SCHOOL THEATRE		English
English Performances			41
			January 2013

Staging productions in English has been a long lasting tradition in our school. They are popular both with the audience to watch and participants to take part in. Apart from being fascinating such plays also serve multi-educational purposes. They are bound to

–broaden the students’ horizon;

–give the students the opportunity to live the life of characters;

–help to overcome a language barrier behind the mask of the role;

–teach to work in a team;

–develop memory by learning the lines by heart;

–improve pronunciation skills;

–enrich the students’ vocabulary.

To involve students in these performances is to give them

a glimpse of English and American history and literature and also to help them overcome psychological barriers as well as develop their presentation and public appearance skills.

Penguin Readers are a mighty help in selection of the right book as they publish a variety of classics adapted on different levels to suit the given group of students. One has to take into account a number of factors in choosing the right story for stage adaptation: the students’ age, interests, language competence, to mention but a few. The choice of original plays is limited and most of them are not suited for teenagers, and we have found it very exciting to transform novels and stories into stage versions.

For publication we have selected a few productions based on classical novels first read by the students in Penguin Readers at their English lessons. These include Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. Brief comments and stage clues, suggested music and songs, full scripts are available.

Students’ commitment and involvement at every stage from script writing to music selection, costumes and scenery production, contributed to the success of the performances and the joint creative effort made them no less important in the language learning process than regular classes of English.

Interestingly, in the second half of the 16th century, Richard Mulcaster, who is known for his headmasterships and pedagogic writings, and who also taught the great English poet Edmund Spencer, believed that performances with students served best the purposes of education. He implemented his ideas in plays he put on with his students for the English Queen Elizabeth I. Following his example we recommend teachers of foreign languages to use as much role play and performances as possible, and would be happy if our stage adaptations will have practical value and application.

To make our performances more lively and to make use of the students many talents we include songs, live music and dances into our performances, sometimes turning them into musicals. We should not, however, underestimate the value of the original language and its subtle adaptation provided by Penguin Readers which contributed to the success of our productions as well as the value of them in the process of language acquisition.

Just remember that every performance is a source of joy, inspiration and motivation for language learning, further reading, and the excitement of joint creative effort!

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

The idea to make sketches based on the classical novel originated at lessons of home reading and shaped and ripened after watching the famous musical produced in the 70-s. The characters of an orphan who meets a pickpocket on the streets of London and joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master were a marvelous experience for 13–14 year-old-girls supported by senior students playing the parts of Fagin, Bill Sikes, Nancy and others.

The script is presented in its original form containing comments and directions for acting as well as singing and dancing clues.

All performances ran for 40–45 minutes and were presented at the school annual Spring Presentation Day.

By Julia Raskina, Head of the Foreign Languages Dept., School No. 1567, Cambridge ESOL Oral Examiner

Illustrations from http://www.limelightuk.co.uk; http://www.malbank.com

English		SCHOOL THEATRE		Charles Dickens
42		OLIVER TWIST
January 2013

THE CAST
Oliver	Dodger	Charlie
Noah	Fagin	Bill Sikes
Toby	Nancy	Bet
Mr. Brownlow	Mrs. Bedwin	Mr. Bumble
A Bookseller	A Constable

Oliver Twist and Mr. Bumble – singing Boy for sale – offering the audience to pay for the boy. Some boys appearing on the stage, Oliver is hiding behind them

Oliver: I will be good sir! I am a very little boy and it is so – so lonely! Please don’t be angry with me sir.

Mr. Bumble: Boy for sale! Oh, where is my boy for sale? Dodger: What boy, sir?

Mr. Bumble: My boy for sale! Charlie: We haven’t seen your boy, sir.

Mr. Bumble: Oh my god, I could have sold him for 5 pounds!

	(Leaves the stage)
Dodger: Hey, boy! (To Oliver)
Oliver:	I am here… Thank you…
Charlie:	You don’t look really well… What’s happened?
Oliver:	I ran away from workhouse. They beat me and
	were cruel to me.
Dodger: Where are you from? You aren’t from London.
Oliver:	I’ve been walking for 7 days.
Dodger:	7 days… Cool. Who you running from? Your old
Oliver:	man?
	No, I am an orphan. I’ve come to London to make
	my fortune.
Charlie: You have. Have you? You should be hungry.
Oliver:	I am.
Charlie:	Have you got any lodgings, money?
Oliver:	Not a penny. Do you live in London?
Dodger:	You are lucky you met us before meeting a beak.
Oliver:	Who is a beak?
Dodger:	You do not know who a beak is?
Oliver:	It’s a bird’s mouth, isn’t it?
Noah:	He is green…For your information a beak is a con-
	stable.

Dodger: I suppose you want somewhere to sleep tonight? Oliver: Yes, I haven’t slept under the roof since I became boy for sale. Do you know anywhere?

Dodger: Don’t worry about it. I know a respectable old gentleman who will give you a bed for nothing.

Oliver: Really?

Charlie: And never ask for the change if a gentleman he knows introduces you.

Oliver: He must be a very kind old gentleman.

Dodger: Oh, yes, he is and I am a particular favourite of his.

Charlie: Now, if you are coming along we’d better know who you are.

Oliver: My name is Oliver Twist.

Dodger: And mine is Jack Dawkins. Better known as the Artful Dodger.

Oliver: Why are you an Artful Dodger? Dodger: A great thief I am.

Oliver: Pleased to meet you Mr. Dodger. Noah: And I am Noah.

