Winnie and Wilbur

Contents

Introduction

Synopsis

About The Books

Themes and Characters

Interview with Mike Kenny, the Playwright

Activity 1 – The Spellbook

Activity 2 – The Magic Carpet

Activity 3 – Winnie’s Wacky Week and The Chase

Activity 4 – This not a Broomstick!

Activity 5 – The Wonderful Party Song

Activity 6 – Writing an Invitation for Winnie’s Party

Introduction

Welcome to this REP Insight on Winnie and Wilbur, a magical, musical play written by Mike Kenny based upon the bestselling picture books created by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul. Lots of favourite characters from the book series appear throughout the play and elements of the original stories are combined to create an exciting new

production. Liam Steel has directed this very physical, energetic and entertaining production and the audience will be whisked away into Winnie’s world of magic and

chaos. It is a family show full of songs, laughs and slapstick fun for children aged three and up.

This resource pack provided by Birmingham REP Theatre will support schools and educational parties as they explore the story of Winnie and Wilbur. Aimed at KS1

students, it provides activities and information that can help teachers deliver exciting, informative sessions.

These resources contain background information on the books, illustrations from the designer, interviews from the author and activities for children that are perfect before

or after a visit to the theatre. We hope you find them useful.

Synopsis

Winnie the witch loves Wilbur, her big black cat. She also loves her bright stripy tights, pumpkin soup, and waving her magic wand.

Wilbur loves Winnie. He also loves broomstick rides, cheesecake, and curling up in his basket.

Winnie and Wilbur enjoy all kinds of capers together with a big dollop of magic always mixed in. In this sparkling new adventure, they are getting ready for

Winnie's birthday party – sending invitations, choosing decorations, deciding upon their outfits, and planning party games.

But why doesn't Winnie want to invite cousin Cuthbert? Why does she almost call the whole thing off? And how does Wilbur help Winnie to make it the most

wonderful party ever?

About The Books

The stories of Winnie and Wilbur continue to be incredibly popular with every new generation of children. Winnie the Witch was first published in 1987 and due to its popularity, Valerie Thomas has written a further fifteen books that have all been illustrated by Korky Paul. The series has sold over five million copies and Laura

Owen has worked with Korky Paul to create a series of Winnie books for younger audiences.

Winnie the Witch celebrated twenty-five years in 2012 and schools, libraries and bookshops across the UK marked this achievement with numerous creative events. The characters of Winnie and Wilbur inspire imaginative thinking and provide light-

hearted, colourful stories that captivate children, encourage reading, and transgress cultural boundaries. It is a series of timeless stories that entertain young minds and

will be even more enthralling brought to life on stage.

Themes and CharactersThe story of Winnie and Wilbur brings so much joy to children due to its uplifting

themes of friendship and magic.

Friendship

The play provides the audience with a very positive message about friendship, listening to one another and forgiveness. Throughout the play, Winnie listens to

Wilbur and often takes his advice onboard. Equally, they know so much about each other and show mutual respect for each other’s needs. Lastly, Winnie eventually forgives Cousin Cuthbert at the end of the play when he says ‘sorry.’ It is a very simple but important message, demonstrating to young audiences how best to

maintain and develop their own friendships with peers.

Magic

Magic is an exciting theme that encourages imaginative thinking. It allows children to think creatively and opens their minds to new possibilities. Magic is a fundamental

theme that occurs regularly in children’s literature and Winnie and Wilbur is a gentle introduction to stock characters that will appear throughout their learning across the

curriculum.

Characters

Winnie – a lovable and chaotic witch who lives with her cat Wilbur

Wilbur – a calm and sensible black cat

Cousin Cuthbert – Winnie’s cousin who accidentally blew out Winnie’s candles at a previous birthday party and Winnie hasn’t forgiven him since

One-Six - Narrators

Wendy, Wilma, Wanda – Winnie’s sisters

Auntie Alice – Winnie’s Aunt who attends the party

Uncle Owen – Winnie’s Uncle who attends the party

Pirate – a minor character at Winnie’s party

Interview with Mike Kenny

What made you want to turn Winnie and Wilbur into a play?

To be honest, the initial idea came from the publishers of the books, who approached the Rep, who then asked me. It was like being given a lovely present. I jumped at the chance, because the books are so lovely, and Winnie is such a great

character.

If Wilbur could talk, what would he say about Winnie?

I think Wilbur worries about Winnie all the time. She tends to rush headlong into things. He's more cautious. In fact, in my version of the stories he does talk. He

doesn't say much, but I felt we needed to hear what he's thinking.

How did you choose which Winnie and Wilbur stories you would focus on?

This was a hard one. The Winnie and Wilbur stories are quite short and a play is quite long. I felt that we needed one big story that would hold it all together. So, I started by reading them all, (and laughing a lot!). Some of the stories just seemed

too hard to do properly, others, like the very first, where we meet Winnie and Wilbur for the first time, definitely had to be included. In the end, I decided to tell the story of Winnie's birthday party, because lots of us know how complicated it can be throwing a party. I felt we could identify with Winnie. And I used quite a few of the other stories

in describing all the preparations for the big day. I also added one of my own - the great unsolved mystery of Cousin Cuthbert.

Do you believe in Magic?

Not in the Harry Potter sense, no. However, a few years ago, my youngest son, Theo, got obsessed with learning magic tricks and illusions and we went to the big

magicians' congress at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. There you can see all sorts of tricks demonstrated, and there is a market of magic that is at least as amazing as

Diagon Alley. It's closer to science than hocus pocus, and so clever it takes your breath away. It's very revealing as to what a clever magician can make you think you're seeing. In fact it totally changed my world view. I would recommend it to

anyone. Do you think Winnie and Wilbur's friendship will last forever? Will Wilbur ever

get sick of Winnie or Vice Versa?

