Creative Learning Journey Teacher ResourcesThe Young King

Stages 2–3

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IntroductionThese Creative Learning Journey Resources have been prepared to help you get the most out of The Young King. These resources are full of activities and inspiration to prepare your studentsbefore coming to see the performance, what you can do on the way, what you can do at theSydney Opera House and then unpacking the experience back in the classroom.

You should adapt these Resources to suit the student age and stage of your class and thecurriculum foci and outcomes used in your school. These Resources are written as a creative document for you to bring to life. If you have questions about exercises or provocations please feel free to make contact to talk it through. We are always open to feedback, comments and working with you to assist and learn from you. Contact details are on the back page.

Some websites are suggested throughout this resource. It is recommended that you first visit the sites and assess the suitability of the content for your particular school environment before setting the activities based on these.

Performance Descriptionand SynopsisWhat kind of King would you be?Journey into the magical world of Oscar Wilde’s classic tale recreated by Australian theatre company, Slingsby.

In this uniquely interactive theatre experience, our royal courtiers invite you to wander through corridors, curiousinstallations and secret compartments on the way to the King’s Coronation.

Achingly beautiful and thought-provoking, students will love this immersive tale of a lost prince and the challengingchoices he must make as heir to the kingdom when untold treasures and privileges are laid at his feet.

Sydney Opera House Creativity FrameworkThese Creative Learning Journey Resources have been written using the Sydney Opera House Creativity Framework as the pedagogy. This Framework underpins much of what we do in our work with schools. More information can be found at the Sydney Opera House website. In short the Framework aims to define the creative process in a way that educators can use to teach and be inspired by.

At a glance this Creativity Framework is:

Prepare: Tools and PathwaysPreparing mind, body, space, materials and time.

Buy in: Presence and EnthusiasmConvincing students that they want to be there.

Imagine: The Fertile UnknownExploring a subject through arts practice.Using form to uncover content. Allowing uncensoredexpression to reveal new ways of seeing a subject.

Question: Analysis, investigation and revelation Creating new understanding by analyzing what justhappened when honing the imagination.

Make: forging form from contentPutting shape to content and moving towardsa project; scripts, composition, choreography,project design.

Show: Commit, frame, judgementPerforming and presenting the work.

Reflect: Remembering, Processing, exitingCreating understanding and healthy memories fromthe creative process and product.

Creative Learning Journey Resource Notes Conceived and illustrated by Lilly Blue

Lilly Blue is a visual artist, educator (BFA, Dip Ed) and publisher with a background inphysical performance, installation and community arts. She edits, curates and publishesBIG Kids Magazine together with dancer/writer Jo Pollitt, which features the work of children and artists side by side. Lilly worked as Head of Creative Learning with The Red RoomCompany and travels Internationally delivering arts residencies, professional development, creative commissions and exhibitions, as well as designing programming for young audiences drawn from a rigorous personal practice. Lilly Blue is one of the Sydney Opera HouseTeaching Artists and was instrumental in developing the Creativity Framework.

New NSW Syllabus The existing NSW K-6 Creative Arts Syllabus

Stage 2 & Stage 3

Overview of the show/performance

The Young King

Stage 2

Outcomes Content General capabilities and cross-curriculumpriorities

English EN2-6BA student: Identifies the effect of purpose and audience on spoken texts,distinguishes between different forms of English and identifies organisationalpatterns and features.

Speaking & listening 2. Incultural understaning Personal & socialcapability.

English EN2 - 8B A student: Identifies and compares different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an understanding of purpose, audience and subject matter.

Reading & viewing 2. ACELY1678ACELY1690ACELA1478ACELA1492ACELT1599Critical & creative thinking.

Creative Arts Music MUS2.4Identifies the use of musical concepts andmusical symbols in a range of repertoire.

Listening.

Creative Arts Drama DRAS2.4Responds to, & interprets dramaexperiences and performances.

Appreciating.

Creative Arts Visual Arts VAS2.3A student: Identifies connections between subject matter in artworks and what they refer to, and appreciates the use ofparticular techniques.

Appreciating.

Classroom Context andCurriculum LinksThis performance provides the classroom teacher withmany opportunities for learning activities that linkto the following curriculum

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The Young King

Stage 3

Outcomes Content General capabilities and cross-curriculumpriorities

English EN3-5BA student: Discusses how language is used to achieve a widening range of purposes for a widening range of audiences & contexts.

Responding andcomposing.

Critical & creative thinking.

English EN3 - 7CA student: Thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and critically about informa-tion and ideas and identifies connections between texts when responding to and composing texts.

Thinking imaginative-ly, creatively, interpre-tively and critically.

ACELT1616ACELA1518ACELT1618ACELT1612Critical & creative think-ing.

Creative Arts Music MUS3.4Identifies the use of musical concepts andsymbols in a range of musical styles.

Listening.

Creative Arts Drama DRAS3.4Responds critically to a range of dramaworks and performance styles.

Appreciating.

Creative Arts Visual Arts VAS3.4A student: Communicates about the ways in which subject matter is represented inartworks.

Appreciating.

Empathy: List Poems

Write a list of 10 things about you that are the same as everyone else. Write a list of all the ways you are entirely different from others.Write a list of 15 things you are enormously grateful for.Write a list of the things in the world you would change if you could.

