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THE ARRIVALA Red Leap Production in association with Out of the Box. An adaptation of the graphic novel by Shaun Tan.

Adapted from the award winning graphic novel by Shaun Tan, The Arrival is a migrant tale set in a fantastical time and place. A man flees his homeland and journeys across vast seas to arrive in a strange, wondrous new world where giant ships fly through the air and curious creatures abound. There he negotiates dazzling architecture, bizarre foods and foreign tongues to build a new life. On his travels the man meets fellow migrants, each with their own tale to tell. Like Tan’s book this production is a tribute to migrants, refugees and displaced people worldwide. It is ultimately a story of overcoming hardship, of humanity and of hope.

EARLY YEARS FRAMEWORKOutcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity

Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world

NEED TO KNOWAGE RANGE: 6 years and above

VENUE: Playhouse Theatre

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUMDRAMA F-2:

Present drama that communicates ideas, including stories from their community, to an audience (ACADRM029).

Respond to drama and consider where and why people make drama, starting with Australian drama (ACADRR030).

DANCE F-2:

Explore, improvise and organise ideas to make dance sequences using the elements of dance (ACADAM001).

Present dance that communicates ideas to an audience, including dance used by cultural groups in the community (ACADAM003).

VISUAL ART F-2:

Create and display artworks to communicate ideas to an audience (ACAVAM108).

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES YEAR 2:

Pose questions about past and present objects, people, places and events (ACHASSI034).

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“(Storytelling) invites us to walk in another’s shoes for a while…and to contemplate our own shoes”. Shaun TanPicture books are synonymous with childhood, and the act of sharing and unpacking a story with an adult is a powerful ritual and tradition still utilised today, in both the home and the school context. The power of Shaun Tan’s book The Arrival is in the many and deep questions it poses despite being a ‘wordless’ text. Younger readers see the images, narratives and worlds depicted in the images with fresh eyes, while adults

often layer their visual interpretations with their own personal life experiences.

Red Leap’s theatrical depiction of Tan’s book taps into the magic and fantasy that children find in its images, while still capturing the immense heart and pathos of the characters we encounter in the book. The performance

draws on physical theatre, contemporary dance, song, shadow puppetry, circus, visual and cinematic projections and technical aspects of lighting and set design to create a highly imaginative and moving dramatic experience.

The show closely aligns with the curriculum in the areas of the Arts (Drama, Dance, Visual Art) and Humanities and Social Sciences. The performance, in keeping with the book itself, is without dialogue, relying on visual images painted through the performers, aspects of Tan’s original illustrations, parasols, puppets and kite-like creations to create an exhilarating and exuberant theatrical experience that appeals to all ages. The production provokes discussion surrounding universal questions such as ‘where do I belong?’, while demonstrating how to use our bodies, found objects, shadows and play to create performance, making it the perfect partner for further application in the classroom.

ART FORM FOCUS:The Arts: Drama, Dance and Visual Art.

KEY MESSAGES:Migration, Identity and Belonging:

Why do people move?

What makes a place home?

What is my place in the world?

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY:From an Arts perspective, The Arrival asks students to explore the power of non-verbal communication and the body to tell stories, investigates how to translate visual images from the page to the stage and to play with found and familiar objects to create other-worldly creatures and structures for use in performance. The Arrival also opens the door to learning through the Humanities and Social Sciences by encouraging students to question and discover more about their world, where they come from and how this connects with the past and future, as well as with different people and places.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:GRAFFITI MURAL

Resources: Projector with audio output, butcher’s paper (or similar) and a wall (or a wall with a surface which can be drawn on), pencils, pens or chalk as appropriate to the surface, digital camera, photocopier.

• Screen the collection of images and accompanying music featured in Making Visual Narratives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToRVZZeYLoQ or project your own choice of images with accompanying music for the class.

• After the initial viewing, introduce the students to an area of the classroom which can be covered in butcher’s paper or is a writing friendly surface (such as a whiteboard or chalkboard wall) on which students can write words, draw sketches, illustrate shapes, symbols and concepts in response to their viewing.

• Play the collection of images and associated music once again as the students continue to scribble and doodle their initial ideas in response to the themes, concepts, faces and ideas conveyed in the images and sounds.

• This mural can remain in the room in the lead up to and following viewing the performance, to be added to immediately after viewing the show.

• The mural becomes an artefact of their experience of the book and the performance, and may be captured through photography or copied to use as stimulus in further activities, such as ‘Paper Play’.

THE DEPARTURE

Resources: An old, vintage-inspired suitcase, palm cards (or small pieces of paper / card), a pen.

• Using the visual symbol of the suitcase which features throughout the book and the performance, students imagine one item they would pack with them to take on a journey (this might be of value, have sentimental meaning, bring comfort or be for practical purposes).

• Students are to visualise this item and describe it aloud to their peers, using skills of mime and imagination, before placing the imagined object in the suitcase.

• The teacher records each of the objects described on an individual palm card, to be placed in the suitcase after the activity.

SAME, SAME, BUT DIFFERENT

Resources: The same suitcase as per the last activity, the cards with objects written on them, a series of ‘found’ or recognisable items.

