Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel

Teatret Gruppe 38
Presented by the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performances Program 2014

Years 3 – 10

ARTS CENTRE TO INSERT PICTURE

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The Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performances Program is dedicated to fostering the arts by giving schools the
opportunity to see a diverse range of excellent theatre in fully produced form.

These resources have been created in two parts:

The first part is designed and written by Teatret Gruppe 38. They provide not only excellent background to the
production but also wonderful activities to deepen your students’ engagement with the show.

The second part has been designed by Jack Migdalek to complement the Victorian Essential Learning Standards.
Activity suggestions are arranged according to theme and/or broad focus area. This arrangement is designed to
serve educators as a useful guide toward drawing cross-curricular links across AusVELS domains and to
complement whole school planning.Themes will be addressed across learning strands via activities relating to
domains of relevance that draw upon applicable knowledge, skills and behaviours (AusVELS dimensions).

Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel is suitable for students ranging between years 3 – 10. As such activity
suggestions should be adapted by teachers to suit student levels. Where activities are specific to secondary or
lower level primary students this will be indicated in the activity explanation.

Teacher notes by Teatret Gruppe 38 and Jack Migdalek.

NOTE: Please remember to arrive 30 minutes before the starting time of the show.

Contents

Teaching Materials from Teatret Gruppe 38

ABOUT: Introduction for the teacher .............................................................................................................. 3
Two Overall Questions ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Theme One: The Fairy Tales - learn to know them ........................................................................................ 5
Theme Two: Questions for the performance ................................................................................................. 7
Theme Three: Do-It-Yourself .......................................................................................................................... 11
Theme Four: You – a writer of fairy tales? .................................................................................................... 12
Introduction to the material: for the teacher ............................................................................................... 13
Teaching Materials by Jack Migdalek
Theatre Etiquette ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Focus One: Storytelling ................................................................................................................................... 16
Focus Two: Special Effects ............................................................................................................................. 20
Focus Three: Theatre Art ................................................................................................................................ 22
Focus Four: Non-Conventional Forms ........................................................................................................... 24
Resources ........................................................................................................................................................ 26

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ABOUT: Introduction for the teacher
This teaching material is meant to be a contribution to the teacher as a basis for continuing the thought process, which
the performance, Hans Christian, You Must Be an Angel, may have started in children – and adults.

With this material we would like to contribute to the teacher´s continuing work with the students, but at the same time
we are aware that something else may well occupy the students after they have seen the performance. Thus the
material is not thought of as a "systematic emptying" of the performance. It should rather be viewed as a bank of ideas
from which the teacher can freely pick.

It is our hope that Hans Christian, You Must Be an Angel has given the audience a theatrical experience, which will stay
in the mind of the individual.

At Teatret Gruppe 38 we work deliberately with the idea that the magic of theatre and the power of imagination are
unique elements, and for us the individual experience of the child is central.

The performance’s starting point is some of Hans Christian Andersen’s best-known fairy tales, and the actors, as well as
the depicted figures, act concretely in the performance, and are given life in the imagination of the spectator.

The teaching material is, among other things, meant as a basis for letting the thoughts flow after the performance. It
may provide a basis for a certain amount of "philosophizing" with the students, resulting in that the students may
become a bit wiser about themselves – and others.

To express your thoughts, ideas and feelings in connection with a performance, may be a different, but perhaps
conducive input for the individual child’s development of competence.

Simultaneously it may contribute to the maintaining of the students´ collective experience of having been to the
theatre together.

The teaching material is aimed at all age groups within the

recommended frame (from 7 years), but the work must of
course be differentiated according to the competence of the
students.
At Teatret Gruppe 38 we work
The material has been divided in different themes: deliberately with the idea that
the magic of theatre and the
1. The fairy tales – learn to know them better,
2. Questions on the performance,
power of imagination are
3. "Do-it-yourself" and unique elements, and for us
4. You – a writer of fairy tales? the individual experience of
the child is central.

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Two overall questions
The students can be asked to think about the following questions in order to "recall" the performance. The two
questions below do not necessarily demand answers, but is rather a method to "open up" the memory and imagination
of the individual. If necessary the students can be asked to think about the questions until the next day.

1. What impressed you the most in the performance?

2. Did one figure make a particular impression on you? - Who? Why?

Photos: Morten Fauerby

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Theme 1: The Fairy Tales – learn to know them
The ideas behind the teaching material’s themes: Having seen the performance may have interested the students in
the cultural treasure of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales.

In Hans Christian, You Must Be an Angel an impressive array of figures from Hans Christian Andersen’s best known fairy
tales appear. The children already know many of the fairy tales in detail, and they have been able to connect them to
the symbols, which represented the figure in the performance.

