Jason and the Argonauts | Teacher Resources

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS

TEACHER RESOURCE PACK FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH PUPILS IN YEARS 3 - 6

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS FROM 27 SEP - 20 OCT 2016 FOR PUPILS IN YEARS 3 - 6

JOIN JASON ON HIS QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN FLEECE. Banished as a baby, Jason is back and ready to claim his rightful throne.

In order to prove himself he is sent on an epic quest to find the Golden Fleece. He assembles a crew of mighty Argonauts and they set sail aboard the Argo for the ultimate adventure.

Join us for this exhilarating retelling of the classic Greek myth, as our hero’s destiny is placed in the hands of the gods.

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TEACHER RESOURCES

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO THE PACK ABOUT THE STORY

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MAKING THE PLAY: INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS IMAGES OF THE SET MODEL BOX THE CAST

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

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Section One p.12 This sequence of activities explores the skills, qualities and dispositions of the Argonauts who Jason recruits to join him on his journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece.

Section Two p.17 This sequence looks at the story of what happened to Jason as a baby a why he is compelled to go on the quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The children will create drama work which explores what motivated the servants to smuggle him out of Colchis and moments from Jason’s childhood when he was raised by the centaur, Chiron. The role of the goddess, Hera, in Jason’s quest will also be explored.

Section Three p.21 This section will prepare children for the contemporary form and aesthetic of the production by exploring ideas around staging and design for Jason and the Argonauts.

Resources from p.14

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - TEACHER RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION This pack is for teachers bringing pupils to see Jason and the Argonauts at the Unicorn in autumn 2016.

The Unicorn’s production of Jason and the Argonauts, made by Valentina Ceschi and Thomas Eccleshare (Dancing Brick), will be a fresh, action-packed and dynamic new version of this favourite Greek myth. Jason, with his crew of Argonauts, sets off on a classic quest, sailing across the seas to unknown lands. Together they face a series of challenges which they overcome with bravery, ingenuity and a little bit of help from the gods.

These classroom activities are designed to support and build upon your pupils’ visit to the theatre and offer teachers ways to pick up on and explore the themes in the play, before and after seeing the show. The activities use drama and storytelling as ways of exploring ideas that are relevant to the play, and to support National Curriculum requirements: ‘All pupils should be enabled to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama. Pupils should be able to adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They should have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances.’ National Curriculum The resources will also provide National Curriculum links at Key Stage Two: to Literacy through the development of spoken word and writing tasks, to History by connecting to learning around the Ancient Greeks and to SMCS aspects of learning.

There will be a free teacher CPD day at the Unicorn for Jason and the Argonauts on Tue 20 Sep 2016 from 10am – 4pm where teachers can find out more about the show and gain practical experience of the classroom activities, before leading them with a class.

To find out more about the CPD or to book your place, email schools@unicorntheatre.com.

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ABOUT THE STORY Jason, hidden away as a child to avoid being killed by King Pelias, returns to Iolcus as a young man to claim the throne. Along the way, Jason is helped by the Goddess Hera (who is in disguise), who wants King Pelias punished.

The King refuses to hand over his crown, but instead decides to set Jason an impossible task: to retrieve the Golden Fleece from Colchis and return it to its rightful place in Iolcus. If Jason can return the fleece, King Pelias will hand the crown on to him.

And so begins one of the most famous adventures of all time.

Firstly, Jason builds the Argo, a ship with fifty sets of oars and a prow crafted from wood taken from Zeus’ sacred groves and blessed by Hera and Athene. Jason calls for other heroes to join him on his adventure and hundreds apply. He chooses the best forty-nine men, including the great hero Heracles, and together they set off into the unknown.

Along the way there are many tests, obstacles and adventures; they overcome the horrific harpies who are tormenting King Phineus, they outwit the great clashing rocks at the mouth of the Bosphorus, and they survive the pond nymphs that try to lure them to a watery death.

Finally arriving at Colchis they meet King Aeetes who refuses to hand over the Golden Fleece.

However, his daughter Medea, struck by Eros’ arrow, falls in love with Jason and helps him. First she persuades her father to set Jason a task by which he can win the fleece. Then Medea uses her potions to help Jason complete her father’s challenge to plough a field with two fire breathing bulls and overcome the terrifying soldiers which grow out of the dragon’s teeth he’s planted.

When her father goes back on his promise and refuses to hand over the Golden Fleece, Medea helps Jason steal it from the temple of Apollo, where it is guarded by a great dragon. Together they then escape on the Argo, pursued by King Aeetes’ army.

On their journey back Jason and Medea, helped by Aphrodite, get married in order to escape King Aeete’s army and finally return to Iolcus, triumphant.

This production will follow Jason and his Argonauts on their adventures and explore the way in which the gods Zeus and Hera, from high up on Mount Olympus, both help and hinder them in their quest.

THE ROLE OF THE GODS IN ANCIENT GREEK SOCIETY The activities in this pack provide ways to begin exploring Ancient Greece, with a particular focus on the Greek myths and the role of the gods in Greek life; what these gods meant to the Greek people and how they understood and worshipped them.

