James and the Giant Peach - The Rose

CLASS
STUDY
GUIDE
Look Inside!
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Go behind-the-scenes
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Ideas for post-show activities
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References and additional information
James and the
Giant Peach
Based on the book by Roald Dahl
Adapted by David Wood
Pre-Show Activities
Theater Etiquette
Go, Stop, Melt, Drop
OUT-OF-CHAIR ACTIVITY • 15-20 MINUTES
IN-CHAIR ACTIVITY • 5-10 MINUTES
Objective: Students will actively explore proper theater etiquette.
Discussion: How should you behave when you see a play? Is it the same
way you should behave when watching a movie or playing at recess? Is it
okay to laugh during a play if you think it is funny?
Brainstorming: As a class, create a list of good and bad theater behaviors.
Modeling: Invite one student to sit in a chair at the front of the class and
for ten seconds act out one of the poor behavior scenarios. Ask the class to
discuss what was inappropriate about the behavior. Next, ask the student
to change his/her actions to be proper theater behavior for about ten
seconds.
Activity: Select various good and bad theater behaviors from the list
and ask students to act them out individually from their seats. After each
scenario is acted out, initiate a discussion about the behavior. When is it
appropriate to behave like this? How would you react if other audience
members around you did this? Conclude with the entire class acting as a
good theater audience.
Objective: Students will be able to use their bodies, voices, and imaginations
to create characters from James and the Giant Peach.
Modeling: Clearing an open space in your classroom, ask students to each
find his/her own place in the room. Begin explaining the rules to the students:
when the teacher says “GO” that means you may move around the room and
talk or make sounds, when the teacher says “STOP” that means you freeze
right where you are and are silent. Allow students a chance to explore these
two rules on your prompts. Then introduce the final two rules: when the
teacher says “MELT” that means you slowly melt into the ground, when the
teacher says “DROP” that means you safely and silently lay as flat as you
can on the floor.
Activity: After modeling, students should be lying flat on the floor. Give
the students a character to become, e.g., “When I say ‘go,’ move around the
room like you are a spider.” Create different experiences for these characters
to encounter: meeting James, flying the peach, arriving in New York City.
After exploring that character, have students drop, which allows them to
drop that character and introduce a new character. Further James and the
Giant Peach character ideas: Earthworm, Centipede, Grasshopper, James, the
Aunts. Throughout the activity, you may use the four directions in any order
you see fit.

Shining a Spotlight
on Michael Miller
Actor, Teaching Artist, and Literary Manager
James and the
Giant Peach
Based on the book by Roald Dahl
Adapted by David Wood
Artistic Team
Director...............................Susann Suprenant
Music Director...................Satid Kippinberger
Choreography...................Wai Yim
Scenic Designer................Erik Diaz
Costume Designer............Sherri Geerdes
Lighting Designer.............Craig Moxon
Props Master.....................Ronald L. Wells, Jr.
Stage Manager.................Dani Taylor
Asst. Stage Manager.......Chelsea Balzer
Cast / Credits
James..................................Eric L. Harris
TV Cameraman and
Green Grasshopper..........Walter Shatley
Aunt Spiker and
Miss Spider........................Kirstin Kluver
Peach Visitor and
Centipede...........................Michael Miller
Aunt Sponge and
Ladybug.............................Louisa Foster
Old Man and
Earthworm.........................Wai Yim
Narrator, TV Reporter,
Puppeteer,
Newscaster Voice.............Samantha Shatley
Puppeteers.........................Hope Clarke,
Kate Morgan,
and Emily Boman
James and the Giant Peach is presented by
special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
Michael is an actor and teaching artist at The Rose Theater, who also serves as the
organization’s literary manager. He has worked as an Arts Education Specialist with various
Omaha cultural arts programs including the Nebraska Arts Council, Omaha Theater Company,
Boys & Girls Clubs of Omaha, Omaha Performing Arts, Community Learning Centers of Omaha
Public Schools, Omaha Community Playhouse, Children’s Square, the Kroc Center and Very
Special Arts.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Michael holds a bachelor of arts degree in American Studies
with a concentration on Educational Issues from Yale University and a master’s degree in Public
Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from the University of Nebraska
at Omaha.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your character in James and the Giant Peach?