• The suitcase makes a reappearance, but this time it is within the context that they have ‘arrived’ in this new place.

• Not only does the suitcase now have the cards listing the items described in the previous activity, it also contains several found or familiar objects such as a rock, a fork, a knotted rope, a bundle of twigs, a round ball, etc.

• Students are paired and are each given a card with an item to be packed in the suitcase written on it (e.g. my favourite toy) and one object (e.g. a rock) per pair.

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• In the pair, each person takes turns to tell their partner about the item on their card, which they now take on as the item they have packed, with the found object becoming this and being endowed with the qualities and meaning of the object written down…the aim is to find the familiar in the unexpected.

• For example, they might explain how and why the rock is their favourite toy, and begin to see the possibilities and opportunities for this familiar object in a new context.

• This can be repeated multiple times and shared back with the class if desired.

PAPER PLAY

Resources: Different sizes and shapes of paper (these could come from international newspapers featuring a range of languages, be blank, or a series of pieces of printed paper featuring designs from the graffiti mural captured in the earlier activity), scissors, pencils or pens, lightweight one metre pieces of dowel, string or fishing line, staples and a stapler and adhesive tape, audio playback capabilities.

1) ORIGAMI MEMORIES: In the book, we see the father and daughter creating and sharing origami or paper cranes and this becomes a symbol of their love for one another while living apart. Students can create their own, fictitious paper creature which they can name, and potentially teach the class how to make.

2) CHATTERBOXES: Use an A4 sized piece of paper to make a folded paper ‘chatterbox’. (https://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-chatterbox/). Under each of the eight panels, students could write a question that arose following their reading of The Arrival or after viewing the performance. The questions could relate to the themes, the students themselves or the artistic choices onstage. You could provide a list of these for the students to choose from if needed, such as:

Where is home for you? Have you ever gone on a long journey? What was your favourite part of the show? What surprised you in the show?

These chatterboxes can be used in pairs or small groups for pre-show or post-show discussion and questioning.

3) PAPER PROPS AND PUPPETS: Select one of the moments in the book or the performance where flora and fauna are depicted and use large pieces of paper to try to recreate these. Flora – use concertina paper folds to create large-scale fans which can be opened and collapsed. You may then use scissors to cut a pattern into them. These structures could represent snowflakes or flowers. Introduce a piece of instrumental music and workshop the paper props to create 4 lots of 8 counts inspired the four seasons (see Tan’s illustrations in chapter 5 in the book). Students could do this in small groups and teach each other or this could be teacher-devised and taught.

Fauna - create several paper-folded creatures (or use those from Activity 1 in this series) to make kite fishing puppets, by attaching the creature to fishing line or string attached to the pieces of dowel. Students can then play with how they can move and manipulate their puppet to fly, swim or move through the space, before integrating them with the ‘Flora’ puppets either in the same space or from an elevated position above, to create a dynamic reinterpretation of the ‘Four Seasons’ inspired by Tan’s illustrations.

MAPPING ME

Resources: Photos provided by the students, a photocopier, a large surface or noticeboard, a large sketch or image of a world map, noticeboard pins, string.

• Students are to bring in a photo of themselves when they were young, as well as of a family member (or an extended family member or a family friend) whose origin was not Brisbane.

• These images are to be copied and returned to the student, with them being replicated multiple times in the sepia colouring in keeping with the aesthetic of The Arrival.

• Using a large space on the floor, a noticeboard or a wall, project or display a basic outline of the world map.

• Students are to pin the image of themselves one by one to where they were born, possibly storytelling for the group as they do.

• If they were born somewhere other than where they now live, then can also pin their image in the location they are in now and attach a piece of string from the original location to where they are now to trace the journey they have made.

• This can be repeated with their family member to show where they travelled from to eventually arrive in Brisbane.

• This visual map of migration and journey can be revisited for further follow-up stories from the students, or, where appropriate the family member or friend featured in the image might be able to come into the school to speak with the students about their experience of migration, in the format of a ‘Living Library’ (https://alga.asn.au/?ID=3654) or similar.

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OTHER RESOURCES:

WEBSITES

Making Visual Narratives:

https://makingvisualnarratives.com/category/discussion-questions/shaun-tans-the-arrival/

Shaun Tan:

http://www.shauntan.net/

Red Leap Theatre:

http://redleaptheatre.co.nz/

Tamasha Theatre Company’s 2013 production of The Arrival:

http://www.tamasha.org.uk/the-arrival/

Asemic Writing:

http://www.thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com.au/

How to Make a Chatterbox:

https://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-chatterbox/

Maps of the World:

https://www.mapsofworld.com/

Living Libraries:

https://alga.asn.au/?ID=3654

BOOKS

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Sketches from a Nameless Land by Shaun Tan

The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan

Any other texts by Shaun Tan

Wordless (Poems) by Rosaire Appel

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

The Little Refugee by Ahn Do

Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press by Bruce Koscielniak

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

MUSIC

Max Richter

Nils Frahm

Cinematic Orchestra

Agnes Obel

Jon Hopkins

Lawrence English

These notes have been prepared by Education Consultant Annette Box for QPAC’s Out of the Box in 2018.