Snow Queen

Transcript

Page 1 Enchantment Theatre Company Presents The Snow Queen STUDY GUIDE NOTES FOR TEACHERS “The Snow Queen” is an original fairytale written in 1844 by the great Danish storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen took the folktale and turned it into an art form, writing with subtlety, sophistication and humor. His stories were created for adults as much as they were created for children. In the recent biography of Andersen, Jackie Wullschlager writes: “His importance as a creator of fairy tales is immense. While before him a few authors – Charles Perrault in France, the Grimm brothers in Germany – collected folk tales deriving from oral lore, Andersen was the first writer to treat this peasant form as a literary genre and to invent new tales which entered the collective consciousness with the same mythic power as the ancient, anonymous ones.” (1) What is it about this story that fascinates and moves us, and why has it continued to be beloved of the fairytale literature? “The Snow Queen” is a rich and complex story about devotion, bravery and the triumph of love. Andersen begins the tale with a mythic prologue: Goblins create a magic mirror that has the power to distort one’s vision. What is good appears to be bad, and what is bad looks wonderful. When the mirror shatters, the pieces go all over the world. If a piece gets in one’s eye, then all that is beautiful seems ugly. If a piece gets in one’s heart, it turns into a lump of ice. Knowing that the splinters of the mirror are floating about, we are now introduced to the main characters of the story, Gerda and Kai. They are best friends and live in adjacent rooftop apartments. In the winter, Gerda’s Grandmother tells the children the story of the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen flies at the center of the snow storm and peers in through the windows in the town. Gerda is frightened by the story but Kai tells her not to worry, that if the Snow Queen comes inside he’ll put her on the stove and melt her. Then one day while Gerda and Kai are playing, splinters of the Goblin’s mirror get into Kai’s eye and into his heart. He becomes cruel and hateful and rejects Gerda. When the Snow Queen appears on her magic sleigh, Kai is at first frightened and then fascinated by her – the ice in his heart matches her icy nature, and she spirits him away. When Kai vanishes, Gerda begins a fantastic journey to find him and bring him home. The Snow Queen is Gerda’s story – her quest to rescue Kai. At each new turn of the tale, she is Page 2 tempted to stay where she is and not continue, but her love for Kai always pulls her on. Gerda meets a marvelous succession of characters on her journey. The Flower Witch rescues Gerda from the river and bewitches her so she forgets about Kai, much as the Snow Queen has bewitched Kai. But Gerda is able to escape the enchantment when the roses that were hidden by the Flower Witch reappear and remind her of Kai and home. She meets a helpful Crow and then a Prince and Princess, who again tempt her to stay with them. She is captured by robbers and befriended by a willful Robber Girl. But at each step of her journey she makes the choice to continue on. Her intuition and her stedfast love for Kai guide her. When Gerda discovers that Kai is with the Snow Queen, the Robber Girl sends her off to Lapland with the help of her pet Reindeer. They encounter the shaman-like Finn Woman. When the Reindeer begs the Finn Woman to help Gerda, she says: “No power that I could give her could be as great as that which she already has. Don’t you see how men and beasts are compelled to serve her, and how far she has come in the wide world since she started out in her naked feet? Strength lies in her heart.” “The Snow Queen” is a story about growing up. When Kai is influenced by the splinters from the Goblin’s mirror, he behaves just like anyone going into adolescence. He rejects those closest to him and is attracted to the dangerous, seductive Snow Queen. The Snow Queen is a symbol for death; she represents winter and the dying of the light. She also represented the cold, unfeeling intellect to Andersen, with Gerda symbolizing the warmth of the heart. When the Snow Queen first encounters Kai she kisses him and he feels as if he is dying. Then she says “I mustn’t kiss you again or I will kiss you to death.” Kai gets suspended in this icy, heartless realm. Gerda goes on her adventure and is able to transcend each boundary, maturing yet staying innocent, gaining more and more power in her heart. When Gerda finds Kai, it’s the depth of her love that transforms him. She cries and her tears melt the ice in his heart. This is a redemption akin to the Beast’s when Beauty is able to love him in spite of his appearance. The Beast was once a Prince who is turned into a Beast because he was cruel. Kai is turned into a heartless being by the Goblin’s mirror. Each one is saved by a pure love. The great power of the story lies in Gerda’s willingness to save Kai, in spite of the perils she encounters. Wolfgang Lederer writes in his book, “The Kiss of the Snow Queen”: “The most moving passages of the story are those relating the reunion of Gerda and Kai. Speaking to what we deeply know but do not know we know, they remind us how lonely we are or have been; how, if we are men, we need the validation, the confirmation, the redemption by women; and if we are women, how the redemption of such a lonely man is one of the magic feats, one of the miracles a woman can perform. We live in an age when, in the strife of causes and liberations, in the divisiveness that increasingly fractures the bonds between men and women, such a basic truth stands to become submerged. To the degree to which this is happening, we are all further impoverished. To the degree to which Andersen moves us, reminds us of how we could be for each other, we owe him a dept of gratitude.” (2) Page 3 Hans Christian Andersen: Life and Art What can we find of Hans Christian Andersen’s life in “The Snow Queen”? Andersen was born in 1805 in the ancient walled city of Odense in Denmark. His parents were poor and the family lived in a rooftop apartment, much like the apartments of Gerda and Kai. At the age of fourteen he traveled “far away into the wide world” to seek his fortune, just like Gerda, who went out into the world all alone and in her bare feet to find Kai. Andersen trusted that he would succeed in fulfilling his dreams, as Gerda believed she would find Kai. Like Gerda, people were compelled to serve him, and he was to have mentors and famous patrons all through his life. His father introduced him to literature and his mother and grandmother to folklore and fairytales. There is something of his grandmother in Gerda’s grandmother, and the shaman-like Finn Woman is reminiscent of a favorite character from early childhood tales. The Snow Queen herself is similar to the mythic figure of the Ice Maiden, who Andersen’s sick father said would take him away when he died. When Andersen begged his mother to allow him to seek his fortune, she consulted a wise woman who declared “Your son will become a great man, and in honor of him Odense will one day be illuminated.” In 1867 Andersen was awarded the freedom of Odense and his hometown was illuminated in his honor. There is something of him in all of his tales: he is both the ugly duckling who becomes a beautiful swan as well as the foolish, vain