Visual Story for

Sleeping Beauty

The Watermill Theatre Bagnor, Newbury, Berkshire, RG20 8AE

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This visual story is designed for visitors to our performance of Sleeping Beauty to help you prepare for your visit.

It contains lots of images along with helpful information about the theatre and the performance itself.

Contents

Page 3 – About The Watermill Theatre

Page 5 – What to expect on the day

Page 7 – Inside the auditorium

Page 9 – During the performance

Page 10 – Useful information for the day!

Page 11 – Sleeping Beauty: What you’ll see on stage

Page 13 – The Characters

Page 15 – What happens?

We hope you enjoy the performance!

Would you like a familiarisation visit? We can arrange for you to come to the theatre to look around the space and find your seat before the day. To organise this, or for any other questions, please call Heidi on

01635 570927 or email heidi@watermill.org.uk

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About The Watermill Theatre

Welcome to The Watermill

Theatre.

There is parking at the theatre

in our gravel car park and

spaces can be booked in

advance for people with

disabilities.

To get into the theatre you will

go through the foyer. This is a

small area where you can wait

before going into the main

auditorium.

You can buy a programme with

information and pictures about

the show and the actors.

There are lots of animals that

live at The Watermill. You may

see Connie the dog, the

chickens or the ducks.

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In the foyer you will see the Box

Office where people buy or collect

their tickets for the show.

If your tickets have already been

sent to you in the post you

probably won’t need to go to the

Box Office.

There is a bar where you can buy

drinks and food. There are tables

and chairs in the bar. You may sit

at them if you like.

If you want to eat in the restaurant

you will need to call and reserve a

table before you come.

It can be quite busy and noisy

in the foyer before the

performance while everyone

waits to see the show.

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What to expect on the day...

Ladies and Gentlemen, this

evening’s performance will

begin shortly...

Before the show starts an usher may

ring a bell and help people find their

seats.

The ushers will be wearing the

colour black. They work for the

theatre, and will be happy to answer

your questions.

It will not always be the lady in the

picture but every usher has a badge

so you know you can ask them

things. They will also help you find

your seat in the theatre.

You may hear announcements

telling you when you can go and find

your seat in the theatre and how

long it will be until the play starts.

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If you need to go to the toilet, look for the signs or ask an usher

for directions.

Boys’ Toilet Toilet for people

who use

wheelchairs

Girls’ Toilet

When the theatre is

busy it may be difficult

to find the toilet.

The red line on this

map shows the route

from the theatre foyer

to the toilets.

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Inside the auditorium

You will have a ticket like this one

with your seat number on. There

are seats for the audience to sit in.

You sit in the seat with the same

number on it as the number on

your ticket.

As you enter the theatre you

may see the waterwheel.

The wheel doesn’t turn but you

will be able to see and hear the

river.

The seats in The Watermill are

narrower than seats in other

theatres and cinemas. If you

would like more space, you may

want to ask to book a seat on the

end of a row.

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This is what the stage will look like

if you are sitting upstairs, with

different scenery for each

production.

This is what the stage will look like

if you are sitting downstairs, with

different scenery for each

production.

In the theatre, the lights will dim

when the play is about to begin.

There is a spiral staircase for you

to use to get to the upstairs

seats. It is quite narrow.

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During the performance

Part way through the show there will be an

interval. During the interval, snacks, drinks

and ice creams will be on sale.

It’s okay if you feel happy or sad

during the show. Some people

may laugh or cry depending on

how they feel.

At the end of the show, everyone

will clap their hands to say thank

you to the actors.

When the clapping has stopped,

the lights will get brighter. This

means the show is over it is time to

leave the theatre.

It can be noisy when the play starts.

You may want to bring ear

defenders or ear plugs that you can

wear during the show.

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Sleeping Beauty:

what you’ll see on

stage To help you prepare for your visit, below we’ve detailed some things to

expect during the performance. If you’d prefer not to know what’s going

to happen then don’t read any further!

Sensory: sound

Sometimes there are sudden sound effects.

Several of the characters can be quite loud

or shrill in their voice. The Ogre in particular

has a loud, booming voice that sometimes

comes through the speakers.

Sometimes several characters talk over the

top of each other.

Sensory: visuals

Sometimes there isn’t a lot of light, or the

lights are coloured.

Glitter and confetti will fall onto the stage

during the performance.

Sometimes characters may hide and jump

out quite suddenly.

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Sensory: smells

We use ‘haze’ to make the stage

misty and seem more magical. Haze is

safe to breathe and doesn’t have a

strong smell.

Social interaction: audience

experience

Some of the audience seats are very close to the stage.

Sometimes the actors use the aisles in the auditorium

to play their musical instruments or to walk or run past

the audience.

Sometimes characters will talk directly to the audience

or ask the audience to join in with the story from their

seats.

Sometimes characters feel lost, alone, sad, cross or

scared.

Sometimes characters behave badly, like farting, being

rude or being horrible to people.

Sometimes the actors pretend that they have been

hurt.

A lot of the kingdom is magical, strange or confusing.

The Characters

Beauty

Beauty is the precious daughter of the King

and Queen. Beauty isn’t your average

Princess. She’s moody, disobeys her parents

and always likes to get her own way.

When she pricks her finger on the night

before her sixteenth birthday she falls into a

deep sleep for a hundred years and can only

be woken with a kiss, from a Prince.

Fairy Goody

Fairy Goody is mischievous and magical. She

grants the King and Queen’s wish for a child.

When she is not invited to the naming day, she

curses their child.

Goody’s magical power is so strong that every

time she cast a spell she uncontrollably passes

wind.

She’s in the forest looking for a Prince to wake up

Beauty.

