The Odyssey Activity Pack

Transcription

1 World-class theatre for children The Odyssey Activity Pack Page 1

2 All of the exercises are suitable for KS2 pupils The Odyssey and the Iliad were written around three thousand years ago. They were written as epic poems and traditionally would have been told by a bard rather than read as a story. Many versions of The Odyssey have been written, Polka have adapted this production from Geraldine McCaughrean s retelling. Our version is told by Tiresias. Tiresias is a blind soothsayer or oracle who lives in the underworld; he has been inspired by the Gods to tell the story of Odysseus. Warm up games These games are designed to get the class thinking about the world of the play and about the characters in it. Stealing from the Cyclops Odysseus is often called crafty and cunning. This game is to get the class to use some of Odysseus cunning and steal the keys from the Cyclops. Ask the class to form a circle. One of the students volunteers to sit in the centre of the circle wearing a blindfold. This is the blinded Cyclops. A bunch of keys or a noisy instrument such as a tambourine is paced in front of the Cyclops. The teacher will then silently point to a student in turn so they can approach the Cyclops in the circle. The aim is for someone to steal the keys from the Cyclops without being heard. Each time the Cyclops hears a noise they must point towards the sound. If they point directly at a student creeping forward this student must go back to their place and the next student creeps forward. Page 2

3 Un, Deux, Trois Soleil! A variation on Grandmother s footsteps. During their many years at sea, Odysseus and his men must learn to work together to overcome dangers. This game will encourage them to work as a team; they must act collectively and not individually. Ask the class to stand at one end of the room. One student will volunteer to be the Sun God. The Sun God stands at the other end of the room with a ball or small object at their feet. The Sun God turns their back and begins to count Un, deux, trois, soleil The Sun God will turn and face the group on the word soleil. When The Sun God has their back turned, the group must sneak up on them. When the Sun God is facing the group, the group must be completely still. If they move they must return to the back of the room. When the group reaches the Sun God, they must attempt to steal the ball and, passing it between them, return it to the back of the room. Every time the Sun God faces the group, they have one guess at who has the ball. If the Sun God gets it right, the ball is returned and the game begins again. If the Sun God gets it wrong, the game continues. After each round encourage them to share tactics to develop better strategies. Physical Theatre exercises Get the class creating shapes and working physically. This is also great for team building and working together. Split the class into groups of five or six. The teacher will call out a shape and the class will work together to form this shape with their bodies. For example; circle, star, and cube. Starting with simple shapes the groups can discuss what the plan is and help each other into position. When they have formed a shape you can move between then and assess their efforts, a winner can also be chosen each time. This is judged on how well they worked together, the originality of their design, and how clear the shape is. Once they have created two or three shapes and understand how the exercise works, ask them to work in silence. The shapes can also become more complicated. For example; a boat, the sea, a Cyclops, the Sirens, a bag of wind. Page 3

4 Greek Gods and Goddesses Fact File These are the Gods that feature in The Odyssey. See if your class can find any more facts on each of the Gods. Ask them to write down when they appear in the play; do they help Odysseus? Do they stop him getting home? And how they help or hinder Odysseus s journey? Aphrodite goddess of beauty and love Apollo god of music, healing, and light Ares god of war Artemis goddess of the moon, hunting, and the protector of women Athena goddess of wisdom, justice, art, invention, and industry Circe a goddess well versed in sorcery, drugs, and herbs Demeter goddess of the harvest and fertility Dionysus god of wine and fertility Eos goddess of the wind, and the dawn Gaia earth; mother earth; primary goddess of fertility Hades god of the underworld Hebe goddess of youth Hephaestus god of fire Hera Queen of the gods; goddess of marriage and childbirth Hermes the messenger for the gods; god of wealth, luck, and travellers Oceanus god of the ocean Persephone Queen of the underworld; goddess of vegetation Poseidon god of the sea. Father of Polyphemus the Cyclops. Themis goddess of laws, justice, and order Zeus King of the gods; god of light and the sky The Odyssey- re told Ask the class to form a close circle standing shoulder to shoulder with their eyes closed. One by one the class will tell the story of The Odyssey by contributing a line or paragraph when they want to. They will speak one by one, in no particular order. It does not matter if more than one starts to speak, one person continues from this point. If however an important part of the story is missed, anyone may say Stop! Rewind and then add in the part that was missed. The contributions can be a few lines or a paragraph. If the class get stuck the teacher can join in as well until they remember where they are. This is a great exercise to remember the story and also to see which bits are the most interesting to the class. Page 4

5 Map of the Odyssey The Odyssey is an epic adventure story. Odysseus and his men are at sea for over ten years and visit many different islands and people. Create a map of the adventure to help the class understand the order of events and how far they travelled. Create a large map area made by linking up smaller sheets of paper on a desk or on the floor. Ask the class to gather around and together draw a large map of the journey. A simple way to map this out is to draw a rough shape of the Mediterranean Sea. Decide where the journey starts- Troy. And draw this onto the map and then ask the class where they go next the Land of the Lotus Eaters. This is then dawn on the map. The course of the journey can zig zag across the sea and can go in as many directions as the class decide. The locations are; Troy- where they are at war. The Land of the Lotus Eaters. The Cyclops Island. Aeolian Island- the floating copper Island. Land of the Laestrygon Giants. Aeaea-Circe s Palace. The Underworld- where they meet Tiresias. The Sirens, Charybdis the whirlpool, Scylla the many-headed sea serpent, Thrinacia- the home of Helios s Red Cows, Page 5