emperor; he is the stedfast tin soldier and the brave and innocent Gerda. Please refer to the books mentioned in footnotes (1) and (2) for more detailed information about Andersens’s life. Theatre Theatre is an art that has existed as long as man has walked the planet. Primitive man acted out his dreams and his rituals. As myth and religion developed, storytelling and worship evolved into theatrical presentations. The ancient Greeks used choral hymns and dance in their worship. Later, an actor was added along with the chorus, then a second actor was added and drama as we know it was born. What makes a theatrical experience? Actors on a “stage”, (which might be anything from a huge amphitheatre to a small open space) portraying characters and telling stories through their movement and speech. But if it is only the actors and the stage and the movement and the speech, it is still not really a theatrical experience. What makes it a theatrical experience is the presence of an audience -- watching, participating, imagining. Theatre enables us to collectively experience that which we may know and feel within, but which may be unspoken and unacknowledged in our outward lives. Theatre is the coming together of people -- the audience and the actors -- to think about, speak of, and experience these big ideas that connect us to our inner and outer worlds. Page 4 What does the audience bring to the theatre? They bring their attention, their intelligence, their energy and, above all, they bring their imagination. Peter Brook says in his book, The Open Door: “Emptiness in the theatre allows the imagination to fill the gaps. Paradoxically, the less one gives the imagination, the happier it is, because it is a muscle that enjoys playing games.” (3) In film and television every bit of the screen is filled and editors tell us where to look and what to see. We sit back and watch something that was filmed or taped previously. Theatre is a live experience -- we are right there as the play is happening. Our energy is part of the energy of the whole event. Our imagination is free to play and soar with the images and ideas presented to it. In that empty space that is the stage, anything can happen. It is a magical place of possibility and transformation. Masks and Puppets In this production of The Snow Queen, all of the actors wear masks and some of the characters in the play are life size puppets. Masks have been used since the very beginning of theatre. The early Romans used enormous masks that exaggerated human characteristics and enhanced the actor’s presence in the huge amphitheaters of their day. Greek Theatre used masks that were human scale and more ambiguous. “Their masks were enigmatic, uncertain, representing the human confusion”, says director Peter Hall. (4) In Greek Theatre a few actors were able to portray many characters through the use of masks. Masks have been used in the early Christian church after the ninth century and were revived during the Renaissance in Italy with the Commedia Dell’ Arte. Theatre throughout Asia has used masks to create archetypal characters, human and divine. Balinese mask makers have carved and refined masks for over a thousand years and they are a vital and essential part of their theater today. Masks have fascinated theatre makers with their ability to transform the actor and the audience as well. The actor and the audience step into another world when a mask is put on: “A mask allows the actor to submerge his ego in the service of an archetypal role whose significance dwarfs his own personality… The power of the mask is rooted in paradox, in the fusion of opposites. It brings together the self and the other by enabling us to look at the world through someone else’s face. It merges past and present by reflecting faces that are the likenesses of both our ancestors and our neighbors. A mask is a potent metaphor for the coalescence of the universal and the particular, immobility and change, disguise and revelation.” Ron Jenkins, “Two Way Mirrors” (5) Puppets have a long and esteemed history. They have been used to represent gods, noblemen and everyday people. In the history of every culture, puppets can be found, from the tombs of the Pharaohs to the Italian marionette and the English Punch and Judy. The Bunraku Puppet Theatre of Japan has been in existence continuously since the seventeenth century. In the early days of Bunraku, the greatest playwrights preferred writing for puppets rather than for live actors. Puppets are similar to the mask in their fascination and power. We accept that this carved being Page 5 is real and alive, and we invest it with an intensified life of our own imagining. Because of this puppets can take an audience further and deeper into what is true. Audiences bring more of themselves to mask and puppet theater because they are required to imagine more. Masks and puppets live in a world of heightened reality. Used with art and skill, they can free the actor and the audience from what is ordinary and mundane, and help theatre do what it does at its best: expand boundaries, free the imagination, inspire dreams, transform possibilities, teach us about ourselves. Other Famous Tales That Share Themes From The Snow Queen Beauty and the Beast’s theme of redemption through love is essential to The Snow Queen as well. Gerda continues to love Kai even though he becomes mean and cruel. She believes in him and her love saves and restores him. Beauty loves the Beast in spite of his outward appearance, and her love transforms him back into a Prince. The Odyssey and Peer Gynt are about heroes on a quest. Odysseus has many challenges to endure as he tries to return home after the Trojan war. Peer Gynt goes out into the world to seek his fortune and after adventures and adversities returns home to his true love. Gerda goes on a quest to save Kai. Like all heroes, she grows and matures through her experience. She encounters dangers and difficulties, magical beings and mentors, and like a classic hero returns triumphant from her quest. She is like a knight who goes out to rescue the damsel in distress, except she goes barefoot into the wide world, with her purity and intuition as her shield and armor. The Cheyenne tale, When the Girl Saved Her Brother, is a true story of a young girl who rode into the midst of her enemies to rescue her brother. Dorothy in The Wizard of OZ travels to a magical land and meets a cast of fantastic characters on her quest to return home. Alice in Wonderland has similar themes of adventure, quest and extraordinary characters. Theatre Etiquette Before going to the theater it would be helpful to speak with the students about what it’s like to attend a live performance, and how different it is from going to the movies or watching TV. The actors before them are alive and the students are present with them as the play unfolds. The way the audience reacts and responds inspires the actors. The inspiration of the actors inspires the audience. Together they create the whole experience that is Theater, an experience that is greater than the sum of the parts. Glossary of Terms • • Theatre--Dramatic performances as a branch of art; also the audience at a theatrical performance. Myth--A special kind of story that deals with the gods or the forces of creation and the Page 6 • • • • • • • • • • • relationship of these forces to human beings. Fairy Tale--A story concerning fairies; a folk