House:Ed 2013 Miss Ophelia

1 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

Introduction
These teachers’ notes have been designed to assist you with classroom preparation in relation
to the performance of Miss Ophelia. We hope that this resource will assist your students to
further enjoy and enhance their performing arts experience back in the classroom. The
activities are designed for students from Years 3 - 8.
The activities included in this resource, provide opportunities for students to explore theatre
and theatre spaces, themes about friendship and relationships and ideas about how the sharing
of stories can build connections between people.
NSW Board of Studies Syllabi has been used as guides for the planning of these activities. You
should adapt the activities to suit the student age and stage of your class and the curriculum foci
and outcomes used in your school.
Some websites are suggested throughout this resource. It is recommended that you first visit
the sites and assess the suitability of the content for your particular school environment before
setting the activities based on these.
Performance Description and Synopsis
Based on Miss Ophelia’s Shadow Theatre by Michael Ende, the production of Miss Ophelia by
Danish theatre company, Het Filiaal, is a delightful and moving adaptation of this much loved
children’s story.
Miss Ophelia includes simple yet effective staging ideas. A mixture of puppetry, shadow
puppetry, miniatures and live action work together to create an entertaining and visually
appealing performance. As the character of Ophelia embarks on her remarkable journey, the
performers continually transform the set and themselves to change characters, location and
time. The design of the theatre objects, puppets and set pieces creates an innocent and childlike
world that not only appeals to younger audiences, but helps to soften some of the darker themes
about loneliness, age and death covered in the action towards the end of the play.
This is a valuable opportunity for English and Drama students to explore puppetry, character,
narrative structure and storytelling, theatrical techniques and playbuilding.
Classroom Context and Curriculum Links
This performance provides the classroom teacher with many opportunities for learning
activities that link to the following curriculum areas:
English Structuring a Narrative, Complication and Resolution in Narrative
Creative Arts (Drama) Characterisation, Dramatic Storytelling
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
HOUSE:ED 2013
2 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

Miss Ophelia
ENGLISH
DRAMA
STAGE 2:
OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS
TS2.1
Communicates in
informal and formal
classroom activities in
school and social
situations for an
increasing range of
purposes on a variety of
topics across the
curriculum.
INDICATORS
listens to descriptions of unfamiliar places, people
and things
describes people, places and things in detail
listens to more diverse literary texts read aloud,
including in home language
gives a more detailed recount
recalls how a solution of an electronic adventure
game was reached
DRAS2.1
Takes on and sustains
roles in a variety of
drama forms to express
meaning in a wide range
of imagined situations.
INDICATORS
experiments with the voice to create appropriate
characteristics in role
uses clarity of articulation, expression, intonation and
pitch
adopts roles from the given story and suggested
stereotypes.
TS2.2
Interacts effectively in
groups and pairs,
adopting a range of roles,
uses a variety of media
and uses various
listening strategies for
different situations.
performs, giving some consideration to use of voice
and gesture, eg in poetry, drama, improvisation,
Readers Theatre.
responds to different viewpoints in a discussion
listens to spoken presentations and responds
appropriately
acts as reporter for group, summarising the main
points of a discussion.
DRAS2.2
Builds the action of the
drama by using the
elements of drama,
movement and voice
skills.
DRAS2.3
performs in improvisations
participates in readers theatre
uses appropriate props and costumes in performance.
Sequences the action of
the drama to create
meaning for an audience.
relates to an audience in performance.
WS2.9
Drafts, revises, proof
reads and publishes wellstructured
texts that are
more demanding in
terms of topic, audience
and written language
features.
type.
demonstrates self-editing skills
understands and creates notes for relevant writing
purposes
shows evidence of careful revision, editing and
proofreading in final draft
uses computers to draft and edit writing
contributes to joint text-construction activities
writes simple responses to short stories, television
programs
DRAS2.4
Responds to, and
interprets, drama
experiences and
performances.
reflects on and discusses the improvisations, exercises
and performance
discusses the effectiveness of their own work and the
work of others suggesting reason or preferences.
3 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