Charlie: And my name is Charlie. We’d better go now. Oliver: Sure the old gentleman would not mind?

Dodger: Mind?

Charlie: Consider yourself at home. Consider yourself one of the family.

Dodger: I’ve taken to you so strong. It’s clear we are going to get along.

Enters Fagin.

Dodger: Hey, Fagin! I brought a new friend to see you, Ol-

	iver Twist.
Oliver:	Sir (bows).
Fagin:	Oh, Oliver Twist… I hope I should have the hon-
	our of your intimate acquaintance! We are very
	glad to see you Oliver, very… Aren’t we, my
Boys:	dears?
	Yes, Fagin.
Oliver:	Me too, sir…
Fagin:	Dodger tells me you’ve come to London to seek
Oliver:	your fortune?
	Yes, sir.
Fagin:	We must see what we can do to help you. Mustn’t
Oliver:	we?
	Thank you.
Noah:	You are staring at the pocket handkerchiefs my
	dear? We just hung them up ready for the wash,
Boys:	that’s all.
	Ha, ha, ha.
Oliver:	Is this a laundry then, sir?
Charlie:	Yeah, a laundry.
Fagin:	Not exactly, my boy. A Laundry would be a very
	nice thing indeed but our line of business pays a
Boys:	little better. Don’t it boys?
	Yeah!
Fagin:	You see, Oliver “In this life one thing counts. In
	the bank large amounts…”

Song/Dance BETTER PICK A POCKET (the music of “7:40”).

Boys chanting Pick a Pocket and “stealing” things from Fagin.

Fagin: “You’ve got to pick a pocket or two”.

Boys: “Just to find some peace of mind we have to pick a pocket or two” (showing what they have stolen from Fagin).

Fagin: Put them all back in the box. All of them. We’ve all been hard at work today, haven’t we, my dears? What have you got Dodger?

Oliver Twist by E. M. Taylor from http://www.victorianweb.org

Dodger: A couple of wallets.

Fagin: Lined? Not as heavy as they might be, but very nicely made. Ingenious workman, isn’t he, Oliver?

Oliver: Does he make these himself?

Noah: With his own little (lilly) white hands.

Fagin (To Charlie Bates): And what have you got, Charlie? Charlie: A couple of wipes. Very good ones, but we’ll have

	to pick the initials out with a needle. You’ll need to
Noah:	learn how to do this too.
	Yeah the trade mark.
Oliver:	If you please, sir.
Fagin:	In the meantime you must learn how to make wal-
Oliver:	lets, like Dodger, would you like that?
	Yes, if you’ll teach me.
Fagin:	Certainly, my boy, no fee. Just do as Dodger and
	the others do. Make them your models, espe-
	cially Dodger. He’s going to be a right little Bill
Oliver:	Sikes.
	And who is Bill Sikes, Mr. Fagin?

Charlie: He is a very clever gentleman, you’ll meet him tomorrow.

Noah (teaching Oliver): Is it possible by chance that my handkerchief is protruding from my pocket?

Oliver: Yes, I can just see the edge.

Noah: Can you? Well, then see if you can take it out without my feeling it.

The music of Pick a Pocket; Oliver is trying to get a hanky from Fagin.

Fagin: Is it gone?

Oliver: Yes, Mr. Fagin, look!

Fagin: Well done, my dear! You are a clever boy. I never saw a sharper lad. Here’s a shilling for you. (Boys trying to reach it.) I have to go to the bank. Bed time all of you. There’s a hard day’s

		SCHOOL THEATRE		English
				43
				January 2013
	work ahead. By the way, Oliver, who are your
Oliver:	parents?
	I am an orphan, Mr Fagin, I come from a work-
	house.
Fagin (в сторону): That’s not so bad…
Noah:	How’s your mother, workhouse?
Oliver:	She is dead.
Noah:	What did she die of?
Oliver:	Of a broken heart. Don’t say anything more about
Noah:	her.
	Don’t be rude, workhouse. We all pity you, but
	your mother was a bad woman. You know she
Oliver:	was.
	What did you say?
Noah:	A bad woman, workhouse.
Fagin:	Bedtime!
Oliver:	Where do I sleep, sir?
Fagin:	Over here, my dear. Settle down. Dodger, take
	your legs off his bed, where’s your manners? Have
	a good sleep, Oliver.

Dodger: If you go on the way you’ve started, you’ll be the greatest man of all time, after me. Good night, Oliver.

Oliver: Good night.

Fagin: Sweet dreams. You've got to pick a pocket or two, boys, You've got to pick a pocket or two.

Fagin and his treasure.

Fagin: Worthy thing… My precious… I am nothing without it… All what I have earned… I, poor old Jew… Mmm, a clock… Money… Can I help it? This is my private treasure, my little pleasure. I mean who is going to look after me in my old age? (To the audience.) Will you?

Oliver is looking at Fagin.

Fagin (suddenly sees Oliver and runs to him with a knife):

	Oliver! Why are you watching me? Quick! Speak
Oliver:	out!
	I am sorry sir…
Fagin:	Okay, did you see where the box was? Did you see
Oliver:	any of those pretty things?
	I don’t think so, sir…
Fagin:	If you only tell anybody… But you will not, my
Oliver:	dear. Brave boy, Oliver, brave boy.
	I will not, Mr. Fagin. Can I go back to sleep now,
Fagin:	sir?
	Certainly, my boy, go to sleep. Pleasant dreams.
Oliver:	Same to you, sir.
Fagin:	Bedtime music!

The song Summer Time.

See full text of the script and video on CD.