The Haircut!

The King has a secret. He wears his hair long and he has it cut only once a year. Once a year on the same night in the same place and in the same style. But never by the same barber.

The Haircut is a cautionary tale with a live musical soundtrack.

The Haircut is a fairytale remixed and retold.

The Haircut is a play about secrets and about creativity stifled. About fighting for what you believe in and standing up to power.

About music and magic and hair.

Set in a magical modern day Ireland, The Haircut is a new commission written by Wayne Jordan, delivered with ineffable charm by bright new talent Thommas Kane Byrne and accompanied by Tom Lane’s vibrant score played by three outstanding musicians.

Attending and reflecting on theatre performances with your class will explore many of the key strands of the Drama and English curricula, particularly in relation to: examining the relationship between story, theme and life experience; using insights arising out of dramatic action to draw conclusions about life and people; receptiveness to language; competence and confidence in using language; emotional and imaginative development through language; reflection on drama and listening and responding.

Download The Haircut! Activity Pack in English or Irish Now

While the play The Haircut! is presented in English, we have also provided our classroom resources as Gaeilge which link to themes and ideas from the show in order to support teachers wishing to deliver classroom based drama and music activities through the Irish language.

All 3 strands of the music curriculum (Listening and Responding, Composing and Performing) and strand unit Exploring sounds are covered across the activities in this pack.

In the Drama Curriculum, the main Strand - Drama to explore feelings, knowledge and ideas, leading to understanding is addressed, as are the 3 Strand units:

• Exploring and making drama
• Reflecting on drama
• Co-operating and communicating in making drama

The final section in the pack contains a number of other cross-curricular activities in the areas of SPHE, Literacy and Visual Art.

The activities are broken down into the following sections:

1. Introductory Activities
2. Starting to Create and Perform
3. Exploring Stories from Around the World
4. Create Your Own Story with Music
5. Further Cross Curricular Activities

You can also make use of many of the activities in this pack without watching the show, as a simple version of the story of Kind Labhraidh Loingseach has been included in the appendices that children can read.

If you prefer, as part of The Ark @ Home, we have adapted some of the activities in the classroom pack specifically for home use, which may be simpler for children to engage with alone or with family members in their homes. Find out more here.