GROUP PROJECT: Adapting a fable or fairy tale story theater style for the stage
AGENDA:
In small groups, you will be adapting a fable or fairy tale for the stage.
Your project requires:
1. A script for a skit with parts for a narrator and other characters.
2. A set and costume design (make slide show of Google images).
3. A song to be sung for the skit by a character(s) to set the scene. You can write the words to any famous melody or use music in the background.
4. A performance for the class.
What is the difference between a fable and a fairy tale?
1. Review with students the elements of a fable: characters, setting, events and a moral. In most fables the characters are animals. These animals usually represent specific human qualities(personification).
2. Review the concept of a moral. Tell students that fables are meant to teach a lesson or moral. The moral is usually revealed at the end of the fable. Sometimes the moral is delivered as a statement, such as "Be happy with what you have," or "It is easier to think up a plan than to carry it out."
http://aesopfables.com/
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/
example:
The Beaver and the Lumberjack
By Carol Montgomery ©2010
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/
example:
The Beaver and the Lumberjack
By Carol Montgomery ©2010
From the early part of the script after the narrators and Lumberjack have been introduced...
Narrator 1: Beaver lived around that river, heard the moans and appeared.
Beaver: (happily) Yo! Hey there! What's up? Why all the commotion?
Lumberjack: (moans) I'm a poor, honest, hard-working man who makes a living cutting down trees and selling the wood. But, I accidentally dropped my axe just now in the river. I have no other way to make money. (moans louder)
Beaver: No problem, Friend. I can swim. It happens. I'll be right back.
Narrator 2: So, Beaver slid down the steep bank and dove into the river, retrieving an axe of solid gold. (Continued...)
Beaver: (happily) Yo! Hey there! What's up? Why all the commotion?
Lumberjack: (moans) I'm a poor, honest, hard-working man who makes a living cutting down trees and selling the wood. But, I accidentally dropped my axe just now in the river. I have no other way to make money. (moans louder)
Beaver: No problem, Friend. I can swim. It happens. I'll be right back.
Narrator 2: So, Beaver slid down the steep bank and dove into the river, retrieving an axe of solid gold. (Continued...)