Prince of Nerves and Prince of Nerds

These Princes are looking for their future love

and deciding whether Beauty is for them.

They meet Fairy Goody and hear her story in the

forest. They come face-to-face with the Ogre

and eventually get eaten.

As their names suggest, one is very nervous and

the other very nerdy.

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Ogress

The Ogress is the Prince’s mother. She’s a

meat eating creature and when there’s no

meat available she’s happy to eat anyone

or anything, including her two

grandchildren Rose and Hector.

Prince

The Prince is the son of the Ogress. He thinks

he is very courageous, strong, and brave.

Fairy Goody wants him to kiss Beauty to

wake her up. He doesn’t want to kiss Beauty

because he thinks kissing girls is disgusting.

He eventually kisses Beauty. She wakes up

and they fall in love.

The King and Queen

The King and Queen are Beauty’s parents who

live in a beautiful, gold encrusted palace.

They meet Fairy Goody in the forest and ask her

to grant their wish for a child. The Queen is

unkind and doesn’t allow Fairy Goody to come to

Beauty’s naming day. As a result their daughter

falls into a deep sleep under the Fairy’s spell and

they are distraught.

The Ogre

The Ogre is a human-eating creature

who lives in the forest. He eats the

Prince of Nerds and Nerves as they

travel through the forest, which

delays Beauty from being woken up.

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What happens?

Fairy Goody and her Thorns are outside the palace. The Prince of Nerves is running away from an Ogre. Ogre wants to eat the Prince of Nerves. Goody hides the Prince of Nerves and Ogre leaves. Goody tells the Prince of Nerves her story.

Many years ago, Goody helped the King and Queen to have a baby called Beauty. The King said Goody could come to Beauty’s party but the Queen didn’t want Goody there because Goody farted. Goody was cross that the King broke his promise to invite her. She puts a curse on Beauty that before she is 16 she’ll prick her finger and sleep for a hundred years.

Back outside the palace, Ogre is back and carries the Prince of Nerves off. The Prince of Nerds arrives and Goody tells him the rest of her story.

The day before Beauty’s sixteenth birthday, she asked for a new dress. The King asked Goody to make her a dress. Beauty saw Goody making the dress and came to watch. Beauty pricked her finger on the spindle and fell asleep.

The King and Queen

The King and Queen are Beauty’s parents who live

in a beautiful, gold encrusted palace.

They meet Fairy Goody in the forest and ask her

to grant their wish for a child. They are stubborn

and unkind and don’t allow Fairy Goody to come

to Beauty’s naming day. As a result, their

daughter falls into a deep sleep under the Fairy’s

spell and they are distraught.

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The King and Queen tried to fall asleep, too, by pricking their fingers but the magic had run out. Goody tried to magic roses around the palace but only the Thorns appeared. The Thorns carried away the King and Queen.

Back outside the palace, Ogre is back again. Goody feeds him magic herbs to make him sleep. The Prince of Nerds tries to fight the Thorns to get to Beauty but they carry him away.

A Queen Ogress arrives, needing help from Goody. Ogress is disguised as a human. She is about to have a baby boy who is half Ogre and half human. Ogress has already eaten her husband and is worried she’ll want to eat her baby. Goody stays with Ogress to make sure the baby Prince grows up safely without being eaten.

Years later Prince is grown up. Goody takes him to the Thorn-covered palace and tells him about Beauty. Prince tricks the Thorns into fighting with each other. Prince kisses Beauty and she wakes up.

THE INTERVAL

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Time has passed. Ogre is looking for more people to eat.

Prince introduces his mother, Ogress, to Beauty and their two babies, Hector and Rose. Ogress is cross that Goody took Prince to Beauty.

While the family are having dinner, Prince hears Ogre outside and goes to fight it. Beauty realises baby Rose is missing. Ogress has hidden Rose because she wants to eat the baby. Ogress wants Goody to cook Rose but Goody hides Rose and cooks a donkey instead. Ogress eats what she thinks is Rose.

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Beauty comes back, still looking for Rose. She gives Hector to Ogress to look after while she searches. Ogress wants to eat Hector. She gives Hector to Goody to cook, but Goody hides Hector with Rose and cooks a goat instead. Ogress eats what she thinks is Hector.

Ogress tells Beauty that she’s eaten both of the children. Ogress wants to eat Beauty. Ogress tells Goody to cook Beauty, and leaves.

Beauty doesn’t understand why someone would want to eat people. Goody explains that she is an ogress. Beauty runs away with her babies to the forest.

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Goody cooks a cat instead of Beauty to feed to Ogress. Goody runs away. Ogress realises she has been tricked. Ogress chases after Goody.

Ogre gets into the house. He frees a Slave, trapped in a table. Ogre goes looking for Goody.

Everyone is looking for someone in the forest.

Beauty’s dress gets torn in the Thorns. Ogress finds Beauty and wants to eat her but the Thorns protect Beauty.

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Prince finds Beauty’s torn dress and thinks Ogre has eaten Beauty. Goody tells him Beauty is alive but that his mother is an ogress. Ogre arrives and is confused because Prince smells like both a human and an ogre.

Ogress is about to eat Beauty when Ogre and Prince arrive. Ogre tries to kill Prince but Ogress protects her son. Ogre and Ogress fight. Ogress is killed. Ogre is about to eat Beauty when Goody arrives and kills Ogre using her magic. Goody loses her fairy wings and her magic because she used her powers to kill.

Beauty, Prince, Hector and Rose are safe. Ogre and Ogress are dead. Beauty doesn’t trust Prince now she knows he is half ogre. Goody brings them back together.

This visual story was written and created by Lixi Chivas and Heidi Bird

Production photographs: Philip Tull