A SUPPLEMENTARYSTUDY GUIDE

prepared by Mark Kennedy & Brittany Howard T H E A T R E CO. Prepared by: Mike Hollinshead

SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY GUIDE

Created by Michael Hollinshead

Adapted by Jody DavidsonDirected by Whit MacLaughlinBased on the book by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT 2

SYNOPSIS of the play 3

OUR PRODUCTION 6

Forced Perspective 7

The Really Big Set 8

Drawing With the Mouse 9

Math With the Mouse 11

cooking With the Mouse 15

Questions 16

Writing With the Mouse 13

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT Laura Joffe Numeroff

Laura Numeroff was born in 1953, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, William, worked on the art staff of the World Telegram & Sun, one of New Yorkʼs major newspapers. Her mother, Florence, was a junior high school home economics teacher. She was surrounded at home with the love of reading, playing the piano, singing, dancing, science and stamp collecting. She was the youngest of three girls.

Her favorite books include: Eloise, by Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hilary Knight,

Stuart Little, by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams.

The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss

When she was 15, instead of being a writer, she decided to follow in her sister Emilyʼs footsteps and become a fashion designer. She ended up taking classes in photography, animation and radio broadcasting, and by her last semester, happened to take a class in writing and illustrating books for children

She had an assignment to write and illustrate a childrenʼs book and wrote about a girl who was the tallest girl in the third grade. She made several attempts to get it published and after only 4 tries, Macmillan bought it! She graduated from college with a degree AND a contract for her first book. She has gone on to sell over a million copies of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, which has been published in many languages.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT 2

SYNOPSIS of the play

The story starts with boy, the main character, telling the audience the story of the day that Mouse visited him. Being “grown up” Boy chooses to stay home to read his new comic book rather than going to visit his Aunt. After receiving the proper instructions from his mom about not opening the door for strangers, and letting the answering machine pick up any phone calls, Boy grabs a bag of cookies and heads out to the backyard with his comic book. Just when Boy thinks that life can’t get any better,

Mouse walks into the backyard and exclaims how hungry he is. As an innocent gesture Boy offers the Mouse one of his cookies. He quickly realizes that this is the beginning of the end! Mouse is completely satisfied by his cookie; nothing could be more perfect... well except if he also had a glass of milk. Boy invites Mouse into the kitchen to get a glass of milk, which ends up being too tall for him. Mouse needs a straw to drink the milk and asks Boy if he has one, quickly adding that he doesn’t wish to be any trouble. As Mouse’s mom always says, “Never be a bother when you can be a help.” After Mouse drinks the milk he realizes that he must have a milk mustache! It’s not polite to have a messy mouth after all, so Mouse asks for a napkin and a mirror just to make sure he got all the milk off.

While Mouse is looking in the mirror he notices that one of his mouse hairs is longer than the other and asks to borrow a pair of scissors. Mouse starts to cut his hair but keeps missing the one that he originally intended to cut. He works up a hair cutting frenzy until he is completely surrounded by piles of hair!

When Mouse sees the mess he has made he volunteers to grab a broom to sweep it up. In the process of getting the broom, he flings debris from the closet all over the kitchen. Mouse sweeps up all of the hair and notices that there is a sticky spot on the floor. Mouse decides he might as well wash the floor in that case and asks Boy where the floor washing stuff is kept. In a moment of weakness Boy tells the Mouse where to find it, and Mouse goes off to get it. Mouse returns with a giant bucket of water, a mop and a can of powdered cleaner. He empties the water all over Boy and the floor and then clumsily knocks over the boy and other kitchen appliances with the mop. By the time Boy gets back on his feet, mouse skates in on cleaning brushes and throws cleaning powder everywhere. Satisfied with his cleaning job, Mouse announces that he is feeling sleepy. Boy eagerly tries to make a mouse bed for Mouse so that there will finally be peace and quiet, when the Mouse exclaims that he needs a pillow, of course! Boy grabs a powder puff from his mom’s makeup kit and, sending powder everywhere, fluffs it and sets it down for Mouse.

