Learning Pack

Pete the Sheep

Based on the book by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
Adapted by Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge and Tim McGarry

Shaun is the new sheep shearer in Shaggy Gully. Since shearing is such hard work, all the other shearers have sheep dogs to help them, but not Shaun. His partner is Pete, a sheep-sheep! The other shearers in the shed are not happy with Shaun and his sheep-sheep. Following rejection by the shearers and their dogs, Shaun and Pete set up their own Shearing Salon in town where they are inundated with woolly clients who delight in Shaun’s styling prowess. This hilarious musical comedy, imaginatively told by four performers playing shearers, dogs and sheep explores the challenges and rewards of being an individual, and will be a lasting tribute to honouring your own spirit and strength, whilst working with the flock!

This pack is designed to be used in your classroom and is perfect for students in Foundation to Years 1, 2, 3 and 4. Inside, you will find fun classroom activities that directly link to the Australian Curriculum. The pack also includes information about how we adapted the book for the stage.

Contents

Themes Making the play

Literacy

Creative and Critical Thinking

Personal and Social

Contents

Themes Making the play

Themes

Individuality and acceptance: Pete's unique talents, such as dancing and playing the guitar, set him apart from the other sheep. The play encourages young people to embrace and appreciate the qualities that make them different from others. It teaches the valuable lesson that diversity should be celebrated, fostering a sense of acceptance and tolerance.

Teamwork: When faced with a problem, Pete and his friends collaborate and pool their individual strengths to come up with a solution. The emphasis on teamwork promotes the idea that collective effort and cooperation can lead to success. young people learn the importance of working together and valuing each other's contributions.

Creativity: Pete's unconventional skills showcase the power of creativity and thinking outside the box. The play encourages young people to explore their creative side and appreciate the diversity of talents that exist. It sends the message that creativity is a valuable asset that can lead to innovative solutions and a richer, more fulfilling life.

Friendship: As Pete builds friendships with other animals on the farm, the play emphasises the importance of accepting friends for who they are. It teaches young people that true friends appreciate and support each other, even if they have different interests or abilities. The theme of friendship contributes to the overall positive and heartwarming atmosphere of the play.

Courage: Pete's courage to be himself despite being different serves as an inspirational message for young people. The story encourages young people to be confident in expressing their true selves, fostering a sense of self-empowerment. It teaches that courage is not always about facing physical danger but also about embracing our individuality.

Making the Play

The Vision

Theatre begins with an idea, a spark of imagination. This is what we call the vision.

At Monkey Baa our ideas come from all around us, we are inspired by the world we live in and the people we share it with. Many of our plays are based on picture books and novels by Australian authors and others from around the world.

Pete the Sheep is an adaptation of a picture book by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley, adapted for the stage by Eva Di Cesare, Sandra Eldridge and Tim McGarry. It was the Monkey Baa team who thought it would make a great play, they put together a team of creatives and developed the idea into a show.

The Script

The vision is transformed into a script by a playwright.

Just as a poet writes poems, a playwright writes plays. They specialise in telling stories for the stage. Playwrights create and write characters, scenes and plots in a play. A play is a unique writing form, with two main elements: dialogue and stage directions.

At Monkey Baa, our process of adapting a picture book for the stage begins with young people. Each year our writers and directors visit schools around Australia and collaborate with students. Students were invited to participate in Drama workshops that explore the themes of Pete the Sheep through improvisation and play, plus engage in group discussions about the picture book and draft script, offering ideas about how Pete's story should be told.

The Rehearsal

Once a script is developed, it is handed over to a director and rehearsals begin.

A rehearsal is a practice session done before the play is seen by an audience. The rehearsal period is the time that leads up to the performance of a play. During this time, actors learn their lines and movement (called blocking), theatre designers dream up the world of the play, composers write the music and playwrights develop their scripts. This all happens under the leadership of the director.

The Design

As the show takes shape in the rehearsal room, the designer begins to create the world of the play.

There are many types of theatre designers, including costume, scenic, lighting, projection, and prop designers. Designers work with the rest of the creative team for a production, including the director, producer, and sometimes the playwright, to create the look and feel of the world of the play. A designer decides what the performers will wear, what kind of environment they will inhabit and the objects or props that appear on stage.

The Performance

To bring it all together, actors help create characters, tell the story and bring the world of the play to life.

An actor interprets and plays characters in a performance. Sometimes characters are based on real people or are made up (fictional). These characters are based on the characters in Jackie French and Bruce Whatley's picture book Diary of a Wombat.