In contrast to monotheistic religions there were a host of Greek gods who resembled a large ruling family or monarchy. All the gods and goddesses were related to each other and in many ways they behaved like an unruly family with many disagreements, alliances and petty jealousies.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES Each god would have responsibility or jurisdiction in one or more aspect of life: Zeus, King of the Olympian gods ruled the heavens and had the powerful thunderbolt as his weapon; Poseidon ruled the seas; Athena was the goddess of war and wisdom; Aphrodite was the goddess of love; and Demeter the goddess of all the fruits and grains that were produced on Earth. Hera, Zeus’ wife, was the goddess of motherhood and childbirth.

Keeping the gods happy was an important aspect of Greek daily life and it was easy to displease them. Festivals were organised, temples built and sacrifices made to different gods at different times of the year. Often people would suffer some misfortune and believe it was as a result of something they had done, or something they had neglected to do which had upset one of the gods.

Sometimes people would travel to the Oracle at Delphi to see if they could find out what the gods wanted, whether they had upset them in any way and what they could do to make things better.

They would also go to the Oracle to hear what the future might hold for them and then see what they could do to avoid or change their fortune if a prophecy was unwelcome.

These drama activities will focus on the goddess Hera and the part she plays in Jason’s journey.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES

INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS THOMAS ECCLESHARE AND VALENTINA CESCHI FROM DANCING BRICK

WHAT IS IT IN THE STORY THAT MAKES IT APPEALING TO AUDIENCES TODAY? We are trying to find something very relatable and human in the story, in a way that makes the idea of the Golden Fleece something quite playful. It is a quest, an adventure.

We want people to go away from the show feeling like they’ve been on an amazing adventure with some really fun characters whom they can relate to, and that ultimately the main character and his mates achieved what they set out to achieve and they learnt something on the way.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE MAIN THEMES IN THE STORY? Adventure, bravery and pushing yourself. Jason starts off thinking, ‘I’m going do this, I’m going to do it on my own’, but he finds out he can’t do it on his own, he needs his friends, as well as his resources and resourcefulness, to get there in the end. Otherwise it’s just ‘Jason’ and not ‘Jason and the Argonauts’. I feel like there is a theme throughout that is about friendship - it is Jason who initiates getting everyone together.

We have to find out what Jason’s goal is: why does he want the fleece and what does that say about his character at the beginning? Does he still want it at the end? And if so, is it for the same reason?

I guess this story is about destiny too, about fulfilling your destiny, and Jason’s destiny is to reclaim his father’s throne, whether he knows that or not. I think I’d like the show to question destiny and fate. Jason learns that actually he’s in charge and that we’re all in charge of our own destiny. On the journey he learns that even though the gods are going to try all this stuff, it’s actually through his actions and choices that he succeeds and that’s an empowering thing for a young person to find out.

I like the fact that in the end, Jason and his mates have done this themselves. They haven’t done it because it’s been predicted, or the gods made them do it, they’ve done it and achieved it because of their own efforts. I like how empowering that is.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE GODS AND THE WAYS THEY GET INVOLVED IN JASON’S JOURNEY? The gods are there to play with the Argonauts a little bit. There is a sense of us versus them, a bit like you might get as a child with the adult world. The interesting thing about the Greek gods Page 7

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES compared to more modern gods is that they are so human, they’re so petty and childish. I think that’s something that might be reflected in the show; the humour around Zeus or Hera at times helping them and at times hindering them, but all of the time playing with them.

HOW WILL YOU MAKE THE SHOW? WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS? We try to find the themes of the story that we really like or respond to, or find the image to put on the stage that sums up or conjures up those themes in a physical or visceral way. For this story it will be about how to conjure the spirit of adventure, play, team work and physical challenge. It’s all these things that Jason is doing, so it’s trying to find a theatrical way to work so the actors on stage are not pretending to do it, they’re actually doing it.

We want to try and create a situation where the four actors are not pretending to be ancient Greeks on an adventure, but they are people in a space having an actual, risky, fun and physical journey.

Once we’ve done that it will be about using techniques like improvisation and storyboarding, then integrating music and design. This is what we describe as the devising process, so that everyone involved - the actors, designer and composer - all have an equal say in what the characters do or how the story is told.

We will be going back to the idea of play: being in the room with each other, responding to music and playing and being true to that situation. We won’t have a script before we start. We might have bullet points of what happens next in the story, but we wouldn’t script it. We’ll allow the script to come out of improvisation, letting the actors genuinely imagine themselves in that situation and play that situation. So it is a little like make-believe and the simple things that you do as a kid when you play.

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IMAGES OF THE SET MODEL BOX

The set for Jason and the Argonauts is being designed by James Button. These are images from his model-box design. The set will have a contemporary and playful feel, referencing game-shows, board games and sports pitches. It will feel like Jason’s adventure, but also ask us to consider whether it is the gods who are playing their own game with the humans in the story.