6 Ogygia -Calipso s Cave, Scheria- King Alcinous Island Ithaca- Home. Classroom map As an extension create the map three dimensionally. Using cloth and objects found in the space roughly map out the area. Try to use the whole space (classroom or hall) and each time you decide on an island ask two or three students to become the islanders. Questions; What does the island look like? What are the people like? What do they eat? How many people are there? Do they have neighbouring islands? Are they peaceful or at war? When the world is mapped out and all of the class has become places and people on the map, ask the small groups to discuss the island and the people who live there. Once they have their facts on their island they can share these back to rest of the class. Soundscapes In Polka s production of The Odyssey we use sound to create atmosphere throughout the play. This exercise brings the class into the world of the play and helps them to think about the setting and landscapes of the play. Ask the class to consider the various different settings in The Odyssey (refer back to the map exercise). As a group discuss what these various places wold be like. For example; what is the Island of the Lotus Eaters like? What animals live there? Is there singing? Is it windy? Can and you hear the sea? Once they have begun to get an idea of what a place is like you can begin creating a soundscape. Ask them work in their groups from the mapping exercise. Using their voices and other objects in the room, they will paint a soundscape of their island. Teacher note: The sounds can be animal noises, wind or water noises, human voices or the noise of machines etc. Once each group has their sound scape prepared the class can go on a listening adventure on each island and hear the sounds as Odysseus would have. After each performance of the island soundscape, ask the audience to say what they heard. Page 6

7 Questions; Was the Island hot or cold? A scary or a friendly place? Were there animals or people? The sea? Forests? Would they like to visit this island? Looping The Polka production of The Odyssey uses a technique called Looping. This is where a short phrase, beat or rhythm, is recorded live on the Looping machine. It can then be repeated back as many times as wanted. The machine can store more than one line, rhythm or noise and so a complicated textured piece of music or soundscape can be created by one person. In this exercise the group will become a human looping machine. Ask them to split into their small Island groups. First they should discuss what their particular island is like. Who lives there? Are there animals? Is it peaceful and relaxing? Or dangerous and scary? When they have a clear idea of the types of sounds ask them to decide who will make each repeated noise. Ask them to think about rhythm or a short phrase or tune that can be repeated over and over. One student will start first and then the next one will come in with the next layer until they are all repeating their part in a loop. Ask them to create different textures so that some are percussive rhythms, some are short tunes, some are animal sounds so that the atmosphere of the island is clear from their piece. This can then be performed back to the class. These can also be performed altogether as an Odyssey Orchestra. The teacher acts as a conductor and can bring each island in one at a time, mix two or more together, ask them all make their noises quietly or as loud as they can. Descriptive writing As an extension from this, working on their own, ask the class to write an Odysseus adventure on their own island. Questions; How did he arrive? Was he welcomed? Did he make friends or did he escape? What happened after he left? Were the people sad to see him go or did he leave damage behind? Have the people on the island learned anything from Odysseus and visitors? Page 7

8 Letters Home Odysseus is away from his home in Ithaca for 20 years. During this time he faced many dangers, and different adventures. His wife Penelope waits for him at home even though she is put under pressure to re-marry as Odysseus is assumed dead. When Odysseus leaves for the war in Troy his son Telemachus is only a baby. Telemachus grows up with only stories of his father and is treated badly by the men who want to marry Penelope. Ask the class to write a letter from the perspective of Odysseus. This letter can be written at any point in the story. For example; He can be brave and adventurous, or tired and yearning for home. They must detail an event that he has survived. This event can be something difficult and dangerous or a time when he was cunning and outsmarted someone. This letter is to either Penelope or Telemachus. What does he want to say to them? What does he want them to do? Does he miss them? Once the class has written their letter from Odysseus ask them to swap letters or hand these letters out to the class. They must now write a letter in response from either Telemachus or Penelope, depending on who the letter is to! This letter can describe what life is like in Ithaca. Are they happy? How are they coping without Odysseus? Does Penelope want to re-marry? Is she scared for Telemachus? Can Telemachus remember his father? Has he heard stories from the war? They must also respond to what they read in the letter. Are they proud of the tales? Or scared? Do they want him home or do they want to be with him on an adventure? The Underworld Adventurer s diary Odysseus and his crew must travel into the underworld so he can ask Tiresias the way home. Odysseus and his men do not want to go into the underworld and are scared of this adventure. Ask them to write a diary entry from the perspective of one of Odysseus men about their adventure into underworld. Page 8

9 Questions; what were they scared of? What did they think it would be like? Did they think they would come home? Were they excited and fearless? How did they feel about Odysseus for taking them into the Underworld? What was the journey like, travelling down into the underworld? How were the other men feeling? What did they see? What was the Underworld like? Who did they see? Did they talk to someone dead? Were they pleased to see a loved one? Underworld Characters Ask the class to think about the kinds of people in the Underworld. Some have been there a long time, others have only just arrived. Some died old, others died in battle young. Ask them to design a character for someone in the Underworld. They must decide on the character first; Who was this person when they were alive? Were they rich or poor? Did they have a job? Were they old or young? They must then draw what this person looked like and what they wore when they were alive, how do they look after years in the underworld? A costume designer thinks about the colours and materials that a character would wear and how these choices reflect the personality of who they are designing for. Ask the class to note down on their designs what materials they would use. These characters can be realistic or fantastical, scary or funny; whatever they choose. Page 9