The Snow Queen
A Visual Story
These notes are for you to use as
you get ready to come and see The
Snow Queen. You can read them as
much or as little as you like.
The Story
Kai and Gerda are best friends. They live
together with their Grandma. They are
very happy and play together every day.
One day, Kai disappears. He has been
taken away by The Snow Queen to live as
her prisoner in her palace in the far-away
lands of the north.
When Gerda discovers that Kai has gone,
she sets out on a long journey to find the
Snow Queen’s palace and rescue her
friend.
The Set
When you come into the auditorium, you will see the stage. It will look like this.
There is a metal climbing frame and two metal benches which the actors will climb on
and move around as they tell you the story.
The back wall of the set can move and, during the play, you will see different lights,
projections and shapes appear there.
The floor has pieces of mirror laid into it. Hanging from the ceiling are some big pieces of
mirror that look like shards of ice. These will light up at different times in the play.
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The Characters
There are four actors in The Snow
Queen. They are called Abi, Jeremy,
Oliver and Gigi.
They will tell you the story by
dressing up as different characters.
Sometimes they will use movement
to “represent” objects like a coach
with horses, or a river.
Abi plays Gerda, Kai’s best friend.
This is what she looks like when she is
playing Gerda.
Oliver plays Kai, Gerda’s best friend. This
is what he looks like when he is playing
Kai.
Sometimes, Oliver plays other characters.
You will know when he is playing a
different character because he will dress
up in a different piece of costume. At
different times, he plays a reindeer, a
prince, a daisy and a river!
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Jeremy plays Crow, one of the
storytellers. This is what he looks like
when he is playing Crow.
Sometimes Jeremy plays other characters
too, including dressing up as four
different old ladies; Grandma, an Old
Flower Lady, Robber Girl’s Grandmother
and an Old Inuate Woman. You will know
when he is playing a different character
because he will dress up in a different
piece of costume.
This is Gigi. She plays Robber Girl,
another one of the storytellers. This is
what she looks like as Robber Girl.
Sometimes Gigi plays other characters,
just like Oliver and Jeremy. You will know
when she is playing a different character
because she will dress up in a different
piece of costume. At different times in the
story, Gigi plays a princess and a lilly.
There are other people helping to tell the
story. Jude sits at the back of the theatre
and makes all the lights, projections and
sound effects work.
This is Nomi. She is the Stage Manager.
She will be out of sight on the side of the
stage looking after the actors and all the
objects (props) that are used in the
production. You will meet her at the preshow explore.
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Story Notes
These notes describe what happens in the
production.
We will tell you if there are any sudden
sounds, lighting effect or actions by using
this symbol.
The Snow Queen is told in 7 story parts.
The performance will last for 1 hour 35
mins altogether.
Story 1
The first part will last for 35 mins.
Then there will be an interval (a break in
the performance). This will last for
20 mins. You can go and get a drink or a
snack during the interval if you like.
The second part will last for 40 mins.
Then, at the end, everyone will go home.
The performance begins. There is the
sound of whispered voices. Lights flash on
and off illuminating mirror
icicles that hang from the roof of the
auditorium.
The four actors come onto the stage. They
tell the story of an evil magician who
created a magic mirror. If you looked into
the mirror, they say, you would have evil
thoughts and see evil things.
The magician tells his imps to carry the
mirror up into the sky to show the world it’s
evil reflection. But the mirror is too heavy
and the imps drop it.
A crashing sound. Shards of mirror spin
across the stage. Don’t worry, it’s not real.
It’s a projection.
The shattered pieces of the mirror are
blown all over the world. If you get a piece
in your eye or heart you won’t be able to
see or feel any good things.
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Story 2
We meet Kai and Gerda. They are best
friends and play together all the time.
One winter’s night, Grandma tells Kai and
Gerda a story about the evil Snow Queen.
Kai bravely says he would melt her if she
ever came near their house. But, when he
goes to bed that night, Kai sees the Snow
Queen, looking in at his bedroom window.
The Snow Queen appears, reaching out to
Kai. Don’t worry, she can’t touch you,
she’s a projection.
Summer again. Kai has changed. He
doesn’t want to play with Gerda anymore.
Grandma says he has a piece of the evil
mirror in his heart.
Winter again. Kai decides to go sledging.
A huge sleigh comes into the town square
and Kai jumps onto the back of it for a
ride. It goes faster and faster and
suddenly, Kai realises he can’t get off. It is
the Snow Queen driving the sleigh and he
has been kidnapped.
Oliver playing Kai shouts for Gerda as he
is carried away. It’s all part of telling the
story, showing you that Kai is afraid. There
is also some smoke sprayed on stage.
This is made of water. Nothing is really on
fire.
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The Snow Queen takes Kai to her palace
in the far North. When they arrive, the
Snow Queen puts a spell on Kai, kissing
him so that he won’t feel the cold and
making him forget Gerda and his home.
The Snow Queen projection will appear
again.
Story 3
Two months have passed and Gerda is all
alone. She misses Kai a lot. When he
doesn’t come back home, she thinks that
he must be dead. But the sun and the
birds tell her that this isn’t true and so
Gerda sets out to look for Kai..
She goes down to the river and throws her
new red shoes into the water. She says
that the river can keep her shoes if it will
tell her news of Kai. The river carries her
shoes off downstream, and Gerda follows
them.
She climbs into a boat and floats along
until she reaches a beautiful garden full of
flowers.
In the garden lives an old woman.
