CATAPULT THEATRE COMPANY - factoria cultural

CATAPULT
THEATRE
COMPANY
presents
Lights, camera, action!!
WORKPACK LEVEL 2
Teachers’ note: This didactic material consists of pre-show
activities designed to help teachers prepare the students for
the experience of watching a piece of theatre in a foreign
language.
Due to Catapult’s interactive style and use of audience
participation, certain details contained in this show will
change over the course of the performance. The characters
and plot will remain unaffected.
1. The Story
In order to retain the element of surprise for the students’
benefit and enjoyment the synopsis is incomplete. We suggest
that students read the synopsis to get a general idea of the
plot.
Welcome to Follywood’s International Cinema Studio! World famous director,
Pedro Almorrano and Follywood star, Penelope Puss, are hard at work filming this
year’s most exciting movie, Gangster Groove. Director Pedro Almorrano and
Penelope Puss are expecting guest stars such as, Leonardo diCrapio, Angelina Jolly,
Brad Spitts and many more to participate in their new movie. Come see the making
of Gangster Groove and become a famous actor or actress, you may even win an
Oscar!!!

Gangster Groove tells the story of the Mamma Mia Mob- THE most wanted mob in
New York City. Penelope Puss stars as Mary Manroe, a dangerous mob member. She
has been working for the mob for 15 years as a thief. Al Caputi, the head of the mob,
sends her on another mission; she must steal 1 million dollars from La Caixa. But,
Mary Manroe is tired of the mob and decides this will be her last robbery. This time,
she’s had enough! She decides to keep the money and move to Mexico.
Al Caputi, goes crazy when he finds out that Mary Monroe is escaping to the
Mexican border with the 1 million dollars. As boss of the mob, he decides to catch up
with Mary Monroe bringing with him the most terrifying gangsters of the Mamma
Mia Mob, terrible characters such as Leo Lasagna, Mario Macaroni, and Tina
Tiramisu.
In the meantime Policeman Pots and his assistant Sour Pear from the New York
Police Department have already arrived at the scene of the crime at La Caixa. They
immediately identify this as a classic Mamma Mia Mob robbery and the mob
becomes prime suspect. Policeman Pots and Sour Pear are then informed that Al
Caputi , Mario Macaroni, Leo Lasagna and Tina Tiramisu have all left for Mexico!
Policeman Pots will have to catch the mob before they reach the Mexican border.
While the police and the mob are planning their big seize at the Mexican border,
Mary Monroe has just picked up a hitchhiker named Bob in her Mercedes Benz. It is
love at first sight and they keep driving at full speed towards Mexico….
CHARACTERS
PENELOPE PUSS comes from a small town in Texas and grew up wanting
to be an actrice because she knew she had plenty of talent. To achieve her goals, Penelope
Puss became very ambitious and never hesitated to live a scandalous lifestyle to achieve them.
Actually she is constantly in the eye of the media and the queen of tabloid magazines. She is
now a diva and THE highest paid actress in Follywood.
PEDRO ALMOVEOVER was born in Madrid and dedicated his life to
painting. He was very talented but very poor. But Pedro Almoveover decided that enough was
enough and that he wanted to be rich and famous. He moved to Follywood and became a
highly successful movie director. He is now a complete workaholic and a very boring person
because all his energy and all his personality goes into making block-buster Follywood
movies.
MARIO TORTELLINI is head of the mafia. He is sly and tough. He
grew up in Brooklyn New York and has been involved in the Mob since he was a kid. He
always wears a suite and smokes a cigar. He loves gambling and beautiful women. Mario

