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RTE #39 ~ The Giant’s Wife: A Tall Tale of Ireland

Told by William Carleton

When Fin MacCool is threatened by another giant, only his wife’s wits might save him.

GENRE: Folktales, tall tales, legends
CULTURE: Irish
THEME: Wits vs. power, heroines
READERS: 7
READER AGES: 9–15
LENGTH: 10 minutes

A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true.

A tall tale: Legend has it, the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim was formed by two fueding Giants. One Scottish, the other Irish.

More Tall Tales: Fairy and folk tales of the Irish peasantry By William Butler Yeats

The Legend of Lightning Larry

ONLINE—Story | Reader’s Theater | Storytelling

BOOKS—Story Book | Picture Book | Readers on Stage | Stories on Stage

Story Handout (PDF, 1 page)

Fun With Writing

Hear Aaron Read (1:30 minutes)

Hear Aaron Read—Whole Story (7:10 minutes)

[Source: http://aaronshep.com/extras/]

Not everyone is comfortable reading out loud. In fact, most of us, actors and world leaders included, have great difficulty and anxiety about reading out loud. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. There are tips galore to help us along. Here are some tips from our mentor on Reader’s Theatre, Aaron Shep:

Preparing

• Highlight only words you will speak (Yellow non-fluorescent marker is best.)
• Underline words that tell about anything you’ll need to act out
• Read through your part silently. If there are words you’re not sure of, look them up in a dictionary. Mark any places where you will need to pause with a couple of slashes, //. (For instance, you may have to pause so the audience will know there’s a change of scene or time in the story.)
• Read through your part out loud. If you’re a character, think about how that character would sound. Should you try a funny voice? How would the character feel about what’s happening in the story? Can you speak as if you were feeling that?
• Get up and read through the script again, trying out faces and actions. Would your character stand or move a special way? Can you do that? If possible, do all this in front of a mirror.

Rehearsing

• Hold your script at a steady height, but make sure it doesn’t hide your face. If there’s anyone in the audience you can’t see, your script is too high.
• While you speak, try to look up often, not just at your script. When you do look at it, move just your eyes and keep your head up.
• Talk slowly. Speak each syllable clearly.
• Talk loud! You have to be heard by the little old deaf lady in the back row.
• Talk with feeling. Audiences love a ham!
• Stand and sit straight. Keep your hands and feet still, if they’re doing nothing useful!
• If you’re moving around, face the audience as much as you can. When rehearsing, always think about where the audience will be.
• Characters, remember to be your character even when you’re not speaking.
• Narrators, make sure you give the characters enough time for their actions.

To help you get full vocal power, check your breathing by placing your hands on your stomachs and inhaling. If you’re breathing fully, your hands will go out. (The diaphragm muscle pushes down on the stomach to let the lower lungs expand.) If your hands go in, it means you’re breathing with only your upper lungs.

To help you hold yourselves straight, imagine a string tied to your chest, pulling up. Tongue twisters and other vocal exercises can help you speak more clearly. In fact, you may want to warm up with vocal exercises and stretches before rehearsals and performances.

Performing

Before an actual performance, consider the “what-ifs”:

• If your audience laughs, stop speaking until they can hear you again.
• If someone talks in the audience, don’t pay attention.
• If someone walks into the room, don’t look.
• If you make a mistake, pretend it was right.
• If you drop something, try to leave it at least till the audience is looking somewhere else.
• If a reader forgets to read, see if you can read their part instead, or make something up, or maybe just skip over it. But don’t whisper to the reader!
• If a reader falls on their rear end, pretend they didn’t.

Finally, Above all – Remember to HAVE FUN!!! I am sure you will all do a great job!!!

The Baker’s Dozen

A Saint Nicholas Tale

Last week we read Alan Shepard’s theatre script, A Baker’s Dozen. This week, visit Alan Shepard’s website to read his research about this historical folktale and listen as he reads part of the story. You can click on the book cover below to read more Myths and Legends.

MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF OUR OWN LAND
By Charles M. Skinner

This will be an introduction to theatre scripts. For starters, let’s read this one:

The Baker’s Dozen

The Baker’s Dozen
A Saint Nicholas Tale
Told by Aaron Shepard