::LINGUA ARTS THEATRE COMPANY::

TEACHERS´ MATERIALS.

Please look out the extensive teachers materials for use in the classroom. They are a great tool to help prepare your students before seeing the play

Read More >

HEY, TEACHERS !

VIDEO, watch scenes from our plays

The Country Mouse & the City Mouse is about a simple country mouse called Emilia who lives in a small village in Spain. One day she receives a visit from an English mouse, Abigail, a distant cousin from the big city of London. Soon, the sophisticated Abigail gets bored with the quiet life in the country, the simple Spanish food and the “strange” customs of the Spanish mouse and of her friends, the duck and the rooster. As for Emilia, she is curious to find out about life in London and she accompanies Abigail on her return to the big English city. However, once she is in England, poor Emilia gets mixed up in a very dangerous adventure which makes her want to escape back to Spain as soon as she possibly can.
This charming little tale, which is based on an Aesop fable, is aimed at encouraging children who are just beginning to study English, which is why the language content in Spanish is slightly higher than in our other plays. Our play involves the children actively in the story and it includes original music and a level of English especially adapted for very young learners..

Sinopsis en castellano
El argumento de The Country Mouse & the City Mouse gira en torno a una ratona sencilla, Emilia, que vive en un pueblo de España. Un día Emilia recibe la visita de la sofisticada inglesa Abigail, una prima lejana de la gran metrópoli de Londres. Pronto la afectada ratona de ciudad se cansa de la vida tranquila del campo, la comida demasiado “sencilla” y las costumbres “raras” de la ratoncita española y de sus amigos, el pato y el gallo. Por su parte, la curiosa Emilia tiene ganas de saber de la vida de Londres y acompaña a Abigail en su viaje de vuelta. Pero una vez allí, se encuentra enredada en una aventura peligrosa que despierta su deseo de regresar a su país lo más pronto posible.
Este cuento entrañable, que se basa en una fábula de Esopo, pretende fomentar el interés por el inglés entre un público que está iniciándose en su aprendizaje de inglés, por lo tanto la importancia del contenido en castellano es algo mayor. El espectáculo es muy interactivo e incluye música original y un nivel de inglés particularmente apto para los alumnos más jóvenes.

Esta es la historia de nuestra obra en inglés. Abajo, hemos explicado algunas palabras.

Emilia is a little Spanish mouse(1) . She lives(2) under a tree(3) . One day, her friend, Mr. Duck, the postman(4) , brings her a letter(5) from London. It is from her cousin(6), Abigail, who is coming to visit Emilia in Spain. Emilia and her friends Mr. Rooster and Mr. Duck give Abigail some tortilla, cheese, apples and wine, but Abigail doesn’t eat it. Abigail doesn’t like the food(7) and she doesn’t like Emilia’s house(8). She says her house is very small(9) and that it is very hot(10) in Spain. After some days, Abigail wants to return to London. She invites Emilia to go to England with her.
Abigail lives in a big house in London, but a cat and a dog also(11) live there. They are very bad(12). The cat and dog want to eat(13) the little mice(14) but they escape. But the dog and cat attack again(15). The mice escape again. Emilia is now tired(16) of London. She prefers her house and friends in Spain. She tells Abigail that she is going home(17). Abigail is sad(18).
After two days in Spain, Emilia has a visitor. Who is it? Hooray! It’s Abigail! Her English cousin has come back(19) to Spain to see Emilia. Abigail says she misses(20) Emilia very much and wants to stay(21) with her in Spain. Emilia is very happy(22) to see Abigail again.

VOCABULARY

1. mouse = ratoncito
2. She lives = ella vive
3. tree = arbol
4. postman = cartero
5. letter = carta
6. cousin = prima
7. food = comida
8. house = casa
9. small = pequeña
10. hot = hace calor
11. also = tambien
12. bad = malos
13. want to eat = quieren comer
14. mice = ratoncitos (1 mouse; 2 mice)
15. again = de nuevo
16. tired = cansada
17. go home = ir a casa
18. sad = triste
19. come back = regresado
20. she misses Emilia = ella echa de menos a Emilia
21. stay = quedar
22. happy = contenta

>>> Download (doc)

Emilia is a Spanish Mouse. She can speak Spanish and English. She lives under a tree. She is poor but she is a happy mouse. She likes to eat cheese and tortilla.

