at The Central School of
Speech and Drama.
Russell’s previous work included a number of years as Trestle Theatre Company’s
designer and mask maker (Bitter Fruit, Blood and Roses, The Adventures of the
Stoneheads and Tonight We Fly) His designs have appeared on the BBC, ITV,
Channel 4 and in the West End and have been described by Lyn Gardner at The
Guardian as “shooting straight for the heart”
Following 4 original pieces in 4 years in outdoor venues the company – then
known as The Blue Chicken – showed Hell and High Water at the Edinburgh
Festival.
From our base in Kent Strangeface now tour to venues across the UK with the
support of Arts Council England, Kent County Council, Farnham Maltings and
Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells.
Since Autumn 2005 we have given more than 250 performances of Hell and High
Water, The Outlaw Fulke Fitz Waryn and The Last Resort in small to mid-scale
arts centres, and for 21 rural touring schemes in village halls and community
centres across the country. We have also created site-specific work for the
National Trust and engaged more than 2000 young people in creating their own
masks and mask performances.
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The Production:
The Director – Ashley Dean
Ashley trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Directorial
credits include: Ariadne auf Naxos/ Phaedra, Cosi Fan Tutte at the Royal Scottish
Academy of Music and Drama, the 2009 Essential Scottish Opera Tour, The
Marriage of Figaro and Peter Grimes for Surrey Opera, Night Pieces - Jerwood
Chorus Development Programme 2008 (Glyndebourne/LPO), Twist and Shout - a
musical about the Beatles (tour of Italy), The House of Bernarda Alba, The Dog
Beneath the Skin (Cockpit Theatre, London), Hell and High Water and The Last
Resort (Strangeface Mask Theatre Company, UK tours). Ashley has
revived/assisted on productions by Nicholas Hytner, Graham Vick, David McVicar,
Jonathan Miller, Annabel Arden, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Peter Hall and Deborah
Warner. He has been on the directing staff at Glyndebourne, English National
Opera, Garsington and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
The Designer - Jane Churchill
Jane Churchill is a Theatre Designer, Visual Artist and Arts Consultant working in
a wide range of different media. She trained at Wimbledon school of Art and has
designed sets, costumes or scenically worked on over 45 shows throughout the
South East and London fringe including: Set Design and Scenic painting for Last
Resort and Old Vic puppet project for Strangeface in 2008. As designer and
scenic painter in collaboration with Jonny Dixon on his one man show Muzzle.
Jungle Book for Kazzum Theatre Co; Ring of Roses Tour and Savoy Theatre; Peter
Maxwell Davies Youth Opera Project in Tonbridge; Shadowplay installation at the
Rose of Kingston; Dinner at Mirandolina’s Rural Tour 2007; Clockwork Orange and
1984 for Tubthumping Theatre. Jane is Artist in Residence with Town and
Country Foundation and a variety of schools, museums, charities and businesses
creating arts projects that unite communities (over 150 in the last two years).
She also exhibits her artwork in galleries throughout the South East. This year
she has programmed the visual art gallery at Trinity Theatre on behalf of Town
and Country Foundation
The Composer/Musician - Mark Dean
Mark studied at Guildhall and the Royal College of Music. As a singer he has
performed roles in the operatic baritone repertoire for D’Oyly Carte, Travelling
Opera, European Chamber Opera and English Festival Opera. Mark has always
played a variety of instruments but his first foray into writing music for theatre
was for Strangeface’s The Last Resort in 2008.
Mark is also a professional photographer and combines his musical career with
work in arts venues from children’s theatre to opera houses.
The Writer, Mask & Puppet Maker & Actor - Russell Dean (Scrooge)
Russell Dean trained at U.C.W. Aberystwyth. He is a writer, director, designer and
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mask and puppet maker. For Strangeface he has written and designed for 5
original plays since 2002. Other work includes collaborations with Trestle Theatre
Company (Bitter Fruit, Blood and Roses, Adventures of the Stoneheads and
Tonight We Fly) and making the huge Thatcher puppet for Stephen Daldry's Billy
Elliot. He has also made masks for Channel 4 and ITV amongst others. In 2009
has worked with Connexions at Kensington Palace, the Old Vic’s Bridge Project,
Krazy Kat on The Tempest and Northumberland Theatre Company on Whiskey
Galore.
Actor - Jonny Dixon (Old Man/Fred/Bob Cratchit/Jacob Marley/Young
Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Present, Lowlife)
Jonny trained at Bretton Hall and the Lecoq school of Mime, Paris. He has
recently devised and toured his first one-man show, Muzzle, through the UK and
in Germany. Over the past 14 years he has toured throughout Europe as a
performer, director and teacher, working with companies such as Faulty Optic,
Green Ginger and Welsh National Opera. He has also made numerous masks and
puppets for theatre, television and film and works as a designer and illustrator.
