Zen Study Guide.indd - Stages Theatre Company

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Behind the Stage Door
A resource guide for teachers
2014-15
SEASON
*Book by Jon J Muth
*Adapted by Jeannine Coulombe
by Jeannine Coulombe
*Directed
and Melanie Salmon-Peterson
October 10 - November 2, 2014
Zen Ties
(952) 979-1111, option 4
1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins, MN 55343
stagestheatre.org
“James and the Giant Peach” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Table of
Contents
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Behind The Stage Door
A resource guide
for teachers
BEHIND THE STAGE DOOR is
intended as a resource guide for
teachers and students to use before
and after attending a performance at
Stages Theatre Company. Our goal
is to provide helpful information
to enhance your theatre-going
experience and to offer a resource
that serves as a springboard for
extending this experience into
the classroom and across the
curriculum.
WHO WE ARE...
Stages Theatre Company is
committed to the enrichment
and education of children and
youth in a professional theatre
environment that stimulates
artistic excellence and
personal growth.
Guide content by
Jeannine Coulombe
What Goes into a Performance
3
The Role of the Audience
4
The Production
5
The Story
9
Points of Discussion
10
Across the Curriculum
11
Minnesota Academic Standards
18
Beyond the Classroom
19
Feedback
21
Role of the Director
Role of the Designers
Role of the Stage Manager
Role of the Crew
Role of the Cast
Role of the Audience
The Audience Agreement
How to be a Polite Audience Member
Before the Show Activities
Show Dates and Times
Cast and Artistic Production Staff
Roald Dahl – Author
David Wood – Playwright
Play Synopsis
A Few Words About the Play and its History
Who? What? Where? When?
Why?
Big Ideas
Activities in Theatre Arts
Activities in Language Arts
Activities in Other Subjects
Additional Resources
Further Reading
stagestheatre.org
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The performance you see at Stages Theatre Company is the result of many people
working together. As the audience, you mostly see the performers on stage, but
there are many more people working behind the scenes that you never see.
Each person, both on stage and off, serves an important role to create the
performance you see as an audience member.
Role of the Director
Role of the Designers
Role of the Stage Manager
3
• Responsible for creating the look of the lights, scenery, costumes,
make-up, sound and stage effects.
• Works with the director in realizing the overall vision of the production.
• Responsible for organizing the production, including schedules, resources,
communications, technical effects and personnel.
• In charge of making sure everything runs smoothly both
during rehearsals and performances.
Role of the Crew
• Responsible for building the scenery, costumes, props and stage effects
that you see on stage.
• Work backstage during the performance operating the scenery, props,
costumes, effects, lights and sound.
Role of the Cast
• Responsible for performing the characters in the play on stage in front
of the audience.
Role of the Audience
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• Responsible for the overall vision of the production.
• Guides actors in interpreting characters and provides them with
stage movement.
• Works with designers in planning the sound, lights, costumes,
make-up, props, scenery, stage effects.
• The play doesn’t exist without you! That’s right, you are a collaborator in
any performance you see. All of the work that goes into a production means
nothing without the audience there to experience the performance. It is a
unique responsibility. It is important for you to learn your role so you can
join everyone else who has worked to create the production.
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The Role of
The audience has an important role in the theatre experience. When the lights go
down, a performance, especially for you, begins. This special relationship only
happens in live theatre. When you take your seat in the audience,
you accept the responsibility of a special agreement.
The Audience Agreement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Believe what happens is real. It is happening live, before your eyes!
Listen carefully and quietly.
Let the production unfold and enfold you.
Respond honestly and sincerely. The actors are aware of your presence and your responses.
Tune in to what is happening on the stage.
Remain polite throughout the performance.
How to be a Polite Audience Member
1. Avoid anything that distracts the performers. Un-necessary talking, rustling papers,
gum-snapping, jangly jewelry, cellophane wrappers,cell phones, and pagers are all
examples of un-warranted and un-welcome sounds during the play.
2. Never use ﬂash cameras. They are strictly forbidden. Their blinding lights can be an
actual danger to the actors.
3. Finally, when the play is over, show your appreciation with hearty applause.These are
the sounds that warm the hearts of the actors.
