The Birthday of the Infanta Resource & Education Pack

Resource and Education Pack

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Contents THIS PACK IS COLOUR CODED FOR EASY REFERENCE: Practical Exercises and Devising People Curriculum Information & Description

3 4-5 6 7 8 9 - 10 11 - 12 13 14 15 - 16 17 18 - 19 20 21 - 22 23 – 27 28 29

Introduction Note from the Director, Emily Gray Note from Georgina Roberts About Trestle Unmasked About the Production Character List Curriculum Links Oscar Wilde: A brief history List of Wilde’s literary Works Oscar Wilde Timeline The One-Person Show Games and Exercises Interview with Emily Gray Games for a Break Script Excerpts Links and Glossary Appendix

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Introduction The Birthday of the Infanta is the latest production from Trestle, one of Britain‘s leading touring companies, and is an exciting partnership with Unicorn, the UK‘s flagship theatre for young people.

Trestle Unmasked collaborates with UK and international artists to create physical storytelling theatre, unifying movement, music and text into a compelling theatrical experience. Our productions engage a diverse range of audiences and reach out to as many people as possible. Trestle Unmasked builds on Trestle‘s international reputation for exciting collaborations with leading artists from India, Eastern Europe, Africa and currently Spain; the choreographer for this production has come from Barcelona to bring Spanish dance influences to Trestle.

Unicorn, like Trestle, believes passionately in the creation of work that engages all age groups, experimenting with modern technologies and traditional tools of theatre to create work that is visceral, vibrant, and above all, relevant to the world that we live in today.

Unicorn as well as creating their own productions, host visits by some of the UK and World‘s other great theatre companies for young people. Since opening in December 2005, international guests have come from Sweden, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, South Africa and Japan. Unicorn stages over 620 performances a year as well as a wide range of special events, workshops and theatre activities.

Included in this Education and Resource pack are interviews with the cast and production team describing their involvement with the show, as well as information on the history of 16th century Spain and the life and works of Oscar Wilde.

We also introduce you to some of the themes within the production, and their contemporary relevance. We have provided you with some ideas and exercises that you can use with your group enabling you to explore the story, ideas, and storytelling techniques behind The Birthday of the Infanta. The content of this pack can be used to link in with various elements of the national Curriculum and with GCSE and A Level specifications.

Together with this pack Trestle also offers a highly physical and practical workshop entitled Infantasia.

For more information please contact 01727 850950 or email takingpart@trestle.org.uk visit our website at www.trestle.org.uk

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A Note from Emily Gray- Director I was searching for a story that could encompass and develop the theatrical languages that Trestle has been working with over the past phase; the dance influence of flamenco, Indian physical storytelling and the vocally rhythmic polish work. These have combined to create the style of Trestle Unmasked, which unifies movement, music and text. Any text we work with as a company has to inspire visual interpretation and have a good enough story to be fascinating, but enough space within the text to create physical playfulness. Dramaturg and writer Carl Miller suggested I read Oscar Wilde‘s short story, The Birthday of the Infanta, as he rightly believed this would provide us with a strong starting point for a Trestle process.

From my first read of the story I was convinced that it should be told by one person on stage. The two major characters, the princess and the ugly boy are lonely children; neither have a mother and their fathers show no care. Both of them attract attention, she because she is royal and pretty, him because he is disabled and funny. Although the girl and boy meet in the public arena of her birthday celebrations, the journeys that their hearts take are private. We decided that a lone storyteller should witness the climax of their relationship and then carry the burden of its reverberations through the centuries.

Influenced by the conceit in Coleridge‘s Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner of the man duty bound to tell and retell his story, and the mysterious longevity of the life lived over many centuries by Virginia Woolf‘s character Orlando, played by Tilda Swinton in the Sally Potter film, we began to develop a character who was there when this story happened and since the 1650s has been telling the tale through art, through the written word and through performance.

We began with an edit of Oscar Wilde‘s words, the dance vocabulary of Spanish fan work, flamenco rhythm and steps, the Velasquez painting of Las Meninas as inspiration for a visual mapping of the stage space and characters, one physical performer with a brilliance in devising and integrating text, movement and musicality, musical ideas from the past four centuries, old Trestle masks and puppets to play with as additional characters. The process has taken into account the intensity of working with just one performer and a full creative team. We have worked to build each layer with the performer and a particular artist; so days with the designer were followed by sessions with the composer and a week with the choreographer. Each layer has to an extent been developed on its own and towards the end of rehearsal all the elements began to function together.

During every week of rehearsal we have invited an audience in to develop the performer and audience interaction in the piece. It was important from the start that the performer would have the audience‘s presence, commitment and actual physical help to tell the story. These elements could only be experimented with in the context of sharing the work. This began with adults and we then performed the story to children from 9 years up. Then teenagers were brought in and we have also experimented with the piece in front of a mixed age audience. Asking for the thoughts and responses of our visitors has helped to shape the audience involvement and the tone of the piece.

The Themes of the story strike as utterly relevant to the present day: beauty and ugliness; the status and preservation of beauty and the ridicule of and prejudice against ugliness; the potential for cold hollowness beneath the beautiful skin and for deep humanity and warmth within the ugly person.

