Relaxed Performance Resource Pack

Chalk About by Curious Seed

Date: Wednesday 2 March

Time: Arrive for 12.30pm, 1pm start

Venue: Hannah Playhouse, Wellington

For further information please contact: ticketing@festival.co.nz

Start in the playground, go anywhere … Revel in the creativity of this highly inventive show for

children and their families where performers Christine and Niels take the old playground game of

making chalk outlines (children are invited to help) and turn it into a playful, funny and sometimes

moving look at how we fill in the outlines of each other’s identities

“SOME OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY IMAGINATIVE, HUMOROUS, TOUCHING THEATRE I HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR” THE TIMES

What is this pack for?

This pack is to help prepare you for your trip to the theatre by giving you an idea of what is

going to happen in the show, introduce you to some of the characters and show you how you

can be involved, if you would like to be.

It will also give you a map of the theatre and where you can go to chill out during the show. We

will also explain where the bathrooms are.

How will it be different from a regular performance?

Lights

First we will leave the house lights on through the entire show. This means you will not be in

complete darkness at any time. We have done this so you as an audience can see what is

happening and if you want to move around or leave at any point throughout the show.

Sound

The sound and lighting effect will be toned down. We understand loud noises and sudden or

sharp changes in lighting can be surprising. Therefore we will make them gentler and less likely

to frighten or upset you. We will also let you know in this pack where they might happen.

Seating

For this performances, you will be able to choose where you sit. If you want to you can move

around too. You can even come and go from the theatre.

Talking

Usually during a theatre performance audience members are expected to be quiet. For this

show, you can talk if you would like to.

The performers

There are two performers in the show. Here is some information about them. In the play, they

are just themselves but sometimes skip and play like children, because that can be really fun.

Niels Weijer has a Swedish first name but he was actually born in The Netherlands and has only been to Sweden once. His favourite drink is coffee, he loves to drink it all day long. He has three brothers and one sister. He is the only dancer in the family. Niels is not a carpenter.

Christine Devaney was born in Glasgow. Her favourite food is fish, potatoes and green vegetables. She has a scar on her left knee and really loves dancing. She prefers pencils to pens. Christine is not an astronaut.

Chill out space

If you would like to chill out during the show, you can leave the theatre and sit on the couches or

on some of the bean bags. We have two chill out spaces set up for you. One is upstairs close to

the entrance to the theatre and one is downstairs in the foyer.

There will be some activities like colouring and drawing you can do too!

What happens when you arrive at the Hannah Playhouse?

When you arrive at the theatre, you will see the box office, where you will be checked off the SchoolFest list. You will then be taken upstairs. There is a lift too. Someone will be there to help you out.

You can sit down, or go to the bathroom or go to the chill out space in the foyer.

When the theatre doors open, you can go into the performance space and there you can

pick a seat. Remember, you can move around if you want to.

The show will start.

There might be a couple of times where you can do activities with the performers. You

don’t have to if you don’t want to. This are explained in the next part of this pack.

The show will finish

At the end of the show the cast will bow and you will go home.

This is a photograph of the main entrance of the Hannah Playhouse.

This is how you will first enter the theatre.

This is the box office

When you arrive at the theatre, you will see the box office, where you will be checked off the

SchoolFest list. You will then be taken upstairs. There is a lift too. Someone will be there to help you

out.

Here is the door to the bathroom

Here is the entrance to the theatre.

You will watch the show inside

This is a photo of what inside the theatre looks like.

You can choose a seat wherever you like or if you’re in a wheelchair we will help you find a

great spot to see the show from.

SHOW BREAK-DOWN

On the next page, you will find a detailed breakdown of the show. There are

pictures that will help to describe what the text is saying. There are some ACCESS

NOTES in there that will indicate where there might be some loud sounds or

where the performers will interact with the audience.

If you have any questions about this or anything above, feel free to contact Tom

Noble at New Zealand Festival on 04 473 0149.

Christine and Niels are on the stage

drawing with chalk. They will ask a few

members from the audience to come and

draw with them.

ACCESS NOTE: If they ask you to help and

you don’t want to, that’s ok.

Music starts and Christine and Niels start

dancing. They start practising a dance

routine but can’t quite get it right. They

decide to come back and practise later.

SCENE 1

NOTE: Niels will look different to the man in these photos.

Christine and Niels start talking to the

audience. They talk about how they talked

to lots of children to get ideas for a new

show. They’re really funny.

