A PLAY OUTLINE
Title : THE MAGIC RING
Recommended Age Group: Level 2 or 3
Characters:
Lisa is a 13-year-old girl, extrovert and friendly.
Lisa’s best friend: Mary, sensible and intelligent.
Lisa’s classmates: Amely, Mark, Paul, Tom, Anne and Susan.
Lisa’s parents: Brian and Ruth, understanding and supportive.
Sargeant Shaw, suspicious at first but then helpful and cooperative.
Monica: a mentally disturbed classmate.
Synopsis:
Lisa finds a mysterious ring which allows her to see unimportant bits of the near future of her friends. She becomes a “fortune teller” overnight. At first, she is really excited about her new powers, she becomes very popular and enjoys this new “game” but then she will start feeling more and more stressed out , unable to focus on her own life until finally she discovers her terrible fate: she is going to be killed by a classmate.
Character Objectives
At first, Lisa and her friends just want to have fun. Then they realise it is not a game any more and become aware of the terrible consequences for Lisa. They are willing to help her, specially her best friend Mary.
Lisa’s parents’concern is their daughter’s well-being. They want her to be normal again.
The Sargeant and the policemen want to protect Lisa.
Monica wants to get attention by killing her friend.
Scene Breakdown
Scene 1: Lisa and her friend Mary are walking in the park when Lisa finds a strange ring that she puts on her finger. It fits perfectly. When Mary touches it, it glows and Lisa gets in a state of shock. After a few minutes, she gets back to reality and tells her she has seen Paul is going to ask her for a date.
Scene 2: the next day in the morning Paul is waiting for Mary at school. He tells her he likes her and wants to date her. She is thrilled. She can’t believe it. She runs to tell Lisa and all her friends about Lisa’s new powers.
Scene 3: Anne, Susan, Mark, Tom and Amely touch Lisa’s ring and everytime the ring blows, she can see bits of their future: Anne will fail the English exam, Susan will be given a surprise party by her parents, Mark will pass maths, Tom will win a race competition and Amelly will date Steven.
Scene 4: All the predictions become true. We know because they will tell her the next day at school. For them it is a game.
Scene 5: As the time goes by, Lisa feels more and more stressed out. She can’t focus on anything. She doesn’t know what to do. She talks to her best friends about it. They decide to tell Lisa’s parents.
Scene 6: at home, Lisa and her best friends tell Lisa’s parents about her powers. They are shocked and worried. After some discussion, they convince her to get rid of her ring. When she is pulling out her ring it starts glowing and she sees that Monica jealous of her popularity is shooting at her at the playground.
Scene 7: at the police station, Sergeant Shaw listens to the entire story. He believes her and her parents and decides two policemen disguised as teachers will escort her while she is at school.
Scene 8: a few days later, the policemen arrest Monica when she was going to shoot Lisa.
Scene 9: Lisa, her parents and all her friends throw away the ring to the river Manzanares , kiss each other and go out to celebrate they are normal people again.
Class organization
There are 14 different characters. I could create more or fewer characters by making more or fewer friends depending on the number of students. If it is a large class we could have the same performance played by two different groups of students.
I like the story very much. Did you write the story? I think it's a very nice story that can work with any age group. I find that it has too many characters so it's a bit complicated, I would try to cut it down to 4 or 5 characters max.
ResponderEliminarI find it really interesting and it could actually develop into a thriller, in fact, it actually reminded a bit of Carrie (by Stephen King). I mean, that's an activity I would propose. The students would write the script and then they would shoot it.
ResponderEliminarBy using this story in class the students will learn not only English, of course, but also the value of the expression "The grass is always greener....", and that would be very valuable food for thought.
I find this story most entertaining. It contains all the necessary ingredients to become a success among students. They will just love it!
ResponderEliminarI also find the story teaches a very valuable lesson: Watch out for envy and greed because they are evil companions!
My contribution to the play is that I find it more appropiate for the character of Mónica to try to steal Lisa´s magic ring. I think it may be dangerous to introduce the idea of one teenage girl killing a classmate of hers because this one has something she desires very much.
Unfortunately, we have already heard of some cases of school shooting.
Apart from that change, I think the play could perfectly enter a theatre competition.
I agree with the other comments posted here. I think the story is lovely not only for the topic but also for the moral lesson behind it. The students will become aware of it by performing and by experiencing. So it could be adapted to any level in ESO and even for Bachillerato as well; the only negative thing that I found is that there are too many characters, so it could be a little chaotic to organise the performance, but on the other hand it could be a positive experience for all the students to take part in the play actively. Nice outline!
ResponderEliminarI also agree with most of the things that have already been said about your play. I like your idea, although the part of a character wanting to kill another may be too hard or inconvenient for primary or secondary students. I could suggest the idea of stealing the ring or any other important possession for Lisa.
ResponderEliminarBesides, although it is true that there are quite a number of characters in this play, I think it is a good idea, as it makes all the students in the class participate. This is especially good as you suggest using it with level 2 or 3. The younger the students, the more they can get bored if they don't have anything to do. Good work. If you use this play in class, let us know how it went. :)
I agree with most of the comments. I think the argument is appealing, but I would also change Monica's role. Instead of killing, we could change it to stealing the ring or we could think of some problem at school and change the policeman to the head teacher. I don't think there are too many characters. In this way the whole class is involved in the project.
ResponderEliminarIf you don't mind I will keep your outline and try to use it with one of my groupsd next school year.
I think the idea for the outline is most appealing. I also think that Monica's role is a bit too dramatic. Instead of killing, it could be changed, as suggested, to stealing the ring or any other school problem. We would have to change then the policeman to the head teacher. I don't think there are too many characters. It's important that the whole class can get involved in the project.
ResponderEliminarDo you mind if I keep your idea and use it with one of my groups next school year?
I think it is a very funny story because the structure is very well-defined for the students and for the readers.I suppose that adapting the vocabulary, the story could be represented with any group. In my oipnion the main objective is to make students conscious about the problem of power without control and about how we can be obssessed with somenthing that may happen near us.
ResponderEliminarHi Pilar, since you skipped a step (Activity 4.2 ;-) ) I'll take this opportunity to congratulate you on writing such a great play outline! I agree with your colleagues that perhaps the shooting could be replaced with stealing the ring, which is not only less violent, but also more likely to happen! Well done, and if you do perform it, post your comments on this blog so we can read all about it. Tracey (your tutor)
ResponderEliminarI like a play with so many characters because it gives all the students the opportunity to get a part in the play. It might seem a bit complicated to direct so many people at the same time but that means they will all have to learn a smaller part and it will be easier for them to memorize. Students should find the classmates’ roles easy as they won’t have to “perform”. They will almost be performing themselves so these could be useful parts for shier students. I find it a good idea that Lisa is asked to go out on a date as this is part of students’ world and it will help students see themselves reflected on the play characters.
ResponderEliminarI think this play could be adapted to any agegroup. The plot may be quite interesting for our students. It would be a good strategy to divide the class into different groups so that each group can put on the play.
ResponderEliminar