The Magic Flute digital resource book

THE MAGIC FLUTE
RESOURCE WORKBOOK
2021/22
- Generously supported by The Taylor Family Foundation and
The Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation

YOUR VISIT
We are really excited to welcome you and
your students to the Royal Opera House for
the Schools’ Matinee of The Magic Flute on
Friday 24 September 2021.
Welcome to the Royal Opera House film
This film introduces you and your students to the Royal
Opera House, guiding them through the spaces they will visit,
introducing them to some of the people they will encounter and
some of the exciting things they might see.
Cover and left photo of Tuuli Takala as Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute ©2019 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton

THE STORY
ACT I
Tamino is saved from a serpent by the Queen of the Night’s
Three Ladies. Papageno pretends he killed the serpent and
the Three Ladies tell him off for lying. They show Tamino
a picture of the Queen’s daughter Pamina and he falls in
love with her. They explain that she is held prisoner by the
evil enchanter Sarastro. The Queen tells Tamino that he
can marry Pamina if he rescues her. The Three Ladies give
Tamino a magic flute and Papageno some magic bells.
Papageno arrives at Sarastro’s palace and finds Sarastro’s
servant Monostatos threatening Pamina. He helps her
escape and explains that Tamino will rescue her.
Tamino meets a wise old man who tells him that all is not
as it seems. Tamino plays his magic flute. Animals come
and dance, and at last Papageno answers with his pipes.
Pamina and Papageno are discovered by Monostatos and
his men. Papageno plays a cheerful tune on his magic bells
which enchants them, and they dance cheerfully away.
Pamina tells Sarastro and his followers about Monostatos’s
cruel behaviour, and Sarastro orders him to be punished.
Pamina and Tamino are overjoyed to meet at last. However,
Sarastro tells them that Tamino and Papageno must
undergo tests of wisdom. If they succeed, they can join
Sarastro’s Brotherhood.
ACT II
Sarastro and his Priests pray for Tamino and Papageno to
succeed in their tests. Sarastro is confident that Tamino can
become a wise man and live happily with Pamina.
Tamino and Papageno’s first test is to keep silent, even
when they are spoken to. Tamino is determined to keep
his promise, but Papageno is easily distracted, particularly
when the Queen’s Three Ladies arrive and warn them about
Sarastro.
Monostatos tries to kiss Pamina while she is asleep. He
hurries away as the Queen of the Night arrives. The Queen
gives Pamina a dagger and tells her to kill Sarastro. Pamina
is very upset and doesn’t know what to do.
Papageno has a strange encounter with an old woman who
tells him that her name is Papagena. Meanwhile Pamina
encounters Tamino, who – keeping his vow of silence –
won’t speak to her. Pamina is in despair.
• Will Pamina carry out her mother’s wicked plan?
• Will Sarastro take revenge on the Queen if Pamina
reveals her plot?
• Will Pamina discover why Tamino seems cold and silent?
• Will Papageno and Tamino pass their tests and join the
Brotherhood?
• And will Papageno finally find love?

THE CHARACTERS
TAMINO
PAMINA
PAPAGENO
THE THREE BOYS
This young prince is the hero of
A princess and the daughter of the
A bird-catcher and a loveable man
They guide Tamino and Papageno on their
Mozart’s opera. He is brave and
Queen of the Night. She has been
– even if he lies sometimes! He
journey, advising them to be steadfast and
honest. He is also an excellent
taken prisoner by the mysterious
catches birds for a living and hopes
patient. They also reassure Pamina of Tamino’s
musician, and he hopes to fall in
Sarastro. She hopes to fall in love.
to be married. He plays his pipes
love when he takes a vow of silence.
love and become a wise man.
and magic bells.
Benjamin Hulett as Tamino in The Magic Flute ©2019 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton
Janai Brugger as Pamina ©ROH/Mark Douet, 2015
Vito Priante as Papageno in The Magic Flute ©2019 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton
Siobhan Stagg as Pamina In The Magic Flute ©2017 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton

