For Preview Only the ENCHANTED BOOKSHOP BOMBALURINA—Cat Ears
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HEIDI’S LANGUAGE Being Swiss, Heidi speaks German as her native language. The language she speaks here, however, is a mishmash of English, German, and some made-up words. Here’s a glossary to help you make sense of it all. Mein Himmel! (mine HIM-mel)—Heavens! Ach du lieber! (ock doo LEE-ber)—Oh, my goodness! Was ist los? (VAHS ist LOHS)—What’s the matter? Kaput (kuh-POOT)—Done for. Klinken-klanken (KLINK-en KLANK-en)—Made-up. Represents the sound of a doorknob being turned. Gebrochen-schnappen (guh-BROKH-en SHNOP-en)—Made-up. Combines the German words for “broken” and “snapped.” By Todd Wallinger Mein (mine)—My. Auf wiedersehen, Fräulein Margie! (owf VEE-der-zane FROY-line MAHR- © Copyright 2017, by Todd Wallinger jee)—Goodbye, Miss Margie! As a guide to her accent, some of her words have been spelled rather creatively, with “w” becoming “v,” “s” becoming “sh,” and “th” Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that a royalty must be paid for every performance, whether or not admission is charged. All inquiries regarding rights should becoming “s” or “z.” These are suggestions only. be addressed to Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., PO Box 4267, Englewood, CO 80155. All rights to this play—including but not limited to amateur, professional, public reading and translation into foreign languages—are controlled by Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., without whose permission no performance, reading or presentation of any kind in whole or in part may be given. All other rights in this play, including radio broadcasting, television and motion picture rights, are controlled by TODD WALLINGER to whom all inquiries should be addressed c/o Pioneer Drama Service, Inc. PO Box 4267, Englewood, CO 80155-4267. These rights are fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America and of all countries covered by the Universal Copyright Convention or with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations, including Canada, Mexico, Australia and all nations of the United Kingdom. ONE SCRIPT PER CAST MEMBER MUST BE PURCHASED FOR PRODUCTION RIGHTS. COPYING OR DISTRIBUTING ALL OR ANY PART OF THIS BOOK WITHOUT PERMISSION IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN BY LAW. On all programs, printing and advertising, the following information must appear: 1. The full name of the play 2. The full name of the playwright 3. The following notice: “Produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., Denver, Colorado” 36 For preview only THE ENCHANTED BOOKSHOP BOMBALURINA—Cat ears. Use makeup to give her a cat nose and whiskers. By TODD WALLINGER MOM—Fleece jacket, yoga pants. CAST OF CHARACTERS TIMMY—Whatever kids are wearing these days. (In Order of Appearance) The book characters dress like they do in their books. It’s not necessary, # of lines however, to give them elaborate costumes. For the most part, each of the book characters can be identified by two or three key items, as MARGIE ..............................bookshop owner; scatterbrained, 140 listed below: eternally hopeful ROBIN HOOD—Green pointed hat, green tunic. BOMBALURINA ....................Margie’s cat; likes to steal things 8 TOM SAWYER—Straw hat, suspenders. MOM ..................................bored bookshop customer 24 SHERLOCK HOLMES—Deerstalker hat, trench coat. TIMMY ................................kid; hates books 10 TOTO—Black pointy dog ears. Use makeup to give him a dog nose ROBIN HOOD ......................vain Medieval English outlaw 54 and whiskers. TOM SAWYER ......................mischievous Missouri schoolboy 36 DOROTHY—Calico dress, silver shoes (as in the book). Note that SHERLOCK HOLMES ............brainy English detective 58 the ruby slippers are from the 1939 MGM movie and are not TOTO ..................................Dorothy’s dog; not as brave as n/a in the public domain. he thinks he is HEIDI—Dirndl, braided hair. POLLYANNA—Frilly 1910’s-era dress, large hair bow. DOROTHY ...........................Kansas farm girl; fearless, clever 64 LADY IN RED—Red dress, mink stole, red pillbox hat with veil. HEIDI..................................Swiss mountain girl; 38 FAGIN—Shabby overcoat, flat wide-brimmed hat, scraggly beard melodramatic and moustache. POLLYANNA .........................New England schoolgirl; 42 LONG JOHN SILVER—Pirate hat, long coat, parrot. For the peg leg, annoyingly optimistic wrap the lower leg in a cardboard tube painted to look like BOOK FAIRY ........................brings the book characters to 29 wood. Or you can buy a “peg leg sock” from one of several life; overbearing online vendors. Either way, the realism of the effect will mostly LADY IN RED .......................mysterious bookshop customer 24 depend on the stiff-legged walk of the actor. FAGIN .................................English pickpocket; sneaky 13 OFFICER KETCHUM—Police uniform including hat. LONG JOHN SILVER .............English pirate; treacherous 17 EDDIE and FINGERS—Black knit cap, black sweatshirt. OFFICER KETCHUM..............confused police officer 24 DOCTOR DOLITTLE—Top hat, frock coat, stethoscope. QUEEN OF HEARTS—Crown, gown with hearts. FINGERS .............................jewel smuggler; dumb 61 FRANKENSTEIN—Dark jacket, clunky shoes, green makeup. EDDIE.................................another; bossy and dumb 90 WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST—Witch hat, black dress, green DOCTOR DOLITTLE ..............English veterinarian; talks 16 makeup. to animals HOPALONG CASSIDY—Cowboy hat, neck bandanna. QUEEN OF HEARTS ..............ruler of Wonderland; hothead 9 FRANKENSTEIN ...................monster; grunts a lot n/a FLEXIBLE CASTING WICKED WITCH BOMBALURINA, TIMMY, TOTO, OFFICER KETCHUM, FINGERS, and OF THE WEST ......................Dorothy’s nemesis; smart aleck 8 EDDIE can be played by either gender with few, if any, line changes. HOPALONG CASSIDY ...........noble cowboy 7 The actor playing FAGIN can double as DOLITTLE and either FRANKENSTEIN or HOPALONG. The actress playing LADY IN RED can double as QUEEN OF HEARTS and WICKED WITCH. ii 35 RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only PRODUCTION NOTES SETTING Time: Present. PROPERTIES ONSTAGE Place: A Likely Story used book store. Shelves with books, cat bed hiding a rabbit’s foot and a locket, sign showing the name of the store, “A Likely Story,” and a counter with SYNOPSIS OF SCENES cash register, phone, pen, notepad, bottle of glue, and containing some shopping bags. ACT ONE In ACT TWO, Scene Four, a fake necklace is added to the locked book Scene One: One evening near closing time. that is onstage. Scene Two: That night. Scene Three: The next day. PROPERTIES BROUGHT ON ACT ONE Scene Four: That night. Scene One: Scene Five: The next day. Book (MARGIE) ACT TWO Phone (TIMMY) Scene One: That night. Scene Three: Scene Two: The next day. Locked book containing diamond necklace (LADY IN RED) Scene Three: That night. Scene Four: Pillow, Robin’s hat (BOMBALURINA) Scene Four: The next day. Slingshot, three marbles, two pennies, string, magnifying glass, SET DESCRIPTION beetle (TOM) A quaint used book store with the walls lined with bookshelves. The Bow, arrow (ROBIN) main entrance is at STAGE RIGHT. The entrance from the upstairs Hairpin (POLLYANNA) apartment is at STAGE LEFT. A counter with a cash register is UP Lock pick (FAGIN) RIGHT. The counter hides a low opening in the UPSTAGE WALL through Parrot (LONG JOHN) which the book characters enter and exit. ACT TWO Bombalurina’s cat bed is DOWN LEFT. A sign shows the name of the Scene One: store, “A Likely Story.” Slingshot (TOM) Scene Two: Photo (FINGERS) Scene Three: Binoculars (BOMBALURINA) Stretcher (ROBIN, DOLITTLE) Scene Four: Lasso (HOPALONG) “Real” diamond necklace (LONG JOHN) Book (TIMMY) COSTUMES The real-life characters wear contemporary clothing. MARGIE—Funky, bohemian-style clothing. 34 iii RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only SET DESIGN 1 BOOK FAIRY: No, Margie. They’re not gone. They’re right where they’re supposed to be, just waiting for someone to open their books and bring them to life. MARGIE: But how will that ever happen? Hardly anyone comes to the 5 store anymore. And when they do, they don’t buy anything. BOOK FAIRY: Oh, Margie. You’ve got to have faith! Someday, maybe, if you truly believe— (Hears MOM and TIMMY approach.) Uh oh. Somebody’s coming. I’ve got to go. (EXITS UPSTAGE.) MARGIE: (Calls after her.) It was nice knowing you! I guess. 10 MOM: (Bursts IN RIGHT with TIMMY, who clutches his copy of White Fang.) We’re back! MARGIE: What’s the matter? Didn’t he like the book? MOM: Are you kidding? He loved it! TIMMY: It was the greatest book ever! 15 MARGIE: I’m so glad you enjoyed it! TIMMY: Do you have any more? MARGIE: Do I have any more? I’ve got a whole store full of books! MOM: What would you recommend? MARGIE: (Pulls books off the shelf and names each one.) Well, there’s 20 Robin Hood and Pollyanna and Sherlock Holmes and Heidi and Tom Sawyer and… (Pauses at The Wizard of Oz.) And then there’s this one, the most special one of all. (Places the book in TIMMY’S hands.) TIMMY: The Wizard of Oz? I thought that was a movie. MARGIE: Oh, sure. They made a movie out of it, but if you really want 25 to see some great special effects, you’ve got to read the book. TIMMY: Awesome! MOM: We’ll take them all. MARGIE: Wonderful! I’ll bag these up for you. (Goes behind the counter and gets out a shopping bag.) 30 MOM: No, no. I don’t mean these all. (Gestures toward the books in MARGIE’S hands.) I mean these all. (Gestures toward all the books in the store.) MARGIE: The entire store? MOM: The entire store. 35 TIMMY: Wow! Thanks, Mom! MARGIE: Well, Bombalurina, it looks like we’re going to need some more bags! (Gets out a big stack of bags and starts bagging up books as MOM and TIMMY eagerly look through The Wizard of Oz. Delighted to finally get rid of them, BOMBALURINA brings her more books.