Some fairy tales, on the other hand, might be unknown to them. Below is a list of titles of all the fairy tales “appearing”
in the performance:

. THE FIR TREE

. THE EMPEROR´S NEW CLOTHES
. THE NIGHTINGALE
. THUMBELINA
. OLE LUKOIE
. DEATH (Borrowed from THE STORY OF A MOTHER)
. THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
. THE SNOW MAN
. THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER
. THE NAUGHTY BOY
. WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES
. THE LITTLE MERMAID
. THE SNOW QUEEN
. THE SHADOW
. THE WOMAN WITH THE EGGS
. THE PRINCESS ON THE PEA
. CLUMSY HANS
. THE UGLY DUCKLING
. THE RED SHOES
. THE GALOSHES OF FORTUNE Having seen the performance may
have interested the students in the
cultural treasure of Hans Christian
Andersen’s fairy tales.

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In the following work with the lesser known fairy tales:

Work methods:

A:
Find [Perhaps in the library] one or more of either Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in the above list, or any other
fairy tale by another writer. The important thing is that you choose a fairy tale that you don´t know too well.

- The oldest students read the fairy tales and then review them for each other in groups of 2-4 students. Subsequently
you may work with a deeper analysis of the fairy tale.

- The youngest students have the fairy tale read to them. It is of course most convenient that the whole class hears the
same fairy tale.

- The students are then placed in groups two and two and will now help each other in pairs to retell the fairy tale as
accurate as possible. Afterwards they must cooperate to make a drawing on an A3 sheet with the most important
elements from the fairy tale. The result is hung on the wall in class.

B:
The students are asked to think which fairy tale they like the best.

 Try to tell in detail, why you especially like this fairy tale.
 Does it remind you of something from your own life?
 Does it remind you of something you miss in your life?
 Does the protagonist remind you of someone you know?

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THEME 2: Questions for the performance
Inspiration for conversation and discussion.

Assignment 1.

KIM’S GAME – HOW MANY DETAILS DID YOU NOTICE? – HOW MUCH DO YOU REMEMBER?

Kim’s game is normally a game, where one person is allowed to look at different things placed on a table for a certain
amount of time, whereupon the person must remember as many things as possible without looking at the things.

Now the students instead must think of the performance they saw one or more days ago. How many details do they
remember?

Work method:

A: Work in smaller groups. The children write or draw everything they remember from the performance on a piece of
paper. Finally their results are shared with the rest of the class. Who can remember most details from the
performance?

B: Divide the blackboard into 20 squares. (The number of fairy tales in the performance) or hang 20 sheets of white
cardboard in the class. The teacher or the students write the names of the fairy tales as headline in each square.

The students are given yellow Post-It notes corresponding to the number of fairy tales in the performance. The notes
are put on the table in front of the student.

The students must now write down all the things from each of the fairy tales they can remember – on their note in
headwords. [Some classes will have to take one fairy tale at the time and thus work onwards systematically.]

Some children may remember few or no details from the particular fairy tale, while others will remember them all.
When the teacher subsequently says for example: ”The Little Mermaid”, all the students, who have a Post-It note with
headwords from this fairy tale, must go to the square corresponding to the fairy tale and pin their note there.

Afterwards discuss:

 From which fairy tales can most students remember details? Why is that?
 How many details have the students been able to collect and subsequently remember from the performance?
 Who remembers the most?
 What has made the strongest impression?

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C: In smaller groups with the youngest students: give the students an A3 sheet and ask them to draw all the details,
they can remember from the performance. If they can, they must first – as good as possible – divide up the sheet’s
”rooms” with a ruler in order to avoid that it will become ”a continuous” drawing. Instead it must become a sort of
memorandum with a lot of signs and symbols all around. Ask the students to write for instance ”bubbles” under the
students’ potential drawing of bubbles from the fairy tale The Mermaid. Hang the results in class – explore and talk
about the drawings.

For the teacher: Below you will find – in red – a comprehensive “key”.

The Ugly Duckling:

A small suitcase mounted on a chair with crooked wooden wheels, which make the chair “waddle” when it is pulled
across the floor.

A folding cup for travelling. Inside the suitcase are duck down and a film with a beautiful swan.

Hans Christian Andersen:

His plate, fork, glass and scissors are seen as an “imprint in the tablecloth”.

A quill pen is “automatically” dipped in the glass and on the imprint in the tablecloth you can see his writing appear. On
the chair is a target, which tilts, when Cupid sends of his arrow. You hear Hans Christian Andersen sigh contentedly,
when he is hit, whereupon he starts writing.

The Emperor:
The Emperor has two chairs. In front of him is a stack of plates and a long row of knives, forks and spoons, which stands
to attention all at once, when the flourish of trumpets sound. At one point the Emperor shows himself naked on a
small screen, mounted on the chairs.

The Little Match Girl:

She has two big matches, which constitute her cutlery and plate. However, this is only visible, when a match is lit.

A pile of matches on the chair.

The woman with the Eggs:

She has a metal plate and a mirror, where her face appears at one point in the performance. She receives a lot of
animals from her “old man” from “What the Old Man Does”, and they are placed on the plate, until it naturally – as
always – goes wrong for her and everything falls down.

