By Patrick Rainville Dorn © Copyright 2010, Pioneer Drama Service, Inc. 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 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, radio broadcast, television, motion picture, 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. 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. 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The following notice: “Produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., Englewood, Colorado” FAERY FREE-FOR-ALL - Notes - By PATRICK RAINVILLE DORN CAST OF CHARACTERS (In Order of Appearance) # of lines The Seelie Court TITANIA .....................................faery queen of the summer 59 court of helpful faeries (F) PEASBLOSSOM .........................sprite (F/M) 13 MUSTARDSEED .........................sprite (F/M) 11 COBWEB...................................sprite (F/M) 11 LADDIE .....................................human raised by faeries (M) 29 THISTLE....................................pixie; also plays LITTLE 21 ANGUS (F/M) HEATHER ..................................pixie (F) 16 BROOM ....................................pixie; also plays BONNIE (F) 33 BARLEY ....................................brownie (F/M) 13 BRACKEN .................................brownie (F/M) 12 BRAN .......................................brownie; also plays LORNA (F) 26 NOT-SO-FAST FOOD FAERY* ........appetizer (F/M) 1 SELKIE* ...................................seal-like shape shifter (F/M) 2 The Unseelie Court TAM LIN ....................................faery queen of the winter court 42 of malevolent faeries (F) LASSIE .....................................human raised by faeries (F) 21 MAGGY MOULACH .....................mill bogle; trickster brownie (F) 10 GLAISTIG ..................................dairy bogle (F/M) 10 JENNY GREENTEETH ..................river hag (F) 14 SHELLYCOAT .............................bog bogeyman; also plays OLD 17 MACDONALD (M) WILL O’ THE WISP .....................ghost-like wraith (M/F) 11 WHUPPITY STOORIE ..................sow-like trow (troll) (F) 15 DOBIE BROWNIE-CLOD ...............pig-like trow (M) 19 WILD HAGGIS ............................hairy goat-like trow; also plays 14 CHANGELING (M) ii PHOTOCOPYING THIS SCRIPT BREAKS FEDERAL COPYRIGHT LAWS 31 For preview only NOTE ON ACCENTS BANSHEE .................................screeching messenger of 18 Scottish accents are notoriously diffi cult to do. Generally, it’s better death (F) to skip the accent entirely unless EVERYONE can do it well. There’s FAERY ENSEMBLE .....................as COWS and to help make sound a smattering of Scottish words and terms that will give the play effects its unique fl avor. Accents should never be allowed to interfere with * Cameo roles to be played by actors from the Unseelie Court. communicating the sense of the dialogue, and therefore should be consistent amongst the cast. The following characters narrate and/or act out the story of “The Changeling”: THISTLE, SHELLYCOAT, MAGGY MULACH, JENNY PRONUNCIATION GUIDE GREENTEETH, BROOM, WHUPPITY STOORIE, BRACKEN, DOBIE, Bairn (baby): pronounced like “air” with a “b” in the front and an “n” HEATHER, WILD HAGGIS, EXTRA FAERIES. at the end The following characters narrate and/or act out the story of “The Bossy Baker Woman”: MAGGY MULACH, MUSTARDSEED, COBWEB, Bogle (trickster brownie): Bah-gull GLAISTIG, PEASEBLOSSOM, BARLEY, BRAN, WILL O’ THE WISP, Glaistig (dairy bogle): Glay-stig BANSHEE, FAERIES. Hebrides (islands off the west coast of Scotland): Heh-brid-eze Hogmanay (New Year): Hog-man-ay, with accent on fi rst syllable SETTING Moulach (mill bogle): Moo-lock TIME: In the Never Never, time is so unpredictable you can never be quite sure when you are or how long you’ve been there. But it Och (expression like “Oh”): Ock appears to be midnight under a full moon. Seelie (faery folk): See-lee PLACE: An open meadow in the Midlands of Scotland. Seileag (Loch Ness monster): Sigh-lag The open meadow can be represented by an optional backdrop of a Selkie (seal person): Sell-key faery forest, with oversized mushrooms, fl owers and other foliage, is Sidhe (faery mound or hide out, or the faery realm): Shee the setting for the open meadow. For visual variety, add levels of berms and hillocks, rocks, logs, stumps or even wooden fences. But an empty Titania (queen of the summer faeries): Tie-tay-nee-yuh stage will also do nicely. 30 PHOTOCOPYING THIS SCRIPT BREAKS FEDERAL COPYRIGHT LAWS iii For preview only WILD HAGGIS: Shaggy cloak, shaggy hair, beard, horns optional. FAERY FREE-FOR-ALL Mismatched shoes that cause the actor to move as though one leg is signifi cantly longer than the other, causing him to run in Scene One circles. (Think “Where the Wild Things Are” or Animal from “The Muppets.”) 