The actors will use ladders, wooden planks and signs to imaginatively create the different lands that Jason travels to. The production will feel energetic and action-packed, with the key moments in Jason’s quest - the storm, boxing match, crashing rocks, the hydra, fire-breathing bulls and the harpies - all presented playfully and inventively. There will be live music throughout.

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THE CAST

Valentina Ceschi Creator/Performer

Dorian Simpson Performer

Guy Rhys Performer

Dylan Townley Performer/Musician

Dorian will play Jason in the show, but all four members of the cast will work as an ensemble to play many other roles too. Dylan will also play live music throughout the show.

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES These activities are designed to capture children’s imaginations and increase their motivation to explore the play. They offer a range of possible ways to link with your classroom priorities.

Our teacher resources and CPD sessions support teachers in embedding drama in their curriculum planning. Working through drama allows children to explore things that matter to them within a fictional context, draw on their prior knowledge and apply it to new situations, develop language as they give expression to new understandings and develop emotional intelligence and critical thinking as they see things from different perspectives. It also enables the children to take responsibility, make decisions, solve problems and explore possibilities from within the drama.

Activities have been developed with our partner school, Christopher Hatton Primary School.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES

SECTION ONE INTRODUCTION

This sequence of activities, which can be broken down over a number of sessions, explores the skills, qualities and dispositions of the Argonauts who Jason recruits to join him on his journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece.

Framing the children as Greek heroes who apply to join Jason on his adventure, pupils will investigate the nature of the journey Jason is about to undertake and begin to imagine what he and his Argonauts might face along the way. The drama will examine the idea of team work, the individual strengths and weaknesses of the Argonauts and the kind of skills and qualities they will need in order to face the challenges of such a voyage.

Stage 1 gives the background to the story up to the point where Jason has accepted King Pelias’ challenge to go and retrieve the Golden Fleece from Colchis. He now needs to recruit a crew of Argonauts to go with him on his ship, the Argo.

Stage 2 asks the children to imagine they are Greek heroes who apply to join Jason as an Argonaut.

The teacher, in-role as one of Jason’s Heralds, answers their questions about the voyage and asks them to demonstrate what qualities and skills they possess through showing their strengths and weaknesses.

Stage 3 arriving in Colchis, the children, in-role, have to demonstrate their mental and decision making abilities to secure a place on the Argo. Once they are selected as an Argonaut, they create a chant or song to help them as they row across the high seas.

TIME

3 x 50 minute sessions

STRATEGIES

Stop/Go, still images, Story Whoosh, small scene work, narration, teacher and pupils in-role.

RESOURCES

A crown and a baby Jason bundle, Story Whoosh (resource 1), map of Greece showing the route to Colchis (resource 2).

STAGE 1 Opening discussion Explain to the class that you are going to do some drama which will explore what happens in the lead up to Jason leaving on his journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece.

Ask the children what they know about Jason and the Argonauts to get a sense of children’s prior knowledge. If they know a great deal, then they will be able to draw on that and find out more about what happened in the story and why, but if they know nothing they will be able to discover the story as it unfolds.

Stop/Go This first activity will warm the children up physically and allow them to begin to imagine and create the world of Greek myths.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES • Begin with a game of Stop/Go, building the focus and discipline of the whole group; when you say ‘go’, children should move around the room, when you say ‘stop’ they freeze on the spot, as if turned to stone • Now develop the game: when you say ‘stop’, call out different numbers for the children to get into groups of. Ask the children to make a still picture of: • A hero in a Greek myth (individual).

• Heroes practising archery or boxing (pairs).

• Poseidon, God of the sea, on Mount Olympus, conjuring up a terrible storm on the seas (individual).

• A ship on the sea in the middle of a terrible storm - children can be the ship or the humans on the ship or in the sea (group of six).

• A human who has angered Zeus is struck by his thunderbolt (individual).

• Facing a terrifying monster - children can choose whether to: all be humans and imagine the monster, be one human facing a terrifying monster made of the rest of the group or their own combination (group of four).

Story Whoosh Run the Story Whoosh (Resource 1) which provides the background to Jason’s adventure to find the Golden Fleece. A Story Whoosh is a way of telling a complex narrative in broad brush strokes, allowing the children to see the whole story, including the main characters and dilemmas. This technique was first developed by Joe Winston in his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

• Begin with the class sitting in a large circle. This will be your performance space.

• Using the text provided, the teacher acts as narrator and director of the Story Whoosh.

• Taking it in turns around the circle, invite the children into the centre and ask them to show in still image or act out (or as director you could combine both, deciding in the moment what will most clearly show the story) what is happening in the story.

• When an episode is complete, ‘whoosh’ away the actors and begin with the next children in turn around the circle. Children can create anything in the story: animals, buildings, doorways, trees in a forest, anything which will help depict the key elements and characters in the story clearly.

• There are a number of lines you can give to the children to speak, or you can narrate the lines yourself.

What does it take to become an Argonaut?

When you have completed the Story Whoosh have a discussion about what a Herald is and what he or she would need to do when travelling through Greece to call on Greek heroes who might want to apply to join Jason.

• Ask the children to think about what kind of people Jason will be looking for to join the quest.