The Little Mermaid:

She has a plate with foam and a glass with a projection of fish and water. At her place is a fearsome knife. Mermaid
songs and laughter sounds from her place at one point.

The Naughty Boy (Cupid):

Red chair at the end of the table across from H. C. Andersen.

The chair is moved up and down. Cupid has a red bow and a decanter of sparkling red wine. A boy’s laughter is heard.
When the arrow is let off something happens with the glasses on the table!

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The Snow Queen:
The plate is a broken mirror. On the chair legs skis are mounted and on the chair back is a bell, which rings, when the
chair moves. The sound means: ”More drink!” The waiter fills the glass with a liquid from a flask. The liquid freezes and
in a mirror next to it, an eye appears.

Clumsy Hans:
A plate with mud and a projection of large, fat flies eating sugar. A number of “nature sounds” like farts and burps.

The Princess on the Pea:

She has a small pea that roll on a movable plate. The waiter must start the pea several times during the dinner.

The Snowman:
A plate of ice with a red heart beating in the middle. He has a carrot for a knife.

The Fir Tree:

Dead spruce needles on the plate. A Christmas globe shows a film with a forest. A smell of pine needles.

The Stove:
A plate with a mirror image of a candle. You hear the sound of something burning. A stove scoop with a mirror on the
inside as a spoon. When it is lifted the fire hits the snowman, who starts creaking.

Ole Lukoie:
Plate and glass changes colours. He has a glass and milk in a bottle and a small propeller, which makes one of the
waiters fall asleep.

The Tin Soldier:

A plate with a projection of water. He sails in a newspaper boat across the table and midway he goes into the sewer in
the middle of the table.

The Dancer:
The plate is a turntable with a crooked record and a lit candle. The cutlery is a turntable arm. A pair of scissors stands
on one leg and when the turntable turns, the shadow dances on the table. It stops when the soldier disappears.

Thumbelina:
A plate like a small lake, where a tiny, almost invisible Thumbelina is laughing and sailing around on a leaf, until a toad
croaks and jumps across the table and lands with a big splash in the middle of her plate. That makes her cry. The waiter
comforts her. In front of the plate is a butterfly.

The Shadow:
On the tablecloth are just shadows of chair, plate, glass, cutlery, rocking ever so slightly.

What the Old Man Does:

2 narrow chairs have been put together with a very long zipper leading to a glass plate with a horse, a cow, a goose –
and a bride and groom at a party. A thermos with freshly brewed coffee and one cup for sharing.

Death:
A plate with ashes and bone cutlery. An empty alarm clock, which is filled with sand in the beginning of the
performance. The napkin is taken from the waiter constantly.

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Assignment 2

In order to understand and analyze Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in detail, it may help to know about his
childhood and youth. At the back of this material there is a short account of this. The children themselves can,
depending on the time set aside for it and dependent on their age and abilities, work thematically with recreating Hans
Christian Andersen’s biography before or after the performance, by seeking information on the Internet or the library.

Assignment 3

Discussion in plenum or in smaller groups

The teacher reads all or selected questions aloud or gives the questions to the students. It is also possible that selected
questions may function as basis for and essay.

General questions on the performance:

 Try as comprehensively as possible to give your own explanation as to why the performance is called Hans
Christian, You Must Be an Angel?
 Why are we still celebrating Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday 150 years after his death?
 How do we know that Hans Christian Andersen has sat down at the table in the performance?
 What makes him write – and what makes him stop writing during the performance?
 How is the atmosphere around the table?
o Does the atmosphere change during the performance?
o Relate and describe: When and why?
o What are the roles of the waiters, when the atmosphere changes?
o How do they help Hans Christian Andersen?

Something to ponder:

 Do you know if there is one figure in particular that Hans Christian Andersen identifies with?
 Is there one outstanding character from the performance, who gets special attention and plays an important
role in the start, middle and end of the performance? [The character is someone, who reminds Hans Christian
Andersen of his own life/fate?]
 Why is Hans Christian Andersen especially connected to this fairy tale? -. The older students could perhaps
read the account of Hans Christian Andersen’s life at the back of the material, p. 13 and look for the parallels
between Hans Christian Andersen and the “person” in the fairy tale.
 Some people can sometimes be afraid to show themselves earnestly to others. Many people play some sort of
role to be more perfect or more real, when they are with other people. Perhaps they are afraid not to be liked
or even afraid to lose the love of others. In some of the most beautiful and strongest of Hans Christian
Andersen’s fairy tales the characters are seen through and loved anyway. It is also an important theme for
Hans Christian Andersen and his writing that people need to be “seen” and loved as themselves in order to feel
good. It is not only the most beautiful, the most clever and most capable people, who need love and praise.
Several of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales depict the tough lives of children or animals and the lack of
understanding and love from adults. One example is The Little Match Girl.

The girl is not fortunate enough to be blessed with parents who have strength, money and time for her. The
grandmother is the only one, who has loved the girl exactly for who she is.