Tortellini has a very strong personality and the rest of the Mama Mia Mob behave just like
him.
MARY MONROE is beautiful, intelligent and dangerous. She became a
criminal at a young age. When she was 18 she went to jail for stealing and soon after being
released she started working for the mob. But over the last year Mary has found that she also
has a romantic side and is looking forward to falling in love one day and having a family.
POLICEMAN POTS AND SOUR PEAR: They have
both been in the police force for years and their main goal has been to capture the Mama Mia
Mob. Although they have had a few opportunities in the past to catch them, they have never
succeeded because the are both a bit clumsy and stupid.
Vocabulary
We suggest that students study the following words before
viewing the show. The vocabulary is divided into 4 sections,
gangsters, movie, verbs, and phrases.
GANGSTER: mob, gangster, mafia, gun, robbery, robber, hold-up, “hands
up”, dangerous, Mexican border, jail, crime, cop, police, suspect, thief, money,
hitchhiker, boss, brief case, groove, bad, crazy, sly, tough, suite, crime, teenager,
wanted, spotlight.
MOVIE: movie, film, actor/actress, movie star, famous, stage, movie set,
lights, camera, action, cut, scene, director, make up artist, costume, brush,
autograph, audience, character, voice, wig, casting, talent, ambitious, scandalous,
tabloid magazines, rich, poor, boring, block-buster, microphone, marker.
VERBS: to rob, to steal, to escape, to drive, to shoot (with a gun/ camera), to
clap, to rehearse, to film, to dress, to cheat, to achieve, to gamble, to dub,
PHRASES
Let's try
Are you ready?
Let's film
Cameras are rolling
Cut!
First Take,
First scene, second scene.
Hold the microphone.
Change your costume

G angster grove
Activities
before the show
A/In this activity students are asked to put the words printed
below in the right place in the phrases.
together/ movie/ new/ director/ wanted/ stars/ member/ work/ head/ stole.
1 Pedro Almorrano is a famous …...
2 His ….. movie, Gangster Groove, takes place in New York City.
3 The ….. is about the Italian Mamma Mia Mob.
4 Penelope Puss ….. as Mary Monroe.
5 Mary is a ….. of the Mamma Mia Mob.
6 Mary ….. 1 million dollars from La Caixa.
7 Al Caputi is the ….. of the Mamma Mia Mob.
8 Policeman Pots and Sourpear ….. for the New York City Police Department.
9 The Mamma Mia are ….. by the Police.
10 Mary falls in love with Bob and they go to Mexico …..
B/ In this activity students are asked to draw a line between the
character and it’s correct description.
Penelope Puss
Mario Tortellini
Policeman Pots and Sour Pear
Mary Monroe
Pedro Almoveover
....is wanted by the police for robbing a bank
….wears a suite and smokes a cigar
….loves being rich and famous
….misses Spain and tortillas
….hate the mob
C/ TRUE OR FALSE
1/ Mary Monroe is a hairdresser.
2/ Mary Monroe steals 1 million euros
3/ Al Caputi is very happy that Mary Monroe is going to Chicago

4/ Policeman Pots and Sour Pear decide to hitchhike to Mexico.
5/ Mama Mia Mob are an American football team
6/ Gangster Groove is a movie about gangsters
7/ Bob is a gangster from Mexico
8/ Tina Tiramisu is a Follywood movie star
9/ Angela Jolly will be a guest star in Gangster Groove
10/ Penelope Puss is a Follywood movie star
D/ WORDS AND SENTENCES
In this activity students draw a line between the sentences
printed and the appropriate word. To do this activity students
don’t need to know every word in the sentence. The sentences
contain enough information for global understanding.
WIG
GANGSTER
FAMOUS
MONEY
AUTOGRAPH
JAIL
COSTUME
HITCH HIKER
ROBBER
Of course. No problem. Do you have a pen and paper?
Thumb a ride and you’ll arrive for free
Make sure you never get inside because it may be very hard to come out!
I rob banks and love to smoke cigars.
Britney Spears shaved her head and now wears fake hair.
I am very happy because I won the lotto today.
Mary Monroe stole 1 million dollars from La Caixa!
My name is Angelina Jolly and I am known all over the world.
Going to dress-up parties is always very fun.
E/ / In this activity students are asked to put the words printed
below in the right place in the phrases.
Audience/ extras/ cast/ script/ stars/ screenplay/ director/ plot/ producer/ scene/
sequel/ soundtrack/ special effects.