tale of marvelous events. Folk Tale--A story or legend, characteristic of the life and spirit of a certain people, usually handed down by word of mouth. Mask-- A covering of the face of an actor to symbolize the character he represents. Prosopon is the ancient Greek word for mask, which means “face.” Persona is Latin for mask. Puppet--An artificial figure representing a human being or an animal, manipulated by the hand, rods or wires. Shadow Puppet--The shadow of a puppet or flat figure projected onto a lighted screen. Hero/Heroine--A person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. Greek in origin from a root that means “to protect and to serve.” Mentor--A wise and trusted counselor. Magic-- The art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of various techniques that presumably assure human control of the forces of nature or supernatural agencies. The art of causing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devises, etc. Illusion -- Something that deceives by producing a false impression; a perception that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality. Transformation--Change in form, appearance, nature or character. Cyclorama – A curved wall or drop at the back of a stage, used for creating an illusion of unlimited space or distance in the background of exterior scenes or for creating lighting effects. PRESHOW ACTIVITIES (Also can be used for Post-Show Activities) Heroines and Heroes 1. Read the brief story of The Snow Queen which is included in this guide. Look up in the glossary the words “heroine,” “fairy tale,” and “folk tale.” 2. Does this story fit into the description of a folk tale or a fairy tale? Why? 3. Who is the hero/ heroine of The Snow Queen? 4. Divide the students into small groups and have them make a list of the five most important characteristics they think a heroine or hero should display. Why did they choose these particular characteristics? 5. Who are their heroes today and why? 6. What is heroic about Gerda? 7. Each of us is a “hero” on our own journey. Can you tell a real life story about yourself having an adventure in which you had to overcome some obstacles or in which you helped someone else? Page Theatre Questions and Activities 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7 Look up “theatre” in the glossary. What makes theatre different from film or television? Why do you think the theatre has lasted so long (since the beginning of mankind)? What does theatre mean to you? “All drama depends upon some conventions -- a generally accepted pretense that something is something else. There are many different kinds of convention... but all of them have and always have had one central purpose - to offer audiences that unique type of experience which we call dramatic experience. It is to provide this that the Theatre exists.” J.B. Priestly The Wonderful World of Theatre. a. From this quote can you explain what a “convention” is in theatre? b. What is “dramatic experience”? c. Why is the word “theatre” written with a capital ‘T’ in the above quote? 1. Have the class sit in a circle with an empty space in the middle. Have one student pretend to be an old man or woman with a shawl and a cane. They should walk slowly, silently across the empty space. Have a second student stand up, enter the circle, and reach out to the first actor - the old man. The old man will turn slowly and look for a while at the second actor. He will shake his head, turn and continue walking out of the circle. The second actor will slowly lower his arm, turn with his head down and walk out of the circle. a. Was that a dramatic experience? Why? b. No dialogue took place but a story was told. What was the story? 7. Experiment with different physical actions that tell stories without words. Mask Questions and Activities 1. Have the class make masks using paper plates, paper bags or templates from the back of the study guide. Another material that can be used is heavy aluminum foil. It can be molded directly to one’s face and - although delicate - it gives a wonderful impression of the face. If extra foil is used it can be sculpted around the mask for hair, ears or decoration. Care should be used with placing anything over the entire face, so this might be best for older children. (An excellent book on masks and mask construction is Maskmaking by Carole Sivin, Davis Publications Inc., Worcester, MA, 1986. This is a wonderful introduction to masks and has specific projects geared to different age groups). 2. Have each student look at their mask before they put it on. What does it say? 3. What happens when you put on the mask? (Most of what we communicate to others is from our face -- our expressions, our eyes, our mouth, our voice). 4. When you put on a mask, what happens with your body? Do you begin to use more of your body to communicate? 5. Can you act out what the mask represents? 6. Have the class divide up into smaller groups and experiment acting out charades or simple stories with the masks. 7. Why do you think this production of The Snow Queen uses masks? Page Puppet Questions and Activities 8 In this production there are some characters who are life size puppets. Some of the scenes are performed with shadow puppets as well. Puppets demand that the audience use it’s imagination to help bring them to life. They also allow a small cast of actors to play many different roles. Puppets, like masks, also help a character become bigger than life. They can represent different exaggerated qualities of a person. 1. Make a simple hand puppet from a sock. What kind of expressions and characters can you portray? 2. Put on your mask and act out a scene between you and your puppet. See how a simple puppet can come to life. 3. Find an object that you wouldn’t ordinarily think of as a puppet -- a book, a jacket, a folded piece of paper. Can you make it come to life? What is it in you that enables you to make the puppet come to life? What are the actions the puppet performs that make it look real? Magic and Illusion Activities One of the most important elements in fairy tales, folk tales and myths is that they connect us with the subtler aspects of our lives as well as with the unseen forces that affect us in the larger world. Often a magical being or event signals that we have crossed over into the mythic or fairy tale reality. In our production of The Snow Queen we use magic in many different ways to reveal these connections. 1. Look at some optical illusions. What is the illusion? What is real? (You may have in your school library The Great Book of Optical Illusions by Gyles Brandreth, Sterling Publishing Company,New York City, 1985). 2. Have you ever experienced something that you thought was scary but it turned out to be very different than what you had imagined? (Such as thinking that you heard a burglar in the house and it turned out to be a mouse). Write down your experience or share it with the group. 