Support for Bird Brain is provided by

The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation

The Ruth J. and Robert A. Conway Foundation, KeyBank, The Charles H. Dater Foundation, dunnhumby,

Target Corporation and Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Scripps Howard Foundation Class Act! Program is supported by Scripps Howard Foundation.

The Playhouse is supported by ArtsWave, Ohio Arts Council & The Shubert Foundation.

Study guide developed by Megan Alexander, Education Associate and Susan Stephenson, Education Intern 2014-2015 season.

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Education Department

education@cincyplay.com 513.345.2242

Mark Lutwak, Education Director

Megan Alexander, Education Associate

Anita Trotta, Education Associate

Kristin Schneider, Community Engagement Coordinator

Common Core Anchor Standards addressed through this performance and educators’ guide include:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure,

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W Text Types and Purposes

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL Comprehension and Collaboration

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

By Rick Elice

Music by Wayne Barker

Based on the novel by Dave

Barry and Ridley Pearson

BIRD BRAIN BIRD BRAIN by Vern Thiessenby Vern Thiessen

EDUCATORS’ STUDY GUIEDUCATORS’ STUDY GUIDEDE

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear educators, We are delighted to bring BIRD BRAIN to you and your students. This charming play tells of a poor woodcutter who discovers that music brings him peace of mind, and that the sense of harmony is more important to him than anything else. This initial discovery leads to an understanding of the power of be-lief, and despite a cantankerous opponent, ultimate joy.

The script is written in such a way that we could use music, movement, design and many kinds of humor to open up and enrich the story. Our set designer Christopher Boone and our costume designer Melanie Mortimore found ways to give the play many more dimensions, and our actors found the time and space to create many layers of storytelling within the play.

All of these contributions add up to a single unified experience for your students. The short hour they spend watching the play contains hundreds of hours and thousands of decisions made by dozens of art-ists. It adds up to an experience that surrounds the living actors who create the story fresh every time they perform the play.

And when our audience connects with those performers, something special happens. An empathetic bond forms. Every aspect of theatre — the literature, the acting, the choreography, the design — con-tributes to and rests on this bond. As we forge this connection, we in the audience are drawn into a world that has its own rules of time and space. We experience its sensations as if we were there and, most importantly, we share the feelings of its characters as if their experiences were our own. The thea-tre offers a special kind of experiential learning; it allows us to walk in the shoes of others. We empa-thize with and feel the characters’ pride, exhilaration, joy, fear and other strong emotions. It is a rich ex-perience that we share from the safety of our seats.

I hope your students enjoy the play and afterward are able to discuss, not only the story, its characters, and its importance to them, but also the work that brought it into existence. We want students to be-come excited by and interested in the imagination and creativity revealed by a play like this. At the same time, we want them to recognize, understand and appreciate the story as it relates to their own lives.

Thanks for bringing your students to see live theatre. Thanks for cultivating the well-rounded citizens of the future. Thanks for helping them imagine the infinite possibilities.

Best,

Mark Lutwak Education Director and director of Bird Brian.

This guide contains writing prompts, discussion questions and classroom activities. We would love to know how our materials are being used in your classroom. Please share your students’ work or your own thoughts and suggestions with our education department.

Education@cincyplay.com

Script

We can provide you with a copy of the script for this play before your students see the performance. You may use it to preview the play or have your students read it to themselves or aloud in class.

Study Guide

This study guide is designed to be used. Please copy and share it with students and fellow teachers. It contains background material, activities, and questions to help strengthen understanding and build per-sonal and academic connections to the play.

Scripps Howard Foundation Class Act! Program

These are free, single-session classroom workshops (45-60 minutes) led by a professional teaching art-ist, that use drama activities to prepare students for a Playhouse production. We also can work with stu-dents after they see a show to help them connect their experience to the curriculum.

To request a script or schedule workshops contact the education staff at 513.977.2031.

We ask that teachers model this behavior for their students. When students see adults talking, reading or using their phones during a

play they get the wrong message about respect and focus.

BEFORE THE SHOW

Theatre is live. There are no edits, no CGI, no re-takes. Every moment is real, performed by real liv-

ing people in front of your eyes.

Turn off your cell phone.

We welcome discussion about the play, but it is not appropriate to discuss during the play. Please

keep chatter and distracting sounds to a minimum.

Use the restroom before the show so you don’t miss the best parts of the play.

Pay attention. Listen! If you miss something, there’s no rewind. Theatre is deep. Let it take you in

and the payoff is huge.

Respect the actors. They can see and hear you. Give them your absolute focus, react to what you

see, engage in the story, and they will reward you with the best performance they have ever given.

