Take the stress out of performances! Paula Marris will work with up to 3 classes throughout the week to create a play to show family and friends. Schools can work with Paula to write their own plays or use existing scripts. Many projects also include literacy support.
Note: Although a week is recommended for most projects, some are possible in less time.
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Romeo & Juliet
Children have the opportunity to explore the Shakespeare play using a mixture of modern and original language. |
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The Patchwork Quilt (1)
Granny tells significant events of her life through the different pieces of material in her quilt. Links can be made to art, design and history topics. Able to be expanded by more classes adding other ‘memories’ if necessary. |
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The Patchwork Quilt (2)
Granny tells significant events of her life through the different pieces of material in her quilt. But this is no ordinary Granny, and her quilt is no ordinary quilt. In an effort to send her grandchildren to sleep, she tells them of when she used to work in the circus, when she was chased up a tree by two tigers while on safari, how she once scored a penalty for England, and rescued an injured mermaid while on a cruise. The children become absorbed in the stories and use various items of bedroom furniture to bring the stories to life. |
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Dingle's Day Out
Dingle the Owl decides he would like to have an adventure and so flies away from his trainer at the Falconry School. His trainer is unable to coax him down from the tree and ends up following him on his journey. Dingle visits a number of different trees, each in a different environment (A park, a forest, the coast, a zoo, a suburban back garden). Each step of the journey brings different characters that try to help Dingle’s trainer to retrieve him with increasingly elaborate plans. Supports Literacy work on settings, characters and solving problems. Also supports topic work on journeys and the environment and is a fun way to learn about the differences between various trees. |
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The Magic Carpet
When a group of children accidentally stumble across a magic carpet, they want to use it to see the wonderful things in the world but for every amazing sight they see, they see something else in the world that makes them feel sad. And so their journey takes on a different angle … to use their magic carpet to educate people about some of the problems in the world. A play that deals with environmental and social issues. |
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The Art Gallery
A group of tourists visit an Art Gallery and have some very strange experiences. Various well-known paintings and sculptures come to life along the way. A play that supports QCA art units. |
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The Magic Sandcastle
Tom and Katie build the most amazing sandcastle and magically find themselves inside! They are captured by the evil Captain Jack who threatens to feed them to the sharks unless they can help him stop his wife, Wailing Wendy (a beautiful mermaid) from crying. The children find out that she is upset because she loves music but can’t dance properly without legs. The children teach her that dancing is just about moving to music and that wiggling her tail is perfectly acceptable. Captain Jack is so pleased that he makes his pirates dance 24 hours a day, just in case she becomes miserable again. |
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Madeleine the Robot
The children of Class 2M are very excited as it is ‘Toy Day’. Jessica decides to take her new toy, a robot called Madeleine. When Madeleine arrives, strange things start to happen. She helps them with their maths lessons and brings their clay statues to life but then her wires become crossed and she responds inappropriately when a young boy hurts himself. The children of the class set about helping to fix Madeleine by teaching her how to show that she is feeling happy, sad, angry or funny. |
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Food Chain Friends
In a bid to stop the loggers from chopping down their trees in the rainforest, each animal explains that if they have to leave the rainforest then another one will suffer. The beetle explains that if they chop down his tree then the lizard will starve etc. The story continues right up the food chain until they reach the jaguar … who suggests that maybe he should eat the loggers instead! A tale that supports the animals topic (food chains) in science and also considers how sometimes animals (and people) need to work together / rely on each other for survival. |
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The Not-Very-Busy Bee
Buster is a very lazy bee indeed. His family want him to help prepare the house for a special visit from the Queen Bee. As he ‘helps’ each member of the family with different jobs, Buster soon becomes bored and decides to do something else instead. Finally, the house is ready and the Queen Bee arrives but Buster has fallen asleep and misses the treat. A simple story about helping one another. |
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Dream TV
2 children are sent to bed by their parents but something strange is about to happen. As they sleep, they dream of whatever it is that their parents are watching on the TV downstairs – from a documentary about dinosaurs to cookery and garden programmes and a football match – and find themselves in the middle of some weird and wonderful situations. |
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Robocafe
The owner of a struggling café decides to try his luck with Robot waiters and waitresses. Everyone from miles around flocks to see the amazing new staff and even the Queen pays a visit. All is going well until a mischievous child presses a button on a robot’s stomach and everything starts to go horribly wrong. Desperate not to upset the Queen, the owner resorts to dressing and acting as a robot himself, but then the Queen is so impressed with the service that she asks to see the owner… |
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A Great Day for Gilbert
It is Sports Day at the Royal Academy for Knights in Training and Gilbert is desperate to win the heart of Gorgeous Glenda. Unfortunately Handsome Hugh also has the same idea. In each competition Hugh is bigger and better, and knows it, but Gilbert keeps trying – even having to face Hugh in a jousting match (and losing quite painfully). Hugh is convinced that Glenda will be impressed by his handsome looks, strength and speed but she is not impressed at all by his constant boasting and chooses Gilbert to be her ‘Knight in Shining Armour’ instead. |
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Lady, the Biker Bug
‘Lady’ is not the average ladybird at all. In fact there is nothing even remotely ladylike about her. Her family despair of her as she tears up the compost heap on her quad bike, refuses to wear make-up and prefers to hang around with dung beetles after school. Everyone is scared of her tough image and thinks she must be a real troublemaker, until one day the flowerbed is sprayed with insecticide and Lady is the one who leads everyone to safety. The other characters learn that image isn’t everything and that they should judge people by how they act rather than how they look. A story that also deals with gender stereotypes. |
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