Peter Pan and Wendy by Margaret Larlham

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This Play is the copyright of the Author and must not be Performed or Copied without the Author's prior consent


PROLOGUE

(BRAVE BAND plays overture. BRAVE ONE thanks audience for applause and
announces imminent arrival of TIGER LILY. TIGER LILY enters. She sings
to BRAVES rock band accompaniment.)

SONG
Are you the one?
We all have to grow up
Stand tall, learn to own up
Start small then you grow up
Start loud, learn to shut up!
Are you the one they speak of?
All children have to grow up
All children have to grow up
But grown-ups know you never grow up!
Not really!

TIGER LILY
Once upon a never time in a
second-to-the-right-and-straight-on-till-morning Neverland of dreams,
a fairy boy and a living, breathing Darling girl swung through the
stars and thwarted pirates' schemes. It's your story too! Are you the
one? Are you the one they speak of? All children grow up except one!

ACT 1

SCENE 1: Shadow at the Window

(Interior of a Victorian bedroom and living room. Silk curtains at
the upstairs window sway gently in the evening breeze. A large dog
kennel downstairs.)

AT RISE: The moon rises. Enter PETER PAN, his SHADOW and TINKERBELL
are seen silhouetted against the moon. Glow from upstairs window of
the Darling house. Large bed.

(Enter NANA)

NANA
Ruff!
(Howls at moon.)

(Enter MRS.DARLING)

MRS.DARLlNG
Dear Nana, where are the children? Have you bathed
Michael and John? What a treasure and a blessing you are! You know Mr.
Darling and I have to How I wish we did not have to attend a dinner
party tonight-but I suppose! Goodness!
(Sees PETER PAN and SHADOW.)
Look Nana! Do you see? Look! A-what is that . . .?

(PETER PAN and SHADOW ONE appear in the window.)

(NANA barks. SHADOW ONE comes in through window. MRS. DARLING closes
window. Enter the double-SHADOW TWO. The two SHADOWS alternate showing
themselves in different areas of the stage-SHADOW thus appearing to
transport magically. MRS DARLING and NANA bewildered by movement of
SHADOW but continue to chase SHADOW.)
MRS. DARLING
Oh! Oh, my goodnessNana!

(NANA Barks)

MRS.DARLING
Let's get them, Nana! One-two-three!

(MRS DARLING and NANA chase, catch and separate PETER from his
SHADOW. PETER PAN escapes through the window but MRS DARLING and NANA
capture SHADOW and place “it” in the BACKLIT SHADOW BOX/CLOSET. We see
the SHADOW frantic as light in BACKLIT SHADOW BOX/CLOSET fades. MRS.
DARLING and NANA congratulate each other.)


SCENE 2: Playing Grown-up

(Enter MICHAEL/LIGHT SHADOW TWO running toward and then evading
NANA.)

MICHAEL
(Obstreperous)
I won't go to bed, I won't, I won't! Nana, it isn't six o'clock yet. I
tell you I will not be bathed.

(Exit MICHAEL and NANA. Enter WENDY and JOHN/LIGHT SHADOW FIVE)

WENDY + JOHN
Mother!
(Hug her)

WENDY
Mother, we are playing!

JOHN
We are doing an act; we are playing at being you and father.
(Admonishing tone as NANA barks offstage)
A little less noise there, Michael!

WENDY
Now, John, let us pretend we have a baby.

JOHN
(Good-naturedly)
I am happy to inform you, Mrs. Darling, that you are now a mother.
(WENDY gives way to ecstasy.)
But Wendy-you have missed the chief thing; you haven't asked, “boy
or girl?”

WENDY
I am so glad to have one at all, I don't care which it is!

JOHN
(Crushingly)
That is just the difference between gentlemen and ladies. Now you tell
me!

WENDY
I am happy to acquaint you, Mr. Darling-you are now a father.

JOHN
Boy or girl?

WENDY
(Presenting herself)
Girl!

(Enter MICHAEL.)

MICHAEL
Can I play?

JOHN
No!

MICHAEL
Am I not to be born at all?

JOHN
Two is enough!

MICHAEL
Nobody wants me!

MRS. DARLING
I do!

MICHAEL
Boy or girl?

MRS. DARLING
(Conciliatory)
Boys and girl!


SCENE 3: Mr. Darling Has a Bad Day

(Enter MR.DARLING “as a tornado,” brandishing in his hand a
recalcitrant tie.)

MR. DARLING
Oh, here you are, Mary.

MRS. DARLING
(Knowing full well)
What is the matter, George dear?

MR. DARLING
Matter! This tie, it will not tie.
(Sarcastic)
Not round my neck. Round the bed-post, oh yes; twenty times have I
made it up round the bed-post, but round my neck, oh dear no!

(WENDY, MICHAEL, JOHN and NANA blanch as they grasp the gravity of
the situation.)