A: I play the character of Centipede. He’s an insect—and a bit of a pest! Centipede is a bit
sassy and has a little attitude. He gives some of the other characters—especially
Earthworm, who is a bit of a worrier—a hard time. But when the others on the journey need
his help, Centipede is always willing to lend a hand. Or in his case a lot of legs!
Q: What are some of the challenges of playing a non-human character?
A: Well, it can be a lot of fun, but you do have to find a way to make your human being shape
and voice somehow become more like an insect on stage. A centipede certainly wouldn’t
walk like a person in real life. You have to use your imagination to think about how a bug
moves and then experiment and try out things using your own movements in a way that
seems kind of like an insect.
Q: How long have you been involved with theater?
A: I joined my high school’s Drama Club during my freshman year and mainly worked
backstage. About halfway through high school, I was accepted to a summer school
program where I spent six weeks working with other high school students who were really
passionate about the arts. I went to study creative writing, but I ended up hanging out a lot
with the theater department kids and they were such dynamic, interesting people with
so many different talents! I decided I wanted to learn as much as I could about what theater
was all about. By the time I got to college, I knew that I wanted to have a career that would
allow me to use theater to help students learn more about the world around them as well
as themselves.
Q: What was your first acting experience?
A: I started acting during my last couple of years of high school. Many people start acting
younger than I did, but I was actually very shy and self-conscious when I was a kid.
I liked drawing and painting and making other kinds of art, and I definitely loved SEEING
theater productions. Eventually I got to know more of the students who liked to act on
stage and being friends with them gave me the confidence to audition to be in a show.
It was definitely a little scary at first, but I really enjoyed getting to pretend to be someone
different than myself on stage. With time and more practice I got braver and eventually
fell in love with ALL parts of putting together a show. I love acting, but I also really like all
the other art forms that go into producing a play—I still love to participate in the
“backstage” arts as much as I can, too.
Q: What kind of education did you get to prepare you for your job?
A: One of the first things I did was to get involved with theater when I was a student in high
school. I also took advantage of some classes at other arts programs so I could learn more
about the arts and meet students from other schools that shared the same interests I had.
(I really wish my town had a children’s theater like The Rose Theater—I definitely would
have signed up for classes there!). When I got to college I took classes in all sorts of theater
arts so I could learn more about how to express my creative ideas and work with other
artists to tell stories on the stage. Since I was always interested in using art as a way to
teach, I also studied education. The more I learned, the more I believed that the arts offer a
fantastic way to discover and understand the world around us.
2 STUDY GUIDE

Post-Show Activities
Sculptors and Puppeteers
OUT-OF-CHAIR ACTIVITY • 10-15 MINUTES
Objective: Students will be able to further explore the use of their bodies
as an acting tool to become characters from James and the Giant Peach.
Discussion: How did the actors become different characters from James
and the Giant Peach? What did they do to change how they looked and
how they moved? Who were your favorite characters from the show?
Why? What did he/she do during the show? How could you act like
that character?
Modeling: Ask one student to stand in front of the class in a neutral
position (e.g., standing straight, facing forward, hands at his/her side). Ask
the rest of the class for ideas about how to change this person’s body and
face to look like the ladybug. With each suggestion, have the volunteer
take the suggestion and change his/her body. Encourage students to
think of ideas that build on previous ideas, rather than erasing the work
already created. After taking a few suggestions, tie “invisible strings” to
the volunteer’s hands, head, and feet. Announce that you have now made
a puppet. Now whenever you move a string, the puppet responds by
moving the corresponding body part.