 Try in smaller groups to find other fairy tales, which also relate this.
 Consider why this subject was so important to Hans Christian Andersen.
 Compare the youth of today with the youth of Hans Christian Andersen’s day. What do you know? Talk to each
other in smaller groups or in class and share with each other later.
 Examine and cultivate the subject: Childhood in the 1800th century focusing on Hans Christian Andersen and his
depictions of children in that age.

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THEME 3: Do-It-Yourself

The Wishing Table

By way of introduction talk to the students about the concept of symbols in relation to the performance, which
extensively used symbols to present and vitalize the characters in the fairy tales. That was how the dinner table came
alive without e.g. Clumsy Hans having to be played by an actor. Instead he was created with the symbols, which we
recognize as his: Mud on the plate, living and dead flies and embarrassing farts.

Divide the students into groups of 2-4 persons and give them each a small table in the classroom. Give them all a white
tablecloth or a white sheet for the table. Each group must work with one particular fairy tale of their own choice or one
selected for them by the teacher. The teacher can have a bag with ”fairy tale slips of paper”, from which the groups
draw. It is important that the groups work with different fairy tales. – AND THE CHILDREN CAN CHOOSE ANY FAIRY
TALE AND ARE NOT LIMITED TO CHOOSE ONE FROM THE PERFORMANCE OR ONE WRITTEN BY HANS CHRISTIAN
ANDERSEN!

The students must now set their own table,

and ANYTHING GOES! The important thing is
that the students become absorbed in
creating their own fairy tale-like universe.

The Wishing Table Advantage: that the assignment covers

several days. If you have the means, give the
students an amount they can use for
shopping in second hand stores for their
project. Or they can bring things from their
home.

The table must be set, so everybody can see, who is sitting there. The students can use ideas from the performance,
but they must come up with their own inspired elements and funny creative solutions. In conclusion they can throw a
“party”, inviting other classes or the parents and they can be asked to guess the fairy tales.

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THEME 4: You - a writer of fairy tales?
Imagine that you are a writer of fairy tales and
write your own fairy tales in 2 - 4 pages.

You must include this:

 You are the main character in you fairy

tale. However, you must not write “I”
but: “He” or “She”.
 Find an interesting, fantastic title.
 The fairy tales can either be written
alone or be worked out in smaller
“inspiration groups”.
 The students can be inspired by the
performance when it comes to
characters, objects, incidents or
atmosphere.

Write a nonsense fairy tales, where 3-5 of the

fairy tale characters are included. For instance,
The Emperor, Clumsy Hans and Death.
What exciting things happen when 3 characters
enter into the same fairy tale? What is going
to happen? –

YOU DECIDE, for YOU ARE THE WRITER NOW.

HAPPY ENDING!

 Rewrite one of Hans Christian Andersen’s saddest fairy tales – and give it a happy ending. Take for instance The
Story of a Mother or The Little Match Girl.
 Discuss in class why Hans Christian Andersen lets tragedy take up so much space in those stories.
 Even so, are there any positive and optimistic messages for us in them?

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ABOUT: Introduction to the material (for the teacher)

Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood home

in Munkemøllestræde, Odense, where he
lived from 1807 to 1819.

Hans Christian Andersen was born April

2nd 1805 in Odense. In his childhood
home 12 persons in all lived, and the
family’s home consisted of one room with
a kitchen. When he was six years old he
entered a poge school (an early name for
private schools, which taught children
under nine years of age), and later he also
for a period of time attended a poor people’s school. At home it was the father who taught him about another great
Danish writer, Ludvig Holberg and his comedies, and the father thus inspired Hans Christian Andersen’s interest in
theatre and culture.

The father enlisted as a soldier replacing another recruited farmer’s son, who in return gave him a large sum of money.
The father returned after two years, but was ill and broken mentally, and the money he had made for taking the place
of another, had been lost due to the national bankruptcy in 1813. Hans Christian Andersen’s father died in 1816. While
the father had been away Hans Christian Andersen had visited Odense Theatre, where he had seen plays, which he
later acted out at home.

After his father’s death Hans Christian Andersen and his mother lived in poverty and he was pit to work as an
apprentice in a clothing factory and later in a tobacco company. But because he was a very sensitive young man, he
wasn’t happy with the hard physical labour, and he was instead put in a poor people’s school, where he was taught
religion and arithmetic.

His mother remarried in 1818, and the family left the childhood home and moved to a house further down the street.
Some think that all this made Hans Christian Andersen leave Odense at an early age.

On September 4th 1819 the fourteen-year-old Hans Christian Andersen travelled with the mail coach to Copenhagen.
He was at one point employed in the choir at the Royal Theatre - without a steady pay, however, and he
simultaneously wrote applications to different writers and artists and in that way he broadened his circle of
acquaintances.

In 1821 he wrote his first play, The Robbers in Vissenberg, for the theatre.