Oscar Wilde was adored as a cultural aesthete, talented writer and celebrity wit; he was also ostracised and humiliated as an outsider, in part due to his homosexuality.

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His writing in this story barely disguises a seething critique of those with superficial yet influential attitudes to beauty and the morally repugnant hypocrites so prevalent in British society of the time and not unknown today.

I hope you enjoy our telling of this story and feel inspired develop its educative potential.

Artistic Director, Trestle Unmasked

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A Note from Georgina Roberts When Emily Gray first approached me with the idea of undertaking The Birthday of the Infanta as a solo performance I nearly fell off my chair! How does one take such an obscure example of one of Wilde's stories and bring it to life? And importantly, is it even possible for a single actress to re-imagine the many colours, patterns and characters contained in this magical tale?

At first it seemed almost unfeasible to take such a masterly story of pathos, humour and devastating Wildean genius from paper to the stage. However once I had regained a certain level of composure I was struck by the realisation that this could and would be the beginning of a magical and terrifying journey that is continuing to this very day.

The Infanta is rooted in obscurity, an entire world has to be concocted from mere words that can only be read from the tombs of history and yet the human soul and all its social responses are still resonant. Wilde's lampoon on our superficial response to beauty still cuts deep; and yet above all this is a children's story.

Why do I say all this? I suppose to give you a window into how one would even start to theatricalise the Infanta.

Personally I still do not hold the answer to this elusive question; however, more importantly, we have an incredible team here at Trestle who are continuously exploring, questioning and unearthing this beautiful tale. To be working with Trestle and in particular Emily Gray simply makes my heart sing. Equally, being reunited with Ramon Baeza at Increpaci贸n Danza is both an honour and a joy.

Rehearsals are forever filled with laughter, frolics and, yes, frustration, but we are all deeply falling in love with these characters. One especially... He evades us, we feel at times we do not give him justice and a quandary still exists over how we represent our little hero. However, there are times too when the Infanta smiles sweetly and in her beauty we fall.

A big inspiration for this particular re-telling of Wilde's masterful piece came from studying the beautiful Vel谩squez painting: Las Meninas, as it did for Wilde himself all those years before... In the painting the little Infanta takes centre stage, behind in the shadows lurks a character, watching and witnessing, quietly taking in and collating all that he sees.

Can a story span the ages? Yes, I think it can... Wilde believed that truth was less exciting than any fabrication fuelled by imagination. The Infanta is a beautiful wedding between those two.

We are given a gift of a truly enchanting journey, an unfolding narrative that may make any heart bleed.

With joy, my hand is held out, ready to take you with me!

Georgina Roberts, Performer

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About Trestle Unmasked Trestle has been making innovative and inspirational physical storytelling theatre since 1981. Founded by students from Middlesex University Sally Cook, Alan Riley and Toby Wilsher with the help of their course tutor, John Wright. They were soon joined by Joff Chafer and the Company developed a distinctive style of theatre using masks, puppets and music, and soon became one of Britain‘s leading touring theatre companies. Find out more about Trestle's past touring productions.

In April 2002, after 20 years of nomadic existence, the Company moved into Trestle Arts Base, a £2,000,000 refurbishment of the 100-year-old Hill End Hospital Chapel in St Albans, Hertfordshire. As well as providing the Company with its first ever permanent home, Trestle Arts Base has gained its own reputation as a successful performing arts centre.

A new era began in 2004, when Toby Wilsher, the last remaining founding Artistic Director left the Company, and Emily Gray was appointed as the new Artistic Director.

Today, Trestle Unmasked collaborates with UK and international artists to unify movement, music and text into a compelling theatrical experience.

Our productions tour nationally engaging a diverse range of audiences and reach out to as many people as possible with an unrivalled participatory programme. Little India (2007) was Trestle's first unmasked production and the first in a trilogy of internationally influenced storytelling theatre pieces. Working with Indian theatre company Little Jasmine, Trestle recreated a telling of a classic Indian love story for a contemporary audience. In 2008 Trestle worked with Barcelona-based dance company Increpación Danza to develop Lola, which told the story of Lola Montez, the infamous 19th century fake Spanish dancer.

2009 saw Trestle use Eastern European physical and vocal techniques to tell the Polish fable of The Glass Mountain, and in 2010 began the first of two collaborations with emerging companies Moonfool and Blindeye. Moon Fool; ill met by moonlight was an inventive re-imagining of A Midsummer Night's Dream, combining original music and playful movement. Burn My Heart, based on the novel by award winning writer Beverley Naidoo, used African and European music and movement styles combined with a powerful mix of text, compelling storytelling and physical theatre, to tell a fast-paced, devastating, and highly relevant story.

This year sees us embark on two productions in partnership Unicorn Theatre, the first, The Birthday of the Infanta is based on Oscar Wilde‘s bittersweet eponymous fairytale and the second is an Indian adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson‘s magical Snow Queen, which will open at the Unicorn early 2012. Trestle‘s Autumn 2011 production, again in collaboration with Blindeye, is The Man with the Luggage, and takes it‘s inspiration from Eugène Ionesco‘s absurdist play of the same name.

