A Halloween Sleeping Beauty

Transcription

1 PLAYS is protected by U.S. copyright law. Only current subscribers may use this play ( A Halloween Sleeping Beauty A ghoulish twist on the original fairy tale where it s a curse to be beautiful. Perfect for a large cast (35+)! By Jane Tesh Characters KING ROTTENINSKI 11 WITCHY GODMOTHERS TRULY AWFUL, (Witchy Godmother #12) QUEEN UGLINA AUNT HAG KING GROSS IVOR, master wizard PRINCE RELIANT SPOOKY, his critter PRINCESS GROTESKA GUESTS WITCHES extras GHOULS GOBLINS MESSENGER BAT SCENE 1 TIME: Long ago. SETTING: Palace of King Rotteninski in Scare City. Two thrones are center. In front of thrones is fancy crib with canopy. AT RISE: KING ROTTENINSKI and QUEEN UGLINA are in thrones. GUESTS are entering and gathering. KING ROTTENINSKI stands. KING ROTTENINSKI: Welcome, everyone, to my daughter Groteska s first birthday! Welcome to our special guests, the thirteen Witchy God-mothers! (11 WITCHY GODMOTHERS and TRULY AWFUL enter. Everyone applauds. They bow.) As you know, it s the custom in Scare City for the Witchy Godmothers to give gifts to help make our little princess the most horrible in the land. (KING sits. WITCHY GODMOTHERS gather around crib.) 1ST GODMOTHER: Little princess, daughter rare, I bequeath thee scraggly hair! 2ND GODMOTHER: I give thee warts and broken nails, To look your best for casting spells! PLAYS playsmag.com 1

2 3RD GODMOTHER: My gift is a wicked cackle, Sure to make the witch fires crackle! 4TH GODMOTHER: A special broom and beady eyes, Best for riding midnight skies! 5TH, 6TH, and 7TH GODMOTH- ERS: We combined our powers dark To give you scaly skin like bark! 8TH, 9TH, AND 10TH GODMOTH- ERS: With our spell, you can ride a broom Over treetops you will zoom! 11th GODMOTHER: My gift gives you powers rare To make toads hop out of thin air! (QUEEN leans over to KING.) QUEEN (Concerned): My dear, I see only twelve Witchy Godmothers. KING ROTTENINSKI: I m sure I invited all thirteen. (TRULY AWFUL starts to present her gift when loud screech is heard. All recoil as AUNT HAG enters.) QUEEN: Oh, no! You didn t forget to send Aunt Hag an invitation! KING ROTTENINSKI: I m certain I did! I sent it by special messenger bat! AUNT HAG (Angrily): How dare you leave me out of this celebration! Why, I m the worst witch in this kingdom! I ll show you! KING (Upset): Aunt Hag, I apologize! Your invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. (AUNT HAG ignores him and goes up to the crib.) AUNT HAG: I have a gift for you, little princess. My gift is to cancel all the other gifts and make you beautiful! (GUESTS and GODMOTHERS cry out in dismay.) And when you are sixteen, you will prick your finger on a thorn and sleep until someone kisses you. Everyone in Scare City will sleep forever, because no one will kiss such a pretty thing as you! (More gasps and screams. QUEEN faints in KING s arms. AUNT HAG cackles triumphantly as curtain closes.) SCENE 2 TIME: The same. SETTING: The Palace of the neighboring city of Illville. Throne is center. AT RISE: IVOR and KING GROSS are looking sadly at baby wrapped in black blankets, which KING GROSS holds. KING GROSS: I tell you, Ivor, this is a sad day for the kingdom of Illville. This child of mine is disgustingly handsome! How did this happen? IVOR: I do not know, your majesty. KING GROSS: I had high hopes that one day my son might marry Rotteninski s daughter and unite our two kingdoms in wickedness. Why, no selfrespecting witch would look twice at this boy. IVOR: Perhaps if you spoke to the king and explained. KING GROSS: No. (Hands baby to IVOR) You are the best wizard in my kingdom. See what you can do. Perhaps if he grows up with monsters, he ll become one. IVOR: An excellent idea! I ll create a special creature who can help the prince learn to be awful. (IVOR exits with baby. MESSENGER BAT enters, holds out card to KING GROSS.) BAT (Out of breath): Have you seen Aunt Hag? I have an invitation for her. 2 PLAYS playsmag.com

