Long ago, in a far off kingdom...
(Well actually, it was in the gym, last Wednesday.)
... the middle school Drama Club's production of 'Into the Woods' delighted us thoroughly, weaving together familiar fairy tales in a way that has captured our imagination.
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| Cinderalla's Prince, and Rapunzel's Prince argue about who's is in more agony. |
"My favorite part was when Cinderella got her beautiful dress." - Ellie
"My favorite part was when they cut the wolf open and everyone came out." - Cabot
"My favorite part was when the witch tried to do magic and out came nothing!" - Jerry
"Jack's best friend was a cow! He sang to him!" - Ali
The Sky Class prepared for the play by reading many different fairy tales, while the Trees Class was inspired by the play to start reading these and other fairy tales ...
The children have been comparing and contrasting the play to the storybooks, as well as to different movie versions of fairy tales that they have seen.
Echoes of the play can be seen emerging throughout our curriculum. In Paint, many characters are making a colorful appearance...
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| "The tall, tall tower" - Cabot |
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| Above Left: A Prince with his stick-horse Above Right: Cinderella ("from the movie, not the play") Above: Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella |
InDrama we have been acting out scenes from various fairy tales, with cameos from other fairy tales sometimes showing up, just as in Sondheim's epic...
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| Harper does research for Drama by reading the pictures. |
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| Checking to see how dark the tower is! |
Rapunzel trying to manage her hair...
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| "Lock her up so tight so she never gets free!" - Melany "It looks like she's getting her hair cut." - Sydney "Then we should cut it!" - Ali |
In the Sky classroom, children have been reflecting on the play, some by creating a full body portrait of the characters. This connects with our emerging body study, and contributes to our study of how to build a story...
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| "This is the loud noise during the show!" - Cole |
In the Trees classroom, the block space has been transformed into a fantastic fairytale-scape ...
If you look closely you will see Rapunzel's tower, Granny's cottage, the Prince's palace, Jack's house with a very large beanstalk growing in the garden, the Baker and his wife's house, complete with the Witch's house next door, and a temple, for good measure.
"This is where they go to hear God's word." - Kai
...not an influence you usually hear about in a Sondheim musical.
Overheard in block play today:
Kellan as Jack: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"
Alex as the Prince: "No, I'm your prince!"
Penny as Rapunzel: "Ahh! Boys in my house!"
Jack: "Fine, I'll go climb my beanstalk and show her my riches."
Cole enters from another activity, stealthily, gets a wooden figure which quietly follows Jack up the beanstalk: "Rapunzel Rapunzel, climb up my beanstalk!"
Rapunzel climbs up: "Cole?! Are you Jack?"
Cole: "No, I'm the wolf! And I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll BLOW you down the beanstalk!" Blows Jack off the beanstalk.
Penny: genuinely surprised, shrieking at her little wooden Rapunzel: "AHHHHH! The wolf! The mean wolf! Cole is the wolf! "
Jack: upon having fallen from the beanstalk, "I can't see! There is blood in my eyes!"
Rapunzel: "Climb up my hair!"
Jack climbs up. They push off the wolf.
Wolf: "Aww, man!"
Prince: "Blood on your face! I'll take you to the hospital!"
Rapunzel: "I thought this was your palace! For the ball!!"
Prince: "No, I made it into a hospital because it's emergency times."
Kai who has been watching from another activity, approaches with a wooden figure and says in a crackly voice: "Ill go to the temple to pray for you."
Teacher: "Who are you, Kai?"
Kai: "I'm the witch."
At another point, in a moment of exuberant play, a child accidentally knocked down Granny's cottage. When the teacher asked who had done this, with a twinkle in her eye, she quietly replied, "The wolf."
At the nature table: "These are all things you would find in the WOODS!" - Cole
Painting, drawing, reading, drama, storytelling, block construction — through all of this we see the children demonstrating so much from our handy list of Twenty Habits:
- attending
- engaging fully
- reflecting
- responding with wonder
- organizing thoughts
- exploring
- using all senses
- managing space and materials
- creating
- connecting and synthesizing
- celebrating
... just to name a few.
This is the power of theater, of the four year old's mind, and of the emergent classroom — where the child is the protagonist, supported by the partnership and guidance of the teachers.
"...Into the woods,
Then out of the woods,
And home before dark!"