The play was rejected and shortly after this he wrote his first book, which was published, but it didn´t sell much. In
1822 he wrote the play, Elfsun, which was declared unfit to be played on the stage. However, the director of the
theatre thought that Hans Christian Andersen had hidden talents, which should be nurtured through education.
Therefore he held a meeting with Hans Christian Andersen and later on Frederik the Sixth was asked to help in the
further education of the young Andersen. After two years in Copenhagen the 17-year-old Hans Christian Andersen
received a donation from King Frederik the Sixth, which made his further education possible on the renowned
grammar school in Slagelse.

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Hans Christian Andersen arrived October 6th 1822 in Slagelse and took up board with the distict bailiff’s widow,
Madame Henneberg. In the grammar school he was placed, due to lack of knowledge, among the 11 to 12 year old
boys in the second grade. His literary work in this period consisted of a Shrovetide poem and a memorial poem for a
benefactor. In this period he made several trips to Sorø, where he became acquainted with the poet B.S. Ingemann.
Later on Hans Christian Andersen started to
become a frequent dinner guest at different
families in Copenhagen, and as an adult he
visited many manors in Europe. He was a
beloved guest in numerous Danish manors,
among them especially Holsteinborg Estate in
Skælskør, where many of his fairy tales were
written. Hans Christian Andersen’s rooms are
still intact at Holsteinborg.

After Hans Christian published the poem The

Dying Child in Kjøbenhavnsposten (a
newspaper) September 25th 1827, his actual
era as a writer began, and as a writer of fairy
tales he was first among the many artists of the
Danish golden age. In 1835 he published his
first novel, The Improviser and his first two
collections of fairy tales. In the following years
he wrote plays and the two novels O.T. and Kun
en Spillemand (Danish title). After a trip in
1840-41 to Italy, Malta, Greece and Turkey he
published the travelogue A Poet’s Bazaar in
1842. In 1857 he visited the English writer
Charles Dickens in England, and in 1862-63 he
travelled to Spain and Morocco.

His fairy tales earned him the greatest success

and they are translated into more than a 100
languages. Among the most famous are The
Tinder Box, The Princess on the Pea (1835), The
Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Clothes
(1837), The Ugly Duckling (1843), The Snow Queen (1844) and The Little Match Girl (1848). Hans Christian Andersen
died unmarried and childless August 4th 1875.

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Theatre Etiquette
Seeing a live show in the theatre is very different to going to the movies or watching the television.

Here are some hints and tips to make sure you get the most out of your visit to the theatre:

Arriving
Leave your bags at school. You won’t be able to take them into the theatre with you anyway. If you really can’t
leave your bag behind it will have to wait for you out in the foyer. Don’t worry – an usher will look after it for
you.
Arrive at Arts Centre Melbourne 30 minutes before the start of the performance. You don’t want to be late and
miss the start of the show! There are a lot of people coming to see our shows and it takes time to get everyone
in their seats.
Visit the bathroom before the show. It will be disruptive for other people in the audience if you leave your seat

In the theatre
Turn off your mobile phone. Make sure your teacher or parent or friends have turned off their mobile phones
too! If a phone rings in the middle of a show it is disruptive for audience members and the performers on
stage. (It can also be very embarrassing!)
The lights will go down … That means the show is about to start. Time to stop chatting and start listening!

During the show

DO laugh (if you think it is funny), cry (if you think it is sad), gasp, smile, cheer, and applaud (especially at the
end).
DON’T eat, take photos, chat with your neighbour or move around the auditorium.
REMEMBER – theatre is live! Be a supportive audience member. The performers can often hear you and see
you – you don’t want to disrupt their performance!

At the end of the show

 Applause!

Keep in mind
 Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel is NOT a traditional theatre performance. We call it a theatre
installation. The audience walk round a long table – and are allowed to explore the installation
individually, while the show is performed round the table

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BONUS LEARNING ACTIVITIES & CLASSROOM IDEAS
One: Storytelling

The images and ideas presented in Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel emerge from stories by Hans
Christian Andersen. The focus of the following activities is on narrative and storytelling.

MAKING STORIES

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; English; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Speaking and listening; Creating and making

Sit in a circle. Going around the circle, have students, make up a story, sentence by sentence, or word-by-word, each
student adding on to the story according to what the person before them has contributed.

Divide the class into several groups. While one group of students tell a story (made up or well known), have a second
group embody the story, e.g. as it is being told. This will work best if the action of stories is narrated one sentence at a
time. Other groups can serve as an audience (whilst also supplying relevant sound effects as required).

Alternatively, instead of embodying the story as it is being told, have the second group illustrate it in chalk, pen, or
paint.

Rotate so that each group has a go at each task.

DIFFERENT STYLES OF STORY TELLING

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Writing; Exploring and
responding; Creating and making

Have students compare stories by Hans Christian Anderson with children’s stories by other authors, e.g. Grimm
brothers, Oscar Wilde, Pamela Allen, Julia Donaldson, Aesop’s fables.
 What similarities/differences are there between storylines, characters, settings?
 Encourage students articulate which stories and styles of story they prefer and why.