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About the production A one-woman interpretation of Oscar Wilde‘s bittersweet fairytale, re-imagined through physical storytelling theatre.

The Birthday of the Infanta is a short story by Oscar Wilde Written in 1888, which tells of the events arranged to entertain the princess, culminating in a performance by an ugly boy, and the way in which their meeting affects both their lives forever.

The Birthday of the Infanta is about a transitional moment of choice, when the heart could melt or freeze - should the princess run wild in the forest or deny her true emotions to survive at court?

Using Trestle‘s unique style and drawing on the passion of flamenco, the performer in this one show will take the audience on a compelling journey, through the constraints of social hierarchies to the price paid for love. In an age of supreme superficiality, Trestle Unmasked explores how we can value inner generosity and beauty.

The Birthday of the Infanta unites key members of the creative teams behind Trestle‘s last four years of work exploring dynamic cultural influences and the extraordinary bond between performer and audience. In this vibrant production, Trestle will collaborate with Ramón Baeza, director of Increpación Danza, choreographer on Trestle‘s production of Lola: The life of Lola Montez, which toured through 2008-9.

The Production Team Performer

Georgina Roberts

Director Adapter / Dramaturg

Emily Gray Carl Miller

Choreographer Composer Designer Lighting Designer Technical Stage Manager

Ramon Baeza (Increpación Danza) Laurence Kaye Jean Chan Anna Watson Matt O’Leary

Costume Maker Mask Maker Set Construction Magic Consultant Directorial Intern

Francis Morris Verity Sadler Edward Pearcey Jude Berry Rose Adolph

Executive Producer Associate Artist Marketing Manager

Jo Salkilld Oliver Jones Rhian Desborough

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Character List For the first time, Trestle Theatre Company has created a one-woman show. The task of bringing the many characters contained in the story to life falls directly at the feet of Georgina Roberts Georgina trained at the Guilford School of Acting and has worked in theatre for the past 14 years.

Her theatre credits include Simon Armitage‘s Mister Heracles for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Jungle Book, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and 101 Dalmatians for the Northampton Royal, All’s Well That Ends Well and The Waves, for the Battersea Arts Centre, Hysteria for the Royal Court and she also performed in Forecast Fog for the National Theatre.

For Trestle, Georgina played Lola, on tour across the UK throughout 08/09 and in 2010 she joined physical theatre company Gecko. Last year she toured internationally with The Overcoat and is currently developing Gecko‘s new show Missing.

Main Characters The Chamberlain (Narrator) – A chamberlain is in charge of managing the Royal household. In the play The Chamberlain acts as the narrator interacting heavily with the audience. His main role is to tell the story and act as an anchor point for the narrative.

The Princess (The Infanta of Spain) – The Infanta is the daughter of the King of Spain, born into royalty and therefore automatically finds herself at the top of the social ladder. Her interaction with the ‗real‘ world is limited and so her perceptions and opinions are often very naïve. Despite this she is still a child and as such her innocence is preserved

The Duchess The Duchess of Albuquerque always accompanies the Infanta and is a sour faced, strict governess.

The King of Spain – As his title suggests he is the highest-ranking figure in the country and therefore is a very powerful figure and a figurehead for the upper classes. His wife died 6 months after the birth of the Infanta and the King continues to mourn for her; he refuses to marry again and reinforce Spain‘s position as an imperial power.

Don Pedro – Don Pedro of Aragon is the king‘s brother; the King hates him and he is suspected of having caused the Queen‘s death. He is ambitious and conniving, but plays the kind, fun-loving Uncle to the Infanta.

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The Grand Inquisitor of Granada – The religious figure who is always at the side of the King. He is a figurehead of the Inquisition, which has been in Spain for years and is being established across the Spanish Empire.

The Ugly Boy – The ugly boy is an ordinary citizen of Spain, born into the lower classes with a disability/deformity. The attitudes he comes across regarding his being and appearance are very negative, reflecting attitudes of the time, which are still prevalent in society today.

Secondary Characters THE TOREADORS THE BULL THE FRENCH POSTURE MASTER THE ITALIAN PUPPETS THE SNAKE CHARMER THE FLAMENCO DANCERS THE GYPSIES THE BARBARY APE THE DANCING BEAR THE ROSE THE TULIP THE LILY THE CACTUS THE GERANIUM THE VIOLETS THE SUNDIAL THE PEACOCK THE BIRDS THE LIZARDS

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Curriculum Links The exercises included in this resource pack can be used when teaching elements of the National Curriculum specifications in English (Drama) and Citizenship at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 as well as with GCSE and A Level specifications in Drama and Theatre Studies.

English (Drama) at KS2 To participate in a wide range of drama activities and to evaluate their own and others' contributions, pupils should be taught to: Create, adapt and sustain different roles, individually and in groups Use character, action and narrative to convey story, themes, emotions, ideas in plays they devise and script Use dramatic techniques to explore characters and issues [for example, hot seating, flashback] Evaluate how they and others have contributed to the overall effectiveness of performances.

