Art and Design Key Stage 3

• Consider how they are going to depict hell (as flames or ice, how would this work on the stage)?
• Decide where Don Giovanni will exit (through the floor or could part of the stage move to hide him)?
• Experiment with the colour palette should they use (monochrome, realistic, etc.)?

How can you tell the story of Don Giovanni to other people?

Ask students to read the plot and, in small groups, make a decision on the six key dramatic points in the story (three in each act). For example, the duel between Don Giovanni and The Commendatore.

Create thumbnail sketches of the six scenes which make a storyboard.

Create a comic book of the opera using the storyboard as a guide; it could be a manga style comic book, made from photomontages of magazine images, or inspired by an illustrator like Chris Riddell.

How important are masks and deception in Don Giovanni?

Look at production gallery, ensuring students know the main characters, and ask them to name each character in this photo.
Introduce the main reasons for wearing masks (rituals, performance, disguise, etc.). Along with your students, look at the character descriptions in the opera.

Ask students to list the main character traits of Don Giovanni, Leporello and Donna Anna. Make clay or papier-mâché masks that show the true nature of these characters so they are not disguised anymore. Students could consider:

• Exaggerated features, like large lips for Don Giovanni, as he tells lies
• Animals that the character might resemble, like Donna Anna having lion or eagle-like features because she is brave.