From Page to Stage: Celebrating National Storytelling Week Through Musicals
For National Storytelling Week, we’re encouraging schools to tap into the rich tradition of storytelling through music. In this blog, we explain how musicals are feasts for the mind as well as for the eyes and ears, and perfect activities for National Storytelling Week in the UK.
Musical Storytelling
Led by the Society for Storytelling and the National Literacy Trust, National Storytelling Week events and activities aim to promote literacy and communication skills across the UK. For nine days, schools, libraries, theatres and community groups will focus on sharing stories in every form.
We’re shouting about the unique qualities of musicals as a storytelling medium and urging teachers to dust off the song sheets for National Storytelling Week. There is immense educational and entertainment value in studying and performing stage musicals at school, which are ideal activities for National Storytelling Week.
Here are five ways storytelling through musicals can relay the fun and importance of National Storytelling Week.
- Music in narrative storytelling
In classrooms, we understand narrative through words printed on a page. But in musicals, plot becomes a 3D experience as choreography, music and lighting reflect the rise and fall of action. By learning through musical storytelling, students can more easily intuit beats and pacing, with the physical elements of the performance signalling when the story needs to breathe and when it needs to move.
- Awakening inner detectives
Rather than reading to themselves, musicals ask students to learn lyrics and lines by heart, improving their vocabulary and sparking their curiosity. After all, if you don’t know what a word means, you’re more likely to look up a definition if you’re speaking it day after day! Applying storytelling to musical performance is also an example of reading with a purpose, motivating students to hunt for clues to line delivery.
- An accessible approach to literacy
Music provides a more accessible way of absorbing stories for neurodivergent and SEND students, tapping into kinaesthetic learning styles. Performing music can also help children read and speak with greater fluency, as rhythm, pitch and rhyme in musical theatre mirror the foundational patterns of language. Plus, singing as a group may settle nerves and prevent embarrassment if anyone stumbles!
- An exercise in emotional intelligence
Playing a character and literally walking in someone else’s shoes can help students practise empathy. By asking, “Why is this person angry or sad or afraid?” through the medium of musical storytelling, students are forced to suspend their own ego and question the internal worlds of other people. This is an invaluable social skill to learn early in life, and directly translates into real-world relationships.
- Developing social bonds
Stage musicals often call for large casts and many supporting roles in art, costume, music and lighting. They are a group effort to practise and perform, and set competition aside in the name of mutual support and success. By seeing each other try and fail in a safe space, hitting a wrong note or forgetting a line, students form bonds and build resilience in rehearsals.
3 Ways to Link Musicals to National Storytelling Week
National Storytelling Week is when stories of all kinds come to life, especially in schools, which are continually evolving to engage students in new and exciting ways. If you want to link a production more strongly to National Storytelling Week, beyond seeing the musical as a distinct literary genre, we have some ideas for classroom and assembly activities to get everyone on board!
- Study source material
Separate from rehearsals, set aside time to read musicals in depth, attaching the same meaning to lyrics and stage directions as to paragraphs in a book. Running script workshops should give students a better grasp of the literary value of musicals and how, like poems and novels, they have the power to inspire and motivate us and tell evocative stories.
- Journal as a character
National storytelling week is also a celebration of beloved characters. It’s natural to bond with any character you play, as you adopt their voice and mannerisms throughout rehearsals and performances. To test how well students understand their characters, ask them to write a diary entry from their point of view. Those in the ensemble or non-acting roles can choose a favourite character.
- Design and write posters
Challenge students to summarise the story of the musical for posters and school ‘press releases’. This is a fun and practical way to learn which parts make up the key elements and beats of the story. In communicating the essential elements, they are telling their own story - the story of why people should see the performance!
Ideas for School Musicals
One great thing about The School Musicals Company is our originality. While many of our primary and secondary school musicals are based on existing literary works, providing a solid connection to National Storytelling Week, they all innovate on characters and subplots, offering fresh interpretations and proving immensely popular among students of all ages.
Who hasn’t heard of Oliver Twist? This classic story, penned by Charles Dickens in the 1830s, has spawned multiple stage and screen adaptations. Ours is tailored for performers aged 11–14 to help them fully enjoy the wonderful characters and exciting storytelling through music. In fact, studying the differences between our play script and Dickens’ original novel offers even more opportunities to explore how stories are fluid and how narratives can change for new audiences and time periods.
Sherlock & Cinders is the perfect secondary-school introduction to the most famous fictional detective in the world, as he and his faithful companion Watson meet the equally beloved Cinderella. This crossover musical invites students to explore the mystery elements of the classic fairytale as well as the apparent magic with which Holmes solves his baffling cases. For National Storytelling Week, we might also ask what each main character represents to the others and how they see the world.
While Pantastic belongs to the fantasy genre, like J. M. Barrie’s 1904 novel, it has many important themes and storytelling techniques worth exploring in a literary context. Between pretending to whizz around Neverland and outwitting Captain Hook’s dastardly tricks, students would greatly benefit from questioning why Peter refuses to grow up, what fairy dust represents to the children and how characters like Mr Darling fit into the story.
Make Musicals Part of National Storytelling Week
We believe that National Storytelling Week is a perfect opportunity to work more music into your school day planning and inspire your students to look at lyrics in a new, literary light! Whether you’re staging a primary or secondary school musical, be sure to connect the dots by getting students to think about musical plays as stories.
If your National Storytelling Week musical adventures leave you hungry for more, we have a range of wonderful musicals and assembly songs for all occasions at The School Musicals Company. If you have any questions about script packages or songbooks, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.