One-off workshop: Anthony Browne's Voices in the Park

A mother, her labrador and son, walk to the park. An unemployed father, his daughter and mongrel are there. The dogs and children play. The visit is recounted in four monologues, each from a different character's perspective. The surreal illustrations reflect the characters' different emotions before, during and after their visit. This book is often read with 4- to 8-year-olds but is a great drama stimulus for older students. Its themes include loneliness, friendship, hope, prejudice and families.

Resource (required)

• Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne, Picture Corgi Books (1999). ISBN 9780552545648 (ideally projected)
• A body outline for each character, removable labels and felt pens.

Additional resources (optional)

• Lady's hat
• Newspaper.

Learning objectives

• To actively engage with settings and social situations, from various characters' perspectives
• To explore and communicate through drama, meaningful links between text and images
• To consider societal and familial issues (in and out of role).

The lesson

1. Warm-up (in pairs): Call out pairs of words (opposites) e.g. kind/unkind, angry/calm, happy/unhappy, confident/nervous. The pairs silently form a still image together portraying the first word, then transition to form an image of its opposite. Alternatively, they could communicate both words in a single image.
2. Teacher as storyteller (in role): Wear a hat to read/perform the First Voice monologue.
3. Passing thoughts/teacher in role: Class circle (standing), with you centrally positioned as the mother. Anyone may cross the circle, walk by you and say something they know about you, e.g. ‘I know Charles is your son’. They can pass by again, saying what they think they know about you (including the word because) e.g. ‘I think you're a snob because you said your dog's a pedigree and the other's a mongrel’.
4. Collective role: The mother gives her son orders e.g. ‘Sit’ or ‘Here’. The class now close their eyes and think of other orders she might give. They can start voicing orders, (one or two voices initially), rising to a crescendo of orders, then voices falling away, ending with silence.
5. Role on the wall: Sentences from activity 3 can be jotted around an outline of the mother.
6. Teacher as storyteller (in role): Carry a newspaper and read/perform the Second Voice.
7. Sentence stems: They speak sentences about him, always starting with: ‘I notice …’ e.g. ‘I notice he looks sad’. Move on to sentences starting with: ‘I wonder …’ e.g. ‘I wonder if he applies for jobs?’
8. Hot-seating/teacher in role): You sit as the man. They question you. You can add information that fits, e.g. ‘I was a plumber’.
9. Role on the wall: Information about the man can be written around his outline.
10. Talking objects/tableau: Look at the picture of him walking to the park. How does the artist emphasise his mood, e.g. portraits crying, graffiti, beggar, etc. Invite them to enter the scene, positioning themselves in turn as an object, stating what they are, and adding some information, then freezing, e.g. ‘I'm a coin in the beggar's box. I'm not worth much.’ Maybe invite them to add other objects to the scene, that would fit.
11. Eavesdropping/talking objects: As you walk past any object, it repeats what it said in activity 10.
12. Teacher as storyteller (in role): Read/perform the Third Voice.
13. Active storytelling (pairs): Read Third Voice again, starting from: ‘Do you wanna come on the slide?’ As you read, they mime whatever Smudge and Charles are doing e.g. climbing.
14. Improvisation (pairs): Ask them to think of other play activities, then together, improvise playing one (with dialogue).
15. Teacher as storyteller (in role): Read/perform the Fourth Voice.
16. Mime/thought-tracking (pairs): They become Charles and Smudge in the see-saw. Whoever is ‘up’ says something about the other e.g. ‘His coat's posh’.
17. Thought-walk: Everyone is either Charles, his mother, Smudge, or her father walking home. Everyone walks around, speaking their character's thoughts aloud on the journey. Smudge can speak directly, as if to her father.
18. Collective voice (4 groups): The class sit on the floor (with eyes closed). A group (as one character) surrounds them. They speak random sentences from their character's thought-walk (activity 17). Each group has a turn.
19. Internal monologue/improvisation: As an eye-witness, they recount the park scene to themselves, as a Fifth Voice, e.g. as a statue or park keeper. Recounts could then be shared with a curious partner.