Before the Show Activities
1. Have students make a list: “What do we do when we watch television or go to a movie?”
Compare the results to the theatre audience etiquette list above. How are they similar?
How are they different?
2. Take some time to practice being an audience member. Turn down lights to darken the room.
Have a student tell or read a story. When the speaker is done, have the audience applaud.
Ask the speaker how the quiet listening and the applause made him or her feel? How did it
make the audience feel?
3. Before the play, discuss the elements that go into a theatrical production. Scenery, make-up,
costumes, lighting, properties, and sound effects each has a unique design and a unique
designer. In consultation with the director, each of these designs is coordinatedto produce an
overall design concept. By making students aware of these production aspects, you can then
ask them to comment on their observations of speciﬁc design elements after viewing the play.
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The P
MICHAEL
Jack Alexander
ADDY
Katelyn Henslin
MISS WHITAKER
Jennifer Kirkeby
KOO
ENSEMBLE
Jordan Mattson
ENSEMBLE
Morgan McCaul
ENSEMBLE
Edan Amon-Xen Seaton
ENSEMBLE
Nirali Somia
ENSEMBLE
Ula Tennyson Tonko
STILLWATER
Garrett West Vollmer
KARL
Sandy Boren-Barrett
DIRECTOR
Jeannine Coulombe
DIRECTOR
Melanie Salmon-Peterson
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR & PROPS DESIGNER
Michael Croswell
Jim Hibbeler
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Wu Chen Khoo
SET DESIGNER
Benjamin Olsen
COSTUME & MAKEUP DESIGNER
STAGE MANAGER
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR
SOUND BOARD OPERATOR
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Wiley Wang
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
SOUND DESIGNER & COMPOSER
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Bella Lockhart
Stacy Palmer
Emilia Allen
Salima Seale
Hannah Paulsen
Cody Braudt
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Show Da
OCTOBER 2014
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NOVEMBER 2014
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JON J MUTH, AUTHOR & ILLUSTATOR
Jon J Muth’s highly acclaimed picture books are beloved around the world and
have been translated into more than ten languages. He was born and grew up in
Cincinnati, Ohio. He drew and drew and drew and drew, and painted. His mother
was an art teacher and she took him to museums all over the US. He had his ﬁrst
one-man exhibit of paintings and drawings at the invitation of Wilmington College
when he was eighteen.
He studied stone sculpture in Japan; paintings, prints and drawings in Austria, Germany, and England and
he was an English major at SUNY, New Paltz. But most of his education as an artist came from an informal
apprenticeship with two ﬁne artists. His comic books have been published by DC/Vertigo, Eclipse Books,
NBM, Donald M. Grant Publishers, Inc. and in Japan, Kodansha.
For BBC educational television, in 1991, Muth created a short graphic story for which he also produced
the music and narrated. In comics he has won the Eisner Award for excellence in painting. In 1994 he was
commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to paint a portrait of music director, Jesus LopezCobos. Two books about his paintings, Vanitas : Paintings, Drawings and Ideas, 1991, and Koan, 2000, have
been published.
“My work in children’s books really grew out of a desire to explore what I was feeling as a new father,” states
Muth. “I was working in comics and that is a natural forum for expressions of angst and questioning one’s
place in the universe. When the children came it became important to say other things about the world. With
the birth of my children, there was a kind of seismic shift in where my work seemed appropriate. In 1995 I
created the comic strip IMAGINARY MAGNITUDE for a Japanese magazine and that was where my work
began to express the very real delight I ﬁnd in being a parent.”
All of Muth’s work has received awards and critical acclaim. Zen Shorts was named a Caldecott Honor
Book and spent 41 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The art for his ﬁrst children’s book, Come
On, Rain!, written by Karen Hesse, won the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators in 1999. Gershon’s
Monster by Eric Kimmel, was an ALA Notable Children’s book, winner of the Sydney Taylor Award, as well
as a National Parenting Book Award, and was a ﬁnalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Stone Soup
also won a National Parenting Book Award. The Three Questions was a Book Sense book of the Year ﬁnalist
and a NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Muth also did the illustrations for
Old Turtle and the Broken Truth, written by Douglas Wood, and I Will Hold You ‘Til You Sleep, by Linda
Zuckerman.
