Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene One
1) Scene 1 contains no dialogue.
Write a dot point summary of what happens on
stage during this movement sequence.
2) Define ominous. How does the action, facial
expression and sound to create a sense of fear?
3) What do you think is happening in this scene?
Who are these people? What is the significance of
only letting 3 girls out at a time?
4) Listen to ‘Zeir Baghali’, from Inside Afghanistan.
Describe how the instruments, tone and pace of this
song creates a specific mood/atmosphere.

Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene Two
1) Scene 2 opens with an imagined soccer game,
followed by a sense of awe and glory and the reveal
of an actual soccer ball. What does the boys
appreciation of a single soccer ball suggest to you
about their situation?
2) Jamal speaks like a football commentator. What
does this confident speech suggest about his
character?
3) Jamal asks ‘Is it the government’. Why would he
ask this? Why would the government concern him?
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Three - Five
1) What does the dialogue with Bibi and the boys tell
you about the position of girls in this society?
Use quotes to support your answer.
2) The children are playing in an area with explosive
mines. What does this suggest about their proximity
to danger?
3) How would you feel living in a society/
environment like this?
4) Which character do you most connect with -
Jamal, Yusuf or Bibi - and why?
5) How does scene 5 encourage empathy?

Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene Six/Seven
1) Scene 6 involves a lot of short dialogue. This
would be spoken quite quickly. What is the effect of
this short, quick dialogue?
2) What does the candlestick symbolise?
3) Scene 1 is about fear. Scene 6 is about seeking
safety. How is this text encouraging you to
empathise with these characters?
4) Jamal’s charcter shows that he can both love and
fear his country. Find two lines of dialogue that
emphasise this and copy them into your book.
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Eight /Nine
1) How does the candlestick give the children hope
after the explosion?
2) Jamal says ‘I’m going to change the world’, what
does he mean?
3) Yusuf says ‘send me a leg’. This is an example of
dark humour. What does this line suggest about
childhood in Afghanistan?
4) In scene 1 we saw Mohammed using his taxi to
transport girls. Here Mohammed is using his taxi
again. What do you think he has been doing?
Why must they now escape Afghanistan?

Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene Ten
1) Identically turbaned MEN look most severe as
they sit in the same position, their hands on their
knees, staring out. Collectively they sound a single
note. What does this use of sound, facial expression,
costume and body language suggest about the
experience of Men in Afghanistan?
2) How does this scene use sound to create tension?
3) Jamal expects this is a soccer game, but he is
wrong. How are his expectations crushed? What
happens? List the sequence of events.
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Eleven/Twelve
1) How does the playwright highlight the
‘destruction of innocence’ through juxtaposing
childhood joy/games with violence?
2) Jamal and Bibi are kept unawares. Mohammed
and Fatima aren’t telling them everything.
What are they trying to protect them from?
Why might this be necessary?
3) Darkness. The sound of a truck fills the silence.
Mounds of sacks become visible on the floor.
What does this use of sound/ image suggest about
their journey and safety?

Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene Thirteen
1) Scene 13 opens with a shared monologue. Each
character speaking directly to the audience. How
does this text encourage the audience to empathise
with the experience of refugees?
2) What does the interaction between Omar and
Jamal suggest about each boy?
3) Jamal has just arrived and hears the misery. Omar
has been there a year and has grown accustomed to
the noise. What does this suggest about each boys
exposure to suffering? How does this make you feel?
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Fourteen/Fifteen
1) Mohammed and Fatima give up everything they
have, including the candlestick. What does this
symbolise about their journey and desperation?
2) How does Jamal’s emotional state contrast his
parents?
3) Jamal says ‘We’re not protected anymore’. This is
more true than he knows. What danger awaits them?
4) We can’t have a literal plane or boat onstage. How
are these modes of transportation shown to the
audience through dialogue, sound and movement?
5) How is lighting and voice-over used to show
Jamal underwater?
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Sixteen - Eighteen
1) After their separation from their parents, Jamal is
less tolerant of Bibi. How does his dialogue highlight
that he is stressed?
2) How does the characterisation of the smuggler
contrast the family?
3) How does this ‘evil’ smuggler work to increase the
audience’s empathy for the family?
4) Rashida becomes like a mother to the children.
Explain how her actions create a sense of safety in
this dangerous environment.
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Nineteen - Twenty One
1) Jamal is realising that this boat isn’t safe. List
what leads him to believe he is unsafe.
2) How does planning their life in Australia help the
children pass the time and remain hopeful?
3) From the dialogue what do we learn about
Rashida’s background story?
4) Their situation grows increasingly dangerous.
Pirates arrive and incite panic. Why?
5) Danger has been a constant theme throughout
this play. It seems to get worse and worse. How does
danger encourage empathy from the audience?

Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene Twenty Two
1) Scene 22 contains short lines, encouraging quick
paced dialogue. How would this quick/short speech
contribute to the audience understanding these
character’s desperation and perilous situation?
2) Describe the character’s response to the warship.
3) This warship hesitates to help. In Australia we do
not always help refugees or asylum seekers. This
scene represents the refugees desperation and the
Australian Defence Forces hesitation. Who do you
empathise with and why?
Boy Overboard Scene Questions
Scene Twenty Three - Twenty Eight
1) How does Andrew’s behaviour towards the
children contrast their smuggler hosts?
2) Describe their arrival on land.
how is this staged? How does the dialogue express
the impact of the experience?
3) Jamal goes straight back to joyfully playing
soccer but two revelations crush his spirit and at the
beginning of scene 28 he is weeping. Describe what
happened.
4) How does this encourage the audience to
empathise with Jamal and refugee children?

Boy Overboard Scene Questions

Scene Twenty Eight - Thirty
1) How is the overwhelming intensity of Jamal’s
journey expressed in scene 28?
2) How does the dialogue in scene 29 and the
previous events in the play make the audience
consider Australian law and the plight of refugees.
Who do you empathise with in this scene and why?
4) They no longer have the candlestick in their lives.
In scene 30 what does Jamal now look to as a
symbol of hope?
5) Is Jamal just like any other kid? Explain.