1/ the……the person who makes the film
2/ the ……the most famous actors in a film
3/ the ……all the actors and actresses in a film
4/ the …….the person who finds the money and actors to make a film
5/ the……the people who watch a film
6/ the …….the people (not actors) who appear in the film, e.g. in crowd scenes
7/ the ……the actions and dialogue of a film
8/ the ……the dialogue of a film
9/ a……a part of a film happening in one place
10/ the ……the music of a film
11/ the ……the story, what happens
12/ the ……images created often by computer
13/ a……a film (or a book) that continues the story of the previous one
F/ In this activity students are asked to read the definitions of
the verbs and complete the text below.
dubbed = not in the original language
played the part of = acted the role of
set = situated in a particular time and place
shot (shoot) = filmed
starred = had as its main actors
subtitled = with translation at the bottom of the screen
I’m Spanish, but I like watching English and American films to improve my English.
Last night I went to see a western. It was ……in the Wild West in the 1890’s but in
fact I know it was ……in Spain. It was several well-known actors and Clint
Eastwood……It was ……which is important for me so that I can practise
understanding English. I don’t like films which are……Spanish- the voices are
always the same.
G/In this activity students are asked to think of the last movie
they saw and answer the questions below.
Who was in it? Were they good?
Who was the director?
Where and when was it set?
Was there a good plot and script?
Were there any special effects?
What was the soundtrack like?

Was it dubbed or subtitled?
H/ TYPES OF FILMS
Write the names of different types of films in the space below e.g. western
AND NOW LADIES AND
GENTLEMEN, A BIT OF
GRAMMAR!
THE PASSIVE
a/ Students are asked to rewrite the sentences beginning with
the words given.
1. A fire destroyed the original cinema in 1990.
The original cinema………………………….
2. You must show your tickets at the door.
Tickets…………………………………….
3. They haven’t recorded the soundtrack yet.
The soundtrack……………………………..
4. They are shooting the final scene tomorrow.
The final scene………………………………...
5. When we got to the cinema, they cancelled the film.
When we got to the cinema, the film………………..
6. They don’t sell tickets until 30 minutes before the performance starts.
Tickets……………………………………………………………………….
7. They will release the film next month.

The film…………………………………
8. They make more movies in India than in any other country.
More films………………………………………………………..
b/ Students are asked to put the verbs in the correct tense,
either active or passive.
DID YOU KNOW…?
1 The Oscar statue……..of 10-carat gold. (make)
2 The country with the smalles film industry in the world in Iceland which……..only
three films a year. (make)
3 Child star Macaulay Culkin………$4.5 million dollars for his role in Home Alone
in 1992. This was a record for a child. (pay)
4 Ben Hur and Titanic both………11 Oscars. (win)
5 The Color Purple……..for 11 Oscars in 1985 but it………any. (nominate, not win)
6 In the 1996 film Evita, Madonna, who………the part of Eva Peron,………..her
costume 85 times. (play, change)
7 The most filmed character is Sherlock Holmes. Until now 204 different films……..
about him. (make)
8 Over 300,000 extras……..for one of the crowd scenes in Ghandi. (use)
PREPOSITIONS
Students are asked to complete the sentences with the correct
preposition.
1/ The film was set…..Paris and London.
2/ Are there any good films…..TV tonight?
3/ La Dolce Vita was directed…..Fellini.
4/ The film is …..a man who escaped from prison during the war.
5/ West Side Story is based…..Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
6/ What did you think……the film?
7/ I saw a good film…..the cinema last night.
8/ Who starred……The Matrix.

AFTER THE SHOW
CREATIVE WRITING
Students should chose of the
following:
1/ Invent a character for a gangster movie. Think about where the character was
born, how the character was raised, what does the character like/ dislike, what
kind of job does the character have, is the character a nice or a bad person etc.
2/ Write the script of the first scene of Gangsters Groove 2 that will be coming out
in September 2008?
3/ Imagine that your favourite movie star keeps a diary. Write an entry in the first
person imagining a day in his/her life.
Think about what the have to eat. What was his/her day at work like? How are his/
her children etc….
CLASS DISCUSSION
a/ Gangster Groove is a parody of Gangster Movies and Hollywood.
It has been said by many specialists that violence on TV and in the movies has an
impact on young people. What does the class think?
The lives of Hollywood stars are exposed to us every day on the TV and in
magazines. What does the class think are the effects of such exposures.
b/In this exercise split student up in groups of three and make
them discuss the following. They should then share their ideas
with the rest of the class.
In this play Penelope Puss is a successful actrice and Pedro
Almoveover a successful movie director. What does it mean to
you to be successful?
Having a job you really like?
Having a fancy house and car?
Being a famous singer/ actor/ doctor/ scientist/ writer etc
Having a happy marriage and family?
Doing something heroic?
Being attractive to the opposite sex?
Having so much money you don’t really need to work?
Which one would you choose and why?