Our latest book ‘Noah
Barleywater runs away’ by John Boyne, tells the story of a boy coming to terms
with his mother’s terminal illness. He runs away and finds himself on a
fantastical journey, where trees and dogs talk. He enters a magical toy shop
where the owner reveals much about life and love and death, and helps Noah
decide to return home.
I completed reading the book at the
same time as I was involved in devising a piece of labyrinth theatre at ‘The People’s History Museum’. Fired up by
my latest experience, it seemed obvious that this book would make the perfect
labyrinth. The challenge was how to make and perform this in our 1 hour session.....
To assist with the process I
sent each family the following homework.
I would like each child to think about any event or moment
in the book that sticks in their imagination. Could they describe that moment
to a blindfolded person by simply handing them something to touch, smell,
taste, or by making sounds? For example, early on in the story Noah plucks 3
apples from a tree, and takes a bite from one. I might offer the person in the
blindfold a juicy apple to smell, and feel, and taste, to illustrate this moment
from the story.
In the session I followed
a simple plan. We warmed up by playing some games encouraging us to coordinate
our actions, then we played a sort of ‘blind man’s bluff’ where we sampled our
sensory ideas brought in from home (these were brilliant and thoughtful), and learnt how to guide someone in a blindfold through a space.
We ran out of time here, but the enthusiasm for the game was very exciting, and
it helped us ‘write’ the labyrinth. A couple of themes dominated, so we grouped
people accordingly, and then we linked the groups with smaller narrative
details, and we had our journey.
A quick run through and we
were ready to perform.
The journey went like
this:
The blindfold person
enters the space, led gently.
There is the sound of feet on gravel.
He is brought to rest and given an apple.
There is the sound of feet on gravel.
He is brought to rest and given an apple.
The journey continues.
There is the sound of
someone reading a newspaper.
He is brought to rest.
There is the sound of
birdsong, and a rippling stream.
He is offered tree
branches, which appear and disappear as he gropes for them.
He continues his journey and is followed by the musical sounds of a funfair.
The sounds fade away.
An energetic dachshund
leaps at him, playfully rubbing against him, while panting and ‘woofing’.
He is brought to rest and
seated.
There is the sound of
mechanical things whirring and ticking, the ‘clack’ of wood, a smooth wooden
toy car to hold and play with.
Mysterious voices,
muttering about the ‘unusual stranger’.
A bell interrupts the
scene, and he is led away.
Brought to rest, he is
given a box. After investigation, he open's the box, and discovers a medal on a
ribbon inside.
The box is replaced with
an apple, and he is led through a door, returned to home, and the beginning
of his journey.
This was a really creative session. The children devised a wonderful journey, and took the responsibility of caring for the person experiencing the labyrinth really seriously. The parents who took the journey into the labyrinth enjoyed it, and were delightfully cooperative and playful participants.
This was a really creative session. The children devised a wonderful journey, and took the responsibility of caring for the person experiencing the labyrinth really seriously. The parents who took the journey into the labyrinth enjoyed it, and were delightfully cooperative and playful participants.
As a means of exploring a story this technique has loads of potential....