Gerda tells the old woman all about her
search for Kai. The old woman invites her
to come into the garden and rest. Hours
slip by and, after a while, Gerda starts to
forget about her journey and her search
for Kai and why she came into the garden
in the first place. The old woman, wanting
Gerda to stay with her forever, has cast a
spell to make her drowsy and forgetful.
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Whilst the old woman is sleeping, the
daisies and lilies in the garden remind
Gerda about Kai and, waking with a jolt,
Gerda runs out of the garden to continue
her journey.
Gerda stops running and sits down to rest.
She looks up and sees Crow, sitting in a
tree.
Interval
Jeremy, who plays Crow, will run up the
stairs in the auditorium and climb up some
scaffolding onto a special platform. He
pretends that this platform is a tree. This is
to make you laugh and you can!
The lights will come back on in the theatre
and you can have a rest from watching the
show. You can buy an ice-cream if you
have some money.
Crow tells Gerda that he has seen Kai. He
thinks he has married the Princess who
lives nearby. Crow takes Gerda to the
palace so that she can see for herself.
Crow and Gerda arrive at the palace and
creep upstairs. Everyone is sleeping;
dreams are floating through the air.
Galloping horses are projected onto the
walls of the stage and there is the sound
of horses’ hooves. The sounds and the
pictures represent the dreams of the
people living in the palace.
Gerda tiptoes into the royal bedroom and
sees two beds. The Princess is asleep in
one and in the other is a young man.
Gerda goes to look at him… it isn’t Kai!
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The Prince and Princess wake up and
Gerda tells them her story.
The couple give her warm new clothes to
wear and a carriage to ride in to continue
her journey.
Story 5
Gerda travels further north. One dark
night, her carriage is attacked by a Robber
Girl and her old Grandmother.
The savage pair fight over who should
keep Gerda and her fine things.
Robber Girl and Grandmother pretend to
bite each other. Don’t worry, no one really
gets hurt. It is all just pretend.
The Robber Girl wins the fight. She
pushes Gerda into the carriage and they
drive back to the robber den.
Robber Girl shows Gerda her collection of
caged animals and birds. In one corner,
there is a reindeer.
The Robber Girl falls asleep,. Whilst she is
sleeping the birds call out to Gerda that
they have seen Kai. The reindeer offers to
take her further north to the Snow Queen’s
palace.
Whilst they are plotting to escape, the
Robber Girl wakes up. She decides to
release Gerda and the reindeer and they
set off together to find the Snow Queen’s
palace.
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Gerda and the reindeer gallop northward.
As they travel, the Northern Lights appear
in the sky.
Green laser lights shine into the audience
to represent the Northern Lights. The
beams of light look solid because smoke
has been sprayed onto the stage. Don’t
worry, nothing will touch you. If you like,
you can close your eyes, and count to
thirty. When you open your eyes, the
green lights will have gone off.
STORY 6
Gerda and the reindeer stop at the igloo
home of an old Inuit woman. Gerda falls
asleep and whilst she is resting, the
reindeer tells the old woman about their
journey to find Kai.
The old woman explains that Kai is under
the spell of the Snow Queen.
The scene changes. Lights flash on
and off, illuminating the mirror icicles
that hang from the roof.
We see Kai. He is talking to the Snow
Queen. She has challenged him to solve a
word puzzle “What lasts forever?” She
says that, unless Kai can solve the puzzle,
he will remain with her forever.
The Snow Queen’s voice plays
through speakers all round the
auditorium.
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The scene changes back to the old
woman’s igloo. Gerda wakes up and
creeps out of the igloo to carry on her
journey. As she gets nearer to the Snow
Queen’s palace, snow begins to fall, and
evil ice creatures begin to attack Gerda,
trying to prevent her from reaching the
palace..
Gerda struggles against the ice creatures,
stumbles and falls down.
Abi playing Gerda will shout as she fights
with the ice creatures. The rewill be music
playing too. You can cover your ears if you
want to.
Gerda says she can’t carry on with her
journey, but the other actors gather round
and encourage her to carry on. The lights
go down and the performance continues.
There is a break in the performance. The
lights will come on in the auditorium. You
will be able to see everyone sitting around
you. It will go very quiet. Don’t worry, Abi
isn’t hurt; she is showing you how Gerda
feels.
Gerda reaches the palace. She finds Kai.
At first, he doesn’t recognise her, but as
Gerda sings to him, crying as she tries to
make him remember, the ice in Kai’s heart
and eye melts and he finally recognises
her.
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At the end of the performance the
actors will come to the front of the stage to
bow. You can clap your hands to show
that you enjoyed the show if you want to.
The lights will come back on in the
auditorium. It is time to go home.
As you leave the auditorium, the actors will
be standing by the door. You can shake
hands with them or say hello if you like.
See you soon!
Before they can escape, Kai and Gerda
must solve the word puzzle. Frantically,
they try to think what the answer could be.
Suddenly, Gerda realises what the answer
is. As she shouts it out loud, there is a
huge crashing sound and the Snow
Queen and her palace disintegrate into
nothing.
Kai and Gerda travel home. On their way
back they meet the Robber Girl, the Prince
and Princess and other people who
helped Gerda on her journey. They arrive
home to Grandma’s house safe and sound
and realise that they are no longer
children. They have grown up.
The End
We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know
The Snow Queen story. We’re really
looking forward to welcoming you to
Pegasus on Saturday 03 January 2015.
First, we will have a pre-show explore of
the set, props and costumes used in
the show at 1.15pm in the auditorium.
Then, there will be a short break before
the relaxed performance begins at
2.30pm.
At this point, there are loud sound
effects. The lights flash on and off in the
theatre. You can cover your eyes and ears
if you want to.
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