1 AT RISE: LIGHTS are DIM. ENTRANCE MUSIC PLAYS. The helpful SEELIE FOLK ENTER at the back of the house and skip, fl it and tumble BANSHEE (in Scotland, “Bean-shidh,” messenger of death): Black- their way through the AUDIENCE, tickling, taunting and teasing them. hooded cloak or cape, long black hair, pale or skeletal features or MUSIC OUT. SOUND EFFECT: TRUMPET, DRUM ROLL, or BAGPIPE. half mask, black clothing, optional white bones painted on. Similar 5 LIGHTS UP FULL: SEELIE FOLK line up along the center aisle as they to Grim Reaper, but more feminine. giggle and speak in hushed whispers. PEASBLOSSOM: She’s coming! COSTUME ACCESSORIES MUSTARDSEED: Our queen has arrived. Cowboy hat, kilt (BIG ANGUS); frilly apron with pocket (BONNIE); baby bonnet, diaper (LITTLE ANGUS); raggedy cloak or coat, shabby hat (OLD COBWEB: Queen Titania is holding court tonight! (SEELIE FOLK bow MACDONALD); oversized baby bonnet, diaper (WILD HAGGIS); wide and 10 or curtsy. LADDIE ENTERS from the back of the theater, blowing on long ribbon (FAERIES); white apron with pocket, baker’s hat (LORNA). a trumpet, beating a drum or playing bagpipes, followed by TITANIA, wearing an airy, regal robe or wedding-type dress and a lightweight crown. Repeat ENTRANCE MUSIC, punctuated by LADDIE’S playing. THE “TUG OF WAR” SCENE TITANIA moves smoothly down the aisle and toward the STAGE. While TAM LIN and TITANIA are in the foreground discussing their 15 As she passes by them, SEELIE FOLK straighten, turn and follow discouragement about being nasty and nice, there’s a silent tug-of- behind her, skipping, dancing and tossing confetti, fl ower petals or war scene going on in the background. It’s not a long bit of dialogue, pixie dust here and there. TITANIA crosses to UP CENTER, turns and and rather than choreograph a fi ght scene or use stage combat, it is faces AUDIENCE. SEELIE FOLK scatter and sit at her feet LEFT and recommended that the director pose fi ve tableaus, positioning each RIGHT. TITANIA looks behind her and notices there is no place for person like a living statue. Then, have each actor rehearse moving 20 her to sit. Annoyed, she gestures to SEELIE FOLK, several of whom directly from one tableau to the next, with everyone moving at the gasp, run OFF and bring ON a fl ower-draped throne or oversized same speed. This will make for a much cleaner action scene with mushroom, placing it behind TITANIA, who rolls her eyes and sighs. smooth transitions, little or no possibility of injury, and that can be SEELIE FOLK take their places on the fl oor. TITANIA sits. MUSIC OUT. more easily timed to match the dialogue. The actors playing TAM LIN LADDIE fi nishes his FANFARE.) and TITANIA may also need to improvise a short amount of dialogue 25 TITANIA: (Takes a breath and begins to speak, but is interrupted by and rephrase or repeat lines, if necessary. LADDIE, who gives one last FANFARE. SEELIE FOLK cower.) Ahem. LADDIE: (Cowers.) Sorry. FLEXIBLE CASTING TITANIA: (Sighs.) Good help is so hard to abduct these days. (To Suggested cast of 22 (10 female, 4 male, plus 8 either). Extras are LADDIE.) So, go ahead. Introduce me. possible if you have a larger cast. Doubling is also possible for a 30 LADDIE: Right. (Stands.) The Seelie Court is now in session. Her smaller cast. For the two tales, the roles may be assigned to nearly any royal highness, Titania, Summer Queen of the Friendly Faery Folk, of the named faeries, or may be given to other ENSEMBLE MEMBERS. presiding. (Looks around and plays FANFARE in TITANIA’S ear.) Roles and dialogue may be combined or distributed evenly amongst the ENSEMBLE. For a larger cast, redistribute lines and characters TITANIA: (Jumps, knocking her crown askew.) Whoa! from the two tales amongst the extras, rather than having the roles LADDIE: (Sits and cowers.) Sorry! played by named characters. Or, for a smaller cast, reduce groups of 35 TITANIA: (Regains her composure and straightens her crown.) Well, three similar characters (sprites, pixies, brownies, etc.) to two and well. Here we are. The faery folk of the Seelie Court. The brightest redistribute their lines to make pairs of similar characters, then cast and most magical beings in all of Scotland, gathered together in the tales from the named ensemble as recommended in the cast of this Midland meadow for our full moon revels. (Points.) I see the characters. Highland pixies are present. Welcome, Thistle, Heather and Broom. 28 1 For preview only 1 (PIXIES stand, bow or curtsy, then sit.) And the Lowland brownies— FAERIES, and Halloween-style or animal makeup and wigs for the Barley, Bracken and Bran.