Drama activities should include: Improvisation and working in role Scripting and performing in plays Responding to performances.

English (Drama) at KS3 & 4 To participate in a range of drama activities and to evaluate their own and others' contributions, pupils should be taught to: Use a variety of dramatic techniques to explore ideas, issues, texts and meanings Use different ways to convey action, character, atmosphere and tension when they are scripting and performing in plays [for example, through dialogue, movement, pace] Citizenship at KS3 & 4 2.1 Critical thinking and enquiry Pupils should be able to: Engage with and reflect on different ideas, opinions, beliefs and values when exploring topical and controversial issues and problems Research, plan and undertake enquiries into issues and problems using a range of information and sources Analyse and evaluate sources used, questioning different values, ideas and viewpoints and recognizing bias Evaluate different viewpoints, exploring connections and relationships between viewpoints and actions in different contexts (from local to global)

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KS3) Range and Content The changing nature of UK society, including the diversity of ideas, beliefs, cultures, identities, traditions, perspectives and values that are shared.

GCSE Drama Assessment Objectives: Students will be assessed on their ability to: AO1 Demonstrate ability in and knowledge and understanding of the practical skills in drama necessary for the realisation of a presentation to an audience, working constructively with others; AO2 Respond with knowledge and understanding to plays and other types of drama from a performance perspective and to explore relationships and comparisons between texts and dramatic styles of different periods and of different cultures in order to show an awareness of their social context and genre; A Level Drama & Theatre Studies (Edexcel): Unit 5 Devising AO1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the ways in which playwrights, directors, designers and performers use the medium of drama to communicate their ideas to an audience demonstrating knowledge and understanding of social, cultural and historical contexts.

AO2 Interpret plays and ideas using the medium of drama in a sophisticated way and justify any artistic decisions from the standpoint of an informed playwright, director, performer and/or designer.

AO3 Communicate ideas, feelings and/or meaning to an audience making effective use of performing and/or design skills within the context of both devised and scripted work.

THOUGHT POINT There are several cross-curricular links within the process of exploring The Birthday of the Infanta.

For example: History, Personal Social Education, English, Dance Are there others?

Would you consider a combined project with another department?

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Oscar Wilde: A brief history Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde) was born in Dublin on 16th October 1854 to Sir William Wilde and his wife Jane.

Oscar's mother, Lady Jane Francesca Wilde, was a successful poet and journalist. She wrote patriotic Irish verse under the pseudonym "Speranza". Oscar's father, Sir William Wilde was a leading ear and eye surgeon, a renowned philanthropist and gifted writer, who wrote books on archaeology and folklore. Oscar had an elder brother, Willie, and a younger sister, Isola Francesca, who died at the early age of 10.

Wilde was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (1864-71), Trinity College, Dublin (1871-74) and Magdalen College, Oxford (1874-78). While at Oxford, he became involved in the aesthetic movement and became an advocate for 'Art for Art's Sake' (L'art pour L’art). Whilst at Magdalen, he won the 1878 Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna.

After he graduated, he moved to Chelsea, in London (1879), to establish a literary career. In 1881, he published his first collection of poetry - 'Poems' that received mixed reviews by critics. He worked as art reviewer (1881), lectured in the United States and Canada (1882), and lived in Paris (1883). He also lectured in Britain and Ireland (1883 1884). From the mid-1880s he was regular contributor for Pall Mall Gazette and Dramatic View.

On May 29, 1884, Oscar married Constance Lloyd the daughter of wealthy Queen's Counsel Horace Lloyd. They had two sons, Cyril (1885) and Vyvyan (1886). To support his family, Oscar accepted a job as the editor of Woman's World magazine, where he worked from 1887-1889. In 1888 he published The Happy Prince and Other Tales, fairystories written for his two sons. His first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published in 1891 and received quite a negative response. This had much to do with the novel's homoerotic overtones, which caused something of a sensation amongst Victorian critics. In 1891 Wilde began an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed 'Bosie', who became both the love of his life and his downfall. Wilde's marriage ended in 1893.

Wilde's greatest talent was for writing plays, his first play, 'Lady Windermere's Fan,' opened in February 1892. He produced a string of extremely popular comedies including 'A Woman of No Importance' (1893), 'An Ideal Husband (1895)' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1895). These plays were all highly acclaimed and firmly established Oscar as a playwright.

In April 1895, Oscar sued Bosie's father for libel as the Marquis of Queensberry had accused him of homosexuality. Oscar's case was unsuccessful and he was himself arrested and tried for gross indecency. He was sentenced to two years hard labour for the crime of sodomy. During his time in prison he wrote De Profundis, a dramatic monologue and autobiography, which was addressed to Bosie.

Upon his release in 1897, he wrote ―The Ballad of Reading Gaol‖, revealing his concern for inhumane prison conditions. He spent the rest of his life wandering Europe, staying with friends and living in cheap hotels. He died of cerebral meningitis on November 30, 1900, penniless, in a cheap Paris hotel.

