Contents Previous performances History Learning about Pantomime Design your own lamp Drama warm-up activities The Sounds of & Hot Seating Telling the story Aladdin online Write Your Own Review Further Resources
Previous Performances Aladdin has been performed at the Cliffs Pavilion many times, including in 2011, 2008, 1997, and 1980, and was the first ever pantomime there in 1975. This year s pantomime stars Ashley Banjo and his Diversity crew as the Genies of the Ring. Previous Aladdin panto stars have included Shane Ritchie as Aladdin and the Chuckle Brothers as Wishee and Washee. Discuss How many times have you watched the pantomime at Southend Theatres? What is your favourite pantomime and why? Who is your favourite pantomime character and why?
History After Cinderella, the pantomime of Aladdin is the second most popular in the country. The story originates in the 'Tales of the Arabian Nights', and in the pantomime version it is set in China. The pantomime version predates the Disney film by almost two hundred years. The first recorded performance of 'Aladdin' was in 1788, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. The villain was not named, but the 1813 production of the pantomime called him 'Abanazar', by which he is still known today. The Pantomime tells the story of Aladdin, son of a poor widow in Peking. Originally she was called 'Widow Ching Mustapha', and the part was first played by a man, James Rogers, in 1856. During the 1850's, Victorian London was the destination for the first clipper ships that supplied tea to the London tea houses. The fastest ship gained the largest bonus, and at the time the 'Cutty Sark', now on view in Greenwich, was the holder of that title. There was a fascination for the Chinese style in architecture, fashion and entertainment. In the Pantomime version of 1861 the name of Aladdin's mother became 'Widow Twankey', in H.J. Byron's production. Twankey was a popular tea at this time, from the Tuon Ky region of China. Since the 1860's the Widow Twankey, as she is now known, has become a laundress, allowing scope for slap-stick scenes in the Laundry, along with her other son 'Wishee Washee'. The increase in Chinese laundries in London's East End, and in Liverpool led to these comedy scenes.
History continued The magical part of Aladdin comes from the two Djinn or Genies, the Slave of the Ring, and the Genie of the Lamp. The original Genie gave three wishes, but in the pantomime Aladdin is free to use his newly found powers for as long as he holds the lamp. Other characters include the Principal Girl, traditionally called Princess Balroubadour but more recently, after the Disney Film, Princess Jasmine. The Pantomime is one of the most spectacular, often with lavish scenery, a glittering 'transformation' scene in the cave of jewels, and very often a flying carpet to add to the magic. Aladdin in 2018 Put the story of Aladdin into 2018. What situations would the characters have to deal with? Would they talk and dress in the same way? Would current affair change the course of the story? Rewrite the story using aspects of your own life and make it more relevant to this day and age. Write your own Pantomime script Take a well-known story and write a stage script for it in the style of a pantomime. Don t forget to use the phrases He s behind you, Oh no he didn t! and Oh yes he did! You can perform this script to the rest of the group.
Learning about Pantomime Pantomime has been largely influenced by the Italian street theatre Commedia Dell Arte. Two large components of both Commedia Dell Arte and traditional pantomimes are audience participation and the use of slapstick comedy. Breaking the Fourth Wall During pantomime performances, the characters often break the fourth wall. This means that they break the pretence that there is no audience and interact with their viewers. Split your class into groups and ask each group to pick a wellknown film. Instruct them to rehearse a section from this film, including moments where they break the fourth wall. Ask each group to present theirs to the rest of the class. Slapstick Comedy Slapstick comedy is often physical and very silly and involves humorous situations in which a character becomes injured. A good example of this are programmes such as The Chuckle Brothers or Tom and Jerry. Slapstick comedy is mimed and no physical contact is made. The reaction of the person being injured is over-the-top and eccentric. In pairs, work together to build a slapstick routine, remembering not to have physical contact.
Design your own Lamp 1. Cut out the lamp template on the following page 2. Use pens, tissue paper, paints and glitter to decorate your lamp 3. Write your name on the lamp and send it off to the Cliffs Pavilion, so that we can display it in our foyer area during the pantomime!