• Show the children the map (resource 2). Describe the kind of journey the Argonauts will be embarking on and ask the children to imagine the kind of challenges they might face.

• Information to include: This is a journey into the unknown, many have sailed around Greece and the Greek Islands and know these waters well, but very few have sailed through the Bosphurous Straits and very little is known of what lies behind. Rumours and half truths have been heard, but there are no reliable accounts of what lies beyond the Straits. They have heard about the Golden Fleece; that it belonged to Zeus, that it brings peace and prosperity, there are rumours that the King of Colchis has it closely guarded, but they don’t know by who or what. The journey could take many years to complete and will be dangerous. The Argonauts will be sailing into unchartered waters, into the unknown. It is said that King Pelias set this challenge because he believed it was impossible.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES Think about what the journey might be like and the practical skills needed on board the Argo. Think about the qualities and dispositions needed in the Argonauts. Ask the children ‘what kind of people would Jason need to join him on his journey?’

Write up all ideas about the kind of skills and dispositions you have imagined Jason will be looking for in his Argonauts. This thinking will be returned to and extended in the following stages of the drama.

EXTENSION The Herald Think about what a Herald does and what kind of skills and qualities they might need when travelling across Greece and calling out for people to join a shared venture.

Think about today’s world and all the different kind of methods there are for getting people to join something. If this story took place in 2016, what are the different ways in which Jason might let people across Greece know that he is recruiting heroes for his quest?

You could ask the children to write the speech that the Herald gives when arriving in cities and islands across Greece. Think about what information they would need to communicate in this speech. Would the Herald want to persuade his audience of anything? Would the Herald want to deter some of the audience?

You could also think about how the same information might be communicated using contemporary technology. You could ask children to create a tweet, or a series of 3 tweets, using 140 characters (including spaces) or fewer. Would it be possible to get the key information across with such restrictions?

Or you could ask the children to create a short YouTube video combining moving images, music and words. Such a video could reach millions through social media.

It might be useful to remind the children that Hera and Jason only want to recruit the very best and most suited to the journey, so it might be useful to find ways to put off those who want to apply but who may not have the qualities necessary for such a journey.

STAGE 2 Recap on the conversation you had about the kind of people Jason will be looking for and revisit the list you made of skills and dispositions the Argonauts would need to join him on his quest.

Teacher in-role Explain that you are going to take on the role of the Herald and that you have arrived in a Greek city, or on one of the islands. Ask the children to imagine that they are one of the Greek heroes who want to apply to join the Argonauts.

• Narrate: When they heard the call to come to the square the heroes stopped what they were doing and gathered around the Herald who had travelled all the way from Iolcus.

• Gather everyone together, (you could create a square with benches all around where they could sit) and in role as the Herald explain why you are there. You may want to use the map at this point to help describe the journey.

• Remind them of the risk and danger involved in the journey: ‘This could be the most dangerous journey of your lives. You will be sailing into the unknown, to the very edge of the world. You must be prepared to navigate storms and hurricanes. Who knows what monsters and wild beasts Page 14

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES you will need to face, what darkness and challenge. You may face even death itself.’

• Ask them if they have questions about the quest that Jason is setting off on.

• Ask them, if they want to join Jason, why do they? And why should Jason choose them over the many hundreds who have applied? What qualities do they have? What experience do they have?

• Finish by explaining that those who are still determined to join will need to face a series of tests that will decide who are best placed to join Jason as one of his Argonauts.

STAGE 3 Narrate how there were still hundreds who wanted to join Jason, despite the risks, but that there were only places for fifty people on the Argo. In order to make his decision, Jason decided to test the applicants’ physical, mental and decision-making skills.

Make a symbolic depiction of Jason using a chair draped with a robe and explain that we are going to imagine that it represents Jason in our drama.

The first challenge • Tell them that first Jason wanted to find out about their strengths and weaknesses. Ask the children to find a space in the room and to think about the greatest strength or skill that they can offer to Jason and the other Argonauts on the journey. Then ask them to think about their greatest weakness in relation to such a journey. Acknowledge that we all have both strengths and weaknesses.

• Ask the children to create a still image that shows what their greatest strength is and another that shows their weakness. Ask them to practise moving from one image to the next.

• Half of the class become audience and watch as the children show their strengths and their weaknesses. Ask some of the heroes to speak about what they have shown. Then see the other half of the class.

• Feedback to the heroes, congratulating them on their honesty in sharing etc. Acknowledge how important it was that they shared their weaknesses and that when we work as a team we are stronger as we compensate for, and balance out, each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

• Talk about the fact that we are only human and even with the greatest heroes on board the Argo we will still have to keep the gods happy. We all know how hard we try to please them, but sometimes it is hard to know what it is they want.

The second challenge Now move the children into groups of five or six and explain that they have been grouped by Jason for the next challenges.

• The next challenge will test mental agility. Asks the groups to solve the following riddle: What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?

• The answer to the riddle is humans. Some children may already know the answer to the riddle: you could ask those children to hold back while the groups try to work out what the answer might be through deduction. After some discussion you may want to give them a clue - they can think about morning, noon and evening in terms of a lifetime.

