German master puppeteer Matthias Kuchta presents the classic Brothers Grimm tale. Audiences will be enchanted with large-scale, life-sized puppets that tell the story of a demanding king, a sad girl, and a greedy little man who offers her a strange bargain.
Cuesheet PERFoRMANCE GUiDE From the classic tale by the Brothers Grimm ONCE UPON A TABLE OF CONTENTS The Story of Rumpelstiltskin pages 2-3 The Puppeteer and His Puppets page 4 For Teachers and Parents page 5 Being a Good Audience page 6 Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by What if a king thought you could spin straw into gold? What would you do if he told you to spin him an entire basket of gold “or else”? And what if a strange little man said he could help you? What would you be willing to give him in return? Use this Cuesheet to get ready for the puppet version of the classic fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. Be sure to check out page five for activities you can do with other students, friends, or family. Performed by Matthias Kuchta Rum p elstilts k in Rum p elstilts k in
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From the classic taleby theBrothers Grimm
ONCE UPON ATABLE OF CONTENTSThe Story of Rumpelstiltskinpages 2-3The Puppeteer and His Puppetspage 4For Teachers and Parentspage 5Being a Good Audiencepage 6
Performances for Young Audiencesis made possible by
What if a king thought you could spin straw intogold? What would you do if he told you to spinhim an entire basket of gold “or else”? Andwhat if a strange little man said he could helpyou? What would you be willing to give himin return?
Use this Cuesheet to get ready for thepuppet version of the classic fairy taleRumpelstiltskin. Be sure to check outpage five for activities you can dowith other students,friends, or family.
Performed by Matthias KuchtaRumpelstiltskinRumpelstiltskin
Telling Tales:RumpTelling Tales:RumpWhat Happens in the Story?A long, long time ago, in a kingdom faraway, there lived a miller with his daughterand a king who was very fond of money.
One day, the miller brags to the king thathis daughter can spin straw into gold.Delighted by this news, the king sends forthe young woman. The king tells her that ifshe doesn’t spin straw into gold before thenight is over, she will die.
What will she do? What will she tell the kingin the morning? All seems lost—until agreedy little man with a terriblyfunny name comes to herrescue.… Or does he?
How the Tale Is ToldIn this performance, a man named MatthiasKuchta (pronounced mah-TIE-us koo-CH-tah)tells the story of Rumpelstiltskin (rum-puhl-STILT-skin) using large puppets made byhand. In some shows, puppeteers—peoplewho make and use puppets—hide duringtheir performances. But not Matthias! You’llsee him use each of the puppets to tell thetale of a young woman and a little man’sstrange offer of help.
THE MILLER’SDAUGHTER is stuckin the king’s castleand does not knowwhat to do.
THE BABY isteeny-tiny and criesa lot, and loudly.
RUMPELSTILTSKINis a mysteriouscharacter with a funny
name. He helps themiller’s daughter—but wants something
very important fromher as payment forhis help.
THE MILLER has thejob of turning graininto flour. Hard work,
but possible. Thismiller brags to theking that his daughter
can spin straw intogold. Hard work,and impossible!
Meet the Puppets
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THE KING is richbut wants to beeven richer.(Yes, he’s greedy.)
pelstiltskinpelstiltskinThe Brothers GrimmAlmost 200 years ago, Jacob and WilhelmGrimm—known as the Brothers Grimm—published their first collection of fairy talesin Germany. Do youknow the story ofCinderella? SnowWhite? Rapunzel?Hansel and Gretel?These are allstories told by theBrothers Grimm.
Telling Stories with PuppetsMatthias makes sure that each character inRumpelstiltskin sounds, moves, and is dresseddifferently from any other. During the performance,follow along carefully to see how Matthias giveseach character a unique personality:O Look at how the miller’s daughter keeps herhair out of her face.
O Listen to the miller’s voice when he is braggingand how he wipes his nose.
O See how the king shows that he likes expensivethings.
O Watch how Rumpelstiltskin pretends to be niceand helpful.
In
a Land Far,FarAway
Washington, DCUSA
Dusseldorf,Germany
You areHERE
Both the Brothers Grimm and MatthiasKuchta are from the country of Germany,which is across the Atlantic Ocean.
ATLANTIC
Wilhelm (left) andJacob (right) publishedhundreds of tales aboutenchanted forests, fairy godmothers,wicked witches, and how good can triumph over evil.