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List of Literary Works Prose The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) Lord Arthur Savile's Crime (1891) The Happy Prince and Other Tales A House of Pomegranates (includes The Birthday of the Infanta) The Canterville Ghost The Sphinx Without A Secret The Model Millionaire Plays Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) Salome (1894) A Woman of No Importance (1893) An Ideal Husband (1895) The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) Poems "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (1898) "Les Ballons" "Charmides" De Profundis "The Harlot's House" "Helas!"

"Impression du Matin" "Pan — Double Villanelle" "The Sphinx" "Symphony In Yellow" Criticism by Wilde "The Decay of Lying" (January 1889)

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Oscar Wilde Chronological Timeline 1854

Born in Dublin. Son of Sir William Wilde, founder of the first eye and ear hospital in Great Britain, and Jane Francesca Elgee Wilde, a writer.

1864

Enters the Portora Royal School at Enniskillen.

1871

Enters Trinity College, Dublin.

1874-1879

Attends Magdalen College, Oxford. It is a time of conflict for him, conflict between the philosophies of Ruskin and Pater, between Roman Catholicism and Freemasonry, and between heterosexuality and homosexuality. He distinguishes himself for scholarship; also for dressing and acting eccentrically.

1878

Wins Newdigate Prize for his poem Ravenna.

1881

Publishes his first volume of verse, Poems. His manners and attire are satirized in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Patience.

1882

A lecture tour of the United States is a great personal success.

Produces his first play, in New York called Vera, it is unsuccessful.

1883-1884

Gives a successful lecture tour of the United Kingdom. Writes his second unsuccessful play, The Duchess of Padua.

1884

Marries Constance Lloyd the daughter of a Dublin barrister and a woman with financial resources. Takes a house in Chelsea, an artistic section of London. Makes and builds friendships with fellow artists.

1887-1889

Edits Woman's World, a popular magazine.

1888

Publishes The Happy original fairy tales.

1889

Publishes essay on Shakespeare's sonnets in Blackwood's Magazine, "The Portrait of Mr. W. H.‖ The theory of the essay is that many of the sonnets are addressed to a man. "The Decay of Lying" appears in The Nineteenth Century.

1890

Serializes The Picture of Dorian Gray in Lippincott's Magazine.

1891

Publishes several essays and three books exhibiting his far-ranging interests: Intentions, an important collection of dialogues containing Wilde's aesthetic philosophy; Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, and Other Stones, a collection of short stories; and The Picture of Dorian Gray, his only novel. The novel arouses a storm of controversy over its morality.

Publishes another collection of stories, A House of Pomegranates.

Produces The Duchess of Padua. Begins his friendship with Lord Alfred Douglas, a friendship that will prove disastrous.

1892

Enjoys great popular success for his production of Lady Windermere's Fan at the St. James's Theatre. Writes (in French) SalomĹ˝. It is not produced because of an old law forbidding theatrical depiction of biblical characters.

Prince

and

Other

Tales,

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1893

Produces another success, A Woman of No Importance. Publishes Lady Windermere's Fan. Publishes SalomŽ in French.

1894

Renowned actress Sarah Bernhardt puts on SalomŽ in Paris. Wilde publishes SalomŽ in English translation. Writes The Importance of Being Earnest.

1895

Puts on An ldeal Husband at the Haymarket Theatre and The Importance of Being Earnest at the St. James's Theatre; it is his last and best dramatic work. This is the height of his theatrical success; both plays are popular and critical hits. Infatuated with Douglas, Wilde flaunts the friendship in public, drawing public criticism from Lord Douglas's father. Wilde sues for libel, but then abandons the case. Incriminating evidence that comes to light in cross-examination leads to Wilde's arrest for homosexual offenses. After a hung jury on his first trial, Wilde is found guilty of homosexuality in a second. The sentence is two years at hard labor. He is bankrupted, humiliated.

1897

In prison, writes De Profundis, a moving description of his spiritual progress to religious insight; it will be published in part in 1905 and in full in 1962.

On his release from prison, goes in exile to the Continent, where he lives under an alias, Sebastian Melmoth.

1898

Publishes his best-known poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Also publishes two letters on prison reform. His wife dies.

1900

After being baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, he dies of Cerebral meningitis at the Hotel D'Alsace. He is buried at Bagneaux.

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The One-Person Show In performing arts and entertainment, a one-person show, also known as a one-man show, a one-woman show or a "solo show," is a performance enacted by a solitary performer on stage.

While a one-person show may be the musings of a comedian on a theme, the form can accommodate a wider scope as with the Trestle Unmasked interpretation of The Birthday of the Infanta.

In the preface of the book Extreme Exposure, editor Jo Bonney uses the term "solo performance" to encompass those performers who do not necessarily have a comedic history. She suggests, "at the most basic level, despite their limitless backgrounds and performance styles, all solo performers are storytellers." This assumption is based on her assertion that a number of solo shows have a storyline or a plot.

Bonney also suggests that a distinctive trait of solo performance resides in its frequent lack of a fourth wall separating the performer from the audience, stating that a "solo show expects and demands the active involvement of the people in the audience".

However it is not always a requirement.

When creating a show, a solo performer is not limited to creating and performing the show themselves. They can use directors, writers, designers, and composers. The backgrounds of solo performers over the decades range from vaudeville, stand-up comedy, poetry, music, the visual arts, magic, cabaret, and dance.

