Our Christmas Show 2011 - 'Saving the Theatre’ - another hit for StageRight!
This is the fourth and final play with the 'saving' theme and came about from an idea given to me by two of my younger players after the last show.
'Saving the Theatre' is a play within a play and begins with four children who sneak into an old, run down closed theatre which is to be demolished by the council. The children used to meet there every Saturday to do drama and because they stopped coming to the classes the theatre closed its doors. As they sit and talk it becomes apparent they are all very bored with computer games and miss their friends, the acting, and the plays they used to put on. The children hatch a plan to get everyone back together and try to save the theatre by putting on a play called 'Saving Story Land' which they hope will end up saving the theatre.
'Saving Story Land' becomes the 'play within the play' the children put on and in it we see wonderfully imaginative characters called Wooden Chaps, Flower Fairies, Red Forester Girls and a chorus of fairytale favourites who all step out of the Story Tellers Big Blue Book. There are also a few baddies to add to the plot like an evil Squire and his horrible twin daughters, not to mention the wood cutters. They get rid of the Story Teller by saying her stories are boring and out of date and that children are sick of her goodie image so she closes her book and leaves in a huff. When she has gone all the characters quickly realise they are lost without her to chronicle their moves and they have no idea what to do.
Only the Story Teller with a little help from the Tree of Knowledge can save the day and get all the characters back to story land and normality before all children's stories are lost forever ...
Nursery Rhymes – Fairy Tales, and pictures as well
In books full of memories with stories to tell.
Dear children, and grownups, this message we send
If there is no Story Teller, it really will be
... THE END!
Good triumphs in the end as it does in most children's stories and 'Saving Story Land' is no different. We see all the characters glad to be sent back through the Big Blue Book and the Squire ends up throwing a big super dooper party to celebrate his daughters marriage to the wood cutters.
Then of course we must not forget that there is the main play 'Saving the Theatre' which we return to at the end. The children are delighted when the theatre is eventually saved by a grumpy old caretaker called Albert who has always aspired to be on the stage and has secretly written to the National Lottery. He has been watching the rehearsals and the performance and he calls the whole cast onto the stage to tell them they have been given a grant to buy the theatre and it is saved and drama will be back again every Saturday. The only clause is that the cheques are to be made out in his name and he intends to call the theatre 'Albert Hawkin’s Stardust'. He ends with an emotive speech about always dreaming of owning his own theatre and the words...
"You're never too old to be a star in this game you know" :)
Our Christmas Show 2010 - 'Saving the Sea’ - our third hit show!
‘Saving the Sea’ is the third play with the ‘saving’ theme and takes place in a magical world under the ocean. It tells of a little girl called Isabel who finds a special silver key which has been lost by a careless Mermaid called Ruby. Ruby has been banished to the naughty rock by The Pearl of the Ocean for losing the silver key and leaving the Big Plug to the ocean bed out. This means that unless the key is found the sea will run down the plug hole and all the sea creatures will die. Isabel has a sweet innocence we can all learn from and she finds out as the play progresses that ’If you want to achieve it, you’ve got to believe it’. Isabel, her sister and two brothers have to work out the secret message on the silver key ...
Turn me once, turn me twice
The answer is something nice,
But turn me thrice and pay the price.
They then have to crack the code and open the undersea gate which will enable them to push the Big Plug back in and stop the ocean from draining away. Of course all does not run smoothly and along the way the children encounter fierce Rock Pirate Sharks, beautiful Precious Stone Mermaids like Sapphire, Emerald, Amethyst and Topaz, the fabulous Miss Wobbly and her dazzling school of Jelly Fishes and lastly the lovely Pearl of the Ocean. This is an enchanting story and has a touching message to leave the audience with a feel good glow. The moral of the story is quite clear so ‘open your hearts’ with Isabel and you may even end up believing in mermaids as well. One thing is for sure, an afternoon on the beach with your family will never be the same again after watching ‘Saving the Sea’. ‘Saving the Sea’ was performed in Feb 2011 due to the bad weather we experienced in Dec 2010.
Take a look at some photos from the show here ...
If you are school or drama group looking for a play to produce and would like more details of 'Saving the Warren' I would be delighted to discuss this with you. Please email me or call me on 01724 783877 for further details.
Warm regards
'Miss Jeannie'
Jeannie Sutton A.L.A.M.
Our Christmas Show 2009 - 'Saving the Planet’ - another success!