Drama warm-up activities It is important to warm-up before doing drama to get our brains and our bodies ready for the type of work that we are going to do. Warm-ups can also be a good way of introducing some of the themes or elements which will be involved in the drama scheme. Character Dice Make a large, soft dice (or use an existing one if you have one at school) and attach pictures and/or names of Aladdin characters to each side; Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abanazar, Widow Twankey and Wishee Washee. Someone in the group throws the dice and whichever character it lands on, everyone has to walk around the space like that character. Give them time to explore the characters and how they would move. You can add interaction into this as well. Repeat several times. Using the dice again, sit in a circle and choose two people to stand in the centre. Roll the dice twice. Whichever two characters it lands on, the two people in the middle must improvise a scene between those two characters. Pass the Lamp In a circle, pass an imaginary magic lamp around. Each person must mime holding the lamp (it can change size and weight if they want it to!) Then they must mime rubbing the lamp and mime what comes out of the lamp. It could be anything! The rest of the group must guess what it is.
The Sounds of This is a great group activity to get your musical mind working and explore how to make noises using percussion, your voice and everyday objects. 1) Gather your group and sit in a circle 2) Give the group a scenario either from the examples below or one of your own! Give them a couple of minutes to think about a sound that they might hear in the scenario. 3) Encourage the group to use their voices, bodies and anything around them, for example, a class chair that they may be sitting on. 4) Remind the group of some things that they might hear in the scenario such as the wind, the harp, snoring. 5) When each member of the group has a noise, you are ready to make your soundscape! 6) As conductor, as soon as you point at a member of the group, they must make their sound repeatedly. If you point at them a second time, they must stop making their sound. You can add and take out sounds as many times as you like. 7) Give a few members of the group the opportunity to conduct each time you create a different soundscape. Examples The streets of Peking A magical cave Flying on a carpet
Hot seating Someone takes on a particular role or character and is interviewed by the rest of the group. This activity allows a character s motivations and emotions to be examined in more depth. Suggestions: Aladdin s best friend, Abanazar s slave, Widow Twankey s neighbour Ask the pupils to take on the role of newspaper reporters. Tell them they are going to interview key characters from Aladdin in order to gather information for an exclusive story they are going to write for their newspaper. Prior to questioning the characters, get the class to decide on a slant for their story and come up with a suitable headline. The Great Lamp Scam I Caved Abanazar s story Aladdin stole my Princess
Telling the story One Word Stories Sitting in a circle, each person takes it in turns to say the next word in the story of Aladdin. Sometimes the word will be obvious (in, a, of, the) and sometimes the next word will have great effect on the next bit of the story. Narrators Split the class into groups of four and number each person 1 to 4. Number ones will start the game. When they are told to do so number ones will start tell the story of Aladdin in their own words. At regular intervals the teacher shouts change and the next person in the group must take on the narrator role, continuing the story from the exact point that the previous person left off. Once 1, 2, 3 and 4 have had a go, try and tell the story from different perspectives: A villager who lived in Peking Princess Jasmine s handmaid A pedlar (travelling salesman) telling his version of the story in the next town that he comes to Explorers telling their children about the Magic Cave and Genies Now discuss the exercise as a class. How does the story change? What happens with each different person who tells the story? Which bits got left out or added and why?
Aladdin Online Create a social networking page for your character! If the characters from Aladdin lived in our day and age, they would have to catch up with technology and build a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or Twitter. Help your character build a profile page by using a computer programme such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop to build a template for a profile page. Please remember; - What might be the name and logo for the social networking site? - What information would they include? They would not have had telephones! - Who would they be friends with? - How might they describe themselves? - What would be their likes/dislikes? - What would their date of birth be?
Write your own review Tell us what you thought and write a review! Title Date and Time Venue - Introduction Did you have any information about the performance before you saw it, for example, had you read a book or seen a film of the same title? Did you have any expectations surrounding the story or famous actors? - Response Tell the reader whether the performance met your expectations and give them a brief idea of what the show was like. - The Acting and Directing Did the actors portray their parts effectively and did any actors stand out? Were there ways in which the actors could have been directed differently to make the story clearer? - The Design What did the lighting, set, music and costume add to the performance? - The Conclusion Finish your review with your main points, perhaps adding your favourite moment. You must conclude as to whether you enjoyed the performance or not. You could also include what you learned from the performance and whether you would recommend it to others.
Further Resources http://www.its-behind-you.com/storyaladdin.html http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/p/pantomime/ http://www.its-behindyou.com/factsheets/aladdin%20factsheet.pdf http://www.tlc-creative.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2015/08/aladdin_plot.pdf Slapstick and Sausages: The Evolution of British Pantomime. Norman Robbins. ISBN-10: 0954298705 A History of Pantomime. Maureen Hughes. ISBN-10: 1844680770