3 KING GROSS: No, sorry, she s not here. BAT: Drat. Oh, well. (Exits. Curtain) SCENE 3 TIME: 16 years later. SETTING: A forest path near the palace. May be played before curtain. AT RISE: PRINCE RELIANT and his pet critter, SPOOKY, enter. PRINCE: Let s rest here. (PRINCE and SPOOKY sit down. SPOOKY bounds around and tries to lick PRINCE s face. PRINCE laughs.) Will you cut it out? (SPOOKY calms down.) I m glad you came with me, Spooky. When Ivor made you for me sixteen years ago, I ll bet he didn t think you d turn out to be my best friend. Of course, you were supposed to help me become awful, and instead, I made you nice! (Sighs) And now we re both thrown out of Illville. (TRULY AWFUL enters. PRINCE scrambles up, startled; SPOOKY jumps behind him in fright.) TRULY AWFUL: Ah-hah! Just the ones I m looking for! PRINCE: Excuse me, ma am, but we re just a couple of poor travelers out to see the world. TRULY AWFUL: No, you re not. You re Prince Reliant of Illville, all grown up. (Looks at SPOOKY) But I m not sure what this is. PRINCE: This is my pet critter, Spooky. But who are you? TRULY AWFUL (Proudly): I am Truly Awful. PRINCE (Politely): Yes, I can see that. Who are you? TRULY AWFUL: Witchy Godmother Number Twelve, one of Princess Groteska s witchy godmothers. PRINCE: Princess Groteska? TRULY AWFUL: She s so terribly beautiful, her parents kept her hidden away, but now she and all of Scare City are under a spell. You can break this spell! PRINCE (Surprised): Me? TRULY AWFUL: Well, dearie, you re the only one around here who looks the part. Come on! PRINCE: Wait! I ll do whatever I can, but why are you helping me? TRULY AWFUL: Ever have a witchy godmother? PRINCE: No, just a critter. (SPOOKY is no longer afraid of TRULY AWFUL and frolics around her, trying to lick her face. She pushes him away.) TRULY AWFUL: He s a friendly little beast, isn t he? PRINCE: He s always been my best friend, but I wouldn t mind having a witchy godmother. TRULY AWFUL: Well, you ve got one now. Besides, I never got to give the princess her birthday gift, thanks to that interfering Aunt Hag. I owe her one. Come on, I ll explain as we go. (PRINCE, TRULY AWFUL, and SPOOKY exit. MESSENGER BAT enters, still panting, looks around, shrugs, and exits.) SCENE 4 SETTING: Scare City. Same as Scene 1, except now a silken bed is center. AT RISE: WITCHES, GHOULS, and GOBLINS are sound asleep. KING and QUEEN are asleep on their thrones. PLAYS playsmag.com 3

