"The performance was magnificent - we used all your props and all the students got involved... The students really enjoyed the interactive parts of this performance. It held their interest and engaged them making it fun and exciting"BUTE EARLY LEARNING & PS, SA FOR 2023'S INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SHOW
"Brilliant! The kids did so well and everyone loved it... Thank you. It was a fun experience for our little school"ST JOSEPH'S PS, COLERAINE, VIC FOR 2023'S INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SHOW
Perfect for:
- schools who require a show in Book Week itself.
- smaller schools that cannot cover the cost of a live show;
- remote schools that don't fit into the tour schedule;
- schools who missed out on the live tour;
See details for the live show here
Based on the CBCA 2024 Short-listed Picture Book of the Year "That Bird Has Arms!"
- Written by Kate Temple & Jol Temple
- Illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh & Niharika Hukku
- Published by Little Hare Books
- Adapted for the live stage & performed by "Tony Bones" Appleby B.Ed
- Music by Tony & Matt Brown Dip.Ed
- Technical Design by Tony & Zac Krause
- Props, Costumes & Sets by Tony & Marni Appleby
This brand new 40-minute interactive VIRTUAL performance brings another new award-nominated Australian picture book TO LIFE!!
It is created & performed by "Tony Bones" Appleby B.Ed, a qualified & practising drama, dance & English teacher with over 25 years of professional school teaching & performing experience in children's theatre & theatre in education.
Tony has been adapting & performing CBCA short-listed & notable-listed books across Australia for Book Week since 2000 & this is his 39th Australian book adapted to the stage.
Curriculum Areas:
- The Arts (Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, Visual Arts);
- Critical & Creative Thinking;
- Ethical Capability;
- Personal and Social Capability;
- English;
- Technologies (Design & Technologies + Digital Technologies)
Capabilities:
- Literacy;
- Critical & Creative Thinking.
- Ethical;
- Intercultural;
- Personal and Social.
Topics & Themes:
- Identity;
- Bullying;
- Social Media
- Birds;
- Individual differences & individuality;
- Popularity & talent contests;
- Resilience.
About the book:
Roy is an ordinary bird in every way. He is not the biggest, or the smallest. His squawk is not the loudest or the quietest. He even follows the same football team as everyone else. He was very normal except for one thing – he has ARMS.
Absolutely nobody knows – and Roy would like to keep it that way...That Bird Has Arms is a story about difference and identity. It’s about learning to see that what sets you apart is what makes you strong, and it’s about pride in your own uniqueness.
"This quirky story oozes originality. It embraces popular culture, such as social media and popularity contests and cleverly explores themes of identity and accepting difference through the main character, Roy, a bird with human-like arms. The use of language is sophisticated and engaging, featuring direct speech of the avian characters alongside more traditional narration. The high-quality, colourful and engaging illustrations represent characters effectively and provide a clever sub-text to the narrative, including gentle humour appropriate for a dual audience. There is pleasing symmetry between the text and visual elements that embodies the mood and enhances the narrative. The plot that follows Roy coming to terms with his difference, as well as others’ eventual acceptance of him includes a joy-filled resolution." CBCA Critique of the 2024 notable listed books by the panel of 2024 CBCA expert judges.
Our interactive virtual incursion is:
- over 30% cheaper than our live show;
- available any day you like from the first day of Book Week in Term 3, 2024 to the last day of Term 2, 2025;
- available with adaptable minimum student numbers making it perfect for smaller schools that don't meet the minimum student numbers of the live show;
- available to any school in Australia & New Zealand, regardless of location, so a great option for schools who cannot link in with our live tour schedule due to their location;
- available with a simple optional props & costume list. These items can be collected before the show and used by students during the performance to make it even more interactive. This is especially brilliant when the props are run by the senior students for their junior classes.
- able to be viewed multiple times across multiple days to suit your school schedule;
- everything from our live show & more... for less!!!
Check out the trailer for 2024's interactive virtual incursion at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZL1Cfyr13I&t=5s
So how will the virtual incursion work?