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Introductory Exercises and Games The Birthday of the Infanta is a play that relies heavily on physicality and clear, concise characterisation, in order for one individual to multi –role effectively. In addition, the use of props in this production plays a key role in defining each of the characters

Use of Props The Prop box – exercise suitable for all ages, the older the group the more advanced it becomes.

Create a box of props; the more obscure the more interesting the outcome.

Students take it in turns to select a prop at random from the box, and improvise for a timed minute, using the prop.

In another version of the game, students take turns to select a prop, and in a minute list as many uses for the prop (the more creative the better!)

Using props to create characters. Give out a selection of hats to the class, and ask each student to personify the style of the hat, thinking about status, personality, and therefore posture, walk, tone of voice etc.

To develop this, students can walk around the space, and gradually make each of their characters more and more extreme. Eventually the characters can begin to interact with each other.

Using props helps to define your characters, providing a motif by which the audience can recognise a change in character, especially in a situation where actors are multi rolling. Think about the use of colours in the Infanta, and how they are symbolic of each character, and how it helps Georgina to differentiate.

If you have (or can make) fans, then ask students to create images using the fans. Experiment with fans as pieces of clothing, for example, a skirt or a shoe or an accessory such as an earring, glove or moustache.

See if they can make something beautiful from the fan, such as a moon or a cool drink and then ask them to find an ugly action such as being sick or using the fan as a dagger.

Can they work together to make animals from the fans? Try a rooster or a peacock or an elephant.

Ask the students to parade across the room showing off their fan-costume, being a moving animal or creating a table of birthday food and drink.

Characterisation If I was a‌ Each student picks a character and answers a series of questions about the character (for example If you were a car, what car would you be? Or if you were a drink, what drink would you be?) This helps to draw on everyday objects and stereotypes to form the character. To develop further, students can answer the questions in role.

This exercise is suitable more for the older groups. To get to know their characters given circumstances, students can use the 24 hour exercise, in which they go through a 24 hour daily routine, in the space of 3 mins. Again, to develop this, characters can see if their paths would cross, and in what way they interact daily. For this task, students have to draw on previous knowledge of the character, and understanding of their home circumstances, and other more

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specific details such as their morning routine, how they prefer to travel. For the Infanta, it helps to explore a life style that‘s unfamiliar to most others. After this, it is useful to discuss things you feel you‘ve learnt about your character, to consolidate their given circumstances.

Multi Rolling A useful exercise when starting to look at multi rolling is walking in the space. To begin with, students walk around the space with direction and purpose, changing direction and each time focusing on a point and walking towards it as though you have a reason for going there. This begins to explore the importance of the communication of intentions to the audience. To develop this and begin to look at multi rolling, with every change of direction students transform into a different character, paying particular attention to their physicality in the transformation.

One person from the class standing in front of the rest, and upon instruction from peers, improvises a story, taking on the role of each new character mentioned.

This activity is more suited to KS4 and up, however a simpler game for younger students exploring a similar thing, involves students doing the same task, with the teacher or another student reading a simplified version of a well known fairytale or other story. Younger students will find it easier to characterise from a familiar story.

Physicality A good exercise to introduce physicality to a workshop is Fluid Statues. In groups of four or five, students one by one form a statue using their bodies, making abstract shapes that link with one another. Once everyone is joined in the statue, the first person moves again, taking up another position in the statue, and so on. This can but done to music, to encourage a certain mood. With older students, they can work on specific themes, and body shapes that match those themes.

It also worth thinking about the ways in which you move from one position to another. Often an effectively symbolic movement piece can be created from this exercise.

Explore movement through balances and lifts, demonstrate relationships with characters and build trust and spatial awareness as an ensemble.

Influence of Brecht Brecht proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the action on the stage.

Brecht thought that the experience of a climactic catharsis of emotion left an audience complacent. Instead, he wanted his audiences to adopt a critical perspective in order to recognise social injustice and exploitation and to be moved to go forth from the theatre and effect change in the world outside.

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Interview with Director, Emily Gray As a Director what skills and tools are needed specifically for this production?

A huge amount of patience; when you are working with one performer you wish for them to be instantly able to show you everything – the text, the images, the characters – and this is, of course, impossible. Georgina is the most creative performer I have ever worked with and she came up with many brilliantly inventive ways to tell each moment of the story. I needed to work with all of these ideas and then judge which ones would work best for the telling, ensuring that Georgina was confident that I had made the right choices.

Where did your initial inspiration come from?

Having worked already with Ramon Baeza and his Barcelona dance company, I knew we wanted to take the collaboration further and find a story that would enable us to do so. The brilliant Carl Miller suggested this story to me and he inspired the connection between Ramon, Oscar Wilde and Georgian Roberts, which has proved so fruitful for creating the production.

Why did you decide to make this performance a one-woman show?

The voice of Oscar Wilde is so particular and clear in the original telling of the story that on a first read I thought ‗this could only be told by one person.‘ The main characters are lonely individuals and it seemed the right sort of challenge to approach the story knowing we would have to create visual versions of the characters and meet them through the eyes of the one particular storyteller.