ENGLISH
DRAMA
WS2.10
Produces texts clearly,
effectively and
accurately, using the
sentence structure,
grammatical features and
punctuation conventions
of the text
uses past tense in recounts and narratives
combines clauses by using a variety of conjunctions,
eg when, because
uses a variety of time connectives in recounts and
narratives
spells high frequency words correctly in own writing
STAGE 3:
OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS
ENGLISH
DRAMA
TS3.1
INDICATORS
DRAS3.1
INDICATORS
Communicates
effectively for a range of
purposes and with a
variety of audiences to
express well-developed,
well-organised ideas
dealing with more
challenging topics.
listens to and gives detailed descriptions of a range
of settings, people, places, objects
listens to longer recounts including objective and
historical recounts
attempts to persuade others in the class to a point of
view or action, presenting a few reasons
engages in discussions involving more than one
point of view about characters and events.
Develops a range of indepth
and sustained
roles.
takes on a range of roles challenging character
stereotypes, depicting empathy, different and
contrasting attitudes and status
collaborates to convey dramatic meaning by responding
abstractly to represent ideas, feelings, objects and
situations.
TS3.2
Interacts productively
and with autonomy in
pairs and groups of
various sizes and
composition, uses
effective oral
presentation skills and
uses gesture, posture, facial expression, tone of
voice, pace of speaking to engage the interest of an
audience as culturally appropriate
uses a variety of ways to seek relevant information
uses group interaction strategies to work
DRAS3.2
Interprets and conveys
dramatic meaning by
using the elements of
drama and a range of
movement and voice
skills in a variety of
responds confidently with gesture, movement and voice
skills to a range of scripts and
other texts to structure the narrative or episodes and
build on the action of the drama
interprets a dramatic context through the use of a
combination of various drama forms
4 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

ENGLISH
DRAMA
strategies and listens
attentively.
WS3.9
Produces a wide range of
well-structured and wellpresented
literary and
factual texts for a wide
variety of purposes and
audiences using
increasingly challenging
topics, ideas, issues and
written language
features.
collaboratively
uses a range of strategies to participate
cooperatively in small-group discussions, eg taking
turns, asking questions to gain more information,
adding to the group’s ideas.
INDICATORS
composes basic reviews of TV programs, movies,
children’s novels, performances
writes personal responses to artworks and
performances
constructs text in a range of media, eg video,
multimedia, audio.
drama forms.
DRAS3.3
Devises, acts and
rehearses drama for
performance to an
audience.
DRAS3.4
Responds critically to a
range of drama works
and performance styles.
combines and manages the elements of drama, for
example: tension, contrast, symbol,
time, space, focus and mood to communicate the depth of meaning
of their drama work.
devises drama in collaboration with others using scripted
and unscripted material as resources for drama
performances
devises, rehearses and acts in drama using voice and
movement skills to convey meaning to an audience.
forms and communicates opinions about a range of drama
works created by themselves and others
evaluates drama performances in order to reflect upon
and enhance their own drama work and the work of
others.
WS3.10
Uses knowledge of
sentence structure,
grammar and
punctuation to edit own
writing.
INDICATORS
uses different types of verbs, eg action, thinking,
seeing, feeling, relating
uses a variety of conjunctions and connectives to
connect groups of words and clauses
uses cause–effect relationships
uses abstract nouns related to topic
uses a range of types of adjectives and
recognises most misspelt words in own writing and
uses a variety of resources for correction
5 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

STAGE 4:
OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS
ENGLISH
DRAMA
think in ways that are
imaginative, interpretive
and critical
use language and
communicate
appropriately and
effectively
INDICATORS
thinks critically and interpretively about
information, ideas and arguments to respond to
and compose texts
makes connections between and among texts
uses and describes language forms and features, and
structures of texts appropriate to different purposes,
audiences and contexts
makes informed language choices to shape meaning
with accuracy, clarity and coherence
Students will develop
knowledge,
understanding and skills,
individually and
collaboratively, through
making drama that
explores a range of
imagined and created
situations in a
collaborative drama and
theatre environment
Students will develop
knowledge,
understanding and skills,
individually and
collaboratively, through
appreciating the
meaning and function of
drama and theatre in
reflecting the personal
social, cultural, aesthetic
and political aspects of
the human experience.
INDICATORS
identifies and explores the elements of drama to develop
belief and clarity in character, role, situation and action
improvises and playbuilds through group-devised
processes
devises and enacts drama using scripted and unscripted
material
identifies and describes elements of drama, dramatic
forms, performance styles, techniques and conventions
in drama
recognises the function of drama and theatre in reflecting
social and cultural aspects of human experience
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
HOUSE:ED 20 13
6 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