Please take a moment to prepare your

students for the theatre by reminding them:

SEEING LIVE THEATRE

Bird Brain by Vern Thiessen is based on a German story, Der Vogelkopp, by Albert Wendt.

A man makes his way to Hat Street to sell the wood he has chopped. When stops to rest, he hears the cry

of a nest full of baby birds who ask that he put them in his hat to keep them warm from the wintery

cold. The man tells them he cannot do this because of the law that everyone must tip their hat when

walking on Hat Street. After he hears the beautiful song of the birds, the man agrees. When he reaches

Hat Street and meets the powerful Under Secretary, he find himself in a pickle: Does he tip his hat to

obey the law and expose the birds to the freezing air, or does he break the law and face punishment to

keep the birds warm like he promised to do? While deliberating, the birds make the man laugh, which

infuriates the Under Secretary who calls him a fool and “Bird Brain” and fines him a large sum of money.

The man goes home to his wife for a simple dinner. She asks how much he earned from selling the

wood on Hat Street. Before he can explain, she asks him to take his hat off while eating dinner. When he

refuses and tells her about the birds staying warm under his hat, she yells at him in disbelief, calls him

“Bird Brain, ”asks for a divorce, and kicks him out of the house.

The man goes into the woods to find a new home, the birds still under his hat. Meanwhile, the Queen

speaks to the Under Secretary. She decides that her late husband, the King, was too cruel to the Fools

and others who had ridiculous behavior. She declares that the Fools will be set free and celebrated in a

Festival of Fools. She demands that the man who refuses to tip his hat be invited as well.

At the Festival of Fools, Bird Brain encounters many other fools including the Fortune Teller, Word-

smith, and the Beautiful Fool. The Beautiful Fool removes her mask and reveals that she is in fact the

Queen in disguise. The Under Secretary and points out that Bird Brain has not tipped his hat to the

Queen her of the law that requires everyone to tip their hats. This law cannot be changed by anyone

other than the king. With her hands tied, the Queen must allow Bird Brain to be punished. At the last

minute the Queen has an idea. She will marry Bird Brain and make him King.

The Under Secretary plots to kill the birds and the King for not following the laws of the land. He stops

himself when he hears the beautiful song of the birds. He is filled with guilt and the new King promotes

him to Bird Secretary of All the Land. The King and Queen rip up the Book of Rules and make new—less

strict—laws. They cherish the song of the birds and live happily ever after.

SNYOPSIS

CHARACTERS

The Man

The Birds

The Queen

The Under Secretary

The Fools

FESTIVAL OF FOOLS

We encourage you to create hats in your classrooms prior to the performance. Be creative! This is a

great project for using recycled and repurposed materials. Students should each have a hat ready to put

on when the festival begins. Teachers can also have them ready to pass out when instructed by the cast.

You are cordially invited to the

Festival of Fools

A gala celebrating all things wacky

and ridiculous.

Don’t forget your HAT!

The Playhouse can provide blank paper hats for your students at no cost, and we will deliver them to your school

upon request. Hat decorations and ideas are included on the following page. Contact Megan Alexander for details

on how to obtain hats for your students. Megan.Alexander@cincyplay.com 513-977-2031.

HATS!

BUILD YOUR OWN HATS USING THESE RESOURCES

http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/paperhats.html

http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/printable-crownhat.html

http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Wearables/easypaperhat/easypaperhat.html

Decorated paper hat provided by the Playhouse.

J.M. Barrie.

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

Broadway logo.

Color, cut, and paste the images below onto your hat. Use classroom materials to make your hat unique.

DESIGN PAGE

Theatre is a collaborative art form. Many artists work together on any one play. Each artist is skilled in his or her theatrical element, but also understands how their work relates to and functions with the play as a whole. Below are just a few of the people and pieces that come together to make theatre.

The script provides all the basic information from which all the other artists work. The playwright worked on this play for many years. The playwright created this play as an adaptation of the novel of the same title. It is a play with music, though is not categorized as a musical.

The actors learn the lines and work with the director to invent the behavior that invents the world of this production. Our actors rehearsed for 6 hours a day, six days a week, for three weeks for this pro-duction. The actors in this production are members of our acting intern company. They came from all around the country to work with the Playhouse for this season.

The metal trees, curtains, and everything that makes the world of this play is planned by our set de-signer. The scenery is constructed, painted and sewed by carpenters and other artisans in the Play-house shop. The set functions to show the locations in the play (the woods, the palace, etc.) but also to set a mood and tone.

The costume designer researches, plans and designs clothing that help us understand the world of the play and the characters. The costumes are built, found, and altered by the members of our cos-tume shop. Some parts of the costumes for this play were purchased; however, they all required al-tering to match the designer’s vision and to fit these actors.

The sound designer is responsible for all of the recorded sound that you hear, including music that he may have composed.