THE CHARACTERS
SARASTRO
High Priest and the powerful leader
of a mysterious Brotherhood. Is it a
force for good, and is Sarastro an
evil sorcerer or a good magician?
THE QUEEN OF
THE NIGHT
Princess Pamina’s mother. She asks
Tamino to rescue her daughter, and
promises him that he can marry
PAPAGENA
Papagena is not quite what she
seems to be when we first meet
her. Will she meet her perfect
match in Papageno?
THE THREE LADIES
They save Tamino from the serpent and punish
Papageno for lying by padlocking his mouth.
However, they also try to scare Tamino into
obeying their mistress, the Queen of the Night.
Pamina if he succeeds.
Mika Kares as Sarastro ©2017 ROH;
Christina Poulitsi as Queen of the Night ©2019 ROH.
Photographs by Tristram Kenton
Haegee Lee as Papagena ©2017 ROH.
Photograph by Bill Cooper
The Magic Flute ©2019 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton

THE COMPOSER
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–91)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a
very unusual person. Born in 1756 in
Salzburg, Austria, he became famous
when he was very young. He could play
the harpsichord (an early keyboard
instrument) from the age of three, learnt
the piano and viola quickly, too, and
was writing music from the age of four.
Mozart’s father, Leopold, and his sister,
Maria Anna (called ‘Nannerl’) were also
talented musicians. When Nannerl and
Wolfgang were small they toured
Europe, performing as ‘wonder children’.
They invented their own language
and a magical imaginary kingdom
called Rücken – which may have been
one of the earliest inspirations for
The Magic Flute.
Mozart wrote all sorts of music; he
wrote pieces for orchestras, for small
groups of musicians (called ‘chamber
music’), church music, concertos
(pieces for orchestra and a soloist),
songs, piano music and operas. Mozart
wrote his first full-length opera when
he was only 12. He went on to write 11
more complete operas, and various
other musical pieces for theatre. Some
of his operas are The Marriage of
Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1789), Così
fan tutte (1790) and The Magic
Flute (1791). They were very popular
and toured all over Europe, and are still
performed today at the Royal Opera
House and at other opera houses all
over the world.
The first performances of The Magic
Flute were enormously successful.
Mozart even played the ‘magic bells’ in
the orchestra for some shows and took
his little son to watch a performance.
However, less than two months after
the opening night, Mozart was taken
suddenly ill. He died on 5 December
1791 at the age of 35. By this time he
had written more than 600 pieces of
music, many of which are still famous
today.
TIMELINE
1756 Born in Salzburg, Austria
1759 Learned to play harpsichord, piano,
viola
1760 Started writing music
1768 Wrote his first full length opera
1781 Moved to Vienna, Austria
1791 Died in Vienna, Austria

POST PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 1 - MAKE A MAGICAL MOVING SERPENT
In The Magic Flute, Prince Tamino encounters many strange and
magical creatures; at the beginning of the opera, he is chased
and nearly killed by a giant serpent! In this activity, your students
will create their own slithering serpent in the classroom. They
can either do this individually or work together as a group to
make one giant serpent.
TIME GUIDELINE
45 minutes
YOU WILL NEED
• Paper – either colourful paper or paper that your students
have painted with their own designs. Students may wish to
combine two different colours or designs.
• Scissors (adult supervision may be necessary for any cutting)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Blu Tack
• Glue stick or PVA glue
• Two sticks – these could be wooden kebab sticks, chopsticks
or two strong sticks from outside.
• Thread or fine string
• Sellotape Benjamin Hulett as Tamino in The Magic Flute ©2019 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton

ACTIVITY 1 - MAKE A MAGICAL MOVING SERPENT
INSTRUCTIONS:

ACTIVITY 1 - MAKE A MAGICAL MOVING SERPENT
IDEAS TO EXTEND THIS ACTIVITY
Your students can try working together to make a really
big version of the puppet by using wider strips of paper, or a
really miniature one using smaller strips.
They could also experiment with the placement of the strings,
sticking the puppet on the end of two sticks instead of hanging
it from them or using different papers to construct the body.
Encourage them to use their imagination to decorate their
serpents!
Ask your students to explore how their serpents might move in
different ways to tell a story – they could create short animations
or films with their serpents.
Ask them to consider other magical creatures they could make
with these materials and what kind of otherworldly places they
come from, for example the Caterpillar in our ballet of Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland.
Artists of The Royal Opera in The Magic Flute ©ROH.
Photograph by Mike Hoban, 2011