4 PRINCESS GROTESKA is asleep in bed. PRINCE, SPOOKY, and TRULY AWFUL enter. PRINCE (Looking around in amazement): It s true, just as you said! Everyone s asleep. How did you manage to escape the spell? TRULY AWFUL: I was out of town at a Crone Fest when the princess pricked her finger on a thorn bush. PRINCE (Looking at PRINCESS): She s beautiful. And all I have to do is kiss her? TRULY AWFUL: That ll break the spell. (PRINCE approaches PRIN- CESS and leans down to kiss her when AUNT HAG enters. SPOOKY hides behind some sleeping GOBLINS.) AUNT HAG: Ah-hah! Caught you! (Waves hands and PRINCE falls asleep. AUNT HAG turns to TRULY AWFUL.) Thought you d fool me, eh? I knew your plot all along! (Waves hands and TRULY AWFUL falls asleep. While AUNT HAG is cackling, SPOOKY creeps out from hiding place and starts toward PRINCESS.) What s this? Some sort of critter, I see. Well, now you ll be my critter! (She reaches for him, but SPOOKY gets away, runs up to PRINCESS, and gives her a big lick on the cheek. This can be pantomimed, along with a loud slurping noise.) Oh, no! Stop that! (SPOOKY s kiss has awakened PRINCESS, PRINCE, and all others.) KING ROTTENINSKI: Stop Aunt Hag! (GODMOTHERS form circle around AUNT HAG, begin to chant.) GODMOTHERS: You have caused us lots of grief, Making us fall fast asleep. With our fingers we will snap, Now you ll take a nice long nap! (GODMOTHERS snap their fingers in unison and AUNT HAG falls asleep. Everyone cheers.) KING ROTTENINSKI (To PRINCE): Well, my boy, I see we have you to thank for breaking that spell. PRINCE: Your majesty, the credit goes to Spooky, my critter. (SPOOKY leaps about KING and QUEEN.) KING ROTTENINSKI: And a fine critter he is! You re a good match for my daughter, son. (PRINCE and PRINCESS hold hands.) PRINCE: I d be honored, sir. (Suddenly, AUNT HAG wakes with a loud screech. Everyone gasps and recoils.) AUNT HAG: Thought you d put one over on me, eh? Well, my powers are stronger than all of yours combined! I ll make all of you more attractive than you can imagine! (Everyone gasps and recoils. AUNT HAG raises both hands to cast her spell when BAT enters, panting. He sees AUNT HAG and straightens his shoulders.) BAT: Aunt Hag! At last! I have something for you! AUNT HAG: What are you talking about? (BAT hands AUNT HAG her invitation.) What s this? (Opens it) An invitation to the christening of Princess Groteska! So you didn t forget me, after all! KING ROTTENINSKI: I told you you were invited! (To BAT) Where have you been? I asked you to deliver that invitation sixteen years ago! BAT (Shrugging): Better late than never! KING ROTTENINSKI (Shaking head): I knew I should have gone with United Pigeon Service. (KING GROSS enters, out of breath.) 4 PLAYS playsmag.com

5 KING GROSS: Is Prince Reliant here? PRINCE: Here I am, Father. KING GROSS (Relieved): My boy, I ve been searching everywhere for you. I never should have been so thoughtless. I ve missed you! PRINCE: I ve missed you, too, Father. Does this mean I can come home? KING GROSS: Of course! I love you no matter what you look like. PRINCE: Thank you, Father! (They embrace.) KING GROSS (Looking around): So, what s going on here? AUNT HAG: It seems I m not the only one who likes to be remembered! PRINCESS: So all is forgiven? AUNT HAG: Yes, my dear. I m sorry I made you so pretty. KING ROTTENINSKI: But like my very good friend, King Gross, I love my child no matter what she looks like! TRULY AWFUL: If you like, I can make you both ugly. I still owe the princess a gift. PRINCE: That s very generous of you, Truly, but I like the way I am, and now I have a lovely princess. PRINCESS: I like the way I look, too, and my prince is more than charming. PRINCE: How about something nice for Spooky? He s the real hero. TRULY AWFUL: A great idea! (Waves her hands and chants) Silent critter, you re a peach, I give to you the gift of speech! (SPOOKY bounds about.) SPOOKY: Wow, thanks! There s something I ve always wanted to say! KING ROTTENINSKI: And what s that, Spooky? SPOOKY: Happy Halloween! ALL (To audience): Happy Halloween! (Curtain) PRODUCTION NOTES A Halloween Sleeping Beauty CHARACTERS: 4 male; 4 female; 12 male or female for Godmothers; 2 male or female for Spooky and Bat; as many male and female extras as desired. PLAYING TIME: 15 minutes. COSTUMES: Witch costumes for God-mothers, Kings, Queen, Aunt Hag, Ivor, Guests, and other Witches. Truly Awful wears red cape; Kings and Queen wear crowns; Ivor has tall pointed cap; Prince and Princess wear orange and gold; Spooky wears a monster outfit or weird animal costume; Bat has bat costume, hat and vest. Guests, Witches, Goblins, and Ghouls wear appropriate Halloween attire. PROPERTIES: Two baby dolls, one wrapped in a black blanket; wands for Witchy Godmothers; invitation for Bat. SETTING: Scenes 1 and 4, Palace of King Rotteninski, with two thrones and crib (Scene 1) and silken bed (Scene 4). Scene 2, Palace of King Gross of Illville, with throne. Scene 3, a forest. Scenes 2 and 3 may be played in front of curtain.if desired, stagehand carries sign reading 16 YEARS LATER across stage before action begins. LIGHTING and SOUND: No special effects. PLAYS playsmag.com 5