Activity: Ask students to find a partner. In each pair, one partner is labeled
“A” and the other is “B.” This is just to allow you to speak to the entire class
and streamline directions. Partner A is the puppet first and Partner B is the
sculptor/puppeteer first. Partner A begins in a neutral position. Announce
to Partner Bs that their job is to create a puppet for the grasshopper. Give
Partner B a few moments to sculpt the puppet first, and then ask them to
tie strings to their puppets. Partner B now uses the strings to move his/her
puppet around the room. Switch roles for the partners: Partner B is now
the puppet and Partner A is now the sculptor/puppeteer. This time have
Partner A create an earthworm puppet. Repeat the activity with the many
characters from James and the Giant Peach.
You and the Giant Carrot
OUT-OF-CHAIR ACTIVITY • 10 MINUTES
Objective: Students will be able to use their bodies and imaginations to
create their own magic and adventure.
Discussion: In the show, what happened to the peach? How did it grow
so large? Well, right in front of you is a small basket of magic tongues,
just like the ones that enchanted the peach. Right next to that basket is
a carrot. Sprinkle some of the magic tongues onto the carrot and watch
it grow and change color. Allow students a chance to share the new
color of their carrots. Now this enchanted carrot can help us change this
classroom into a different location.
Activity: Ask students to stand up and pick up their magic carrots. Then,
place the carrot on the top of their heads. Now by rolling our heads in a
circle, the ceiling will change into the sky/ceiling of someplace new. After
a few circles, have the students remove the carrots and place them on
their bellies and move their bellies in a circle. This will get them to change
the view in front of them. Now break the carrot in half and place one
on each elbow, moving their elbows in a circle to magically change the
world around them. Continue by placing the carrots on other body parts
(i.e. knees, tongues, ears, feet) until the entire room has been transformed.
Ask students to look around them. What do you see in front of you? Above
you? What does this new location feel like? Smell like?
Extension: Ask each student to decide for him/herself where the giant
carrot transported him/her. Once all students have an idea, go around the
room, asking each student to act out where he/she went with the giant
carrot. For example, if the carrot transported you to the beach, you could
build a sandcastle and go swimming.
Hot Seating
IN-CHAIR ACTIVITY • 10-15 MINUTES
Objective: Students will be able to further understand the thoughts and
feelings of the characters from James and the Giant Peach.
Discussion: Who were your favorite characters from the show? How do
they move? Where do they live? How do they speak? How are they different
from you? How are they similar? Ask students to brainstorm together
about Old Green Grasshopper. What makes a grasshopper different from
a person? How can a person move to show that he/she is a grasshopper?
How can you show that you are very old? As students give ideas, ask them
to also show it in their bodies.
Modeling: Set a chair in front of the class. Ask one student to come to the
front of the class and stand in front of the chair. Explain to the class that as
soon as he/she sits in this chair, he/she will become Old Green Grasshopper.
After the student sits in the chair, ask Old Green Grasshopper open-ended
questions about the adventures on the peach. What did you think about
James coming into your peach? Were you scared as the peach flew? The
student playing Old Green Grasshopper will answer all the questions from
the grasshopper’s point of view. After asking a few questions, allow that
student to join the rest of the class.
Activity: Now set five or six chairs in front of the class and ask volunteers
to become different characters from the story. Once again, as soon as the
students sit in these chairs, they become those characters. After asking
a few questions, open up the questioning to the rest of the students.
Encourage them to ask about the characters’ reactions and feelings
to events in the story. Once the questioning has been finished, ask the
characters to stand up and become students again. Get another panel of
students to create more characters from throughout the show.
Who’s Who on the Peach
IN-CHAIR ACTIVITY • 15-20 MINUTES
Objective: Students will be able to listen to and respond to the re-creation
of characters from James and the Giant Peach.
Discussion: For this activity, one student will be an investigative reporter
who is trying to learn more about the travelers on the giant peach and
other characters from the story. The reporter will ask questions of the
different characters and try to guess who he/she is interviewing. What did
the actors from James and the Giant Peach do with their bodies and voices
to show that they were different characters? How could you tell who the
character was?