• Hear back the answers each group came up with, congratulating the creative ideas they have come up with, even if they are the wrong answer.

The final challenge • Now set the final test which is about decision-making. As a group, ask the children to consider a situation that could face the Argonauts on their journey: As a group they must imagine what they would do if, some months into their journey, Page 15

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES they land on an island and manage to find food and water and restock the Argo ready to leave. One of the Argonauts has seen two eagles circling above the ship, and from the pattern of their flight knows that this is a message from the gods, a sign that Poseidon is conjuring a terrible storm, but if they leave right away they will avoid the storm and be carried safely onwards towards Colchis and the Golden Fleece. But one of the Argonauts has gone missing. There have been rumours of a mythical creature at the centre of the island. What do they decide to do? Leave without their fellow Argonaut or stay and search the island at possible great risk to them all?

• Ask the groups to create a short scene showing what happens on the island. When they have improvised their scene give them time to rehearse and create a clear still image to start and end their scenes. They can have one line of dialogue per character and, if they choose, a narrator.

• See each of the groups’ work and ask them questions about what they are trying to show Jason through their scenes, drawing out the complexity and challenge of making difficult decisions in which there are not necessarily right or wrong answers.

Joining the Argonauts • Standing behind the depiction of Jason, narrate what Jason said to the heroes: out of all the hundreds of heroes who came to Iolcus wanting to join Jason’s adventure, you are the bravest, cleverest… (using the qualities the class have demonstrated through the workshops). Let it be known that Jason has chosen you as the final fifty to accompany him on this great quest.

• Ask them if they would have any final questions they would want to ask Jason about what the journey ahead might entail. These questions could be answered, or may be left hanging to be discovered when they come to see the performance at the Unicorn.

• Ask the class whether they have heard any rumours about what might lie ahead for the Argonauts. This will give the class the chance to imagine any possible challenges and dangers they might face.

A final challenge • Explain that Jason set them a final task before they left on the Argo: to create a song or a chant which would help them row, keep their spirits up and give them a sense of purpose and determination.

• This task could be done as a whole class or in small groups. Start by imagining you are rowing the great Argo across the seas, finding and keeping the rhythm together. Having found a rhythm write a simple chant which will be the chorus accompanying all the verses.

• In smaller groups ask the class to write a verse each. The verses could each serve a different purpose, for example: to give the Argonauts courage; to help them pull together through a storm; to appeal to the gods to help them on their quest; to help them through moments when they miss home and family; to remind them why they are on the quest.

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SECTION TWO INTRODUCTION

This series of activities looks at the story of what happened to Jason as a baby and some of the reasons why he is compelled to go on the quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The children will create drama work which explores what motivated the servants to smuggle him out of Colchis, even though it put them in danger, and allow them to create moments from Jason’s childhood when he was raised by the centaur, Chiron.

Stage 1 focuses on creating short scenes which explore the servants’ decision to save the baby Jason, the dangers they faced carrying it out and why they might have done what they did to save him.

Stage 2 explores what happens when the servants hand the baby over to Chiron to look after.

Teacher in-role as Chiron will give the children, in-role as the servants, the opportunity to give Chiron advice on what Jason needs as a baby and what to teach him as he grows up.

TIME

2 x 50 minute sessions

STRATEGIES

Stop/Go, Story Whoosh, still image, thought-tracking, teacher and children in-role, small scene work, paired improvisations, listening hand, conscience alley.

RESOURCES

Crown and baby, Story Whoosh resource.

STAGE 1 The Gods Play a game of Stop/Go and explain we are going to start by thinking about the way Greek gods and goddesses often transformed into other creatures in order to disguise themselves; for example Hera took on the form of an old woman and asked Jason if he would help her across the river.

• Start by asking the children to walk about the space and practise stopping and starting. On the word Stop ask everyone to take up a frozen picture of one of the gods or goddesses and then transform into another still picture of the chosen disguise. Ask the children to practise shifting from one image to the next on a count of 5.

Hera, Queen of the gods and goddess of family and motherhood - disguises herself as an old woman, then disguises herself as a bee.

Zeus, King of the gods and god of the skies - disguises himself as a poor, weak cuckoo.

Apollo, god of music and healing – disguises himself as a human.

Ares, god of War – disguises himself as a wild boar.

• Ask the children to choose their favourite and then ask half the class to show their images while the others to act as audience.

• Try asking some of the Gods a few questions, why have they disguised themselves in this way?

What are they going to do now they are disguised as a bee or a wild boar?

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES • Remind the children that the gods and goddesses were very interested in what was happening down on earth between the humans and would sometimes test them, like Hera did with Jason at the river, or help or hinder human beings.

The servants Explain that you are going to return to the story of Jason and go back to a key moment in the story and look at what happened in more detail.

• Run the shortened Story Whoosh (resource 3) and hold the final image of the servants pretending to weep over the dead body of Jason as a baby. Holding the final image explain that you are going to look at this moment in a little more depth.

