Rugby Fever

About

‘A history of Rugby’ for Years 3 to 8

Mum is an ex netballer and a sports journalist. With the RWC 2011 around the corner she has to become more knowledgeable about the history of New Zealand Rugby. Home from the newsroom, she and her 9 year old daughter peel the potatoes for dinner and she realises her daughter is a fountain of rugby knowledge. They have been studying its history at school and she has caught RWC 11 fever from her rugby mad teacher.

The domestic scene magically transforms into the excitement and physicality of the rugby field as Co. Theatre Physical’s talented team employ their rich bag of skills: movement, balance acrobatics, comedy, colourful characterisations, story-telling, to bring you the history of rugby in an engaging, funny, original format, suitable for children years 3 to 8.

Rugby Fever will explore:

  • the origins of rugby
  • spectacular moments, great wins and losses!
  • colourful and famous personalities of the rugby world
  • heroes, work-horses, gladiators, the fallen heroes
  • politics… noteworthy moments in the politics of rugby e.g. the Springbok tour of 1981
  • the era of professionalism, sponsorship, branding
  • training… fitness schedules, diets, injuries, sports psychology
  • touring… international travel, jetlag, the hierarchy of the All Black bus, who sits where and why?
  • National Identity? How and why does rugby form our national identity – is it still true?
  • Belonging vs Exclusion… belonging to a team and the culture of rugby means you fit in, but what if you don’t belong? How can we accept and celebrate difference in culture and talents?

Credits

Performed by
Eve Gordon and Beth Kayes

Written by
Beth Kayes – some additional writing in collaboration with Eve Gordon

Sound designed and engineered by
Eve Gordon

Choreographed by
Eve Gordon and Beth Kayes

Props designed and made by
Jacky Geurts

Voice overs by
Mike Edward

Research assistant and teachers’ notes by
Jacky Geurts

Requirements: 5 metres by 5 metres clear floor and 3 metres height. Proximity to power for sound.

Duration: 50 minutes
Price: $4 (+GST) per student
Minimum Audience: 130 students

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Reviews

“An excellent show. Fast moving and packed with information. Wow, what a learning tool – exciting, interactive, factual! We liked the different characters, acrobatics and chance for student interaction. We definitely felt the show fit in with our learning objectives, even the younger students got a lot out of it.

“It was exciting to introduce rugby facts which tied in with the expectations of participation – taking risks, determination, team work etc. All of which we want our children to relate to.

“The teachers’ notes were great for the higher years in the school and also for me personally as I am planning a unit of study for term 3.”

– Fran Taylor & Janet Scanlan at Good Sheperd School, Auckland

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“Awesome! Excellent show! Fast paced, lots of humour, impressive moves, great story line and very informative. This show put Rugby into a much more fun light. It certainly met my objective!.

“An excellent well polished show. Really enjoyable and very professional. The students enjoyed the gymnastics the most. Loved the facial expressions and the quick changes of character with only one prop changing. As a teacher I am grateful that the students are learning and broadening their horizons.”

– Jill De Bruyn, Peachgrove Intermediate, Hamilton

“Great show and highly entertaining. I really like the facts and how the performers interacted with the students and making them a part of the show. The show was great with meeting our learning objectives, there were high levels of engagement, rugby facts, drama, music atmosphere, everything!! The teachers notes were also very useful.”

– H. Webber, Peachgrove Intermediate, Auckland

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“The response from the students and teachers has been extremely positive. We all thought the show was superbly put together and really engaged the students whilst also giving them some background knowledge of the mighty All Black. The show was especially relevant to us in that we have our school production this term and the World Cup focus next term.

“We will be able to use and build on both the techniques you used for our production and the All Black info for our Term 3 focus.”

– Bevan Pinfold Bayfield Primary School

Contact us regarding any show bookings or questions