Stormbreaker is the fi rst novel in the Alex Rider series of spy novels. It has been made into a fi lm and a television series.
In this extract, Alex is at the funeral of his uncle, Ian, who had looked after Alex since the death of his parents, and who has now died in a car crash. Strangers at the funeral come over to talk to Alex, introducing themselves as his uncle’s work colleagues.
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Read the extract silently fi rst, and then perform it as a drama. Give parts to six speakers:
a narrator; Mr Crawley (the personnel manager); the vicar; Mr Blunt (the chairman); Alex; and Jack (Alex’s friend)
Two grim-faced men, wearing sunglasses, sit in a car in the background. They don’t have speaking parts, but they are important in creating the sense that something is being hidden. The narrator should be ready to speak, and the other speakers should practise delivering their lines in the most suitable tone of voice. The scene begins with Mr Crawley tapping Alex on the shoulder and pointing over at Mr Blunt.
reveals character with imaginative names, gestures and dialogue