• Explain that Jason’s mother and all his relatives have been killed by Pelias and that everyone in Iolcus knows that any relative of King Pelias will be seen as a threat to the King’s life and will also be killed.

• Ask the children to look at the image and imagine what each servant might be thinking in that moment. In pairs get them to discuss their different ideas.

• Draw the focus back to the still image and ask children to come up and speak the thoughts of one of the servants in the image, placing their hand on the shoulder and speaking in the first person. (If a child explains what the servant is thinking in the third person, help by demonstrating how they could voice those thoughts in the first person).

• Explain that you are going to rewind a few moments in the story to the point where the servants could hear the soldiers in the next room, but just before they make the decision to pretend that Jason is already dead. They have to make the decision what to do very quickly as the soldiers are close. Ask the children to think about what the servants might discuss in the very short time they have. Do any of the servants have different ideas about what they could do? What are the risks in the plan to pretend that Jason is dead? Do any of the servants not want to do take the risk?

• Now in groups of three, ask the children to improvise the discussion they have, from when they hear the soldiers in the other room, to making the decision to act as if Jason is dead.

• Stop the improvisations and introduce the idea of the ‘listening hand’. When you hold your hand near one of the groups and open it, it will act as a microphone so that all the other groups can overhear the conversation happening in that improvisation.

• Discuss the decision that the servants finally made, the danger of the situation and the risk they would have to take. Talk a little about how their plan meant that they would have to act as if they were very upset and crying. What would they need to do to convince the soldiers that they really are upset? How can you tell when someone is pretending? How can you get close to the emotional truth and convince someone else you really are upset?

• Now explain you are going to return to the part of the story after the servants have made their decision; they have pretended that Jason is dead, the soldiers have believed them and left.

• As a whole class consider what the servants might do next and what their options might be.

• Remind the children that we know in the story at least one of the servants took baby Jason out of the city and into the countryside to give to the centaur, Chiron, who lives some distance away in a cave within a forest.

Jason’s escape Move the class into groups of five or six. Explain that the groups are going to be given tasks to create three moments in the story of how the baby Jason reached Chiron: 1. What happened when the soldiers left 2. What happened on the journey 3. Reaching Chiron • Set the first task: to create a short scene showing what happened when the soldiers left as they Page 18

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES

• •

• •

thought, using mime to show the action and a narrator (or shared narration) which tells the audience what happened. It may be useful to briefly demonstrate the difference between a scene with dialogue and the same scene with mimed action with narration.

The children will need to decide what dangers the servant(s) might face and how they are able to smuggle a new born baby out of the city where King Pelias’ soldiers are everywhere.

When the children have practised their first scene set the second task: to create a short scene which shows what happened on the journey. Who did they encounter? What challenges or danger did they face? Was there a moment when the gods were on their side? Was there a moment when the gods appeared to be against them? This time they can have a maximum of two lines of dialogue in their scenes, but again start and end with a clear still image that shows what is happening.

The final task is to show a still image of the baby Jason being handed to the centaur, Chiron. Ask the children to decide on just one line that the servant who hands over the baby says to Chiron.

Ask the children to put all their scenes together and practise running the whole thing. See all of the groups’ work and reflect on some of the decisions the servants made, the challenges they faced and why they might have done what they did to save Jason.

STAGE 2 Remember the key elements of the scenes the children made previously and acknowledge how they have all created versions of the things that might have happened on the journey to get Jason to safety.

Teacher and pupils in-role • Explain that the whole class is going to imagine they are the servant, or servants, who finally made it to Chiron and handed baby Jason over to his care.

• In-role as Chiron, start by asking the servant(s) to explain: Why have they brought the baby to you? What happened in Iolcus and why? What kind of a King is Pelias? Why would they risk so much - they must realise that they cannot return to Iolcus; it will be too dangerous.

• Ask them to describe what happened on their journey and reflect on the way that the gods may have helped or hindered them along the way. As Chiron, you know that Jason is a precious child and there has been a great injustice done to him and his family.

• Finish the in-role work by explaining that although you (Chiron) have brought up other young heroes who have lost their family, they have always been children of eight or over. You have no experience with babies - what can they advise you about how to look after and raise Jason?

Discuss what you might teach Jason as he grows up and at what age. You could also touch on the difficulty of what to tell Jason about the past.

• Physically create an image of Chiron holding the baby Jason and ask the children to think what Chiron might say to the baby. Now move into a circle and pass the baby around from one person to the other and hear what each ‘Chiron’ says to the baby that has been left in his care.

Jason and Chiron Explain that, as Jason grew up, Chiron taught him all he knew, as he was readying him for adulthood.

Jason struggled with some of the things that Chiron had to teach him. Chiron knew that the goddess Hera had plans for Jason but also knew that it was not his place to tell Jason too much about his past or about what his future might hold for him.

• Ask the children to move into pairs and think about what Chiron might teach Jason at different ages; at age 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. Ask them to choose one of their ideas and then improvise a short scene with one playing Jason and the other Chiron. Hear a few of these improvisations using a ‘listening hand’.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES • Explain that, in their pairs, they are now going to think about the day Jason asked Chiron about his family and where he came from. Again they should think about where Chiron and Jason might be. They can also incorporate the shawl that Jason was wrapped in when he was bought to Chiron in as a baby - perhaps Jason has found it and wants to know more about it.