3. Have you ever had a dream that felt very real at the time you were having it and then when you woke up you realized it was just a dream? How did that make you feel when that happened? Did you wonder for a moment what was real and what was a dream? Musical Activities The music used in this production was composed by Andy Teirstein. It was especially written to underscore the action and to help the performers tell the story. It is wonderfully theatrical and evocative, meaning that if you sit and listen to it with your eyes closed, you can feel and see with your inner eye what is happening in the story. Each major character has their own theme – The Grandmother, Gerda, Kai, The Snow Queen etc. 1. If you were a composer, what kind of music would you write for The Snow Queen? What Page 9 sort of instruments would you use? 2. The weather and the seasons are important to the story. How could you use sound effects and music to show this? 3. Listen to three different pieces of music and use masks and puppets to act out the feelings that the music suggests. The Scenery The set for this play is very simple, with six vertical steel units, connected with a horizontal header. The header piece has stained glass-like panels in it picturing the sun, moon, planets and stars. There is a subtly painted cyclorama (see the glossary) upstage of the units. The units create five different spaces through which actors can enter the stage. During the play silk fabric panels will be released and cover the doorways of the entrance spaces, creating different spaces for Gerda to travel to on her journey. The play is asking the audience to use their imagination to see Gerda’s home and the places she journeys to. 1. Do you think an imaginative setting is more effective than having a set that is very realistic? 2. How can a more imaginative set contribute to the magic and illusion of the story? 3. Draw a scene from the story that you see in your imagination. 4. If you created a set for this story, what would it look like? CROSS-CURRICULAR IDEAS Language/Writing 1. Read The Snow Queen. Think of how you would tell the story if you had to present it on stage. What are the most important characters and elements that cannot be changed? What can be changed? What is the most difficult aspect of bringing this story onto the stage? 2. Have the students write about an important moment in their lives when their values were tested. 3. Where do stories come from? What do they tell us about ourselves? What do they mean? Why do we need them? How can we use them to improve the world? Why have some stories been popular for so long? Social Studies 1. Identify and study heroines or heroes from other times in history and from other cultures. What qualities did they possess that made them important in their time? 2. Find three other tales from around the world that have strong heroines. 3. Hans Christian Andersen was the author of The Snow Queen. This original fairy-tale was written in 1844, in Copenhagen, Denmark. What can you find out about Hans Christian Andersen that can help you understand this story better? What do you know about the time in history it was written? Page 10 Psychology/Human Behavior 1. This story begins with Goblins creating a magic mirror that distorts everything that is good and makes it look bad. When the mirror breaks, pieces of it float all around the world. If you get a piece in your eye, it makes what is beautiful look ugly, if you get a piece in your heart, it turns it to a lump of ice. Have you ever noticed that some people seem to act as if they have a piece of the Goblin mirror in their eye or heart? Do you ever behave that way? Discuss the idea that how we are and how we behave, affects how we view our world. 2. There are certain behaviors that we recognize in the characters in the play, even though none of the actors speak. Why is that? Science 1. Create some optical illusions of your own. 2. Find three different “magical” events in The Snow Queen. Is there a way to look at them through the window of science and explain how they might occur? 3. The seasons are an important element in this play. What does the Snow Queen herself represent? Art 1. Study different mask making techniques. 2. Make two masks using two different techniques. They can express opposite emotions, be different ages, or be human and animal. What do you feel when you put on each mask? Can you make up a story using these masks? 3. Draw a picture of your favorite character or event from The Snow Queen. Anthropology 1. Investigate the history of masks around the world. Have all peoples used masks at some time? 2. What are the different uses for masks? What cultures still use masks? 3. Why do we wear masks at Halloween? 4. Investigate the history of puppets around the world. In what ways have puppets been used? 5. Where and when did the first theatre begin? Have all cultures had some kind of theatre? POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES/QUESTIONS 1. What character did you like the most? Why? Page 11 2. What did Kai learn by the end of the play? 3. What did Gerda discover about herself ? 4. Look up the word “mentor” in the glossary. Was there a mentor in this story? Who was it? 5. How did the use of masks affect the telling of the story? How did the masks come to life? Did you forget the actors were wearing masks? 6. How did the use of puppets affect the story? Did you forget they were puppets and accept them as people or animals? 7. What characters performed magic and why? How did the magic fit in to the story? 8. The story was told by an unseen narrator and no actor spoke. How did you know what the characters were feeling? 9. What surprised you the most in the play? What was different from reading the story? 10. Gerda was willing to go on a dangerous journey to find her friend. Look up the definition of “hero” in the glossary. Is Gerda a hero and why? 11. Have you ever helped someone else even though it was difficult or dangerous to do so? Has someone else helped you? 12. Is there some kind of an experience we enjoy at a play and nowhere else? What is it? ABOUT ENCHANTMENT THEATRE COMPANY For over 20 years, Enchantment Theatre Company has been producing imaginative theatrical productions for families all across America. As a touring company headquartered in the greater Philadelphia area, the company has focused its energy toward creating beautiful and inspiring family theatre works characterized by its distinctive blend of magic, mask, pantomime, puppetry and original music. Since its inception in 1978, Enchantment Theatre Company has toured its original productions all over the world. They have performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Lincoln Center in New York City and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Closer to home, the company has performed at the Academy of Music with the Philadelphia Orchestra, at the Annenberg Center for the International Children’s Theatre Festival and at neighborhood venues throughout the area. Enchantment Theatre Company has toured in the Far East five times performing in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. In 1985, Enchantment Theatre Company premiered THE SYMPHONY AND THE SORCERER, a unique production introducing young people to the magic of symphonic music. The premiere of this work with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra initiated the creation of a whole series of programs featuring physical theatre, magic and music. The company has appeared with major orchestras nationwide including the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Minnesota, St. Louis and Oregon Symphony Orchestras and with the Boston Pops on the PBS Christmas at the Pops television special, which aired nationally for five years. In 1997 Enchantment Theatre Company explored new possibilities in the creation of fine theatre for families by integrating life-size puppets, shadow