AFTER (adult content and language, some violence)
Chrissy Moore-Haines
After is a play about people. It is character based and explores the terrors and pleasures of growing up in a world very different from the world we live in now.
The children in Gamston Lodge children's home have been left without adult supervision owing to a disease epidemic which has destroyed not only their society but the world in general.
A mysterious man has come into their lives and taken them over, looking after them in a much more benign way than did their previous 'carers' .
The play opens with the children alone. Joshua, the one adult in their lives, has gone to find something, they're not quite sure what, and they are once again fending for themselves.
A wounded man arrives on their door step and without Joshua to guide them, the older children try to care for him.
Joshua returns but he is not alone. He has brought a woman from another 'community' with him.
The play explores the sexual and emotional tensions between the teenagers and the three adults.
Some adult language and indications of past child abuse. Unsuitable for under sixteens.
Adults 2males 1female 16s 2males 1 female 5/6 children
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Oz
Chrissy Moore-Haines (Based upon the story by L.Frank Baum)
Fairly faithful retelling of the Wizard of Oz story adapted for the smaller stage.(The Yellow Brick Road goes nowhere) and there are no falling houses.
Large chorus of Munchkins plus the seven principals.
Live dog optional!
Three sets
Good fun for all the family.
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RATS or the Pied Piper of Olde (Dolgellau) Towne
Chrissy Moore-Haines (Based upon the Browning poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin & Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet)
Specifically written for Dolgellau Amateur Dramatic Society but with a bit of twiddling it could be made to fit any town.
It is a rhyming play with the rhymes flowing between characters and the narrator, so it is quite easy to learn, like learning poetry but must be performed accurately.
The play tells the Pied Piper of Hamelin story with an added Romeo and Juliet theme of young lovers whose families are opposed to them through past differences.
When all the children disappear with the piper the two young lovers who, being teenagers are not strictly children and not affected by the Piper's spell, take the opportunity to run away.
All is resolved happily when the Mayor (father of the girl) agrees to pay the Piper. The children are returned and because the two families resolve their own differences, the young lovers return.
Needs a medium sized cast but a large chorus or rats who can double as children and towns folk.
Most of the action takes place in the town square so sets are not a big problem.
Classic family entertainment.
9 principals + Narrator & large chorus. of children
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Alice
Chrissy Moore-Haines. (based upon the book by Lewis Carroll)
Traditional characters tell this ageless story of dreams and fantasies.
The second act concentrates mainly on the trial of Hal Prince (The Knave of Hearts) for the theft of the tarts.
Some audience participation and a dame (The Duchess)
Suitable for all the family.
Large cast 15 principals chorus of flowers
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The Flute.
Chrissy Moore-Haines (based upon an original German fairy tale and the Mozart opera)
Someone, and I genuinely forget who, once said that the Mozart opera 'The Magic Flute' was 'a Pantomime for grown ups'.
This play does not stick exactly to the Mozart libretto but it does have the basic mix of good triumphing over evil, love conquering all and a lot of funny stuff along the way.
Large cast 15 principals plus various chorus parts for young dancers.
Two basic sets but the forest set does need to be large enough for the characters to 'progress' through as the story is as much about the journey as the arrival.
Warning! There is a very funny attempted suicide scene towards the end when Paul (the bird catcher) thinks he is totally alone. If you would like your copy of the play to be stripped of this very short but very funny sequence please mark your order (No Rope) and you will be sent a copy of the stripped version.
6 adults (4f 2m) 5 juveniles (3m 2f) 3 children plus chorus and dancers children
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Glittering Prizes The Prize The Visit
Chrissy Moore-Haines
Two one act plays that share some characters.
The visit tells the story of partners Ben Layman and Dorian (Dolly) Westlake two brits living in the States on the fringes of Hollywood. Dolly has been nominated for Academy Award for his script for "Medusa" Ben has his own problems. His eighteen year old daughter is coming to visit. With Dolly away at the awards ceremony Ben persuades a friend a woman to pretend to be his partner for his daughters visit.
The Prize follows Dolly to the Oscars where he is still furious that Ben hasn't come with him. He meets various people and then "Medusa" is announced as the winner for best original screen play.
.1 set per 1Act play. Ben and Dolly's apartment (the lounge) The Oscars for the Prize.
Adult themes and language in both plays
The Visit
2 m 3 f
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The Prize
8 f 4 m
Beauty and the Beast
Chrissy Moore-Haines (Based upon the fairy tale of Charles Perrault)
Back to basics with this story of the love of beauty, first for her father and her family and then for the beast who is cursed by an evil queen who wanted him to marry her equally evil daughter.
Don't look for talking crockery or singing roses in this one but do use the nasty sisters to their full potential.
Play the pathos for all it's worth, there won't be a dry eye in the house.
Definitely family entertainment.
7 principals and small chorus.
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Big in Llanelli
Chrissy Moore-Haines
tells the story of Larry Bowen a failing stand up who gets taken up by a pushy 'agent' who pushes him beyond his limits and into a bizarre break down where he sees death in the audience.
