LITTLE LEAP FORWARD - Horse + Bamboo Theatre...

THINGS TO READ
LITTLE LEAP FORWARD: A BOY IN BEIJING
written by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow and
illustrated by Helen Cann
This is the book that the play LITTLE LEAP
FORWARD is based on. When you read the story
look for differences and similarities to the play.
Why do you think the theatre makers chose to
leave out some parts or add others?
WE’RE RIDING ON THE CARAVAN
written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by
Helen Cann
A rhyming tale about a Chinese family’s journey
along the Silk Road, the trade road that runs
thousands of miles through Asia. Work with a
group or a partner to compose your own music
that suits the moods and locations of the story.
THE CH’I-LIN PURSE : A COLLECTION OF
ANCIENT CHINESE STORIES
by Linda Fang
A collection of ten traditional Chinese stories
translated into English. Choose your favourite of
the stories and think about how you would turn it
into a play performed without words. Work with a
group to bring your play to life.
MODERN CHINA: EYEWITNESS GUIDE
by Poppy Sebag-Montifiore
A fact-packed guide to the peoples, places and
cultures that make up modern China. Choose a
selection of photographs or illustrations from the
book, and use them to inspire the set design for a
play set in modern China.
Royal
Exchange
Theatre
ALISON DUDDLE WITH
THE MASKED AND HAND
PUPPET VERSIONS OF
LITTLE LEAP FORWARD
WHY NOT? Make your own beautiful autobiographical
book. Go to the library and see how
many different sizes and shapes of books you can
find. See if you can you work out how the different
books are made. Some books are held together
with glue, others are made with folded pages held
together by stitches. Books can be tied together,
strung on strings, folded, rolled, and sewn in lots
of different ways. What book shapes can you
create? Experiment with folding and fastening
paper in different ways to create new book shapes.
Choose the right book shape to suit your story –
include pages on where you live, who your friends
and family are, what your school is like. Yue grew
up to be a musician – you might want to leave the
last pages of your autobiography blank, to show
that the future is still to be written…
Produced and edited by the Royal Exchange Theatre,
with contributions from Horse + Bamboo Theatre.
The work of the Education Department is supported by
the Booth Charities, Crabtree North West Charitable Trust,
The Co-operative, D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, Duchy of
Lancaster Benevolent Fund, HBOS Foundation, HBOS Lex
Leasing, The Idlewild Trust, John Lewis Partnership, John
Thaw Foundation, Manchester Guardian Society, Norma
Leigh Charitable Trust, N Smith Charitable Trust, One to
One Children’s Fund, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ralli
Solicitors , Scotshill Trust and Steel Charitable Trust.
Royal Exchange Theatre
royalexchange.co.uk
Horse + Bamboo Theatre
horseandbamboo.org
Designed by Dragonfly. All production photographs courtesy of Ian Tilton. Cover illustration courtesy of Helen Cann.
Registered Charity Number 255424