A Puppet Primer:Many Sizes, Many ShapesPeople have used puppets to tell stories, entertain,and teach lessons for thousands of years. Typesof puppets include:O Finger—the puppet body fits on one fingerO Hand/glove/sock—one hand moves the puppetfrom inside
O Rod—named for the rods and sticks used tomove the puppet
O String or marionette—held up and moved by stringsO Body—life-sized or bigger, body puppets are oftenseen in parades
O Shadow—where a light shines on a cut-out shapeand creates a large shadow on a screen
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T he Puppeteerand HisPuppetsT he Puppeteerand HisPuppetsSome Facts AboutMatthias KuchtaO Matthias grew up in a small town inGermany where every now and thensomething magical happened: A puppetcompany came to town!
O Young Matthias was so inspired that heand his friends decided to create theirown performances. They built puppets,rehearsed, and performed shows.
O Matthias believes fairy tales help us tobravely face unexpected situations. Hechose this story because it shows howa young woman can be courageous andovercome danger.
Matthias speaks andperforms in many languages,including German, French, English,and Russian. At the beginning of the show, he willtell the audience what it’s like to perform in English.
Floor Puppets:Making Them, Using ThemFloor puppets are large, life-sized puppetsthat sit on the stage floor and are moved bya puppeteer. As is true with most puppets,their facial expressions do not change, buttheir bodies can move in different ways. InRumpelstiltskin, Matthias uses differentvoices and movements for each character.
Matthias makes the puppets from fabric,including the cloth from old tee-shirts.The puppets’ “bones” are made of woodand stuffed with furniture foam tobump out the character’s musclesand stomachs, and to make thembend more easily. The smallestpuppets take only a few days tomake, while the larger onescan take up to two weeks.
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Warm Up Your ImaginationHere are some activities you may want tohelp children try after the performance:
Make Your Own PuppetChoose your favorite character from theplay and create your own puppet version ofhim or her. Consider using cardboard tubesand boxes, old socks and gloves, towels,pillow stuffing, string, or foam. Decorateyour puppet. You can build a puppet theaterout of couch cushions or cardboard boxes,or even use a sheet as a tent. Perform yourshow for friends and family.
Picture This!Draw the characters from Rumpelstiltskin.Did you include the king’s velvet coat andthe young woman’s long hair? If you havethe story of Rumpelstiltskin in a book athome, compare its pictures to the puppets inthe performance. How are they similar?How are they different?
Change It UpNow you’re the storyteller. Imagineanother possible ending for the story.Use puppets, pictures, and yourstorytelling skills as you shareyour new version of the story.
Facing FearsFor Matthias, fairy tales have a lesson, alsoknown as a moral. The moral of Rumpelstiltskinis that by naming your fears, you gain courage.By shouting out Rumpelstiltskin’s name, themiller’s daughter takes away his power.Rumpelstiltskin teaches children to be braveand never lose hope. There’s always a way tosolve a problem—even if it seems impossible!
During the performance, think about howthe miller’s daughter feels. Is she scared?How do we know?
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ForTeachersand ParentsForTeachersand Parents
Dear Grownups:The information on this page is designed to help you further the adventure of Rumpelstiltskinwith children.
David M. RubensteinChairman
Michael M. KaiserPresident
Darrell M. AyersVice President, Education
Additional support is provided bythe U.S. Department of Education,Verizon Foundation, Mr. Martin K.Alloy and Ms. Daris M. Clifton, theCarter and Melissa CafritzCharitable Trust, The Morris andGwendolyn Cafritz Foundation,The Clark Charitable Foundation,DC Commission on the Arts andHumanities, Fight for Children,The President’s AdvisoryCommittee on the Arts, NationalCommittee for the Performing Arts,and Dr. Deborah Rose andDr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk.
Cuesheets are produced byARTSEDGE, a program of theKennedy Center EducationDepartment. ARTSEDGE is a part ofThinkfinity.org, a consortium of freeeducational Web sites forK-12 teaching and learning.
Join us online atwww.artsedge.kennedy-center.org
For more about the performing artsand arts education, visit theKennedy Center’s EducationDepartment online atwww.kennedy-center.org/education
The U.S. Department of Education supportsapproximately one-third of the budget forthe Kennedy Center Education Department.The contents of this Cuesheet do notnecessarily represent the policy of the U.S.Department of Education, and you shouldnot assume endorsement by the FederalGovernment.