LESSON TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES RESOURCES REGISTER
PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES
1
WHAT IS THEATRE?
In the production of Miss Ophelia, the main character, Ophelia, longs to be a great actress but due to her very quiet voice,
she ends up working in the theatre as a prompt. Complete the following activities to introduce your students to
information or to extend their knowledge and understanding about theatre.
Have a class discussion about what a theatre is. Ask your students to work in small groups to complete the following
questions and tasks:
Date projector and
computer
Google images of theatres
and stage spaces.
1. What do you know about theatre?
2. Name some of the jobs that people have when working in the theatre. Explain what they do.
3. What questions do you have about theatre?
4. Where can you find more information about theatre?
Ask each group to feed back to the class.
You might like to show your class some Google images of theatres, stage spaces or theatre performances. Ask your
students to identify some of the similar features of theatres and stage space seen in the images.
Ask your students to share stories about times they have been to theatre or stories about plays of performances
they have participated in. They might do this in small groups or with a partner. As a class, share some of these
stories.
If you teach students in lower primary, the following link provides some fun interactive activities related to theatre:
Kids Work! - Theatre
http://knowitall.org/kidswork/theater/history/index.html
If you are teaching students in upper primary or lower secondary, ask them to complete a short research task on the
history of theatre buildings. The following link is a possible starting point:
The Theatres Trust
http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/exploring-theatres/what-makes-a-theatre
Have a class discussion about going to the theatre and how this type of entertainment might be different to watching
television or a movie. Create a list of similarities and differences between watching a play in a theatre, watching a
7 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

film in a cinema and watching a film on television at home.
A follow up activity that you might like to consider is one of the free Sydney Opera House Digital Education
Programs: Discover the House. For more information go to:
Digital Education Programs
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/education/HouseEd_digital_education_programs.aspx
2 MISS OPHELIA
The production of Miss Ophelia is based on the children’s book, Ophelia’s Shadow Theatre by Michael Ende. If
you can locate a copy of the story you might like to read sections to the class.
Date projector and
computer
Show the class the trailer for Miss Ophelia on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um0uAeL-Gdg
Ask them to connect what they know about theatre from activity one by identifying aspects of theatre performance that
can be seen in the footage of the production in the Youtube clip.
In pairs, ask your students to complete the following:
1. What sort of theatre space do think this production might be performed in?
2. What sets and props did you see used in the clip?
3. When listening to the music and looking at the actions of the two performers, how do you think you might
respond to the performance when you visit the theatre?
4. Apart from the performers, what other types of people who work in the theatre might have been involved in
putting this play together.
5. What moments in the clip show the use of puppetry and shadow puppetry?
3
ME AND MY SHADOW
In this activity your students will use drama skills to create shadows characters. If you have access to an overhead
projector, use this to show students how shadows are created depending on the light source, the direction of the
light and the position of the object casting the shadow in relation to the light source. Ask them to think about how a
shadow might move and how they might use control of their own movement to create a shadow character.
To prepare your students for acting work by completing a physical warmup. Ask your students to find somewhere
8 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

in the room where they can work on their own and explain that this activity will help them use their bodies
effectively to create a character. Ask them to complete different types of stretches as part of a warm up. You could
ask different students to lead a stretch and have everyone else copy. Once you have completed a few stretches ask
your students to stand as high as they can on their toes and reach their arms up towards the ceiling. Have them
repeat this stretch trying each time to reach a little higher. Ask your students to sit on the floor with their legs
straight out in front of them. Ask them to begin wiggling their toes in their shoes. Then to focus on moving their feet
by flexing and rotating their ankles. Now ask your students to stand. Ask them to gently swing one leg back and
forth and then repeat this using their other leg. Ask them to crouch bending their knees and then to stand as high as
they can on their toes.
Ask your students to work individually. They begin by making a very small shape curled up on the floor. Explain to
the class that as you count to ten, they are to imagine that the sun is slowly crossing the sky, and that they will
become the shadows of trees, buildings and other objects that grow and then disappear as the sun sets. Repeat this
activity a few times to help develop skills of movement and control of timing.
Ask your students to work with a partner. Explain that they will need to use their skills of observation to copy their
partner. One partner is to stand about two metres in front of the other so that the person behind can see the whole
body of the person in front. On your instruction, the pairs are to move through the room at a slow walking pace. The
person behind their partner is to ‘shadow’ the person in front by always copying their movement exactly while
maintaining the same distance between them as they move. Ask some volunteer pairs to show how good they are at
following each other. Repeat the activity but the person following is now the leader and the person leading is now
the follower. Keep swapping the leader and follower roles as the pairs develop more skill at the activity. They can
start to add other movements and actions to copy as they become more confident.
Read the following poem with your class:
My Shadow – Robert Louis Stevenson http://www.storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/shadow.htm
Read the poem again changing the personal pronoun from ‘he’ to ‘she’. Before you begin the second reading, ask your
students to think about the kind of relationship the poet is describing that he has with his shadow. Divide the class
into groups of four. Each group must choose two readers and two performers. They are to rehearse a reading and
acting out of the poem for the class. After you have seen some of the performances, ask your students to write their
own ‘shadow’ poem.
Ask your students to work with the same partner. Each pair is to make up a short role play that shows a person and
their shadow. Encourage your students to be inventive with characters rather than playing themselves. For example
9 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