The director works with all of the other artists to coordinate their work. He has an overall vision of the play, and works to make sure that everyone tells the same story in the same style. He works with the actors in rehearsal to decide where and how to move and speak the lines.

Our stage manager schedules rehearsals, helps the director keep track of everything, and is in charge of all communication among the director, designers and the shops. Once the show opens, she is in charge of getting our tour to each of its locations on time, making sure everything is et up properly, and then that all technical aspects of the play, including the sound, run correctly.

THEATRICAL ELEMENTS

Costume renderings by designer Melanie Mortimore.

The Fortune Teller The Wordsmith Fred

Use the following activities in your classroom to help bridge the performance and learning objectives.

INTEGRATE THE ARTS

hatch shiver glide crawl declare

shuffle banish fine (n.) collect pollute

fool (n.) joyous waltz secretary kettle

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS Vocabulary From the Script

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.__.4 Craft and Structure

Happiness Show-and-Tell (pre-show activity)

In the play, the birds’ song gives the man a clear mind and happiness. Ask your students to thing of what ac-tivities, sounds, or objects make them happy. Have a special “Happiness Show-and-Tell.” Each student can begin by saying, “What makes me happiest is _____.” They can support their presentations with pictures or performances.

A Tip of the Hat (pre-show activity)

Ask your students what it means when people tip their hat. Explain that many cultures use different saluta-tions in public – from hat tipping to waving to bowing to courteous a “hello.” In all cases, it can be an ex-pression of recognition, respect, gratitude, greeting, or simple salutation and acknowledgement between two persons. Practice salutations and tipping hats in your classroom. Have students to make up a new salu-tation of their own.

It’s Spring! Use this play to explore birds. (post-show activity)

Science: Have students out draw or write observations in their notebooks about the birds they see.

They share notes from birds at home or you can take them outside to look around your school. Have

students note different physical traits: color, size and shape. Assign students a specific bird species to

research and then present a report.

First-person Writing: Have students describe a typical day in the life of a bird from the point of view

of a bird. What does a bird see and do that humans cannot? How might things that we experience seem

very different to a bird?

Art: Create a printable for your students using a half-circle as the body, a circle for the head, and a tri-

angle for the beak. Then have them trace their own hand for the wing(s). Label each part and have stu-

dents cut them out and assemble with tape or paste. Use interesting papers and paint or markers to

make this an exciting project. Use shredded newspaper or crinkle cut paper for a nest.

Poetry: Have students write a four-line rhyming poem with a bird theme. They can set it to a melody

and use their bird art to put on a puppet mini-musical.

Community Collaboration (post-show activity)

In the play, Bird Brain, the Under Secretary keeps the Book of Rules by which all citizens are required to

obey. What are the rules for your classroom? Are they different from the rules at home? Are they all

fair and agreed upon? What are the consequences for breaking a rule in your school community? Hold

a classroom roundtable discussion and review the rules. Make a Book of Rules for the upcoming class.

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Use these questions as discussion or writing prompts.

STORY

Who are the main characters of the play? How would you describe each of them? What are their

character traits?

Where is the man going? What will he do there?

Why do the birds want the man to put them under his hat?

Describe the man. Describe the queen. How are they different? How are they the same?

What is the rule of Hat Street?

The man knew the birds were in the forest because he heard their singing. Next time you go outside

to play, try standing still and listening for a moment. What animals do you hear or see?

PRODUCTION

Describe how the theatrical elements help tell the story. See page 8 in this guide for a discussion of

theatrical elements and the people who execute them.

What surprised you about the play? How is a story told through theatre different from one told

through a book or movie?

How do the director, designers, and actors use imagination in this production? Choose a specific moment

from the play and describe how it calls on your imagination.

What do the costumes tell us about each character? Choose one character. Draw his or her costume

to the best of your memory, then write a character description. Make a direct connection between

the costume (colors, pattern, shape, makeup) and at least one character trait.

Write a theatre critique. What was your overall opinion about the play? Did the story make sense?

Were the actors believable? Choose two technical elements and explain how they helped or detract-

ed from the play. Would you recommend the play to others? Why or why not?

THINKING DEEPER

To which character did you relate most? Who would you be in this play? Why? Would you have

made the same choices? Why? Why not?

The man chose to keep the birds warm even though it meant he was breaking a rule. Have you ever

been in a situation where you had to choose between two different versions of what was

right? What did you do? In the play we learn that all of the “fools” have been locked away because they are different from

everyone else. The Queen wants to have a festival to honor all of these “fools” because she knows

the differences are special. What makes you different or unique from everyone else?

Mail letters, comments, questions and critiques to education@cincyplay.com.

AFTER THE SHOW