Just like our last 4 hugely successful interactive virtual Book Week shows, 2023's "Jørn's Magnificent Imagination", 2022's "The Imagineer", 2021's "Littlelight" & 2020's "Hello Lighthouse", the virtual production of the 2024 shortlisted Picture Book of the Year "That Bird Has Arms!" has been cleverly adapted to make it work more effectively for an interactive filmed performance that students can stream:
- at a school assembly;
- in their classroom;
- or even individually at home.
To give every student the very best seat in the house & make them a part of bringing this amazing book to life, the virtual show is captured with:
- multiple top-end HD cameras shot with a variety of camera angles;
- pro cinema sound;
- pro cinema lighting
- plus green screen effects & several additional visual technical elements integrated to enhance the live production;
- all on your screen in full HD clarity.
TEACHER AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES
The filmed performance will include multiple interactive activities for students to participate in from the hall, classroom or at home. These are designed to get the students up & moving to be part of the action, making the audience feel as if they are actually in & around the characters in the show. The students will:
- turn pages in the book;
- show off their arms;
- operate simple stick puppets in a song;
- participate in a slow-motion comedy scene;
- have particular students lead everyone in a mirroring exercise for bodybuilding, weight lifting & stretching exercises;
- have particular students get up to dress in printed or collected costumes & act out a scripted comedy scene as various bird characters, interacting with the characters on the screen;
- show all the things they can do with their arms;
- throw some feathers over the audience;
- pretend to grafitti a poster;
- dance to a "Shake Your Tail Feather" rap song;
- have a stretch session in intermission;
- stick up A4 printed objects & characters around their room to create the set then change it as the show progresses;
- operate a heron shadow puppet with a torch & sheet;
- operate a flying budgie puppet on a string;
- operate a flapping macaw board puppet;
- feed a piece of rope or cable through the crowd;
- chant out phrases with the characters in the show;
- clap along to songs.
Teachers will have the ability to pause the show during these activities to organise students in the room to participate safely & join in the fun.
A filmed in-depth FAQ session is included where "Tony Bones" takes the students through the creation of the show, the content & messages in the book, plus where he'll provide answers to common questions.
Teachers then have the ability to email through their students' additional questions which Tony will reply to via video clips that can be played back to the students within 24 hours.
Also included are easy-to-follow teacher notes & guided discussions for teachers to run before & after the virtual performance to give the students a greater understanding of the content & a more meaningful interaction with the show.
This is in addition to the extensive teacher resources & lesson plans already available for the live performance at our website.
Schools will be provided with a code to unlock the virtual performance on their day of viewing that they can share with all teachers at their school who have a class booked for the performance.
The price for the interactive virtual performance is a huge 30% off the live show price +GST.
Review:
"Tony Appleby's long experience as a performer and writer, along with his teaching background has informed the creation of a show that is valuable in its own right. It shouldn't be seen as a video of an incursion, rather it's a new form, and unlike live incursions, it's available wherever you are." Karen Keegan, Shows For Schools, 2020.
"Thank you. The students enjoyed the performance and our Year 6 students did an excellent job. Thanks again"ST PATRICK'S PS, LATROBE, TAS FOR 2023'S INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SHOW
"Thank you so much for your amazing show. Having never participated or seen one of your performances we were amazed and definitely enjoyed using the props you suggested"TARLEE PS, SA FOR 2023'S INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SHOW
"As previously, the interactive show this year was fantastic!"SCHOOLS AS HUBS, HIGH COUNTRY, VIC FOR 2023'S INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SHOW
"Our kindergarten class watched the show this afternoon (with the rest of the school to watch tomorrow)... Kinder loved it and thought you were talking directly to them!"BEXHILL PS, NSW FOR 2023'S INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL SHOW
BOOKINGS
To make a booking or enquiry, simply press the GREEN Enquiry/Booking Request Button above right to directly contact the booking team. They will answer you promptly to discuss your booking including when payment will be required.
Shows for Schools not only gathers all the great available shows, it also makes booking easier!