Muth lives in upstate New York with his wife and four children, where he spends time “chasing the clouds from
his brushes.”
-Taken from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/jon-j-muth
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JEANNINE COULOMBE, PLAYWRIGHT
Jeannine Coulombe is a Minnesota native and the author of more than 10
full-length plays, including Homegrown, Hummingbirds, The Mill, The Vacant
Lot and The Road to Santiago. Her numerous shorter works, include Special
Talents, Picture.Cigarette. and Rose Beds. Her plays have been seen at
Upright Citizens Brigade, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Manhattan
Repertory, Producer’s Theatre, Stage Left, History Theatre, Workhaus Playwrights Collective, Theatre
Unbound, Thirst Theatre, Minnesota Fringe, Playwrights Center, University of Iowa, University of
Minnesota-Duluth and A Theatre Group.
In 2012, she authored Stages Theatre Company’s adaptation of Grace Lin’s novel, Where the Mountain
Meets the Moon and last season she adapted Lin’s prequel novel, Starry River of the Sky. She also
adapted Jon J Muth’s book, Zen Shorts in 2013. Her adaptation of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
was also produced at Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta and Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston. Ms.
Coulombe was a founding member of the Twin Cities women’s theatre company, Theatre Unbound and is
currently a member of the Minneapolis based company, Workhaus Playwrights Collective. Her work has
been published by Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Kraus, and Heinemann. She won the University of Iowa’s
IRAM Award for Best New Play (Hummingbirds, 2003), the Maebaum Award (Beakers, 2002) and the
National AIDS Fund CFDA-Vogue Initiative Award from the Kennedy Center (The Vacant Lot, 2001.) Ms.
Coulombe received her MFA from the University of Iowa’s Playwrights Workshop and her BFA in Theatre
and BA in History from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
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The Story
Play Synopsis
Through the magic of theatrical transformation and imagination, Stages Theatre Company
brings to life Caldecott award-winning author Jon J Muth’s Zen Ties.
Summer has arrived and so has Koo, Stillwater the Panda’s haiku speaking young nephew.
When Stillwater encourages Koo and their friends Addy, Michael and Karl to heop a grouchy
neighbor in need, their efforts are rewarded in unexpected ways. The story enfolds to tell a
tale of compassion and friendship that reafﬁrms the importance of our ties to one another. A
warm and engaging story about what it means to be a neighbor.
A few words about the play
and its history
Stages Theatre Company’s vision for turning this beautifully illustrated book into a theatrical
production had a different approach than that of Zen Shorts (also by Jon J Muth) for STC’s
2012-13 season.
Playwright, Jeannine Coulombe, who also authored Zen Shorts, did not start the script
writing process through improvisation with a director and a group of students, as was done
with Zen Shorts. She took a more traditional approach by writing a script alone at her
computer, although she did incorporated much of the same storytelling techniques that were
found successful in the ﬁrst adaptation of Jon J. Muth’s work. The story is told through music,
dance, movement and in staying true to the spirit of the book—simplicity and a sense of
playfulness and magic. This time around, Coulombe also co-directed the piece with Melanie
Salmon-Peterson.
The work is as joyful and poignant as STC’s ﬁrst go-around with Muth’s work and Coulombe
say, “Working with these characters in this world again is like coming home. It ﬁts very well
with my artistic aesthetic.”
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The ideas and questions in this section are designed as a springboard
for student discussion after attending the play.
Big Ideas
Friendship and Friends
Neighborhood Life
Kindness
Compassion
Who? What? Where? When?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Where does Koo ﬁrst meet his Uncle Stillwater? (At the Train Station)
Who speaks only in Hiaku throughout the play? (Koo)
What is Michael worried about studying for? (A spelling bee)
When does Stillwater tell Koo he can throw away his cup? (At the end of the summer, when Koo
is about to get back on the train)
5. What do the friends ﬁrst bring to Miss Whitaker’s house? (Soup)
Why?
1. In Zen Ties, each sibling is afraid of Miss Whitaker and says that they dislike her because she is
mean and grouchy. Then, later, as they get to know Miss Whitaker, they discover that she is actually
a friendly, kind neighbor. Why do you think they dislike her so much at the beginning of the story?