I think they're definitely friends forever. This doesn't mean that they don't have their fall outs. A true friendship is measured by how well you can make up, not by how

often you fall out.

If Winnie and Wilbur could travel anywhere, where do you think they would go?

Well, they can go anywhere. And they have been most places on the planet, even into space. How about the future?

What's the one thing that would upset Winnie the most?

Oh. This is a hard question to answer. I think she would very upset if something she did hurt someone's feelings. At the same time, she has such a quirky view of the world that she quite often does things that are disruptive without intending to do

them.

What was the hardest part of writing Winnie and Wilbur into a play?

So many people love Winnie and Wilbur that it felt like a huge responsibility being entrusted with retelling their stories for the stage. Also, so much of the fun is

contained in the illustrations of Korky Paul, not just the words. You turn a page and you can spend hours finding things in it. I felt as if I had to catch the quality of their

playfulness; their humour; their warmth.

Incy Wincy! – Turns people into tiny insects

Jelly Belly – Makes people very very hungry!

Shaky Waky – Make people feel very

Activity 1 – The Spellbook

Winnie is always excited to create new spells. There’s an empty page in her spellbook! Fill it with new spells and explain what the spells can do. There’s a few examples there to help you!

Activity 2 – The Magic Carpet

Winnie and Wilbur love travelling! Their magic flying carpet can take them anywhere in the world! From travelling across borders and seeing the most spectacular views in the world, to hovering down to the nearest chip shop! Write down next to the arrows, all the places you would visit if you had a flying carpet!

Activity 3 - Winnie’s Wacky Week

Winnie is a very busy witch. Everyday of the week there is something that she must do. Mondays are usually for flying on her broom stick. Tuesdays are usually for makings new spells, Wednesdays are usually for chasing around Wilbur. However you have the chance now, to change Winnie’s schedule! Write below what Winnie could be doing each day of the week. What do witches get up to? Write or draw some tasks for Winnie to do for each day of the week:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

The Chase

In pairs create a chase scene between Winnie and Wilbur, however there must be:

1) A moment where they both stop and freeze to look at each other2) A moment where they both hop around on one leg

and

3) A moment where they climb, jump and crawl

Activity 4 - This is not a Broomstick!

This is a great classroom activity for children to use their imagination! Winnie has the power to turn her Broomstick into anything she likes! Now, the children have the same power too!

Sit the children in a circle and place a broomstick in the middle. Tell the children ‘This is not a broomstick.’ Then step into the circle and use the broomstick in a way that shows it is clearly not a broomstick, for example, pretend it is a spade and dig with it, or pretend it is a telescope to look through, or a fishing rod to fish with! The possibilities are endless!

Each child has a go at using the broomstick in a way that shows it is clearly not a broomstick. This game can be played with another object if a broomstick is not available, for example, a scarf.

Activity 5 – The Wonderful Party Song

Here are some lyrics to one of the songs Winnie and Wilbur sing. You can split children into groups to read and learn sections of the song as if it were a poem. Then encourage the children to perform actions to the sentences and eventually perform their work to the class.

SONG

First you need guests.

Before you think about the rest.You've got to start off with the guests.You have to be careful who you pickWe don't want ones who might be sick.And just in case the parents shoutWe won't leave anybody out.But just in case we do, then soWe'll just ask everybody we know.I've counted up, I've done my sumsNow let's just hope that somebody comes.

CHORUSIt's going to be a wonderful partyEveryone will have a good timeSo don't you fearLet's make it clearA birthday comes only once a yearand this birthday party's mine.

And games.

WILBUR Games.

WINNIE You need games.

Just to make sure to make your dayThere's lots and lots of games to playOver there's an amazing mazeWhere you could be lost for days and daysCome on in, I'll show you.

(And days and days...keeps on going)

Through here, down here, turn here, left there, right here, oh dear.Erm...I'd say, this way, we could be stuck in here all dayBack up, turn round, we might never ever get foundJust a joke! Let's hope. Shall we stop right here and shout?No I'll just use magic to get us out.Abracadabra!

Ooh. Thank goodness for that. Where was I? Oh yes. Games.

Musical statues and musical bumpsThings to slide down, things to jumpOf course we've got to pass the parcelWe've even got a bouncy castle!

CHORUSit's going to be a wonderful partyEveryone will have a good timeSo don't you fearLet's make it clearA birthday comes only once a yearand this birthday party's mine.

WILBUR That's pretty good.

WINNIE I think so.

WILBUR What else?

WINNIE Then there's the food.Every good party has to have good food.

To make a party a perfect treatYou've got to have lots and lots to eat.But, and there are always butsUncle Owen's allergic to nuts.Wilma is picky and dead hard to pleaseWanda eats anything, Wendy hates cheeseWell she likes it, it doesn't like her.All sorts of side effects occurWooziness and it gives her bad dreamsSo, Pizza! Samosas, and lots of ice cream.I'm not very rich and I'm not very wealthyBut at my party, I'm not having anything healthy.There'll be no fruit and we're not having veggiesWell, maybe some chips or potato wedgesThough not too much sugar for all those invited.We're not getting everyone over excited

Activity 6 – Writing an Invitation for Winnie’s Party

Winnie has pulled out her Flaptop and is ready to write her invitations for her party. Can you write an email invitation to Winnie’s birthday party? Who would you invite? When will the party take place, what day and time? Where will it happen? Is there a wacky dress code?