ACTIVITY 2 - DRAW A MAGICAL MAP OF YOUR JOURNEY TO THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
The Magic Flute features a fantastical adventure and this activity
allows students to use their imagination to draw a map charting
their own epic journey from school to the Royal Opera House.
Ask your students to draw a map starting at school and ending
at the Royal Opera House. Ask them to consider what they want
to include on their map, how big or small different parts will be
and how realistic or fantastical it will be. Questions to pose could
include:
• How did they travel? By coach? Train?
• How long did the journey take? Was it long or short?
• What did they see en route? Things they knew or places they
had never seen before?
• Did they stop anywhere on the way?
• What obstacles did they encounter?
Production photo of The Magic Flute ©2019 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton

ACTIVITY 2 - DRAW A MAGICAL MAP OF YOUR JOURNEY TO THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
TIME GUIDELINE
30+ minutes
YOU WILL NEED
• Paper
• Pencil
• Colour pencils, pens or paint
• Any other decorations as necessary
IDEAS TO EXTEND THIS ACTIVITY
Ask your students to think about other journeys they’ve taken
and how they could represent them. They could:
• Describe them to each other using lots of descriptive
words
• Write a story in which they are the main character
• Build small 3D models using card or paper of some of
the sights they saw on their journey, to add to their 2D map

ACTIVITY 3 - CALL OF THE WILD
The story of The Magic Flute explores many different themes,
but above all, this is an opera about transformations. Use the
synopsis and character introductions in this booklet to ask your
students to explore the ways different characters develop and
transform as the story unfolds.
In this activity, your students are going to create a poem or
song inspired by the theme of transformations. Starting points
could be:
Who they are going to focus on for their inspiration?
• A character from the opera
• Themselves
• A person they admire
What style of poem or song are they going to write in? E.g.
• Limerick
• Ballad
• Sonnet
• Rhyming poetry
• Mnemonic
How will the language they use help tell the story? Would
repeated words or phrases help emphasise the transformative
aspects of the poem or song? They might use alliteration, simile,
metaphor or onomatopoeia in their poems.

ACTIVITY 3 - CALL OF THE WILD
What inspiration could they take from The Magic Flute? Clips of
some of the arias (songs) are available on our YouTube channel:
The Magic Flute – Queen of the Night aria
(Mozart; Diana Damrau, The Royal Opera)
TIME GUIDELINE
30+ minutes
IDEAS TO EXTEND THIS ACTIVITY
Ask the students to perform their pieces for each other and
respond as a group to what they enjoyed. Maybe they can write
reviews of each other’s performances.
Ask them to use their poems or songs as a starting point to write
their own opera plots:
• What happens in the story?
• When and where is it set?
• Who are the main characters?
The Magic Flute – ‘Pa–, pa–, pa–, Papageno’ duet
(Mozart; Gansch, Williams; The Royal Opera)
Siobhan Stagg as Pamina In The Magic Flute ©2017 ROH.
Photograph by Tristram Kenton

NATIONAL PROGRAMMES
We place creative learning at the centre of children’s education,
through certified CPD and online programmes, opening a
window into the world of ballet, opera and theatrecraft.
Our resources, created together with teachers in schools across
the UK:
• Build teachers’ confidence, providing the tools to facilitate
learning through the arts. No previous experience required.
• Develop students’ creativity, resilience, communication and
and other transferable skills.
• Are relevant to current school topics, providing a theme for
cross-curricular work and a springboard for literacy.
WE OFFER:
• Practical training for KS1 to KS5 teachers country-wide.
• Free digital resources offering two-lesson (Taster), five-lesson
(Explorer) and ten-lesson (Immersive) schemes of work.
• Introductory films that inspire and entertain students,
reinforcing the activities and concepts they encounter in the
lessons.
• Programmes schools can use to suppor their ArtsMark
journey. Arts Award Explore or Discover resources also available.

FURTHER PROGRAMMES
CREATE & DANCE
createanddance@roh.org.uk
KS1 to KS3
This programme provides an understanding of dance
by unlocking children’s imaginations and creativity.
CREATE & SING
createandsing@roh.org.uk
KS1 to KS3
This programme develops skills in singing, drama,
storytelling, characterization and music.
CREATE & DESIGN
createanddesign@roh.org.uk
KS1 to KS3
Develop an understanding of stage design and follow
a brief to design sets for a ballet.
CREATE & LEARN
For more information on all of our programmes
visit: learning-platorm.roh.org.uk