play, masks, stage illusions and original music. The result was the creation of their most innovative production to date BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Over the next two seasons, Enchantment Theatre Company presented over 260 performances of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST for 175,000 children in over 120 venues across the United States. Concurrent with the evolution of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Page 12 commissioned Enchantment Theatre Company to develop a choreographed pantomime piece set to a suite from Prokofiev’s Ballet CINDERELLA. The Production blended puppetry, mask, magic, physical theatre and simple scenery to be performed in front of the orchestra. The company has also performed CINDERELLA with the Buffalo Philharmonic, The Des Moines, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Houston Symphony Orchestras. Based on the success of CINDERELLA, Enchantment Theatre Company expanded the piece into a fully staged touring production integrating original music and sophisticated lighting and scenic effects. CINDERELLA was on the road the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2002 and was enjoyed by over 180,000 young people and their families across the country . Enchantment Theatre Company’s current production of THE SNOW QUEEN weaves together original music, physical theatre, masks, puppetry, shadow play and magic to eloquently tell this captivating tale. JONATHAN K. BECKER, Mask and Puppet Designer, began sculpting masks twelve years ago while living and studying in Paris, France. His masks have been seen in productions throughout the United States. As a performer Jonathan has toured Europe, Asia and the U.S. He toured with Enchantment Theatre Company from 1996-1999. KEN BERMAN, Puppet designer, is the founder of his own puppetry troupe, Dramaton Theater. Since 1998 Dramaton Theater has been performing Ken's original avant-garde puppet shows geared towards adult audiences in theaters, festivals and cabarets all over the northeast. He is also an MFA student at University of Connecticut's Puppetry Arts Program and a free-lance designer and builder for puppetry and theatrical props. THOMAS C. HASE, Lighting Designer. Mr. Hase is very happy to be able to be a part of Enchantment Theatre Company as it's resident lighting designer. He is a Philadelphia based designer who's recent work includes designs featured at: The Finish National Opera; The Seattle Opera, The Skylight Opera Theater, The Florentine Opera, New Orleans Opera, The Goodspeed Opera House, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Center Stage Baltimore, Alliance Theatre Atlanta , The Dallas Theater Center, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Cincinnati Ballet, Studio Arena Theatre Buffalo as well as various state and national theaters of France, Germany, Finland, Columbia, Japan, and Singapore. Internationally he has created more than one hundred designs for theater, opera and ballet at Germany's Stadttheater Giessen with his work being featured at theater & opera festivals world wide including New York's The Next Wave Festival. As Ping Chong's lighting designer his design for DESHIMA earned a American Theater Wing Design Award Nomination and his recent design for Meredith Monk's Science fiction chamber opera MAGIC FREQUENCIES just finished touring internationally. Concurrent with his many freelance projects, Mr. Hase is the resident lighting designer for the Cincinnati Opera and a principle designer for The People's Light and Theatre Company, Cincinnati Ballet and Stadttheater Giessen. DAVID HEARN, special effects design and construction has always enjoyed making gadgets, and building beautiful objects. He has worked as a teacher of technical theatre, and in professional theatre as a mechanic, builder, craftsman and problem solver. As an expert in the Peter Foy organization, he has made Peter Pan, angels and various other creatures take flight in theatres all over the globe. Dave has worked miracles for Enchantment Theatre Company. He has collaborated with the company for over 15 years to create and build many original illusions and theatrical effects. Without him none of the magic would be possible. MARLA J. JURGLANIS, Costume Designer, is Resident Costume Designer at People’s Light. In the past 14 years Marla has designed costumes for over 70 productions, including HE HELD ME GRAND, THE DREAMING OF ALOYSIUS, PLAYHOUSE CREATURES, The 2001 Outside the Box festival, Page 13 BOOK OF DAYS, THE MEMORY OF WATER, HEARTS: THE FORWARD OBSERVER, THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO, THE ROAD TO MECCA, SALLY’S GONE, SHE LEFT HER NAME, AS YOU LIKE IT, MORE GRIMM TALES, FISHES, A PERFECT GANESH, GRIMM TALES, THE LIFE OF GALILEO, MISALLIANCE, PETER PAN, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD , The Short Stuff Festivals and OEDIPUS. Marla’s designs have also been seen at The Arden, Philadelphia Theatre Company, AMTF, The Fulton Opera House, Alliance Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse and Swarthmore College. She is also the Resident Costume Designer at Delaware Theatre Company. JAMES F. PYNE, JR., Scenic designer, is Director of Design at People's Light. In his 25 seasons with People's Light, Jim has created sets and/or lights for over 175 productions including HE HELD ME GRAND, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, PLAYHOUSE CREATURES, BOOK OF DAYS, HEARTS: THE FORWARD OBSERVER, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO, A VILLAGE FABLE, THE ROAD TO MECCA, A FLEA IN HER EAR, SALLY'S GONE, SHE LEFT HER NAME, AS YOU LIKE IT, MORE GRIMM TALES, FISHES, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, THE TEMPEST, ABUNDANCE, ARABIAN NIGHTS, HUSH: AN INTERVIEW WITH AMERICA, THE LIFE OF GALILEO, PETER PAN, and SISTER CARRIE. Jim has received nine Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Scenic and Lighting Design, including Outstanding Scenic Design for last season’s THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, winning the 1996 award for Scenic Design for THE LIFE OF GALILEO. Jim has also designed scenery for The Arden's productions of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, SWEENEY TODD, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, HENRY V, HEDDA GABLER AND PRIVATE LIVES, and recently designed UNCLE VANYA for Villanova University and GRIMM TALES for The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis. LESLIE REIDEL, Resident Director and Writer, has dedicated the last 25 years of his professional life to both the preservation of classical theatre and the development of young audiences. He served as a member of the MFA faculty at Temple University and was a founding member of the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Delaware. His directorial credits include the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Madison Civic Rep, the Utah, the Colorado and Fort Worth Shakespeare Festivals and 12 years as the resident director of the Great American Children's Theatre. He is currently Professor of Theatre at the University of Delaware where his recent projects have included Shakespeare’s LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST, Shaw’s CANDIDA and Coward’s PRIVATE LIVES. Last summer Leslie directed TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. and is also directing THE MAGICIAN, a new