How does this performance differ from more conventional shows?

The words are important, but they are only one element in the language. At moments the music, choreography, puppets or lights tell the story more clearly than words could.

The many roles that the performer inhabits, from a dead queen to a military tulip, make this show unusual for a piece of storytelling. The harsh ending with its unhappy conclusion makes this a challenging piece of theatre for young people. We are true to the Oscar Wilde story, which was written for children. Although children younger than 9 have seen and enjoyed the show, they have been prepared for a sad ending and the age range was set by a group of children who decided that 9 was a reasonable age recommendation.

Had you always pictured Georgina Roberts when thinking about Performers to use in the piece?

Yes. It would have been very demanding to work on a solo show with someone new to the Company. Georgina had a head start in terms of working with Spanish dance and rhythm and being part of Trestle‘s polish physical theatre residency. Her skills in working with text, devising and performing physically were the perfect mix for this particular piece.

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Games for a break Wink Murder The ―detective‖ leaves the room whilst you choose a murderer (either in front of other students or ask them to close their eyes and tap the murderer on the back).

The ―detective‖ enters the circle and the murderer can begin winking at his or her victims, who must try to die convincingly.

The ―detective‖ has 3 chances to identify the murderer - if he fails, the murderer must then reveal him or herself.

Silly Voices Give students simple texts to read aloud, say, advertisements, passages from novels, magazine articles or poems. The catch is that they must use someone else's voice.

Better still, you can combine two or more voices. Read the text: As the Queen As a cartoon character As someone who is out of breath As someone who has inhaled helium As someone who is drunk As someone who speaks with the accent of a city or region of the UK As a French, German or other foreign person As a Frenchman who has inhaled helium and thinks he or she is the Queen As an extension you can ask students to do things like the Queen's Christmas message, using the Queen's accent but in the style of a different character.

Status This game can open up useful areas for discussion on how people see and display social status.

The teacher shuffles a pack of ordinary playing cards and deals one to each student. Everyone must memorise his or her card and return it to the pack unseen by anyone else. Kings have the highest status, aces the lowest.

Everyone then takes on a character whose social status is equivalent to his or her card. In order to get used to the feel and behaviour of this character the class should spend a few moments moving around the room greeting one another. They may need reminding to be aware of eye contact (low status characters often avoid this where possible) and body posture. Do they walk upright looking forward, or with heads bowed looking at the floor? What tone of voice is used?

The class is then asked to sit down. While they are sitting down they are observers, out of role.

A group of five people is chosen and the teacher asks them to improvise in character for a minute or two in a given situation.

Suitable situations might be: feeding the ducks in the park, waiting for a

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bus, or in a dentist's waiting room for example.

The rest of the class are invited to guess the value of the playing card originally held by each person in the improvisation and to comment on their interactions.

Guessing the exact value of the card is less important than discussing the ways in which the students improvising show high or low status attitudes and behaviour.

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Excerpts from script Excerpt from Part One The Chamberlain carefully and deliberately covers or puts away the mirror, removes his coat and he is now ready to start the story.

CHAMBERLAIN: It was the birthday of The Infanta Although she was a real princess and the Infanta of Spain, the Indies, and the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea, she had only one birthday every year Just like the children of quite poor people TULIP: The tall striped tulips stood straight up upon their stalks, like long rows of soldiers, and looked defiantly across the grass at the roses We are quite as splendid as you are now BUTTERFLY: The purple butterflies fluttered about with gold dust on their wings, visiting each flower in turn LIZARD: The little lizards crept out of the crevices of the wall and lay basking in the white glare MAGNOLIA TREE: The magnolia trees opened their great globelike blossoms of folded ivory and filled the air with a sweet heavy perfume POMEGRANATE: The pomegranates split and cracked with the heat and showed their bleeding red hearts

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CHAMBERLAIN: On ordinary days the princess was only allowed to play with children of her own rank, so she had always to play alone, but her birthday was an exception The king had given orders that she was to invite any of her young friends whom she liked to come and amuse themselves with her Excerpt from Part Two The Chamberlain prepares the space: He sets the rose drop, clears the space, prepares the screen The audience make roses and trumpets, they rehearse for the Infanta’s entrance with dance and song and are placed in order according to their length of name.

The Infanta parades to her position and receives her guests CHAMBERLAIN: The procession of Toreadors, your highness, followed by a bullfight with the young Count of Tierra-Nueva The procession of TOREADORS The bull fight.

Bravo toro! Bravo toro!

CHAMBERLAIN: The Italian puppets will perform the semiclassical tragedy of Sophonisba, your royal highness, following a short interlude from the French posture master on the tightrope.

The FRENCH POSTURE MASTER performs on the tightrope.

The Italian Puppets MASSINISSA and SOPHONISBA perform The Tragedy of Sophonisba.

MASSINISSA: My name is Massinissa.

I am king of Numidia.

I love you Sophonisba.

SOPHONISBA: Oh husband, give me aid.

The Romans, I‘m afraid, will drag me on parade.

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MASSINISSA: But wife, if you should get free, the Romans will behead me.