Using these as models, have students write, illustrate or enact their own original tale/s to match their favoured style of
children’s tale. Secondary students could create stories for Primary school students.

This activity may inspire library and internet searches with students to find out more about the life, times, and works of
Hans Christian Andersen and/or other children’s story writers.

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CHARACTERS

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Writing; Exploring and
responding; Creating and making

Ask each student to choose a character from a Hans Andersen (or other) story they know. Their challenge is to embody
their chosen character. Encourage students to explore ways in which their character might sleep, brush their teeth or
hair, drink, walk, greet other people, eat an apple, etc. In developing their characters, have students pay attention to
how their posture, movement style, expression, breathing and voice can be used to reflect their character’s
personality. (Using hats, props, fabric, and costume items may be an option.)

Have individual students perform short actions as their chosen character, e.g. eating a meal, playing with a pet, trying to
hide/look for something, etc.
 View these and comment on the character being portrayed. What is their age, size, disposition, temperament,
etc.?
 See if students can guess which story character is being portrayed. Hints may be supplied.

Extension activities: Have students interview one another’s characters to find out about their lives and events from
their stories. Have students make short stories or plays involving several of their characters in the same tale.

MESSAGES

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Writing; Reading

Together with students, read a selection of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, e.g. The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s
New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Red Shoes, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, The Wild Swans, The Snow
Queen, The Little Match Girl, The Ice Maiden. Together with students identify messages or lessons that the stories
communicate (e.g. on goodness, honesty, perseverance, loyalty, etc.).

For Primary students:

Working as a whole class or in small groups, have students prepare a chart of known Andersen tales that details each
story’s characters, situations, settings, and messages. Observe commonalities between tales’ personalities, situations
and messages.

For Secondary students:

Discuss why it is that similar messages are conveyed across a number of stories.
 What function do children’s stories and fairy tale serve?
 In what ways have children’s stories and their function altered in contemporary times?

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INSPIRATION

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Creating and making; Exploring and responding

Hans Christian Andersen created more than 150 children’s stories in his lifetime. Have students address the following:

 Where do you think Hans Christian Andersen got his story ideas?
 Where to you think other writers get their ideas?
 What original story do you have in your head?
 What form do you want your original story to take? (e.g. book, picture book, play, ballet, musical, opera, film,
cartoon, TV show)

Have students pursue and produce their ideas.

Where ideas are not forthcoming, have students browse through existing children’s stories for inspiration and identify
characters, settings, and types of situations that they find most appealing.

DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE SAME STORY

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Writing; Exploring and
responding; Creating and making

A number of Hans Christian Andersen stories have been turned into movies, plays, ballets, opera, and animated films.

Together with students, list stories that they have read which have been turned into films, plays, ballets, cartoons, e.g.
Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter, The Little Mermaid, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The
Hobbit.

Working individually or in small groups, have students present comparisons between two or more versions of the same
story. Encourage students to identify which version/s they prefer, and articulate why. These could take the form of
written or oral presentations.

Have students take a story that they know, and remodel it into a different form, e.g. cartoon to story book, storybook
to ballet, comic book to puppet show, etc.

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TRANSLATING FROM ENGLISH

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English: Languages other than English
Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Reading; Communicating in a language other than
English; Language awareness

Author Hans Christian Anderson wrote in his native Danish. His children’s stories have been translated into more than
120 languages, and as a result, are known all over the world.

Working as a whole class or in small groups, translate allocated sections of a simple English language storybook or
picture-book into your school’s LOTE. Translations should be as simple or advanced as students’ language skills allow.
Collaboratively correct/edit the draft and produce a classroom copy of the translated pages complete with illustrations
and credits for translators.

A classroom collection of LOTE storybooks can be created.

Alternatively present stories as theatrical productions in your school’s LOTE. These productions could involve narrative,
dialogue, song, and embodied action.

Photos: Morten Fauerby

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Two: Special Effects

The focus of the following activities is on technology and illusion

SPECIAL EFFECTS

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; English; The Arts; Science

Dimensions: Working in teams; Speaking and listening; Creating and making; Exploring and responding; Science
knowledge and understanding; Science at work

Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel incorporates theatrical and special effects such as a pen that moves in an
inkwell, a boat that appears to glide on water, objects that freeze over, etc.

Where students have seen the production, have them discuss how they think these magical effects were
achieved.

Explain to students that theatrical effects, such as those involving chemicals or fire are potentially dangerous.
Together with students draft a list of safety procedures and precautions that would be required in order to
prepare, rehearse, and then perform tricks that involve flame or substances such as dry ice.

Have students conceive theatrical effects based on chemical reactions, (e.g. involving dry-ice, fire, air, ice, bicarb of
soda, water), and devise and itemise concise instructions to stage managers and actors on how to set up, perform, and
clear up the stunt.

Effects can be tested, but only when set up with safety precautions in mind. Once tested, students could incorporate
the effects into theatrical performances.

