Three Billy Goats Gruff and Other Tales - Center for Puppetry Arts

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About the Artist Winner of puppetry’s highest honor, the UNIMA Citation of Excellence, and recipient of three Jim Henson Foundation grants, Hobey Ford is known for excellence in puppetry performance and craft. Hobey’s intricate shadow puppetry work and creation of the original rod puppets, the “Foamies,” have earned him a place on stages across the world. Hobey’s performances incorporate a variety of puppetry styles including Bunraku, rod, marionette, “Foamies,” and shadow puppetry. Hobey adapts folktales from various cultures for many of his performances, always adding a special “Golden Rod” twist. He uses his own voice to create characters and sound effects, tell stories, and sing. He conducts teacher workshops in puppetry in conjunction with The Kennedy Center’s Partnership in Education Program. Style of Puppetry The folktales in this production are told through shadow puppetry which has roots in Asian countries like Indonesia and China. Traditionally, flat or two-dimensional puppets were performed against a semitransparent screen by the light of an oil lamp. The audience watched the shadows on the other side of the screen. Today, shadow puppetry is performed in many ways and in many lands. Synopsis This shadow puppetry production brings together three folktales through Hobey Ford’s unique presentational style combining stunning puppetry, storytelling and topical educational themes. The stories include The Rainbow Bridge, El Coqui, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff, with a finale of his Peepers Puppet, which turn the bare hand into a myriad of creatures and his famous beautifully-carved foam animal creatures which he calls the “Foamies.” His productions touch on themes across the curriculum with an emphasis on his art form. The Rainbow Bridge is a Native American folktale of the Chumash people who inhabited the southern coastal regions of California. The tale recalls the origins of the Chumash on Santa Cruz Island. The people received the gift of fire and with it the means to develop and flourish until they became overcrowded and were forced to migrate to the mainland on a rainbow bridge. The tale also tells of the ones who didn’t make it cross, but fell into the sea to become dolphins. El Coqui is a Puerto Rican folktale about how the little tree frog got his song. The animals of the lush rain forest had become lazy on their island paradise until a race was set which forced the animals to get in shape. Being so small, Little Coqui worked extra hard and his efforts led him to win the race. He was rewarded with his famous song: “coqui, coqui, coqui.” El Coqui is the official mascot of Puerto Rico. The Three Billy Goats Gruff revisits the classic tale from Norway with humor and issues of the day. When the long winter has finally come to an end, the Three Billy Goats Gruff have exhausted the resources of their meadow and must migrate to the upper meadows. To do this they must cross a bridge where a Troll stands guard to prevent their passage. They use the ploy of the original tale by sending the smallest first and begging the Troll to let them pass as progressively larger goats will soon be along providing an even bigger meal. From there, all goes haywire as Little Billy Goat turns the story on its ear with a surprise ending, for something has gone totally wrong in the environs of the upper pasture and while Big Billy Goat and the Troll are busy fighting it out, Little Billy Goat sounds the alarm that all is not well and that they should redirect their energies to preserve their world. © 2010 Center for Puppetry Arts ® . All Rights Reserved. 2
• Currell, David. Shadow Puppets & Shadow Play. Crowood Press, 2008. • Edgson, Alison. Three Billy Goats Gruff. Child’s Play International, Ltd., 2005. • Ekstrand, Florence. Norwegian Trolls and Other Tales. Welcome Press, 1990. • Galdone, Paul. The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Sandpiper, 2008. • Gibson, Karen Bush. The Chumash Indians: Seafarers of the Pacific Coast (American Indian Nations Series). Capstone Press, 2003. • Hall, Stacy Elizabeth. The Legend of Katama: The Creation Story of Dolphins. Island Moon Press, 2004. • Hamilton, Virginia. In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World. Sandpiper, 1991. • Lee, Alfonso Silva. Coqui Y Sus Amigos/Coqui and His Friends: Los Animales De Puerto Rico/the Animals of Puerto Rico (Spanish Edition). Pangaea (Bilingual Edition), 2000. • Matthews, Rodney. The Usborne Book of Greek and Norse Legends. E.D.C. Publishing, 1987. • McCaughrean, Geraldine. Silver Myths and Legends of the World: 50 of the Best Stories Ever. Dolphin Paperbacks, 2003. • Mohr, Nicholasa and Antonio Martorell. The Song of El Coqui and Other Tales from Puerto Rico. Viking Juvenile, 1995. • Simons, Jamie and Scott. Why Dolphins Call: A Story of Dionysus. Sliver Press, 1991. • Sproul, Barbara C. Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World. HarperOne, 1979. • Undset, Sigrid. True and Untrue (and Other Norse Tales). Alfred A. Knopf, 1962. • Wisniewski, David and Donna. Worlds of Shadow: Teaching with Shadow Puppetry. Teacher Ideas Press, 1996. • Wood, Audrey. The Rainbow Bridge. Voyager Books, 2000. Bibliography © 2010 Center for Puppetry Arts ® . All Rights Reserved. 3
Page 1: IN YOUR LIFE. OFF YOUR MIND. Center
Page 5 and 6: P-K & K: Cooking with Goat’s Milk
Page 7 and 8: Learning Activities 1st & 2nd Grade
Page 9 and 10: Learning Activities 5th & 6th Grade
Page 11: ® Study Guide Feedback Form The fo

Three Billy Goats Gruff and Other Tales - Center for Puppetry Arts

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