play scheduled for a New York premiere next season. JENNIFER BLATCHLEY SMITH, Executive Director and Writer, studied writing and theatre at Bennington College. As the Founding Executive Director of Enchantment Theatre Company, Jennifer has created, produced and performed imaginative theatrical productions with her husband Landis Smith for over twenty years. As an international touring company headquartered in the greater Philadelphia area, Enchantment Theatre Company has created beautiful and inspiring theatre works characterized by its distinctive blend of magic, mask, pantomime, puppetry and original music. Last season Jennifer and Landis established Enchantment Theatre Company as a resident theatre company in Philadelphia and presented its first long-term run with 34 performances of CINDERELLA . LANDIS SMITH, Artistic Director and Writer, studied theatre at Carnegie-Mellon University and Webster University Conservatory in St. Louis. He began performing magic at the age of six and studied violin and voice beginning at the age of nine. His love of theatre, music and the art of illusion led to the founding of Enchantment Theatre Company in 1979 with his wife, Jennifer Blatchley Smith. As Founding Artistic Director of Enchantment Theatre Company, Landis has created, produced and performed many Page 14 imaginative theatrical productions for families all across America. In 1985, Enchantment Theatre Company premiered THE SYMPHONY AND THE SORCERER, the first of a whole series of programs intended to introduce young people to the magic of symphonic music. The company has appeared with major orchestras nationwide, most recently as host of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HAUNTED HOUSE family concert in October 2001. The company is currently creating a version of THE FIREBIRD, set to premiere with the Baltimore and Philadelphia orchestras in the 2003-2004 season. Enchantment Theatre Company has toured in the Far East five times performing in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. SUSAN SWEENEY , Narrator, performed the narrations for Enchantment Theatre Company’s productions of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and CINDERELLA. She has been a professional voice/speech/text/dialects coach for 25 years, working for such theatre companies as Baltimore Center Stage, Virginia Stage Company, Jujamcyn Theatres/ Dodger Productions, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Skylight Opera, Walnut Street Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Guthrie Theatre, and the Illinois, Colorado, Utah and Oregon Shakespeare festivals. She teaches voice and speech for the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware and is the resident Voice and Text Coach for American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. ANDY TEIRSTEIN, Composer, studied music composition with Leonard Bernstein, Henry Brant, and Stephen Sondheim. He has received awards from the NEA, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Meet the Composer, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and ASCAP. He was a recipient of a Continental Harmony Commission from the American Composers Forum to compose a symphony to celebrate Washington State at the millennium. Teirstein has written scores for several PBS and BBC films. He was an original cast member of the Broadway musical hit, BARNUM. He is currently Professor of Music in the dance department of New York University. THE SNOW QUEEN (A summary of the story – please see references for some excellent translations) 1. The First Story Now then! We will begin. When the story is done you shall know a great deal more than you do now. There were once some mischievous Goblins who created a magic mirror with special powers: It distorted anything beautiful or good and made what was evil seem attractive. The Goblins flew the mirror up to heaven to make fun of the angels, but the mirror laughed so hard that the Goblins dropped it and it shattered into millions of pieces. If a fragment got into someone’s eye, it made everything beautiful appear to be ugly; if a splinter got into someone’s heart, their heart became like a lump of ice. There are still splinters of the mirror flying about the Earth. This is a story about the trouble caused by a few of them. 2. Gerda & Kai Once upon a time there were two children who were the best of friends. Their names were Gerda and Kai. They lived in a city, in adjacent roof-top apartments. In the summer, roses grew in the flowerbox between their windows. In the winter, Gerda’s grandmother would tell them fantastic stories. One winter it snowed very hard and the Grandmother told the children about the Snow Queen who flies in the center of the snow storm. Instead of falling to the ground like the other snowflakes, she flies through the streets and looks in through the windows. If you see ice flowers on your window, you know she has passed by. Gerda was frightened by the story but Kai told her not to worry. If the Snow Queen came inside, he’d put her on the stove and melt her. That night, Kai looked out his window at the falling snow and saw a beautiful woman looking in at him. She was wearing a cape made of millions of snowflakes and her face was like glittering ice. She Page 15 beckoned to him with her hand, but Kai leaped back in fear. A shadow crossed the windowpane and she vanished. Spring came and roses grew in the flowerbox. One day while Gerda and Kai were playing, Kai cried out in pain that something had stabbed his heart, and that something was in his eye. The pain went away, but from that moment on Kai was completely different. He became hateful and unhappy. He made fun of Gerda and pulled out all the roses because he thought they were ugly. He was mean and thoughtless to everyone. He hurt Gerda very deeply, but she still loved him with all her heart. Winter came and Kai went to the town square to play. He tied his sled onto a big white sleigh to get a ride. The sleigh suddenly took off and flew out of the town, going faster and faster. Kai tried to untie his sled but it was being magically pulled. Suddenly the sleigh stopped and the driver turned toward him--it was the Snow Queen. She beckoned to him to come and sit next to her, under the fur blankets. “Are you still cold?” she asked and kissed him on the forehead. The kiss was colder than ice and went into his heart. At first he thought he might die, but it hurt only briefly and then he no longer felt the cold. The Snow Queen kissed Kai again and he forgot all about Gerda, his Grandmother and his home. “Now you must not have any more kisses or I might kiss you to death”, she said coldly. Kai looked at the Snow Queen. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen -- to him, she was utterly perfect. He no longer felt any fear. He tried to tell her everything he had learned at school, but somehow it seemed he really didn’t know very much. She smiled at him and the sleigh flew high into the black storm clouds over the earth. 