a football coach, a little old lady, an artist or a violinist.
In the role play, the shadow initially copies the human character exactly but in one moment, they must play a trick
on the human character when they are not looking. The human character suspects something has happened but
does not catch the shadow. Allow the pairs time to prepare and then ask the pairs to show their performances to the
class. Give feedback on a strong use of movement, the ability of pair to remain focussed as they perform or their
ability to copy each other’s movements exactly or their ability to create comedy in the moment where the shadow
tricks the human character.
POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES
4
REFLECTION AND EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE
After the visit to the Sydney Opera House, ask your students to make connections between what they know about
theatre from activity one and their experience of visiting the Opera House and seeing the performance of Miss Ophelia.
Ask them to reflect on the performance. The following questions can be used as a guideline for a discussion or a written
response to the performance:
What is the play Miss Ophelia about? You might like to give groups time to prepare freeze frames to show a summary
of the plot.
Give two examples of things the actors did to make you feel involved in the performance.
Why did Ophelia not get a job as an actress in the theatre?
Name the job Ophelia did get and explain what she had to do.
Describe how the actors changed the stage to show Ophelia doing her job in the theatre.
Describe two moments you liked where shadow puppetry was used in the play.
When they were introduced, who was your favourite shadow character and why?
Why was Ophelia asked to leave her apartment by the landlord?
How did she deal with this challenge?
What moments did you find funny in the play? Why?
10 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

What sort of music was used in the performance?
Was there anything you did not like about the performance? Why?
5
SHADOW PUPPETRY
The web links below provide short clips of shadow puppets to show your students. When they have watched the clips
ask them to complete the following questions:
Richard Bradshaw – Shadow Puppeteer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNsJ6kDVbfk&feature=related
Shadow Magic Performance With Animals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWQ3Ep3NdiA
1. What characters did you see in the clips?
2. What moments did you enjoy?
3. Why are shadow puppets different from other puppets?
4. Do you know of any other countries where shadow puppets are part of their culture?
5. How did the puppeteers create the shadows?
6. If you shine a light on a wall and create a shadow, how do you make the image bigger or smaller?
7. In the clips, how did puppeteers remain hidden?
Use an over head projector or data projector and shine the light onto a wall. Ask volunteer students to come up to
the screen and practice making shadow puppets with their hands. Encourage your students to explore how their
distance changes the size of the shadow. Ask two volunteers to create hand shadow puppets of ducks or swans
(the easiest hand shadow puppet). Ask the pair to pretend that the birds are talking to each other by
synchronizing the movement of the hands with their voices. Ask for several more volunteers to have a turn at this.
11 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

This activity asks your students to create simple rod shadow puppets. The skill level required for this task is
suitable for upper primary students. You will need to provide your students with sheets of sturdy card, scissors,
bamboo rods (bamboo cooking skewers can work well but cut off the pointy ends), stick tape. You will also need a
shadow puppet theatre space. This can be easy to create with the use of an overhead projector, a blank wall or a
length of white sheeting hung over a freestanding clothes rack etc.
Ask the class to divide into groups of three. Each group is to invent a short story about three animals. You might
like to read some Aesop’s fables as a class to get inspiration for story lines. Once the groups have decided on their
story ask them to create their shadow puppets. If they need assistance with drawing an animal shape, find
templates from picture books that can be used as a model for the puppets. The following web link is a simple but
useful resource for your students to explain how a shadow puppet performance works. You may not be able to
create a rear projection set up. Using an overhead projector on a wall is fine for this activity.
Shadow Puppets and Their Presentation
http://www.magicalmoonshine.org/shadow.htm
6 SCRIPT WRITING
In this activity you will teach your students about the conventions of script writing. They will individually write their
own short scripted scene and share these scenes with others in the class. The following link contains some excellent
resources including examples of script formats and layout.
Primary Resources – Texts – Fiction - Playscripts
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishC5.htm
Ask your students to write a short six or eight line duologue. In this duologue they are to choose one of the following
situations to write dialogue for:
1. Two people talk about the amazing shadow play they saw when they visited Ophelia’s Travelling Shadow Theatre.
12 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