Have you ever disliked someone even though you did not really know them well? Why did you dislike
them so much? Did you ever get to know that person? If so, did your opinion of them change? Did
you like them more? What did you think of your initial feelings about them once you got to know
them?
2. In the play and book, Miss Whitaker and the three siblings become good neighbors. What does it
mean to be a “good neighbor?” What are the qualities of a “good neighbor?” Why is it important to be
friendly to your neighbors? Do you think you make a good neighbor? Why or why not? Do you have
a good neighbor? What makes them a good neighbor?
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Across the
The possibilities are numerous for using both the book and play of Zen Ties as a jumping off point for
cross-curriculum and interdisciplinary study in your classroom. From units on image and storytelling to
haiku writing or research projects on bears this award-winning book offers a platform for reaching any
number of educational goals.
Below are a few suggestions for curriculum incorporating both the book and play Zen Ties into your
classroom.
Please also refer to the ADDITIONAL RESOURCE section at the end of this guide for links and
resources to more curriculum ideas and lesson plans.
Theatre Arts
ACTIVITY: STORYTELLING, RE-STORYTELLING & ACTING IT
OUT (K-3)
Read Zen Ties. Discuss the different characters, the setting and what happens in the story. Then, have each
student choose which character is his/her favorite and then, using the book illustrations as a guide, have students
retell what happens in the stories. Provide any necessary prompts and support, such as “What happens next?” or
by pointing to the illustration. Then, have students pair up and retell the story again to a partner.
Once the students have re-told the stories to each other and have a good understanding of the story’s sequence
and what happens in each one, break them into groups of four or ﬁve. Have the group create a tableaux or frozen
picture to represent the different parts of the story. Limit the number of tableaux for each story. Each story should
be able to be told in 4-6 freeze frames. Encourage the students to use their whole body while telling the story. Have
each group present their freeze frames to the class.
Once the students have presented their frozen pictures, have them add dialogue to each frame. What would the
characters say? How would they tell their story?
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ACTIVITY: CHARACTER STUDY – A MONOLOGUE OF
FEELING (1-3)
Each of the siblings in Zen Ties struggles with their feelings for their neighbor, Miss Whitaker. At the
beginning of the book/play, none of them like her at all. They think she is mean and grouchy. By the end
of the story, however, each one has connected to Miss Whitaker in a different way and each sibling likes
her.
Read Zen Ties. Then, discuss with the students what each sibling may be feeling for Miss Whitaker at the
beginning of the story and what each feels for her at the end of the story. What feelings does Karl have
toward Miss Whitaker at the beginning of the story and then at the end of the story? What connection
does Addy make with her by the end of the story? How does Michael learn to see Miss Whitaker as a
good friend? Discuss how the siblings’ feelings change over the course of the story. How do they each
become friends with Miss Whitaker.
Have students choose one of the characters and name the feeling they have at the beginning of the story
towards Miss Whitaker and then the feeling the character has at the end of the story towards her. Have
them think about the character’s journey from one feeling to the other. What is the story of those feelings
changing?
Once students have analyzed their chosen characters feelings towards Miss Whitaker changed over
the course of the story, have them write a short monologue from the character’s point of view about this
journey. Have them tell how their feelings for their neighbor changed and why.
FOR EXAMPLE:
KARL
I used to be really scared of my neighbor, Miss Whitaker. She always seemed so mad and everything
she ever said to me made it seem like she hated me. She used to yell at me all the time because the
ball I was playing with would end up in her yard. She was so grouchy and terrible. But, then everything
changed. Stillwater’s nephew came to visit and we brought Miss Whitaker soup. It was kind of cool that
once we were nice to her, she was nice back. She wasn’t so scary anymore. All summer I helped Miss
Whitaker pick the apples from her trees and it was so much fun. I love climbing trees. Miss Whitaker now
let’s me play in her yard all the time. She’s really cool and not scary at all.
After the students write their monologues, have them perform them in front of the class.
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ACTIVITY: Predictions and Expectations (Grades K-4)
BEFORE THE PLAY:
Read Zen Ties. With student input, establish the expectations for the upcoming play. What actions or
events might be seen on stage? What characters might the play include from the book? Students may
draw or write about what they anticipate seeing.