Mr. Duck (Sr. Pato) is Emilia’s friend. He is the postman and he is very nice. He is Spanish too but he does not speak English. He likes to swim in the river.

Mr. Rooster (Sr. Gallo) is the friend of Emilia and Mr. Duck. He is Spanish but he can speak a little English. He thinks he is very intelligent, but he is not. He likes Abigail.

Abigail is an English mouse. She is rich and lives in a big house in London. She cannot speak Spanish. She doesn’t like cheese. She only likes ice-cream and champagne.

The Cat is an English cat. He lives in a big house in London. He is a very bad cat and likes to eat mice. He doesn’t speak Spanish.

The Dog is an English dog. He lives in the big house too. He is also bad and he is very stupid.

Click to enlarge


Abigail & Mr. Rooster meet	Abigail, Emilia and some visitors	Emilia and Abigail are dancing	Emilia and Abigail are thinking of a plan to escape the Cat and the Dog

Emilia and Mr. Rooster watch Abigail eat a Spanish tortilla	Emilia is afraid	The Cat and The Dog	The Cat wants to eat Abigail

√ NOTES FOR TEACHERS

√ AN EXTRACT

TEACHERS’ MATERIALS. Please look out the extensive teachers materials for use in the classroom. They are a great tool to help prepare your students before seeing the play (and for use AFTER seeing it). Read More

The Country Mouse & the City Mouse is based on one of Aesop’s most charming fables. It compares the simple, quiet life of the country to the stressful and often dangerous life of the big city. In our story, we explore the themes of kindness, generosity and real friendship (seen in the characters of Emilia and her friends, Sr. Pato and Sr. Gallo) and compare them to the pretentiousness, snobbishness and love of riches and luxury found in the character of Abigail. As in Aesop fable, the moral of our play is clear: better a simple and honest life lived in peace than a life of luxury lived in danger and anxiety. Abigail also learns an important lesson: the true value of friendship is far more important than superficial, material riches.

Bilingualism The division of the two languages is clear: Emilia and her friends in the country speak Spanish; Abigail only English. As Emilia is a smart little mouse, she also speaks English, which helps her enormously when she travels with Abigail to England.

LINGUISTIC CONTENT IN THE PLAY:

VOCABULARY ARES: food and drink / the house / animals / the weather
HAVE YOU GOT? / I’VE GOT
DO YOU LIKE? LIKES AND DISLIKES
ADJECTIVES (small, big, hot, cold, poor, rich, beautiful, ugly, etc)
THERE IS / THERE ARE…
NUMBERS
PREPOSTIONS: in, on, under, behind…
QUESTIONS: What’s your name? How old are you? Where are you from?

The Material for the classroom is intended to introduce the students to the story of the play AND the important vocabulary and grammatical constructions that will help them understand it. If they are prepared beforehand, they will enjoy the play much more. Some exercises are easier than others - we realize that six year-olds have different needs and levels from nine year olds. We have therefore graded each exercise as either Level 1 (easy) or Level 2 (not so easy), so you can choose which ones you think will be most appropriate for the level of your class

GALLO: Miss Abigail, come, please. Sit down.

EMILIA: Please sit at the table and have something to eat and drink. Sr. Pato, por favor, traiga algo de vino, lo mejor que tengo de la bodega. Yo iré a comprar pan, que se me ha olvidado. Excuse me, one moment please, Abigail.

ABIGAIL: Yes. (Emilia and Sr. Pato exit. to Sr. Gallo) Well….

GALLO: So, you are from England, yes?

ABIGAIL: That is correct, from London.

GALLO: Ah. Londres. I am from Spain.

ABIGAIL: Yes, I know.

GALLO: Is London big, Miss Abigail?

ABIGAIL: Yes, very big.

GALLO: ¡Ay, qué estilo tiene la ratoncita inglesa!¡Qué perfume! ¡Qué elegancia! ¡Qué…

ABIGAIL: Mr Rooster, what is the matter?

GALLO: Oh, nothing. Em, you are very… guapa, Miss Abigail.

ABIGAIL Guapa? What does “guapa” mean?

GALLO: It means beautiful …