3. The Enchanted Flower Garden No one knew where Kai had gone. Gerda was heart-broken. In the spring Gerda said “Kai is dead and gone”, but the sunshine and the swallows said “I don’t think so” and in the end Gerda didn’t think so either. She went to the river to ask it where Kai had gone. She threw her new red shoes into the river to offer them in exchange. But the waves seemed to nod strangely and her shoes floated back to her, as if the river didn’t want her shoes because it didn’t have Kai. She climbed into a boat to throw the shoes further out, but the boat was untied and floated quickly into the river. At first Gerda was frightened but then she thought the river might be taking her to Kai. The swallows flew along the shore and sang to comfort her. She floated many hours and came to a little house by a cherry orchard. An old woman with a crooked cane and a sun hat with flowers painted on it came out of the house and rescued Gerda. Gerda told the old woman her story and the old woman said that she hadn’t seen Kai but he was sure to pass by soon. The old woman had always wanted to have a daughter, so she took Gerda in to her house and fed her some cherries and combed her hair with a magical golden comb and soon Gerda began to forget all about Kai. The old woman could work magic and she went into her garden and made the roses disappear so Gerda wouldn’t remember Kai. Gerda played everyday in the garden but felt that some flower was missing. Then one day she saw the roses on the hat of the old woman and immediately remembered Kai. She ran into the garden and could find no roses and began to cry. Her tears fell on the ground and the roses sprang up magically. She asked the roses if they had seen Kai and they said he wasn’t under the ground where they had been. Then she asked all the flowers in turn, but they only told her fanciful tales, and the narcissus was terribly vain. Gerda ran to the edge of the garden, opened the rusty latch and ran out in her bare feet into the wide world. Beyond the magic garden it was already late autumn. Gerda realized how much time had been lost and ran on. 4. The Prince and Princess Gerda rested on her journey and a crow hopped in front of her and asked her where she was going. She told the crow her story and asked if he had seen Kai. The crow told her he may have seen Kai. In the kingdom where they were there lived a very clever Princess. The Princess decided she should get married, but she wanted to find someone who wouldn’t just stand around and be boring, or be intimidated Page 16 by the grand castle. She wanted someone who was clever and cheerful. Many people came for her hand but they all became frightened and tongue-tied when they entered the castle.( The crow knew all of this because his sweetheart was a tame crow who lived at the palace). Then a young man came with long hair, intelligent eyes and poor clothes. (“That’s Kai!” cried Gerda). He strode in to the palace and wasn’t at all shy. He was bright and interested in learning the Princess’ wisdom. They liked eachother right away and he became the Prince. The crow and his sweetheart helped Gerda sneak into the palace that night so she could see if the Prince was really Kai. Shadows along the wall swished past them and the crow explained that it was the dreams of the Prince and Princess. They came to the bedroom and the Prince and Princess were each in a bed that looked like a lily. Gerda moved aside the leaves to peek at the Prince, and seeing his red neck, thought it was Kai. She called out his name, the dreams swept through the room, he woke and turned his head, but it wasn’t Kai. The Princess woke and asked Gerda what was the matter. She wept and told them the whole story. The Prince got out of his bed and let Gerda sleep there. She dreamed of Kai sitting on his sled, nodding to her and thought how kind human beings and animals were! In the morning the Prince and Princess gave Gerda lovely clothes to wear and asked her to stay with them. But Gerda asked them for a small carriage with a horse to draw it and some boots so she could go out in search of Kai. They gave her a muff and boots and a coach of gold with coachmen and horsemen. Then they waved goodbye and Gerda set off. The crow traveled with her for the first part of the journey, then he flew to a tree and flapped his wings as she drove off. 5. The Little Robber Girl Robbers saw Gerda’s carriage and seized it, killing everyone but Gerda. “She’s nice and plump and will taste just like a fattened lamb”, said an old robber woman with a long beard, as she pulled out her knife. But just then the robber woman yelled because her daughter had jumped up onto her back and bitten her ear. “She will play with me. She will give me her muff and her pretty dress and she will sleep with me.” The little robber girl had her way because she was a very willful child. Gerda and the robber girl traveled in the coach to the robbers den. She asked Gerda if she was a Princess and Gerda told her of all her adventures and her search for Kai. The robber girl looked at her very seriously, “I won’t let them kill you even if I get cross with you; I’ll see that I do it myself”. When they arrived at the robber’s castle, the robber girl took Gerda to her corner where she kept all of her pets. There were hundreds of pigeons and doves perched above them. The robber girl seized one of the poor birds by its feet and made Gerda kiss it. Then the robber girl showed Gerda a reindeer that was tied up. “Every evening I tickle him with my dagger—it makes him afraid of me”. She ran the sharp point over the reindeer’s neck, who struggled to get away, but she just laughed. She pulled Gerda into her straw bed. “Do you always bring your knife to bed?” asked frightened Gerda. “Oh, yes,” said the robber girl, “you never know what might happen.” Then the robber girl made Gerda tell her all about Kai again, put her arm around Gerda’s neck and soon fell asleep. But Gerda could not sleep at all, she was too frightened. Suddenly the wood pigeons said to her: “We’ve seen your Kai. He was sitting in the Snow Queen’s carriage which flew low over our wood. She blew at our nest and all the young ones died.” Gerda started up “The Snow Queen with Kai! Where did she go?” “She would go to Lapland where there is always snow and ice. Ask the reindeer.” “Lapland is a glorious place for snow,” said the reindeer. “The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but the place that is her home is up near the North Pole”. “Oh Kai!” cried Gerda. In the morning Gerda told the robber girl everything the wood pigeons had said. The robber girl looked at Gerda very seriously and then asked the reindeer if he knew where Lapland was. ”Of course”, he said “I was born and bred there”. The robber girl said, “All the men are away today and my mother will take a nap after lunch, then I will do something for you.” Saying that, she jumped out of bed, rushed to her mother and pulled on her whiskers, saying “Good morning mother nanny-goat”. Her mother affectionately boxed her ears. After lunch the robber woman fell asleep and snored loudly. The robber girl said to the reindeer, “I’d love to tickle you more with this knife of mine, because then you’re funny. But I’m going to untie your rope and ask you to take this little girl to Lapland to the Snow Queen’s palace.” The reindeer leapt for joy and Gerda cried. The robber girl helped Gerda to get on the reindeer’s back. She gave Gerda some warm boots and her mother’s big gloves (She kept Gerda’s pretty muff). She gave them food for Page 17 their journey and helped them leave the castle. Gerda waved goodbye as the reindeer flew off into the big forest. Wolves howled and the sky turned red. The sky flashed with the Northern Lights as they ran faster and faster to Lapland. 