AFTER THE PLAY:
Revisit the expectations to see how many were realized. Discuss the similarities and differences from
the book to the play, in terms of plot, characters, and action. Were the characters as portrayed on the
stage faithful to the characters in the book? How or why? How would you describe the main “message”
of the play? How was it similar or different from the book?
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Language Arts
ACTIVITY: TAKE A PICTURE WALK
Lesson overview
Zen Ties contains amazing illustrations, as the author is also an award-winning visual artist. The story is told
as much through the illustrations as through the words. This fact presents an opportunity to delve into the
illustrations of the book as a means to not only supplement the telling of a story but to tell a story as well. In this
lesson, students will use visual observation and reasoning skills to gain understanding of the story.
Student Objectives
Student’s will:
• Predict the story through illustration
• Identify the story being told by the illustrations and the one being told by the words.
• Gain understanding of how illustration tells a story.
Lesson Plan
1. BEFORE, reading the book, have the students take a picture walk through the book. Through discussion and
observation, have the students predict what the story may be about. What is happening in the pictures? Who
may the characters be? Who might the big bear be? Who might the little bear be? Who may be friends in the
story? Who may not be friends in the story? What are their relationships? What is the story about? Why might it
be called Zen Ties? Is this a ﬁction book or a non-ﬁction book? Why? Write down the students’ observations and
predictions.
2. READ the story. Identify what predictions were correct and which ones differed from the actual story. How
close were the predictions to the actual story?
3. RE-READ the story and RE-ANALYZE the illustrations. Identify a few pages to compare and contrast the text
of the story with the illustrations that accompany that text. Do the illustrations match the text or do they tell a
different story?
4. Discuss why the author may have wanted to have two different ideas happening on the same page, one in
the text and one in the illustrations?
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ACTIVITY: HAIKU WRITING – (Grades 2-5)
Haiku usually depict an image from nature rather than an action and facilitate the reader’s reﬂection
on nature. Traditionally, they follow a three line, 5-7-5 syllable format, although that restriction has
been altered in recent years. For the sake of teaching it, however, it may be useful to stick to the more
traditional format.
The character of Koo in the book Zen Ties only speaks in haiku. In the play, this element is enhanced
further by the further use of haiku poems from Jon J. Muth’s book, Hi, Koo! The extensive use of this
form of poetry in the book and play is a great opportunity to bring writing this poetry form into your
classroom. Below are several links to full lesson plans on writing haiku.
• http://mrskearing.wikispaces.com/ﬁle/view/New+Third+Grade+Poetry+Unit. – A complete poetry
unit that includes other forms of poetry in addition to Haiku.
• http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/seasonal-haiku-writing-poems-39.
html?tab=1#tabs – a three part lesson plan for Grades 3-5. Incorporates the study of seasons into the
lessons.
• http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/haiku-starter-30697.html - a printable
handout to aid in starting and writing haiku.
• http://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/haiku.htm - a simple plan for students to write a Who am I? haiku.
Better for younger grades.
• http://www.asia.si.edu/explore/teacherresources/japanlessonplans.pdf - includes a three day lesson
plan on writing haiku for elementary students.
• http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/world-haiku#sect-activities – a comprehensive, multi-day
lesson plan on teaching haiku.
• http://www.gardendigest.com/poetry/haiku4.htm - This is an amazing link! It is basically a portal to
numerous, complete lesson plans on teaching haiku. It is organized according to grade level and each
grade level has multiple lesson plans.
ACTIVITY: SPELLING BEE – CREATIVE APPROACHES
TO LEARNING HOW TO SPELL WORDS (Grades 1-5)
In the book and play, Zen Ties, Miss Whitaker helps Michael prepare for a spelling bee. She starts by
telling him that words have roots and much like a plant words grow from their roots. In the play, this
practice becomes a full on word and movement piece for the audience where with words at the center.
This is an opportunity to bring in creative and fun methods for students to learn their spelling words.
Below are a links to websites that contain numerous creative ideas for practicing, playing with and
learning spelling words.