ACCESS NOTE: Christine and Niels will say

hello to the audience and some will say

hello back. You can say hello too if you

want to. If you don’t, you can wave to say

hello too. Not doing anything is also totally

ok.

Christine and Niels then start acting out

the children’s ideas for shows. They

pretend to be lots of things like big

dinosaurs, the Queen, Beyonce, fighters,

swimmers in a big pool and sharks. Once

they finish pretending, they tell the

audience the rest of the show will be

different to that.

ACCESS NOTE: Christine and Niels will

make lots of loud noises and screams in

this part. They will also pretend to be

pretty scary things like dinosaurs, zombies

and bid explosions. They pretend to die

really slowly but it’s ok because they come

back to life!

If you want to, you can close your eyes or

block your ears during this part, that’s

totally ok! You can ask your parent or carer

to tell you when this part is over.

Just re

Niels starts to draw Christine in chalk. He

draws a few different body parts which

you might think are a little rude but you

also might also think it’s quite funny.

Christine then starts to tell us all about her

life. She talks about her favourite foods

and where she is from. Then Christine and

Niels do a dance and talk about their

biggest fears.

SCENE 2

Christine and Niels do a dance that

involves lots of everyday actions like

waving and praying. They do them

very quickly to music so it’s like a

dance.

SCENE 3

Niels then comes and asks some

questions to the audience while

Christine dresses him up in a paper

outfit.

Here are the questions Niels will ask.

ACCESS NOTE: Some people in the audience will

answer the questions by calling out. You don’t

have to answer them if you don’t want to. If you

like, pre-prepare your answer on a piece of paper

and you can give it to Niels after he asks!

1. Do you think I look like I come from Russia? Do you think I look like I come from

Poland? Sweden?

2. Do I look like a good man? And now? (he will ask this after his costume changes)

3. Would you say I am 26 or 37 years old?

4. Do you think I have a girlfriend?

5. Do you think I have a boyfriend?

6. Do I look single? And now? (he will ask this after his costume changes)

7. Do I look mean?

8. Do you think I believe in Jesus? Allah? Buddha? Facebook?

9. Katie Perry, Metallica or classical music?

10. Do I sleep naked or with pajamas?

11. Do I look like the type of person who goes to all you can eat buffets?

12. Do you think I had a good childhood?

13. Do I look Scottish? Why?

14. What do I look like?

ACCESS NOTE: Sometimes they will

do lots of shushing sounds. They are

just dancing, they are not asking you

to be quiet.

Christine and Niels then do another

dance to some music.

ACCESS NOTE: This music is a little

bit louder than usual. If you want to,

you can block your ears.

Christine also lifts up a big sheet that

looks like a cloud. The cloud floats

over the top of the stage.

Niels starts to tell a story in another

language (so don’t worry if you don’t

understand him). He is telling a story

about his past and his family.

Christine starts bringing out some

paper puppets that are attached to

balloons so they float!

Christine and Niels then bring out some

really big versions of the puppets that

are the size of people. They carry on

dancing and using these puppets.

Then they set up a few little scenes, like

they are a family with the puppets. They

ask audience members to take a family

photo of them.

ACCESS NOTE: They will ask audience

members to take photos 2 times. If you

don’t want to take the photo, you don’t

have to.

Christine and Niels set up a tent using a

broom and a sheet. They then listen to a

voiceover of children who have told them

their stories and about things that make

them sad or angry.

After they take the tent down, Niels stays

under the sheet and pretends to be a ghost,

like at Halloween.

Niels and Christine then get dressed into

fancy paper outfits and start dancing like

they are at a party. Some disco lights come

on and because of the music they have to

shout a little to be able to hear each other

talk.

ACCESS NOTE: The lights will flash different

colours for a little bit and the music will be a

little bit louder than usual. If you would like

to close your ears or your eyes then, that’s

ok.

SCENE 4

After some dancing, Niels and Christine do a

dance where they lean on and support each

other.

They then put on some music and start

tidying up the stage. While he’s sweeping

up, Niels takes a photo of the audience:

smile!

Christine and Niels do one final dance and

draw their outlines in chalk on the ground.

They will then leave the stage.

The lights will then come up and they will do

a bow. They will then leave again, then

come back out for another bow.

If you want to, you can clap or make any

noise to show them you like the show.

A few minutes after the clapping has

stopped, there will be a chance to talk to the

performers for 20 minutes. You are

welcome to stay for this if you wish, and

then you will go home.

SCENE 5