6. The Lapp Woman and the Finn Woman Gerda and the reindeer reached a tiny hut. They crawled inside and there was a little old Lapp woman. Gerda was so cold she couldn’t speak, so the reindeer told the old woman Gerda’s story, but only after he had told his own which he thought was much more important. “Oh you poor dear, you’ve a long way to go yet. Finland is hundreds of miles from here. The Snow Queen is there now shooting off her blue fireworks. I’ll send you to a wise Finn woman who can give you more information.” She wrote a message on a dried codfish, fed and warmed them, and sent them on their way. They flew off into the Northern Lights and arrived at the Finn woman’s home the next day. They had to knock on the chimney, because there was no door. The Finn woman was small and round and jolly. She barely wore any clothes at all because it was so hot in her little hut. She helped Gerda off with her coat, put a piece of ice on the reindeer’s head and sat down to read the codfish message. She read it three times to be sure she knew it, then threw the fish in the pot to cook, for she never wasted anything. Then the reindeer told her the whole story, and asked the wise woman for a potion to help Gerda overcome the Snow Queen. The wise woman pulled him to a corner and said: “Kai is with the Snow Queen and he thinks it is the best place in the world. But that is because he has a glass splinter in his heart and a bit of glass in his eye. First they’ll have to come out or he’ll never be human again and the Snow Queen will have him in her power.” “But can’t you give Gerda something to take, so she will have the power to save Kai?” “I can’t give her any greater power than she already has,” said the wise woman. “Don’t you see how great she is? Don’t you see how animals and human beings serve her, and how well she has got on in the world in her bare feet? She hasn’t to learn of her power from us, it’s in her heart, it’s in her heart. If she can’t find her own way to the Snow Queen and get the glass out of Kai’s eye, then we can’t help her. Ten miles from here is the beginning of the Snow Queen’s garden. Take Gerda there and leave her by the bush with the red berries. Don’t waste time and hurry back.” So saying, the Finn woman helped Gerda onto the Reindeer’s back and off they flew. In their hurry Gerda had left without her boots and gloves. The reindeer put her off at the bush, kissed her and big tears ran down his cheeks. Then he turned and ran back to the hut. There stood Gerda, all alone without boots or gloves in the icy bitter cold. She began to run toward the palace but her way was blocked by giant snowflakes. They ran along the ground toward her, becoming bigger and more menacing. They took on fantastic, frightening shapes. Gerda realized that they were the Snow Queen’s guards. She began to pray and in the cold her breath took on form and became an army of bright little angels. They all had helmets and spears and they broke the snowflakes into hundreds of pieces. Then they rubbed Gerda’s hands and feet so she didn’t feel the cold and she walked forward to the Snow Queen’s palace. But where was Kai? 7. The Snow Queen’s Palace The palace was made of snow and wind. It had hundreds of halls, all lit by the Northern Lights. In the center was a frozen lake that had cracked into thousands of pieces. When the Snow Queen was home she would sit at the center of the lake, and call it her Mirror of Reason. Kai was blue from the cold, but he didn’t feel it. The Snow Queen had kissed away his shivers and his heart was a lump of ice. He was busy trying to form a word out of the pieces of ice. The Snow Queen had promised him if he could spell the word, “eternity” he would be his own master, he would have the whole world and a new pair of skates. But somehow he could never get it right. The Snow Queen had flown off to bring snow to the warmer countries. Kai was alone with the pieces of ice, puzzling over the word he could not quite remember. Gerda entered the great hall and saw Kai. She ran to him and threw her arms around him, calling his name. But he sat cold and stiff. She began to cry hot tears on his chest and all at once the ice in his heart Page 18 melted. Then he recognized her and called her name, and big tears ran down his cheeks until the bit of glass came out of his eye. “Gerda, where have you been? Where have I been—it is so cold here!” And all the pieces of ice got up and danced for joy, and when they lay down they formed the word “eternity”. Then Gerda and Kai walked hand in hand out of the snow Queen’s palace, and wherever they went, the winds died down and the sun poked through.The reindeer was waiting for them by the bush with the red berries, and he brought another reindeer with him, with udders full of warm milk. The children drank their full and then rode to the hut of the Finn woman who fed them and gave them instructions for their journey. Then they traveled to the hut of the Lapp woman, who had made new clothes for them, and then they traveled in her sleigh to the edge of Lapland. There they said farewell to the reindeer and the Lapp woman and walked on into the spring. A girl on a splendid horse came toward them and Gerda recognized the robber girl immediately. “You’re a fine one to go roaming about”, she said to Kai, “I wonder if you deserve to have people running to the ends of the earth for your sake!” But Gerda patted her cheeks and asked her about the Prince and Princess. “They’re traveling in foreign lands,” said the robber girl, “And the crow has died. His sweetheart hops around the palace with a bit of black wool tied around her leg.” Then she asked them to tell their story and declared it was very exciting indeed. She told them she would visit them someday and rode off into the wide world. Gerda and Kai walked hand and hand through the spring until they came to a city with church bells ringing and tall towers and they knew they were home. They ran up the steps to their home and entered the room where grandmother sat reading. They sat down before her holding hands. They looked into each other’s eyes and realized that they had grown up. Like a bad dream they had forgotten the Snow Queen’s icy palace. So there they both sat, grown up yet children at heart; and it was summer, warm and glorious summer. REFERENCES Hans Christian Andersen, Jackie Wullschlager, Knopf The Kiss of the Snow Queen, Wolfgang Lederer, University of California Press Hans Andersen Fairy Tales, Oxford World’s Classics Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, Everyman’s Library Children’s Classics, Knopf Han Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, retold by Ken Setterington, Tundra Books Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters, Kathleen Ragan, Norton Maskmaking, Carole Sivin Marionettes, Masks and Shadows, by Winifred H. Mills and Louise M. Dunn Mask Improvisation for Actor Training and Performance, Sears A. Eldredge The Wonderful World of the Theatre, J.B. Priestly The Open Door, Peter Brook The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler The Winston Simplified Dictionary, Encyclopedic Edition The Random House Dictionary of the English Language FOOTNOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Jackie Wullschlager, Hans Christian Andersen, p.3 Wolfgang Lederer, The Kiss of the Snow Queen, pp. 183-184 Peter Brook, The Open Door, p.32 Peter Hall, Exposed by the Mask, P.28 Ron Jenkins, Two Way Mirrors, Parabola Magazine, “Mask & Metaphor” Issue Page 19