Check out the following websites for lesson ideas using dry ice.

For Primary students:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/pdf/lesson_plan08.pdf

For Secondary students:

http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfe/dfer/centers/stem/docs/DryIce.pdf

20
LIGHT AND SHADOW

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Science; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Science knowledge and understanding; Creating and making; Exploring and
responding

Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel makes use of light to project shadows and images that evoke elements and
characters from Andersen’s children’s tales. Where students have seen the production, discuss where and how shadow
was used, and to what effect.

Using light sources such as theatre lights, torches, or OHPs, have students work in small groups and experiment with
theatrical effects that can be achieved with projection of light and shadow onto and/or through various still and
moving surfaces (eg, wall, screen, fabric, people). Encourage students to explore – and also scientifically analyse – what
occurs if the direction, proximity, intensity and/or colour(s) of a light source are altered.

Devise and create performances incorporating shadow techniques.

MAGNET MAGIC

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; Science; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Science knowledge and understanding; Science at
work; Creating and making; Exploring and responding

Think back with students to the moment in Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel when the boat (perhaps belonging to
the Tin Soldier) magically appears to glide over water.

Discuss how they think the boat was able to move. Have students experiment and try various ways to reproduce
the trick.

Have students try the following:

Adhere a piece of metal on the base of a small object, such as a paper boat. Place the object on a thin
piece of card. Use a magnet and place it under the card just below the object. Drag the magnet along
the underside of the card and the object should move along with the magnet. Surfaces on which objects
move can be vertical as well as horizontal.

Using this knowledge, have students prepare short theatrical performances in which objects appear to move
magically. These can involve actors appearing to conjure, be amazed at, or haunted by objects that move before
them. These magic illusions can be staged for other students.

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Three: Theatre Art

The focus of the following activities is on theatre craft, creation, production, review and appreciation.

REVIEW

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English; The Arts; Communication; Thinking
Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Writing; Listening, viewing and
responding; Reflection, evaluation

Have students discuss the following by way of reviewing Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel:

o Which part of Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel did you like best? Why?
o Which story character did you like best? Why?
o Compare Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel with other live performances you may have seen. What makes
this production different to other live shows?
o In what ways do you think someone who does not know any Hans Christian Andersen stories would be able to
enjoy the performance?
o How long do you think it would have taken Teatret Gruppe 38 to prepare and practice Hans Christian, You
Must Be An Angel? How long do you think it would take for the company to set up before every performance?
o What did music and sound effects add to the atmosphere of Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel?
o Why do you think the performance is called Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel?
o Were there any parts of Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel that you did not like? Why?
o Give Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel a mark out of 10. Explain why you gave the production the mark
that you did.

SOUND AND MUSIC

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Creating and making; Exploring and responding

In Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel sound-effects and music are used to evoke mood and atmosphere. Where
students have seen the performance, recall the types of music and sounds that were used to represent cold, fire,
magic, etc.

Form small groups. Using voice, implements and/or musical instruments, have students create sounds to represent
atmospheres or feelings such as cold, heat, happiness, fear, loneliness, love, tiredness, a magical spell, danger, a storm,
a battle. These can be recorded. Play or perform these for one another. See if others can identify the types of
atmospheres or feelings being represented. Discuss the use of tempo, volume, rhythm, pause, speed and pitch to
evoke different atmospheres.

Create and record soundscapes where one type of sound changes into another, e.g. a pleasant dream turning into a
nightmare, a small fire that turns into a furious one; a storm that turns into a gentle breeze, loneliness turning into joy,
fear turning into strength, misery turning to happiness, a magical spell being cast and then broken, danger turning to
safety, winter turning to spring, evil turning to good.

Have small groups prepare or improvise short skits or dances to match recorded sound-effect sequences.

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SHADOW THEATRE

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; Science; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Science knowledge and understanding; Creating
and making; Exploring and responding

Shadow action is featured in Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel.

Using an Overhead Projector, demonstrate how small, flat, cut out shapes fixed to a thin stick or piece of wire can be
moved over the OHP glass surface to project as large evocative shadows on a wall or screen. Demonstrate how it is
possible to create moving parts such as arms, legs, tails, mouths, by fixing additional rods or wire to individually cut-out
parts.

Have students create shadow puppets (perhaps on a particular story or theme). Have students prepare and create
performances with the shadow characters they have created.

Alternatively, taking turns, invite students to stand between a large hanging sheet and an OHP, and observe how their
shapes appear to an audience on the other side of the hanging sheet. Try coaching/directing one another in order to
change and transform shadow forms. Observe how shadows grow and shrink depending on how closely one is
positioned to the light source.

In pairs, have students see if and how they are able to make the shadows of their hands touch without actually making
physical contact with one another. Ask pairs to prepare shapes for projection such as monsters, objects and animals.
Representations can be moving or frozen. Can other students recognise what the shadows represent? Encourage
students to explore the possibilities, e.g. via the way they link bodies, how they use level, etc. Encourage students to
use clothing, cloth, pieces of card or other objects to extend the scope of shapes that they are able to make.

