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A Reader’s Theater Script brought to you by Bound to Stay Bound Books Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented Written by Tanya Lee Stone; Illustrated by Steven Salemo ; Script Adaptation by Katherine Harrison, TBA Committee Member Readers: Narrator 1 Narrator 2 Narrator 3 Narrator 4 ____________________________________________________________________________ Narrator 1: What kind of Monopoly player are you? Narrator 2: Do you save your money until you land on Park Place or Boardwalk? Do you buy up all the properties you can? Narrator 3: Do you always want to be the banker? Do you and your friends like to make the game last for days - or find ways to play a shorter game? Narrator 4: With over one billion players across 111 countries, Monopoly is recognized today as one of the world’s most popular games. Narrator 1: Have you ever wondered how it was invented? Or how rich and famous that person became? Was the inventor of Monopoly the ultimate winner? Narrator 2: We need to look back more than a hundred years to find out. Narrator 3: Elizabeth Magie - or Lizzie, as she was called - was a woman of many talents. Narrator 4: She was smart, made people laugh easily, wrote poetry and short stories, and enjoyed acting. Narrator 1: Perhaps the most important thing about Lizzie Magie, though, was that she took issues of fairness quite seriously. Narrator 2: In the late 1800s, a small number of wealthy people began to buy as much land as they could and build houses and apartment buildings. Narrator 3: The more land the owners controlled, the higher the rent increased. Narrator 4: This created a situation in which the landlords could become wealthier while renters, or tenants, stayed poor. Narrator 1: Lizzie thought this was a terrible arrangement, but it gave her a great idea. Narrator 2: She created a game to show people how unjust this landlord-tenant relation could be. Narrator 3: The winner was the player with the most land and money at the end of the game. Narrator 4: The other players usually went broke in the process. Narrator 1: Her complicated game was designed for grown-ups, but she believed kids were smart enough to play, too. Narrator 2: Lizzie hoped kids would see the unfairness of the rules. Narrator 3: Lizzie Magie kept improving her game. She and two friends manufactured a small number of them. Narrator 4: Pretty soon, lots of people were playing her game. Narrator 1: In 1909, Lizzie Magie showed her game board to the Parker Brothers game company. Narrator 2: They admired her game, but thought it was too challenging and educational. They turned her down. Narrator 3: Lizzie’s game continued to attract new players. Narrator 4: Devoted fans kept making their own changes to the game. The most lasting changes happened in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1930. Narrator 1: Ruth Hoskins, a young Quaker teacher, and her friends renamed most of the properties after Atlantic City streets and neighborhoods. Narrator 2: St. Charles Place, Ventnor Avenue, and Boardwalk. Narrator 3: Around this time, the Great Depression struck. Narrator 4: By 1932, one in four Americans had lost their jobs. One of them was a man named Charles Darrow. Narrator 1: He and his wife were taught to play Monopoly by some friends. Narrator 2: Charles loved the game and decided to make his own board. Narrator 3: You know how some people have a knack for taking something great and making it even better? Well, that’s what Charles Darrow did. Narrator 4: Charles started selling sets to friends. Nearly broke, he thought it might be a good way to earn money for his family. Narrator 1: Each game took about eight hours to make. Soon, Charles Darrow advertised his version, claiming credit as its inventor. Narrator 2: He persuaded a big department store and a famous toy store to stock his Monopoly sets for Christmas. Pretty soon, other stores signed on. Narrator 3: Parker Brothers heard that Charles Darrow’s Monopoly game was quickly becoming a big hit. Narrator 4: Charles signed a contract with Parker Brothers that included naming him as the game’s inventor. Narrator 1: Uh-oh...trouble? Narrator 2: You know that Charles didn’t invent Monopoly. Narrator 3: Lizzie Magie did! Narrator 4: Parker Brothers had a big problem. Narrator 1: The company needed to own Lizzie’s patent to be able to sell Monopoly. Narrator 2: Did Lizzie sell? Who is credited for inventing the game? Narrator 3: Find out the rest of the story behind Monopoly. A story of boldness, imagination, and ruthless competition. Scripts are to be used for educational purposes and to promote reading for pleasure, not for commercial purposes . .

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