2. Two cleaners in the theatre where Ophelia works talk about the strange shadows they have seen in the corridors.
3. Ophelia’s mother and father talking about going to the theatre to see Ophelia at work
4. Two shadows in Ophelia’s theatre make jokes about the actors.
When your students write their duologues, they are to practice using the conventions of script writing including
character names and stage or acting directions. When they have written their scenes, ask your students to work
with a partner. Each pair is to choose one of the duologues they have written to present to the class.
Explain to your students that they will write a short scene involving three or four characters. This will take maybe
three lessons to complete. The scene is to be about shadows. To stimulate imagination and ideas for scenes, you
might like to read with your students extracts from the following books:
Miss Ophelia’s Shadow Theatre by Michael Ende
Shadow by Suzy Lee
The Boy With Two Shadows by Margaret Mahy
The Sly Old Wardrobe by Ivan Southall
If there is time, ask your students to volunteer to read character parts from each other’s scenes so that all scenes are
read aloud to the class. The class might like to then choose the best scenes to rehearse and perform.
7
SHADOWS AND SILHOUETTES
In the performance of Miss Ophelia, the shadows she collects entertain audiences by re-telling the stories
Ophelia has told them in a shadow theatre. This activity will require the use of an overhead projector and a
length of white fabric or a white flat sheet that can be hung to create a screen for silhouettes and shadows. The
overhead projector will need to be placed behind the screen with enough distance between the screen and the
projector for your students to create shadows using their bodies.
13 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

View the following clips with your students. The dancers and performers in these clips are using movement and
body shape to create the illusions of animals objects and landmarks. The clip from Britain’s Got Talent shows
how the images can create a story.
Dance Theatre Company Pilobolus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYftvseVzuI
Britain’s Got Talent – Shadow Dance Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4q2E8Q3ONM
After viewing the performances, discuss with your students how the performers used body shape and
movement to create objects, animals and landmarks.
Ask the class to work in small groups. Each group is to choose one object, animal or image from the clips they
have just seen. Allow time for the groups to work together to create the shape that, in silhouette, would give the
illusion of the object or animal. Try these out using the rear projection screen. Ask the class to help each group
adjust their shape to make the images clearer and more accurate representations.
The clips show many examples of transformation, where one image changes to show a different object or
animal. Working in the same groups, ask your students to work out how they might change from one object or
animal to another in a way that is a smooth transition. You may need to direct the class using an example. Ask
all groups to form an image of a house. Then ask the groups to create an image of trees in a garden. Next ask the
group to work out how they can use their control of movement and timing to change from the house to the trees
over five counts. Ask for volunteers to show their transition using the shadow screen. Ask the class to help the
volunteer groups improve their transition by providing feedback on better ways to make the transitions from
one image to another.
If you are working with older students, you might like to set a group performance task where they either adapt
14 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

an existing short story or create their own shadow story that can only be told through a series of shadow
images that transform from one to another.
TEACHER’S OVERVIEW AND UNIT EVALUATION
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
HOUSE:ED 20 13
15 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
Kids Work! - Theatre
http://knowitall.org/kidswork/theater/history/index.html
The Theatres Trust
http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/exploring-theatres/what-makes-a-theatre
Digital Education Programs
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/education/HouseEd_digital_education_programs.aspx
Miss Ophelia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um0uAeL-Gdg
My Shadow – Robert Louis Stevenson
http://www.storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/shadow.htm
Richard Bradshaw – Shadow Puppeteer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNsJ6kDVbfk&feature=related
Shadow Magic Performance With Animals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWQ3Ep3NdiA
Shadow Puppets and Their Presentation
http://www.magicalmoonshine.org/shadow.htm
Primary Resources – Texts – Fiction - Playscripts
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishC5.htm
Dance Theatre Company Pilobolus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYftvseVzuI
Britain’s Got Talent – Shadow Dance Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4q2E8Q3ONM
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
HOUSE:ED 2013
16 Miss Ophelia Teachers Resource Notes