How the Giraffe got its Neck
2008-2009, UK, Ireland, Singapore. Ages 5+
About
An evolutionary entertainment
Have you ever wondered how the giraffe got its long neck, how the leopard got its spots or how the elephant got its trunk? Join two intrepid explorers on a fantastic adventure across the open seas as they discover elephants, leopards and other animals – and finally, find out the secret behind the giraffe’s neck…
Stories, science and a splash of silliness combine in this exciting new show for everyone aged 4 and up…
Inspired by the stories of Rudyard Kipling and the discoveries of Charles Darwin (darwin200.org), Tall Stories’ new show tours from May 2008 to April 2009 and performs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2008.
‘Funny, engaging and wonderfully told’ Three Weeks
‘An enjoyable and beautifully performed show’ Primary Times
‘A constantly engaging mixture of storytelling and science’ fringereport.com
The development and initial tour of ‘How the Giraffe got its Neck’ was funded by Arts Council England, with additional schools touring funding from John Lyon’s Charity.
Tour
28 May to 7 June
Singapore
April 2009
4 Compass Theatre
March 2009
4 Sexton’s Manor School, Bury St Edmonds
5 Hadley High School, Ipswich
7 The Gulbenkian, Canterbury
9 Wrenn School, Wellingborough
10 Edenfield Church of England Primary School, Ramsbottom
11 & 12 The Mitchell Theatre, Glasgow
13 Science Learning Centre, Durham
21 Brighton Dome
22 The Junction, Cambridge
27 Highgate School, London
28 Mansfield Palace Theatre, Mansfield
February 2009
1 The Adam Smith, Fife
3 Sheffield Theatres, Sheffield
4 Liberton Primary School, Edinburgh
5 Gracemount Primary, Edinburgh
6 Eastwood Park, Glasgow
7 The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
9 Edinburgh Academy Primary School, Edinburgh
12 & 14 The Natural History Museum, London
16-20 Creative Arts East Touring
21 Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury
28 Nottingham Playhouse
January 2009
28 The Russell School, London
31 Forum 28, Cumbria
November 2008
1 Half Moon, London
2 Cornerstone, Oxfordshire
3 Longfield First School, Harrow
4 Oldfield School, Ealing
6 John Betts Primary School, Hammersmith
13 Little Ealing School, Ealing
15 Waterside Arts Centre, Sale
16-17 Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
19 Brackenbury School, Hammersmith
20 St Josephs School, Harrow
22 Norden Farm, Maidenhead
23 South Street, Reading
24 Wilberforce School, Westminster
25 Brunswick School, Barnet
26 Barnet Hill School, Barnet
29 Yvonne Arnaud, Guildhall
30 Norwood Park, Nottinghamshire
October 2008
2 Earlsmead School, Harrow
4-5 MacRobert, Stirling
7 Leisureworks, Co Durham
9 Northcott Theatre, Exeter
10 Frensham Heights, Farnham
11 Stratford Arts Centre
12 Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham
15 Metropole, Abertillery
16 Theatr Harlech, Gwynedd
18 Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan
19 Aberystwyth Arts Centre
21 Backstage, Longford
22 Roscommon Arts Centre
23 Droichead, Drogheda
24 Lewisham Arts Centre
25 Buxton Opera House
27 The Lights, Andover
28 The Corn Exchange, Newbury
30 Barry Memorial Hall, Barry
31 The Point, Eastleigh
September 2008
9 Good Shepherd Catholic School, Hammersmith
12 The Saxon Hall, North Lincolnshire
13 Benefield Village Hall, North Lincolnshire
14 Theatre Royal Winchester
15 Holy Cross School, Hammersmith
16 Childs Hill School, Barnet
18 Horsenden Primary School, Ealing
21 Jackson’s Lane
23 Whitehall Infant, Hillingdon
24 St Georges School, Harrow
25 North Primary, Ealing
27 Vera Fletcher Hall, Thames Ditton
28 The Albany, Deptford
29 Coston Primary School, Ealing
30 Sir John Lille, Hammersmith
August 2008
31 Jul to 25 Aug C Venues, Edinburgh Fringe
July 2008
1 Wyeside Arts Centre
12 The Lyric, Hammersmith
13 The Cramphorn Theatre, Chelmsford
19 The Castle, Wellingborough
21-23 Galway Arts Festival
25 Mill Arts Centre
26 The Hawth, Crawley
28 Darlington Arts Centre
June 2008
8 Woodend Barn, Banchory
9 G12, Glasgow
12 Swansea Arts Centre
13 Subscription Rooms, Stroud
17 Ledbury Primary School
19 Rich Mix, Bethnal Green
21 The Hazlitt Arts Centre, Maidstone
22 Harrow Arts Centre
25 Portsmouth Grammar School Nursery
28 The Egg, Bath
May 2008
8 Bowhill Little Theatre
9 Parents Like Us Festival, Edinburgh
10 Merlin Theatre, Frome
11 Watermans, Brentford
13 Royal International Pavilion, Llangollen
17 Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead
18 ArtsDepot, Finchley
22 The Brindley, Halton
24 The Warehouse Theatre, Croydon
27 Ropewalk, North Lincs
28 The Met, Bury
29 The Brewhouse Theatre and Arts Centre, Taunton
30 Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham
31 Stamford Arts Centre
Team
Explorers
Alan Park (original production), Luanna Priestman (original production), Caroline Garland, Felix Hayes, Paul Lancaster, Charlotte Thompson, Yvette Clutterbuck, Phil Yarrow
Director
Olivia Jacobs
Writer/creative producer
Toby Mitchell
Designer
Isla Shaw
Lighting designer
Will Evans
Puppets
Yvonne Stone
Original stage manager
Wyn Williams
Scenic construction
KW Props
Music and sound
Jon Fiber and Andy Shaw for Shock Productions
Thanks to:
Our original devisers Caroline Garland, Felix Hayes, Alan Park and Luanna Priestman; Jane Mainwaring, Katie Edwards and everyone at the National History Museum for all their help and advice; Chris Riddell (for the fantastic illustration); all at the Compass Theatre, Ickenham; the Tall Stories board members.