• In pairs now ask the class to create their own short scene between Jason and Chiron, showing how Chiron chooses to talk to Jason.

• See all of the scenes and discuss how Chiron chose to answer Jason’s questions about his past at different ages and why.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES

SECTION THREE INTRODUCTION

These activities are designed to form a bridge between the drama work around the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and the theatre experience. Dancing Brick and Unicorn Theatre’s version of the story will be highly theatrical, it will also be different from many versions of the story children may already know and love. The drama work in Sections One and Two will give children context and some back story to the myth. Section Three offers ways into thinking about the elements of theatre and how it works as an art form.

Activities focus on the staging and design challenges the company have encountered in translating the story for the stage and give children the chance to explore and experiment with the aesthetics and form for themselves.

Stage 1: A fun and accessible name game which will allows children to become familiar with the unfamiliar place and character names in the story.

Stage 2: Provides a brief discussion about theatre form and how it differs from other ways of telling a story.

Stage 3: A drama game which begins to look at the transformation of objects in a drama context.

Stage 4: Asks the children to think about staging moments in a story through the transformation of objects.

STAGE 1 • Play a game of fruit-bowl with the names of the places Jason and his Argonauts will visit.

• Ask the children to sit in a circle and go around giving each child a name to remember; Iolcus, Bithynia, Phineas’ Island, Syblegades and Colchis. So there will be several children with the same place name.

• When you call out one of the names, all children with that name have to get up and find another seat.

• When you call out ‘Jason’s Quest’ everyone has to get up out of their seats and find another one to sit down in.

• If you have chairs, you can play with one person who is ‘on’, they call out a name and then when everyone is changing places they try to sit down in an empty chair. The person who is left without a chair is the next person ‘on’.

• You can explain that the Argonauts journey takes them from Iolcus in Greece to a place called Colchis where the Golden Fleece is held. Along the way they stop off at Islands to get provisions for the next stage of their journey.

• You could repeat the game, this time with all the names of the Argonauts who will be on the journey; Jason, Hercules, Calais, Zetes, Polydeuces, Atlanta, Orpheus. Then call out ‘Argonauts’ for all change.

STAGE 2 Explain that in the version of the story you are coming to see at the Unicorn Theatre, there are only four actors. So one of the first challenges for the director and designer has been to decide which of the fifty Argonauts they can concentrate on when telling the story. There are also other characters in the story - King Aeetes, King Phineas and Medea, not to mention mythical creatures.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES • Have a brief discussion about the difference between a story told in a book, the theatre or the cinema. What are the ways in which the different mediums bring the story alive for the reader or audience? What can you say about the way in which the reader or audiences’ own imagination is employed in each medium?

• Go into a little more detail about the difference between theatre and film. How might you show that there is a storm on the sea in the theatre? How might you show it in cinema? How could you show an army in the cinema? How could you show an army in the theatre when you have only four performers?

STAGE 3 • Play a game of ‘If this wasn’t a scarf it could be…’ Start with everyone standing in a circle and have a simple prop like a scarf or a stick. Model the activity by giving an example: If this wasn’t a scarf it could be a river; then mime something that shows the scarf as a river (fishing, on a boat etc.)

• Now pass the scarf around the circle and ask each child to imagine the scarf is something other than a scarf. It is fine for children to repeat an object if someone else has picked their idea, they just need to do the mime for themselves.

• With something very simple like a scarf, piece of string or stick you will be surprised by how many different ideas will emerge and as the object is passed around one person’s idea will trigger another idea for someone else.

• Talk about the way in which you have used your imaginations in the game, both as the person whose turn it was, but also those watching. How did we know the scarf was a stream, a puddle or cat? What did the person miming do that helped us as audience imagine?

• Explain how the theatre often uses props and set to help us imagine other things. Show them the image of the set in which the ladders and planks are forming a bunk bed on the Argo (on page 28) .

• Discuss what they can see in the model and what the designer has done to help an audience imagine a bunk bed on the Argo.

• Now discuss what the actors might do on the set to help the audience imagine where we are.

You could extend this discussion to ways in which lighting, sound and theatre effects might all add to helping the audience imagine this bunk bed on a ship.

• Ask why they think the designer hasn’t made the ship and the bunk bed more realistic.

STAGE 4 • Give the children the opportunity to play with some of the elements of design and explore the way in which we can transform objects.

• In groups of four or five, give each group a range of objects to play with. For example, cardboard tubing, a piece of fabric, a hat or helmet, a whisk or other household object.

• Ask the children to use the objects to create: • a mythical creature • a ship with the sailors on board in the middle of a storm • Ask them to work out a way for these theatre moments to move. They could use themselves to either help create the monster and ship, or they could choose for some of them to be the Argonauts facing the monster or onboard the ship in their moments.