After the fantastic success last year with my play ‘Saving the Warren’ I could hardly wait to start on the next project, but how could I possibly think that I could write anything to top it. I knew there was no way the children would let me stage a play I had not written myself but what could I write about this time? Well, after much thought I had one of those ‘light bulb’ moments and the idea to continue with the ‘saving’ theme resulted in ‘Saving the Planet’ being born for the 2009 Stage-Right Christmas show.
With the help from the children we tried out a few improvised ideas in our Saturday drama classes and once I started to write the play the characters quickly began to evolve. In the completed script of ‘Saving the Planet’ I have done careful research to include some accurate information enabling me to mix fact with fantasy in order to make the play come to life and be believable. The audience has to decide which bits are real and which are not.
I wrote this play to help educate children about the environment, but it is also a play about not being selfish and about caring for a world where we all can live together in harmony. It is about being responsible for your actions by re-cycling. But most of all it is about respect, love, friendship and working together for a brighter future for everyone. The play is set in a re-cycling centre on the imaginary planet of BURBISHON, which is an anagram of ‘no rubbish’. There are fabulous characters like Super Shiny and So Spotless who with the help of The Squirts all care about their planet. They live together in harmony until Major Mouldy and The Grotties from the planet NULTIPOOL, (which is an anagram of ‘pollution’) come along and kidnap the Lady Lovely.
- Will Professor Perfect save his Lady Lovely?
- Will Squeaky Clean (the rapper) learn his lesson?
- Will Dolly ever walk in her ‘Jimmy Who’ shoes?
- Will Kevin and Nigel navigate the rocket back to Earth?
- Will the Squirts and the Grotties make friends?
- Will Major Mouldy and Sergeant Snot dominate the universe?
The answer to all these questions are in ‘Saving the Planet’, and as with all my work in schools, drama class and shows there is an important moral message – you just have to look, listen, and learn – this play is no exception. ‘Saving the Planet’ is about not being selfish and about caring for a world where we can all live together in harmony. It is about being responsible for your actions by re-cycling. But most of all it is about respect, love, friendship and working together for a brighter future for everyone.
This play could be staged by schools and drama groups who might be interested in its global message. The costumes are easy to make and the set is very minimal which makes it a very easy play to put on. Please note that I would be delighted to work as a consultant to cast, direct and oversee any future production of my play and include improvised drama workshops to run in conjunction with the rehearsals.
Take a look at some photos from the show here ...
If you are school or drama group looking for a play to produce and would like more details of 'Saving the Warren' I would be delighted to discuss this with you. Please email me or call me on 01724 783877 for further details.
Warm regards
'Miss Jeannie'
Jeannie Sutton A.L.A.M.
Our Christmas Show 2008 - 'Saving the Warren' - what a success it was!
This was probably the most exciting project I have ever undertaken with Stage-Right to date. All the children wanted to do a play and so I said, “OK let’s do it”, but then I could not find a suitable script. That is when I decided to be original and write my own which eventually became – “SAVING THE WARREN”. The whole journey evoked wonderful memories of when I joined the Scunthorpe Youth Theatre (all those years ago) and of my drama school days at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, better known as ‘CHAPPIES’ because our principal was Pamela Chapman. Writing, directing and staging this play was a joy from start to finish. Perhaps when I have the time I will try and get it published. The premier of ‘Saving The Warren’ was a great success and everyone did a fantastic job. I was so very proud of all the children and their performances were sensational. They made my words come to life and breathed life into the characters so they were totally believable.
This is a children’s play about a group of insects living peacefully in the warren and about good triumphing over evil. There are also lessons to be learned along the way with lots of colourful insect characters to guide you through including, Paris the Parisian Butterfly, Grimsby the Greenfly, Hilton the Black Moth, Travel Lodge the Bluebottle, Ant and Dec the Chief Ants, Davina Mac their little sister, and Little Ant. Not forgetting The Big ‘Uns, including Mr and Mrs Mayor, Councillors Cyril and George, and baddie Sir Alan Sour with his puppets Maggie & Nicky.
The play has choral speaking and poems which showcase the talents of all the players and needs no music or complicated set. Any number of children can take part as parts can easily be added to the flying and the crawling insects with their imaginative colourful costumes.
Take a look at some photos from the show here ...
If you are school or drama group looking for a play to produce and would like more details of 'Saving the Warren' I would be delighted to discuss this with you. Please email me or call me on 01724 783877 for further details.
Warm regards
'Miss Jeannie'
Jeannie Sutton A.L.A.M.