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http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/spelling.html – contains over ﬁfteen ideas for spelling
games and activities. Also contains links to other sites for more ideas.
http://www.superteacherideas.com/spelling.html - contains links to over forty different creative ideas
for studying spelling words in the classroom.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/spelling_activities.shtml - contains over ﬁfteen links to
lesson ideas on how to spice up spelling in the classroom.
http://busyteacher.org/11555-10-fun-spelling-games-for-your-esl-class.html - Ten fun spelling
games for the ELL/ESL classroom.
ACTIVITY: RESEARCH PROJECT-BEARS, BEARS &
MORE BEARS (Grades 1-4)
Using the link below, have students study the chart about the eight different types of bears.
http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/School/dondero/msm/bear/brtypes.html
If possible, take a ﬁeld trip to the local zoo to see the different bears. Take any notes and pictures
you want while on this ﬁeld trip. If not possible, have students use books or the Internet to ﬁnd
image of different bears that ﬁt each of the different types.
Then, have students pick one type of bear to study.
Then, have students conduct research for their type of bear ﬁnding both information and pictures.
Below are links to Internet research sites on bears:
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/brown-bear/
• http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/bears/facts.htm
• http://www.njﬁshandwildlife.com/pdf/bear/bearfacts_kids.pdf
• http://www.kidskonnect.com/subjectindex/13-categories/animals/14-bears.html
• http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Ursus_arctos/
• http://www.americanbear.org/bearinfo.htm
• http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/season7/bears/research.cfm
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•
•
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/bear/bearfacts_kids_guide.pdf
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/polarbear.html
Once students have found adequate pictures and information, have them make a poster to present
to a different class that has not already studied bears
- OR Students could create their own bear books including an illustration of what the type of bear
they researched looks like. They can also include the setting of where their bear is found in their
illustration.
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The
Here is a listing of Academic Standards that can be met by attending a
performance at Stages Theatre Company and using this resource guide
for pre and post performance activities.
THEATRE ARTS (K-3)
0.1.1.4.1
0.1.2.4.1
0.2.1.4.1
0.4.1.4.1
THEATRE ARTS (4-5)
4.1.1.4.1
4.1.3.4.2
4.2.1.4.1
4.3.1.4.1
4.4.1.4.1
LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading and Literature (Comprehension/Literature)
Speaking, Listening and Viewing
Writing
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
http://www.allenspiegelﬁnearts.com/muth.html - Ofﬁcial Jon J Muth website
including artwork images and project outlines, reviews, biography, etc.
http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animal-cams-videos/panda - A link to the Panda Cam
at the San Diego Zoo. Students can get a live glimpse of a pandas in action.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/sites/default/ﬁles/asset/ﬁle/zen-shorts-storiatg.pdf - A PDF lesson plan from the publisher.
http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/wiki/Zen_Shorts - A well-thought out
guide on Zen lessons for children. Contains a list of thoughtful questions for Zen
stories and also ones on friendship.
http://www.merrybee.info/ba/zen.html - Contains lots of ideas and extension
activities connected to the book, Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth.
http://763887962441726234.weebly.com/lesson-plansactivities.html - More
lesson plans and activities connected to the book.
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FURTHER READING
More Books by Jon J Muth:
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Zen Shorts
The Three Questions
Stone Soup
Zen Ghosts
Hi, Koo!
Other Children’s Books based on Zen Philosophy
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The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell
Just Like Heaven: A Mutts Children’s Book by Patrick McDonnell
Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents
by Sarah Conover
Zen Tails: Bruno Dreams of Ice Cream by Dr. Peter Whitﬁeld
Zen Tails No Presents Please by Dr. Peter Whitﬁeld
Zen Tails Up and Down by Dr. Peter Whitﬁeld
A Pebble for Your Pocket by Thich Nhat Hanh
All I See Is Part of Me by Chara M. Curtis
One Hand Clapping: Zen Stories for All Ages by Rafe Martin
Door Open On...
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You
Our study guide is designed to be a resource for teachers and students before and
after they attend a production here at Stages Theatre Company.
We are always interested in how we can improve this resource to be the most effective
for you and your students. We would like to you to share with us what activities or
discussions from this guide that were the most useful for you.
You can email your responses to Jeannine Coulombe at jcoulombe@stagestheatre.
com
Thank you for attending Stages Theatre Company!
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