Actor - Hannah Everitt (Boy/Verity/Young Marley/Belle/Martha
Cratchit/Ghost of Christmas Future/Lowlife)
Hannah trained at Arts Educational, London. Her credits include Young Cosette in
Les Miserables (Palace Theatre) Young Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (RSC,
Barbican), title role in Rosie Blitz (Polka Theatre, Wimbledon), voice-over for a
Road Safety Campaign Don't Look Now, Dorothy in Wizard Of Oz (Secombe
Theatre), Sonia in Godspell (The Theatre, Leatherhead), Ensemble in Sondheim's
75th Birthday Gala (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Tommy the Cat in Dick
Whittington (Nottingham Playhouse) and Young Wendy in Sister Wendy The
Musical (Hackney Empire).
Actor - Marianne Hare (Girl/Chastity/Ghost of Christmas Past/Fezziwig/
Mrs Cratchit/ Fanny /Lowlife)
Marianne trained in Musical Theatre at the Guildford School of Acting. Whilst
there, professional credits include ensemble and understudy for Snow White in
panto at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre and a showgirl on the BBC’s Saturday
morning show, TMi. Since graduating, Marianne has played Ophelia in Hamlet and
Miranda in The Tempest on national tours with Shakespeare4Kidz Theatre
Company as well as playing various characters in Scandalous! a musical about D
H Lawrence, which was performed at Nottingham Playhouse.
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Mask Theatre
Strangeface specialize in mask theatre. Discuss:
How did the masks make you feel in the audience?
What are the good things about using masks?
What problems do they cause?
Have you seen any other theatre where the actors used masks?
What was the same and what was different?
Mask Theatre is especially good at showing characters as archetypes.
Archetype (Oxford English Dictionary)
/aarkitip/
• noun 1 a very typical example. 2 an original model. 3 a recurrent motif in
literature or art.
— ORIGIN Greek arkhetupon, from arkhe- ‘primitive’ + tupos ‘a model’.
Research/Discuss what
reader/audience quickly
characters in:
archetypes are and how they can help the
understand what is happening. Find comparative
A Christmas Carol
Fairy Tales/Pantomime
Modern References – (Tip: The Simpsons is particularly good!!)
Mask-Based Drama Games
Using a mask forces the actor to use their whole body to show a character and
emotion. If you don’t have a mask cover up the faces of the pupils and ask the
rest of the group (audience) to read character and emotion from the shoulders
down. What do you notice about small movements? How big can the movements
be? Can you make a sad body? Can you make a happy body?
(Tip: In general drooping your body makes it look sad and taking in a great big
breath, lifting from the chest, makes it look happy. Gestures help too – sad hands
might be floppy or pleading, happy hands might be waving or thumbs up)
What other emotions and feelings can you show using your body? Make statues of
as many as possible, and then explore the way that a sad or happy body moves.
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Most of the actors in this production have 7 different characters to play! They try
to make them as different as possible. With his or her faces covered up no one
will know who is who!! Ask each pupil to think about 2 opposite types of character
(Tip: Old Man and Little Girl, Rich Woman and Poor Man)
Ask each pupil to stand like one of his or her characters then the other. How big
can they make the change? Can they walk in two completely different ways to
suit these characters?
We use Half-Masks, this means that the actors have got their mouths free. What
does that mean they can do?
(Tip: Talk and make different and exaggerated shapes with their mouth such as
sloping jaw, tongue out, jutting jaw, becoming chinless, cheesy grin, trembling
bottom lip)
We have a group of characters we call a Chorus.
Chorus (Oxford English Dictionary)
• noun (pl. choruses) 1 a part of a song which is repeated after each verse. 2
something said at the same time by many people. 3 a large group of singers,
especially one performing with an orchestra. 4 a piece of choral music, especially
one forming part of an opera or oratorio. 5 (in ancient Greek tragedy) a group of
performers who comment on the main action.
• verb (chorused, chorusing) (of a group of people) say the same thing at the
same time.
In our play the Chorus are very different characters who act as a group of
storytellers. Choruses were also used in Ancient Greek theatre wearing identical
masks. We think that this meant they all acted as one.
Experiment with the difference between these 2 types of chorus by asking groups
of pupils to find ways to tell nursery rhymes as one voice and by dividing the lines
up.
If the chorus have different personalities does that help us to understand the
story better?
Is it possible for a group to speak (and move) altogether? What makes it easier?
(tip: have a leader at the front) What makes it difficult? How does the audience
feel? What is communicated and shown well when a group act all together?
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Further Activities
Learn Charles Dickens’ favourite Dance, Sir Roger de Coverley
Couples stand in a queue, boys on the left hand side, girls on the right
3 couples make a rectangular “set”, you can have as many sets as you will
First corners right hand turn ...