After writing each of the list poems students could merge their words with a friend to create new poems. Or write each response on a separate strip of paper and compose random poems by pulling out one unexpected strip at a time.

Connection: Activity Series

A. Sit silently opposite a friend with an A3 piece of paper and two pencils between you, and hold eye contact. Notice how it feels to look into your partner’s eyes. Watch how your feelings change as you continue to connect. Notice your level of comfort and at what point you feel an impulse to look away. Align your breath so that you are both inhaling and exhaling at the same time. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Notice if your feelings change as you begin breathing together. Close your eyes for a while and see how that changes your experience. Try and stay connected to your partner even with your eyes closed. Open your eyes and establish eye contact again.

Share with your partner about your experience. How did it feel? What did you learn about yourself? What was it like to connect with another person without speaking?

B. One partner begins making small expressions with their face, and the other copies the movements exactly as if you were looking in a mirror. Extend the movement into tiny gestures with your fingers, hands and shoulders. Move slowly so that your partner can mirror your movements exactly. Swap over so the other person has an opportunity to lead. Test your boundaries and take risks.

C. Continue the mirror game but this time the leader begins drawing on the pagebetween you. In the same way you mirrored the physical movements, now you mirror what is drawn. Think about making marks and drawing lines rather than pictures of things you recognize. Work in an abstract way, the priority being to stay connected. Follow as closely as you can so that you are both drawing at exactly the same time. Keep work ing together until you reach the point where you don’t know who is leading and who is following

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Stillness - Mindfulness Empathy Exercise

Mindfulness has the potential of enhancing awareness, acceptance and empathy.On your journey to the Opera House to see The Young King your class will likely be full of lively excitement and anticipation. Take 2 minutes to close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath. How many breaths can you count before your mind startswandering? Where in your body can you visualize your breath? Each time you notice your mind has wandered bring your attention back to your breath. Then bring your awareness into the stillness of your body. Become as still as you possibly can so that the only movement in your body is each involuntary breath moving in and out of your nostrils. Rest in the stillness of your body becoming as quiet and unmoving as you are able. Collect this feeling of stillness in as much detail as possible.

The Opera House is an iconic building in Australia with an incredible story. While you are visiting the Opera House think about the kinds of people you think usually visit it. Are there people who might be less likely to visit? Why? How do you think the Opera House could become more accessible to a wider community of people?

Watch: The Opera House Project: Story of an Australian Icon

Reflections

What was it like to come into the theatre as part of acommunity, having made your own crown? How was thisdifferent from other theatre experiences you have had?

What was it like to be able to see the faces of otheraudience members during the performance? Did this impact your reading of the show?

Of all the moments in The Young King which one hasstayed with you? Why?

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Making The Young King

Manifesto for The Young Kingby Slingsby Theatre Company

• Our audience is a group of strangers who become a brotherhood/sisterhood• Our audience members leave a memory of themselves in the space• Every piece of theatre should be an island (where its unique culture and logic

has evolved)• We value the experience as much as the story• Making adults and children equal – finding the humanness in us all• We should discover the story together (with the audience)• Embrace unpredictability• Create a ceremonial journey of the experience• Remember that contrived accidents keep it real• Every night is unique• Our audience should start and end the show at home

In what interesting ways did the performers use lighting? How did it impactthe atmosphere and further the narrative?

How did the musical score impact the mood and your feelings?

What was your least favourite moment in the show? Why

Did you agree with the King’s decision not to wearthe finery at his Coronation? Why?

“On the loom of sorrow has this my robe beenwoven.... shall joy wear what grief has fashioned?”

Start a conversation about school uniform. Is it agood or bad thing. Does make everyone equal ordoes it deny people the right to look how they want?

Does clothing make a King? What qualities makea good leader? The people of the Kingdom were nothappy about the Young Kings decision.

“Your vices give us bread. To toil for a harsh masteris bitter, but to toil for no master at all is bitterer still”

How did you feel at this point in the production?What kind of feelings arose for you?

What did you think about the ending?

We developed a manifesto for ourselvesas a team. For us, great theatre mustdeliver on the below challenges Andy Packer from Slingsby TheatreCompany & the Director of The Young King

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“From here, making the production is a circular process of hunches, experiments, testing and repeating until we find a satisfying result. Often it is accidents or unplanned discoveries that make the best moments in theatre. To get to these moments you must have time to explore, experiment and take risks. This is why we call the end result a “play”. Andy Packer, Director of The Young King

What is a manifesto?

What would you include in a manifesto for making theatre?

In small groups write your own manifesto for an imaginedtheatre company.

Abstract Composition

1. Write down 10 adjectives to describe the production of The Young King.2. Write a small description of your favourite moment in the show.3. Draw a picture of one of the characters in the play.4. Find something that you could use as a costume.5. Make up three movements/gestures in response to the show

Crash some of these elements together to create an abstractcomposition in response to The Young King.

The Rules

Your abstract composition needs to include:• A sound score • At least 30 seconds of silence • A repetition • Unison movement • Not many words• Something unexpected -At least one thing that makes no sense

Explore: Slingsby Education Resources