Mouse finally snuggles down to take a nap. Boy, finally confident that he can handle the sleeping mouse starts to think about his comic book.

After a few moments of tossing and turning, Mouse realizes that he is not really tired. He asks Boy if he could read him a story like his mom does. Boy decides that he will read aloud his comic, Jungleman- Beastmaster of the Amazon, Battles King Constrictor Sovereign of the Snakes. Instead of making Mouse sleepy, he gets excited! He ends up acting out the story making a mess of the kitchen in the process. Inspired by the pictures in the comic book, Mouse decides that he wants to draw a picture of his own. Boy gets Mouse paper and crayons and Mouse proceeds to draw a picture of his house and his family. When he is done he asks Boy if he can hang it on the refrigerator. Boy agrees and Mouse hurriedly runs into the closet to grab some nails to hang to drawing. Boy runs after him to stop him but mouse accidentally topples everything in the closet over.

Boy brings Mouse back into the kitchen and tells him to stay put and not touch anything while he fixes the closet. While he is gone Mouse decides he will be helpful and hang the picture himself. Mouse starts to climb the refrigerator and just as he hangs up the picture, the shelves collapse and the entire contents of the fridge come spilling out and break all over the floor.

Boy comes running back in at the noise and sees the mess all over the kitchen and is visibly almost at the breaking point. Seeing the refrigerator reminds Mouse that he is thirsty again and asks Boy if he could have a glass of milk. Boy, now at his wits end, agrees. While he is getting the milk, Mouse asks if he could get a cookie to go with the milk.

Boy collapses to the floor in defeat. Just then the front door slams shut and we hear the voice of the Boy’s mother. She expresses her surprise at the mess. The mouse walks offstage to meet her, introduce himself, and talk... and talk... and talk.....

CAST

Boy.........................................David Raphaely Mouse....................................Steve Pacek

CREATIVE TEAM

Director.........................................Whit MacLaughlinSet Designer..................................David GordonCostume Designer........................Richard St. ClairLighting Designer.........................Drew BilliauSound Designer.............................Jorge CousineauMovement Director......................Samantha BellomoAssistant LightingDesigner.........Courtney KeatingAssistant Sound Designer............John KolbinskiStage Manager...............................Stephanie Cook

OUR PRODUCTION

OUR PRODUCTIONForced Perspective

One of the choices our set designer made was to build the set using forced perspective. The forced perspective is achieved by constantly decreasing the scale, or size, of objects from where you are sitting, to the farthest point upstage. An illusion is created where your eye thinks that the size of the objects are decreasing because they are much farther away, when they are actually closer than you think!

Forced perspective has been around since Ancient Greece when the Greeks built columns that were smaller at the top to give the illusion of being taller than they actually are. A good modern example of this is the castle at Disney World. The walls of Cinderellaʼs Castle are built on an angle and the spires become smaller at the top. With this ʻtrick ̓the top spire looks about twice as high as it actually is.

The set of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is built with the same concept, except we make the set look not only taller than it really is, but also that it extends farther back than it really does. We do this to make the small stage look bigger, but it only works when you are sitting in the audience. If you were to look at it from the actorʼs perspective on stage, it would look very strange!

In addition the set being built in forced perspective, the set is also built to a scale of 1.42. This means that everything on stage is 42% BIGGER than it would be in real life. The director and set designer decided to do this because the ratio of how a 9 year old sees the world is supposed to be 42% bigger than when they are adults.

Since the set is built to make the actors look small in comparison, we can believe that the adult actors are really child size!

OUR PRODUCTIONThe Really Big Set

Our Production Manager,Courtney Riggar, Stands in the unfinished refrigerator. Her hand shows how tall a real refrigerator should be.

DRAWING IN FORCED PERSPECTIVEA First Step

Drawing in forced perspective is very complex. The First step is learning how to draw in 3-D. Here is an easy excersize that will help you understand how it works by drawing a city block.