This is the top man and the bottom lady and then top lady and bottom man
First corners left hand turn
This is the top man and the bottom lady and then top lady and bottom man
First corners two hand turn
This is the top man and the bottom lady and then top lady and bottom man
Couple 2 watches throughout!!
All Couples back to back (dosey-doh!)
First Couple Strip the Willow to the Bottom
Offer your right arm to your partner and swing around
Offer your left arm to the next person in the line of the opposite sex and swing
around
Offer your right arm to your partner and swing around
Offer your left arm to the next person in the line of the opposite sex and swing
around
First Couple Gallop up to the top of the set then cast off at the top
The top boy and girl turn and dance down the outside of the set and meet again
at the bottom. Couples 2 and 3 follow on
First couple meet with an arch, all pass through ...
The couple who were number 2 in the line have become the top couple
and begin the dance again
Music : http://www.gilesdarling.me.uk/pianola/OldEnglishDance.mid
Art
Using handfuls of clay make machetes (designs for masks) for the characters in
this play
A successful mask usually distills one or two aspects of personality and is quite
often asymmetrical. It maybe useful to work in front of a mirror to pull a face that
shows a particular emotion and then refers back to it. Are there expressions in
language that may help e.g. nosey, wide-eyed, wizened…
You can experiment with the clay whilst it is moist, if you leave it to dry out you
will have a design to keep.
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Further Writing Tasks
Plan and write a story with flashbacks.
Write a review of our play. Things to consider are:
The adaptation of the story
The design of the set and costumes
The performances
The masks and the puppets
The way the audience responded
It’s a really good idea to say why you felt something was good or bad
Role-play
Use the following scene from the book to investigate formal and informal
language and its effects.
Scrooge is the really formal character here whilst his nephew uses familiarity to
try and convince his uncle to change his mind.
“A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!'' cried a cheerful voice. It was the
voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first
intimation he had of his approach.
“Bah!'' said Scrooge, “Humbug!''
He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of
Scrooge’s that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes
sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
“Christmas a humbug, uncle!'' said Scrooge's nephew. “You don't mean that, I am
sure.''
“I do,'' said Scrooge. “Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What
reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.''
“Come, then,'' returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal?
What reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough.''
Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, “Bah!''
again; and followed it up with “Humbug.''
“Don't be cross, uncle,'' said the nephew.
“What else can I be,'' returned the uncle, “when I live in such a world of fools as
this Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas. What's Christmas time to you
but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older,
but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in
'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could
work my will,'' said Scrooge indignantly, ``every idiot who goes about with
“Merry Christmas'' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried
with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!''
“Uncle!'' pleaded the nephew.
“Nephew!'' returned the uncle, sternly, “keep Christmas in your own way, and let
me keep it in mine.''
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“Keep it!'' repeated Scrooge's nephew. “But you don't keep it.''
“Let me leave it alone, then,'' said Scrooge. “Much good may it do you! Much
good it has ever done you!''
“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have
not profited, I dare say,'' returned the nephew: “Christmas among the rest. But I
am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything
belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving,
charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the
year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts
freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers
to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And
therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I
believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!''
The clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded. Becoming immediately sensible of
the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever.
“Let me hear another sound from you,'' said Scrooge, “and you'll keep your
Christmas by losing your situation. You're quite a powerful speaker, sir,'' he
added, turning to his nephew. “I wonder you don't go into Parliament.''
“Don't be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us to-morrow.''
Scrooge said that he would see him -- yes, indeed he did. He went the whole
length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first.
“But why?'' cried Scrooge's nephew. ``Why?''
“Why did you get married?'' said Scrooge.
“Because I fell in love.''
“Because you fell in love!'' growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in
the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. ``Good afternoon!''
“Nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. Why give it as
a reason for not coming now?''
“Good afternoon,'' said Scrooge.
“I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?''
“Good afternoon,'' said Scrooge.
“I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. We have never had any
quarrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to
Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas,
uncle!''
“Good afternoon!'' said Scrooge.
“And A Happy New Year!''
“Good afternoon!'' said Scrooge.
His nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. He stopped at
the outer door to bestow the greeting of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he
was, was warmer than Scrooge; for he returned them cordially.
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Useful Books:
Ackroyd, Peter, Dickens (Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990)
L. Du Garde Peach, Charles Dickens (Ladybird Books, Ladybird Series 561 (20))
Dickens, Charles A Christmas Carol (Wordsworth Children’s Classics)
Dickens, Charles A Christmas Carol (Ladybird Classics)
Useful Websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/dickens_charles.shtml
http://charlesdickenspage.com
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/dickensbio1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
http://www.dickens-literature.com/l_biography.html
http://www.teachitprimary.co.uk/index.asp?CurrMenu=544&T=866
http://www.literature.org/authors/dickens-charles/christmas-carol
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