Activity: Set four chairs in the front of the classroom. Ask one student (the
reporter) to step outside the classroom. Choose three more students to play
the travelers or other characters. Each of the three students will choose a
character from the play to become. These students sit in three of the chairs,
leaving the fourth for the reporter. As soon as they sit down, they will
now sit and talk like the character (similar to the previous activity, “Hot
Seating”). Invite the investigative reporter to come back into the classroom
and sit in the chair. The reporter now has a chance to ask each character
three questions to find out more about him/her. After each character has
been asked three questions, the reporter must guess who he/she was
interviewing.
Extension: You may repeat the activity with a new reporter and different
students playing other characters.
STUDY GUIDE 3

Bring The Rose to
Your Classroom
The Rose offers a variety of classroom workshops,
residencies, and touring productions! For your next
engagement, please consider one of the following:
• The Big (Not-So) Bad Wolf
Students will be transfixed by the jolly-not-so-scary
Big Bad Wolf portrayed by a professional Rose
teaching artist. This show features stories
about wolves that have a “wolfish” edge to them
and provides a fun way to explore themes
such as honesty, trust, and good behavior.
• The Wonderful World of Dr. Seuss
The world of Dr. Seuss comes to life when The Cat in
the Hat arrives to share the places he’s been. The
show features beloved songs and stories such as
Green Eggs and Ham, The Sneetches, The Grinch,
and of course, The Cat in the Hat.
• The Bully Show
The Bully Show was selected for The Kennedy
Center’s prestigious New Visions/New Voices
program. The play takes place at the taping of a new
game show, YOU WANNA BE A BULLY!, with the kids
acting as the studio audience and contestants. It
challenges students to reconsider their assumptions
about bullies, victims, and spectators.
Three- to five-day curriculum based workshops are
also available! Topics include Bringing Literature to Life,
Acting & Characters, Tall Tales, and more! For more
information, please contact James Larson at
(402) 502-4618 or jamesl@rosetheater.org.
Please feel free
to contact us!
Letters may be written to:
Kate Morgan
(or cast of James and the Giant Peach )
2001 Farnam Street
Omaha, NE 68102
Emails may be sent to:
Kate Morgan at
katem@rosetheater.org
Bibliography
If you enjoyed the play, you might also enjoy these great resources:
Books for Kids
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
In this book a fox, Mr. Fox, must steal chickens, ducks, and turkeys to feed his
family. But he must try to avoid the farmers who are always trying to stop him.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Willy Wonka is finally opening his fabled chocolate factory for a tour. But only
five children are the lucky holders of the Golden Tickets: Augustus Gloop, Veruca
Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee, and Charlie Bucket.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
This beloved classic follows Wilbur as he learns about the harsh reality of life as
a farm pig. With the help of his barnyard neighbors, such as the beautiful spider,
Charlotte, he learns the value of friendship.
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
This series follows amphibious friends, Frog and Toad. These two best friends
have had many adventures together, as chronicled in their beloved books: Frog
and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year, and Days
with Frog and Toad.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Join Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger for some adventures on the English countryside.
This classic piece of literature is character-driven and filled with fun antics of
these four friends and their neighbors.
Web Sites for Kids
www.roalddahl.com
This fun website is the official website for Roald Dahl, author of James and the
Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and other great children’s books.
It has interactive games including “The Flying Peach Game.”
www.insects.org
An informational website for those who love to learn more about insects. There
are facts, pictures, and folklore about a variety of bugs from all over the world.
Web Sites for Teachers
www.roalddahl.com
The official website of author Roald Dahl. Discover more about the books and the
man behind the books. There is also a great section with interactive games for
students.
www.followthatpeach.com
Celebrate 50 years of James and the Giant Peach by helping Roald Dahl roll a
peach around the world by sending Peach-a-Grams. This website has information
on the Follow That Peach program and a great section of Tips for Teachers.
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4 STUDY GUIDE