Was Andy Warhol right when he said that we would live one day in a world where everyone was famous for fifteen minutes? Today's instant celebrity seems to indicate that is the case but what about the grafters, the people who work their backsides off to get somewhere in their chosen profession, what happens to them whilst we all have our shining quarter of an hour?
(Adult themes and some strong language)
2 ACTS 2 SETS Agent's office and the night club stage
4 Adults
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The daughters of Thomas Maddigan
Chrissy Moore-Haines
Adult themes Some strong language
When Gardee Sergeant Thomas Maddigan drops dead his three daughters descend on the family home to get their hands on whatever he has left behind
seven principals.
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Numbers
Chrissy Moore-Haines
His granddaughter's wedding is a troubled time for Aaron Goldman.
He thinks he recognizes the groom's uncle from his time in Poland and then comes a ghost from his past. A little boy from his days in the camp appears to him and torments him throughout the wedding. No one else can see the child but his presence forces Aaron into naming the uncle as one of the camp guards with terrible consequences.
Some strong language.
Adult, racial and political themes
Large cast
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The Rose Garden
Set in Russia just prior to the first world war. There is unrest which will lead to the October Revolution but as the play opens the aristocrats are still in control and the Tsar is still in power.
The action of the play takes place in the rose garden of an aristocratic family the Karenins who are holidaying away from the city. The couple are trying to find a husband for their daughter Natasha but none of the men they have so far found for her meet with her approval.
To get herself out of the marriage stakes she has invited her former teacher to stay and she hopes that she will be able to persuade him to help her.
The teacher, Boris, has his own reasons for coming to stay, he is trying to avoid Frau Van Berg a widowed woman who has designs on him.
To complicate matters much more not only does the lady come after Boris but also he is followed by Ulianov, his revolutionary friend.
All kinds of fun are had when Frau Von Berg finds that one of Tasha's suitors is the father of her son.
Ulianov challenges Karenin, Tasha's father to an arm wrestling bout which Karenin wins and Ulianov is forced to leave.
The end of the play is after the revolution. Karenin's father-in-law is still in the rose garden at the Dacha where he is visited by the terminally ill Ulianov whose revolutionary party has come to power.
4f 6 m 1 m child
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Aladdin
Chrissy Moore-Haines (Based upon the story in The Arabian Nights)
A traditional 'pantomime' with dame, randy lodger and feckless Aladdin with added complications of stolen boy babies and a sweetheart whose dad empties toilets for a living.
Standard knock down funny stuff with one original song.
Five sets so have a good designer on hand.
Large cast so everyone gets a chance.
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Jack!
Chrissy Moore-Haines
A traditional 'pantomime' with dame, weird beans, a stroppy cow and a Jack who doesn't like heights. Add to this incompetent balif's men and orrible ogres and you've got a really funny show.
Standard knock down funny stuff .
Large cast so everyone gets a chance.
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Sleeping Beauty
Chrissy Moore-Haines (Based upon the story by Charles Perrault)
Classic tale of a beautiful princess who pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and sleeps for 150 years until a handsome prince comes along and wakes her.
Ten principals plus chorus.
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SHOES (The Cinderella Story)
Chrissy Moore-Haines (Based upon the story by Charles Perrult)
Basic Cinderella story with no Buttons, a bad fairy (so Cinders isn't quite the 'little miss' she is in the original story) and a fairy godmother who bears a more than passing resemblance to Lara Croft!
Comes with a bilingual(Welsh/English) joke and poster design competition fronted by a cartoon character called Skeeter (if required)
Professor I. Will Flog'em who tells the story in a very breathless fashion at the start and introduces the winners of the competitions etc. (Chives the cat, not a speaking part but important should be played in costume by a child. Chives converts to the uniformed chauffeur who keeps the tail and loses his tail when he changes back)
Lots of silly fun and a happy ending.
10 principals + chorus
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The Three Magic Handkerchiefs
Chrissy Moore-Haines
This completely original children's play tells the story of Prince Caspian and his man servant Paval who return from a mysterious disappearance to find that the Prince is within days of losing his crown and his kingdom to his evil uncle Demitriov..
Just twenty four hours from home they meet an old man who tells them that he is a grand wizard who has used up almost all his magic trying to find his kidnapped daughter Serena. He is old and tired and he has only one piece of magic left and no energy to continue.
Caspian persuades Paval to exchange clothes and go home in his place whilst he (Caspian) takes the final piece of magic and goes on a quest to find Serena. The magic is 3 magic handkerchiefs which help Caspian first overcome the two headed Gundistvorn monster and the Witch of Korman and then help him to make a ladder for Serena to climb down.
The action switches between Caspian's quest and Paval's deception in their homeland which is a complicated love story on it's own.
You will find no one else in your area is doing this play as it is entirely original and is obtainable from no other source.
Cast of 10 plus chorus
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Snow White
Chrissy Moore-Haines
Standard retelling of the fairy story with a living breathing mirror who thinks he's Groucho Marx and a good fairy (Fairy Nuff) who used to be the Dwarfs' house keeper.
Bilingual (has the Dwarfs with Welsh names) and there are no corsets just the bad apple.
Twist at the end the bad queen is not bumped off but turned into a loving worthwhile human being.
14 principals including Dwarfs plus huntsmen (at least 4) who have a very funny routine.
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