So drink this up, it‘s deadly.

SOPHONISBA: Dishonour fly, and so goodbye.

O woe. I die.

Sophonisba sings When I am lain, Am lain in earth May my wrongs create No trouble No trouble In my breast Puppeteer takes over Remember me But ah forget my fate Sophonisba dies.

CHAMBERLAIN: The Grand Inquisitor himself was so affected that he could not help saying to Don Pedro INQUISITOR: It seems to me intolerable that things made simply out of wood and coloured wax, and worked mechanically by wires, should be so unhappy and meet with such terrible misfortunes CHAMBERLAIN: I hear the approaching melodies of the Egyptians, As the gypsies were termed in those days But first, your Highness, I request you not to fear the African (snakes), their spotted (hoods) and darting (tongues) The AFRICAN JUGGLER charms a gold snake The EGYPTIANS clap a rhythm and dance in shadow Excerpt from Part Three The Ugly Boy shows the Birds the rose the Princess has given him because she loves him.

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UGLY BOY/CHAMBERLAIN: Me la dio She gave it to me.

Me la dio porque me ama She gave it to me because she loves me They did not understand a single word of what he was saying But that made no matter, for they put their heads on one side and looked wise Which is quite as good as understanding a thing and very much easier The lizards also took an immense fancy to him Every one cannot be as beautiful as a lizard That would be too much to expect And, though it sounds absurd to say so, he is really not so ugly after all Provided, of course, that one shuts one's eyes and does not look at him The lizards were extremely philosophical by nature The flowers, however, were excessively annoyed TULIP: It only shows what a vulgarizing effect this incessant rushing and flying about has Well-bred people always stay exactly in the same place, as we do No one ever saw us hopping up and down the walks Or galloping madly through the grass after dragon-flies LILY: When we want change of air, we send for the

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gardener, and he carries us to another bed This is dignified, and as it should be GERANIUM: But birds and lizards have no sense of repose Indeed, birds have not even a permanent address They are mere vagrants like the gipsies, and should be treated in exactly the same manner ROSE: He should certainly be kept indoors for the rest of his natural life CHAMBERLAIN: But he knew nothing of all this.

He thought that the flowers were the Most marvellous things in the whole world except of course the Infanta How he wished to see her, How he wished to be in the forest, How he wished to be in the forest with her UGLY BOY: Infanta Deseo verte (I wish to see you) Deseo estar en la bosque (I wish to be in the forest) Deseo estar en la bosque contigo (I wish to be in the forest with you) The Ugly Boy imagines taking the Infanta into the forest, showing her his life, hunting, climbing, bird watching, dancing He dances with the lit rose and puts her to sleep and guards her The sound of monks and menbrings him back to reality Donde esta?

But where was she?

The Ugly Boy asks his rose.

It does not answer.

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Links and Further Information www.trestle.org.uk www.increpacion.com www.unicorntheatre.com www.lozkaye.com www.annawatsonlighting.com

Glossary One to Ten in Spanish Number

English (pronunciation)

Spanish (pronunciation)

zero (zeer-ro)

cero (say-ro)

one (wun)

uno (oo-no)

two (too)

dos (dose)

three (three)

tres (trace)

four (for)

cuatro (kwat-ro)

five (five)

cinco (sink-o)

six (siks)

seis (saze)

seven (SEV-en)

siete (see-yet-eh)

eight (ate)

ocho (och-o)

nine (nine)

nueve (new-eh-veh)

ten (ten)

diez (dee-ace)

Embalming To anoint all over with balm; especially, to preserve from decay by means of balm or other aromatic oils, or spices; to fill or impregnate (a dead body), with aromatics and drugs that it may resist putrefaction.

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Appendix EDUCATION and PARTICIPATION

INFANTASIA Trestle Unmasked will be offering an education workshop to accompany their new touring show, The Birthday of the Infanta. This two-hour workshop will reflect the show‘s mix of text, characterisation and storytelling and concentrate on adapting themes and ideas about the perceptions of beauty providing material for performance.

The workshop will introduce participants to elements of the production such as: • Ensemble movement • Multi-role playing • Use of props • Physicality of character The play's themes of beauty, perception, and social hierarchy will also be explored by using photographs and verbatim accounts as a catalyst for devising and creating powerful, meaningful and relevant work.

The workshop will educate and stimulate students to see how structure, form and style are fused together through a variety of elements. It will inspire them to be intellectually creative, physically ambitious, and broaden their horizons in respect of subject matter.

CURRICULUM LINKS The workshop is suitable for KS3, GCSE and A Level Drama students and links directly with the National Curriculum for English at Key Stage 4 and AS level, and with the Edexcel specification for English literature and Contemporary Drama.

The workshop can also be adapted for use with KS2 students.

DURATION 2 - 2.5 hours GROUP REQUIREMENTS Age guidance: 9+ Recommended participant number: 24 BOOKING For more information and bookings please contact 01727 850950 or email takingpart@trestle.org.uk

This resource and education pack was written and compiled by Emily Gray, Euan Desborough and Imogen Overton. March 2011 © Trestle Theatre Company.