Special thanks to Old Town Clothing for sponsoring and supplying the explorers’ trousers.
Reviews
How the Giraffe Got its Neck is perfect for little and big kids everywhere who like asking questions. The latest production from Tall Stories explains how the elephant got its trunk, the leopard got its spots and of course, why the giraffe ended up so tall. Conceived to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and drawing on Kipling’s Just So stories for a dash of inspiration, this show brings the theory of evolution to life in a thoroughly entertaining and engaging way.
Two explorers set sail to find a giraffe and ask him why his neck is so long. On their journey, they encounter a series of islands, one of which is sandy, one rocky and other of which is covered in trees.
Swimming to shore to explore, they discover that the birds on each are all quite different too. A series of craftily beaked puppets give Darwin’s finches their rightful place in the evolutionary tale.
Imaginative staging and lovely lighting takes the audience from the boat at the journey’s start to the seabed to the desert to the jungle and back again. It even leaves us with the elusive giraffe to close. This production takes full advantage of its audience’s limitless imagination. At the same time, it manages to remind adults that the best lessons are also a lot of fun.
Edinburgh Evening News
Not exactly Charles Darwin, this, but these actors use their fantastically animalistic faces to bring to life tales of animal evolution. Funny, engaging, and wonderfully told, this is an admirable production with integrity and commitment to decent children’s entertainment. All ages will be engrossed by the professional cast’s ability to lucidly render sailing at high sea and swimming in exotic oceans using minimal props and maximum physical imagination. Charming puppetry, improvisation, and a timely musical score all contribute to this polished and soulful experience. If this isn’t your thing let the Brummie Baboon and the Geordie Zebra entice you instead. Happily, I discovered, you don’t have to be as old, dead or as ‘clever’ as Darwin to appreciate evolution theory.
Three Weeks
The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and evolution combine to tell children how various creatures developed.
Actors Alan Park and Caroline Garland, not yet in character, ask younger members of the audience to suggest questions. They establish a friendly rapport with children and adults. Someone asks ‘When is the play going to start?’
In a set consisting of sail shapes decorated with birds’ beaks and symbols, a cabin trunk and wooden step ladder, two intrepid explorers row forth to find out How The Giraffe Got Its Neck…
The first story – The Elephant’s Child – is a modern retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s tale… An undersea sequence follows involving a seahorse and fish puppets made of rope metal and fabric. It is a good interlude after the intensity of the elephant story.
The second story – How The Leopard Got Its Spots is presented in the same style as the elephant story. Rudyard Kipling’s version of events begins to be replaced when three islands are seen in the distance. The rocky island, sandy island and leafy island have each developed different versions of the same bird – puppets with interchangeable beaks. This switch to the theory of evolution by Charles Darwins seamless, and makes the explorers consider for themselves How The Giraffe Got Its Neck…
The show is a constantly engaging mixture of storytelling and science. Comedy is pitched so that adults and children appreciate it on different levels, never patronising its young audience. If this was education, schools would be overflowing with enthusiastic pupils.
fringereport.com
The Explorers Caroline and Alan take us on a voyage of discovery on the way we find out the answers to some very interesting questions. During the time the audience enter the venue they ask the children for questions they do not know the answer to, immediately involving them in the show and encouraging audience participation. Caroline and Alan obviously love what they are doing it is just so apparent in their demeanour and overspills to the audience.
If you are the sort of adult that avoids children’s shows please don’t, be courageous and go with friends or borrow children and have a great time.
These shows are always very well written and performed, with a great deal of thought as to the fun disguised educational value for the kids.
one4review.com
Publicity
Marketing Pack
High Resolution Images
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Please credit the illustration as ‘Copyright Chris Riddell’ and the photos as ‘Copyright Tall Stories’.
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