MRS. DARLING
Let me try, dear! WendyMichael?

(WENDY, MRS. DARLING, MICHAEL, JOHN all help to tie the tie.)

MR. DARLING
I warn you, Mary, that unless this tie is round my neck we don't go
out to dinner to-night, and if I don't go out to dinner to-night I
never go to the office again, and if I don't go to the office again
you and I starve, and our children will be thrown into the streets!

(Enter NANA chasing JOHN.)

JOHN
(Rebellious)
I won't be bathed. You needn't think it!

(JOHN collides with Mr. DARLING.)

MR. DARLING
(Grandiose)
Go and be bathed at once, sir!

(Resigned, JOHN follows NANA. MR. DARLING swells with satisfaction.
Unfortunately NANA collides with MR. DARLING on the way to the
bathroom.)

MR. DARLING
Clumsy, clumsy dog!

(ALL shocked at his use of the word “dog.” NANA exits, a drooping
figure.)

MR. DARLING
(Depressed)
I sometimes think, Mary, that it is a mistake to have a dog for a
nurse.

MRS. DARLING
George, Nana is a treasure! We cannot do without her!

MR. DARLING
No doubt; but she looks upon the children as puppies.

MRS. DARLING
(Faintly)
Oh no, dear one, I am sure she knows they have souls.

MR. DARLING
(Profoundly)
I wonder, I wonder!

(The opportunity has come for MRS. DARLING to tell him of something
that is on her mind.)

MRS. DARLING
George, we must keep Nana. I will tell you why.
(Her seriousness impresses him.)
My dear, when I came into this room to-night I saw a face at the
window.

MR. DARLING
(Incredulous)
A face at the window, three floors up? Pooh!

MRS. DARLING
It was the face of a little boy; he was trying to get in.

MR. DARLING
In here?

MRS.DARLING
Yes! He escaped, but Nana and I caught his shadow!

MR. DARLING
Mary, Mary, such nonsense!

MRS. DARLING
(Triumphant)
I have the shadow. I rolled it up, George; and here it is.

(The BACKLIT SHADOW BOX/CLOSET lights up and reveals an angry
combative SHADOW ONE trying to escape.)

MR. DARLING
It is nobody I know, but he does look a scoundrel.

MRS. DARLING
What if he comes back to get his shadow, George?

MR. DARLING
I dare sayhmm!
(He sees himself telling the story to the other stools at the office.)

There is money in this, my love. I shall take it to the British Museum
to-morrow and have it priced.

(SHADOW ONE light fades out)

MRS. DARLING
Yes.
(Sliding her hand into his)
George, what can all this mean?

MR. DARLING
What indeed!

(MR. DARLING gives MRS. DARLING a hug and kiss.)

(This intimate scene is broken by the return of MICHAEL and NANA with
a spoon in her mouth. Enter WENDY and JOHN following.)

MRS. DARLING
(Dissembling)
What is that, Nana? Ah, of course; Michael, it is time for your
medicine.

MICHAEL
(Rudely)
Won't take it!

MR. DARLING
(Recalling his youth)
Be a man, Michael!

MICHAEL
Won't!

MRS. DARLING
(Weakly)
I'll get you a lovely chocky to take after it.

(MRS. DARLING exits. MR. DARLING calls after her.)

MR. DARLING
Mary, don't pamper him. When I was your age, Michael, I took medicine
without a murmur. I said “Thank you, kind parents, for giving me
medicine to make me well.”

WENDY
(Produces medicine bottle and takes spoon from NANA.)
Take some, Father! Show him how you take it, Father!
(Proudly, as she pours medicine onto spoon)
Michael, now you will see how father takes it!

MR. DARLING
(Hedging)
Michael first!

JOHN
Father first!

MR. DARLING
Hold your tongue, sir!

WENDY
(Sweetly)
I thought you took it quite easily, father, saying “Thank you, kind
parents, for---”

MR. DARLING
That is not the point!

MICHAEL
Father's a cowardy custard.

MR. DARLING
So are you a cowardy custard.

(They are now glaring at each other.)

MICHAEL
I'm not frightened.

MR. DARLING
Neither am I frightened.

MICHAEL
Well, then, take it.

MR. DARLING
Well, then, you take it.

WENDY
Why not take it at the same time?

MR. DARLING
(Haughtily)
Certainly. Are you ready, Michael?

WENDY
One-two-three

(MICHAEL partakes, but MR. DARLING resorts to hanky-panky.)

JOHN
Father hasn't taken his!

(MICHAEL howls.)

WENDY
(Pained)
Oh father!

(WENDY and ALL exit to inform MRS. DARLING.)
Mother!

MR. DARLING
(Left alone, to audience)
I meant to take mine but I-missed it. I say, I have just thought of
a splendid joke. I shall pour my medicine into Nana's bowl, and she
will drink it thinking it is milk!

[end of extract]

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