• Finally, either create bigger groups by putting two groups together, or alternatively work as a Page 22

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES whole class. Now stage the moment when the Argo tries to sail through the two great clashing rocks of Syblegades, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the rocks and just making it through to the other side.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES RESOURCE 1: FULL STORY WHOOSH We are going to go back to before Jason was born, because, as with all Greek stories, you have to go back to understand the present and imagine the future.

• Jason’s father, Aeson, was the King of Iolcus (give the child playing the King the crown). But his stepbrother Pelias wanted to rule the Kingdom so he took the crown from Aeson and became King himself.

• Aeson was locked in prison by Pelias, where he died some months later. Meanwhile his wife was pregnant and their child, Jason, was growing inside her.

WHOOSH • For many months King Pelias ruled, but all the time he worried that someone might want to take his crown and kingdom from him. So he went to the Oracle at Delphi to ask what his future held. Arriving at the temple Pelias was met by a priestess who is able to speak to and interpret the will of the gods and can tell human beings what the future holds for them. The priestess told Pelias, ‘you will be killed by a member of your own family.’

WHOOSH • When he returned to Iolcus, King Pelias sent for his soldiers who he ordered to kill all of his relatives; his cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces, everyone except for his own children.

(Create a still image of different places in Iolcus with soldiers killing his family).

• Jason’s mother was also killed, while her baby son was asleep in another room.

WHOOSH • The servants who were with the baby Jason at the time, could hear the soldiers in the next room, so they quickly made a plan. They decided they would weep over baby Jason’s body, pretending he was already dead, in order to save his life.

• When the soldiers came into the room, they saw the servants crying and believed Jason was dead. The soldiers left the house.

WHOOSH • One of the servants carried the baby Jason away from Iolcus, into the forest there they gave him to Chiron, a centaur – half man, half horse.

WHOOSH • As Jason grew, Chiron, who was a great teacher, taught him everything he knew: music, archery, hunting and medicine. He taught him how to understand all the plants in the forest; which were dangerous, and which held cures.

WHOOSH • When Jason was a young man he set off to regain his father’s kingdom and crown.

• On his way he met an old woman who asked whether he would help her across the river. Jason agreed to help her. Unbeknown to him this was the goddess, Hera. While Jason was helping her across the river, he lost the sandal off one foot.

WHOOSH • When he finally reached Iolcus, Jason was met by King Pelias, who saw that Jason was wearing only one sandal and knew he must be a relative who wanted to kill him (he had visited the Oracle again and this time the message was ‘beware a man wearing only one sandal’).

• King Pelias asked Jason what he would do if he was in his place: a king who was faced by Page 24

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES someone he suspected wanted to kill him.

• Jason then heard a voice in his hear and found himself speaking the words: ‘I would send him to Colchis to find the Golden Fleece and return it to Iolcus.’ He didn’t know that this was the voice of the goddess, Hera.

• King Pelias heard what he had to say, he knew that this was an impossible task and that Jason would probably die trying. So he told Jason that if he could go to Colchis and return with the Golden Fleece then he would hand over the crown.

WHOOSH • So Jason - helped by the goddess Hera - built a big rowing ship called the Argo. Now all he needed was to find the best heroes from all over Greece to join him. He had forty-nine places to fill on his ship, forty-nine oars to be rowed.

• Jason and Hera sent out heralds all across Greece inviting the greatest heroes to join his journey for the Golden Fleece.

WHOOSH - the end.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES RESOURCE 2 - THE MAP

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES RESOURCE 3: SHORTENED STORY WHOOSH • Jason’s father, Aeson, was the King of Iolcus (give the child playing the King the crown). But his stepbrother Pelias wanted to rule the Kingdom so he took the crown from Aeson and became King himself.

• Aeson was locked in prison by Pelias, where he died some months later. Meanwhile his wife was pregnant and their child, Jason, was growing inside her.

WHOOSH • For many months King Pelias ruled, but all the time he worried that someone might want to take his crown and kingdom from him. So he went to the Oracle at Delphi to ask what his future held. Arriving at the temple Pelias was met by a priestess who is able to speak to and interpret the will of the gods and can tell human beings what the future holds for them. The priestess told Pelias, ‘you will be killed by a member of your own family.’

WHOOSH • When he returned to Iolcus, King Pelias sent for his soldiers who he ordered to kill all of his relatives; his cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces, everyone except for his own children.

(Create a still image of different places in Iolcus with soldiers killing his family).

• Jason’s mother was also killed, while her baby son was asleep in another room.

WHOOSH • The servants who were with the baby Jason at the time, could hear the soldiers in the next room, so they quickly made a plan. They decided they would weep over baby Jason’s body, pretending he was already dead, in order to save his life.

• When the soldiers came into the room, they saw the servants crying and believed Jason was dead. The soldiers left the house.

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS - RESOURCES RESOURCE 4 IMAGES OF THE SET MODEL - WITH WOODEN PLANKS

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JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS A Unicorn / Dancing Brick production

Resource pack written by Catherine Greenwood Activities developed with Ella Macfadyen, Susanna Steele and Christopher Hatton Primary School