Have students experiment with theatrical shadow effects that can be achieved through changes in proximity between
light source/s and subject/s.

In small groups, have students create OHP shadow plays. Students may use voice or music to enhance their scenes.

23
Four: Non-Conventional Forms

The focus of the following activities is on non-conventional methods of communication.

MULTI-SENSORY THEATRE

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Creating and making; Exploring and responding

The production of Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel is unique in that, unlike conventional theatre, audiences do
not watch and listen from seats in an auditorium. They are asked to walk through and experience the production.

Using this as inspiration, have students work in small groups and design and prepare a performance for audiences to
experience through all of their senses: see, hear, smell, touch, taste. The piece could be based on an original or well-
known story or otherwise a theme, such as ‘Seasons’. In students’ performances, audiences may be invited to touch,
smell or taste elements relevant to the narrative. Have students consider how they might incorporate the use of fans,
scent, spray bottles, heating/cooling, sound effects, as well as safe and light-weight items such as bubbles, confetti,
polystyrene chips, in order to evoke atmosphere around specific settings of their story/stories.

This work could be a solid entry point to learning about the senses and/or disability. Encourage students to consider
ways in which multi-sensory theatre can be stimulating for audience members with sensory disabilities, such as those
who may not be able to see or hear.

PRESENTING IDEAS

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English; The Arts; ICT

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Creating and making: ICT for
communicating

SECONDARY
Conventionally, essays are short pieces of writing presented in word format. However there are other possibilities for
the conveyance of ideas.

Working individually or in small groups, have students take a project, such as the execution of a book review or an
essay, and explore other ways of presenting concepts/ideas/information that they wish to express. These non-
conventional ‘essays’ may involve sound, spoken word, performance, computer technology, projection, etc.

Have students present their non-conventional essays to one another and assess the effectiveness of the transfer of
ideas. Invite students to debate the case for and against non-conventional forms of essay presentation for schoolwork
assessment.

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CONSTRUCT AN INSTALLATION

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; English; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Speaking and listening; Creating and making; Exploring and responding

Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel is unique in that it is not a conventional theatre production. It is a theatre-
installation through which audiences wander.

Using the performance as inspiration, have students work collaboratively to construct an installation that evokes or
depicts a particular theme, for example, the universe, under the sea, outer-space, seasons of the year, etc.

Then have students conduct tours through the installation, or alternatively create performances that take place in and
around the installation itself.

SNAPSHOTS

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; Personal Learning; English; The Arts

Dimensions: Working in teams; Managing personal learning; Speaking and listening; Creating and making

Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel presents audiences with evocative snippets or snapshots of Hans Christian
Andersen stories and/or characters.

Using the production as inspiration, have students choose a character from a Hans Christian Andersen (or other)
children’s story and prepare postcards, diary entries, blogs, illustrations, etc. that serve as snapshots of an
aspect/aspects of events of that character’s story.

These evocative written and illustrated snapshots can be compiled, displayed and exhibited for others to browse and
interpret.

DINNER PARTY

AusVELS Information:

Domains: Interpersonal Development; English; The Arts; Mathematics

Dimensions: Working in teams; Speaking and listening; Creating and making; Exploring and responding;
Structure

Using Hans Christian, You Must Be An Angel as inspiration, have students design and create a dinner party for a
selection of characters (allocated or chosen) from other children’s stories.

In designing meals and other offerings for each of the guests, have students discuss the personalities, likes and
dislikes of each character, where each guest might best be seated (who each guest might like to sit next to), what
kind of chair, crockery, napkin would most suit each guest, etc.

Then have students guide audiences through the installation, or alternatively create performances in which students
take roles of each of the guests.

Another option would be to design and create to-scale model apartment blocks or villages to accommodate each of
the characters.

25
RESOURCES

During your visit to Hans Christian, You Must Be An

Angel, be sure to also explore the Stories in the Walls:
H.C.A. Remixed Project. These are sonic reimaginings of
classic Hans Christian Andersen stories – as
collaboratively created by Victorian primary and
secondary students. These digital stories will be located
in listening booths around the public spaces of Arts
Centre Melbourne – pick up a flyer at concierge to find
the locations. For more information, please call the
Digital Learning Hub on 03 9281 8194.

The Stories:
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27200/27200-h/27200-h.htm

Stories from Hans Christian Andersen with illustrations by Edmund Dulac

http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/andersen/stories_hcandersen6x9.pdf

The Man:
The Hans Christian Andersen Centre: Research, Fairy tales, Life & Works
http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/index_e.html

The Theatre Company:

Teatret Gruppe 38
http://www.gruppe38.dk/en/pages/om-teatret-gruppe-38

Visit the Arts Centre Melbourne’s ‘Page to Stage’ web

pages for practical and informative inspiration on
theatre creation and production, including interviews
with theatre arts designers and practitioners:

http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/discover/online-learning

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