Notice in the picture below all of the lines that slant up to the right are parallell to each other. Parallel means they can extend to infinity in both direction and never touch. All the lines that slant up to the left are parallel also. Add onto the picture below until you get the idea, then start your own picture on the next page. When you are done add doors and windows to the buildings, remembering to keep the lines parallel to each other.

DRAWING IN FORCED PERSPECTIVEYour Turn

Draw your own city block from scratch!

Keep practicing and you will evenually be able to draw something like this!

How many cookies should end up in the jar?Draw them in!

1) Mom bought 10 cookies and put them in the jar.Dad ate 2 cookies, Tommy ate 3 cookies and the Mouse ate 1 cookie. How many cookies are in the jar?

2) Mom baked 5 cookies and put them in the jar. Grandma baked 3 cookies and put them in the jar. How many cookies are in the Jar?

3) Dad bought 5 cookies and put them in the jar. Mom ate 2 cookies. Grandma baked 8 cookies and put them in the jar. Tommy ate 4 cookies and the Mouse ate 2 cookies. How many cookies are left in the jar?

Math With The Mouse

Write the numeral here! Draw the cookies here!

For Teachers!

1) Have your students draw and cut out their favorite kind of cookie. Each student can make one cookie.

2) Have each student write their name on the back of the cookie.

Create a bar graph with the students.

3) Begin by drawing the bar graph on the board or on a piece of paper.

4)Identify the categories by asking the class what kind of cookies they drew. Then have each student place their cookie on the graph, showing the preferences of the class.

5) Explain creating the vertical axis numbers based on the response of the class. Do you need to skip to 5 and then start counting singular cookies? Ten?

Convert this graph into other charts and graphs or percentages based on your class’ current math skills.

Math with the MouseBar Graphs

Writing with the MouseWrite a Review!

The Arden wants to know what you think! Write a review of the production that you can send to the Arden!

As an example you can read Peter Pan reviews. http://pennsylvania.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW_REVIEWS_PETER_PAN_Fly_to_Neverland_at_the_Arden_Theatre_20091210

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/wendy_rosenfield/20091207_Imagination_propels__Pan_.html

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/philly/phil115.html

A good theatre review should mention all the elements of the play: design, acting, direction and the script itself. All contributors should be mentioned by name when their work is critiqued.

You can mail your reviews to:

Arden Theatre CompanyEducation Dept.40 N 2nd StPhiladelphia, PA 19106

17.

Sometimes all it takes to start a book is to come up with a funny title. The author of the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Joffe Numeroff, shares a story:

“Sometimes I hear something that sounds like a title. One day, I saw a Dalmatian and I said to my friend “Heʼd look funny in red, high top sneakers!” My friend replied, “Dogs donʼt wear sneakers!” That was all it took for me to start writing my book Dogs Donʼt Wear Sneakers.”

Think of some silly names and pick the one that you like best and write a story about it. Here are some examples to get you started!

Itʼs Raining Sideways!

My Pancake Wonʼt Stay on My Plate.

This Water Tastes like Chocolate!

Writing with the MouseWrite Your Own Story

18.

cooking with the MouseGooey Chocolate Cookies

A fun treat to make with a parent!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons hot water 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2) Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. 3) Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. 3) Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Here are some questions that will get you thinking about the play and the story of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie just a little bit more. These are good to talk about in a group or to write out what you think.

1) How did you feel when you walked into the theatre? Did the kitchen seem like it could have been modeled after your kitchen? What was different between the kitchen in Boy’s house and the kitchen in your house?

2) If you were relaxing one day and a Mouse asked you for a cookie, would you give it to him? If yes, would you at any point in the story put your foot down and tell the Mouse to leave?

3) Did the actor who played Mouse make you believe he was really an animal? What made you think so? Was it his costume, his body movements, or maybe his voice?

4) Have you ever read the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie ? How was the play different from the book? How was it the same?

5) How do you think Boy will explain the mess to his mother? Do you think she will believe him?

6) Which character in the show do you most relate to? Are you tidy and hesitant to make a mess like Boy, or do you do things passionately and end up making a mess like Mouse?

Discussion Questions