The Pied Piper

Subject:
Art

This show really comes to you ‘on a plate’!

This fantastic new version of ‘The Pied Piper’ is a first rate end of year musical for juniors that will be a hit with boys and girls alike. The script is possibly the best yet from Starshine’s Ruth Kenward and Nick Perrin as the play explores all kinds of universal truths in passing without the pace dropping at all. It’s full of humour and colourful characters, and has a very straightforward plot.
The music is as good as ever, and the detailed directions make the show simple to direct and great fun to perform. There’s even a read-aloud story on the enhanced CD, so you can familiarise your children with the plot and the characters before casting and rehearsing.

The story: Rats have taken over Hamelin, led by bossy Big Cheese! Grumpy street cleaner Mr Brümhandel fights a losing battle to keep the town clean; Hamelin’s other citizens are too lazy to lift a finger to help and the incompetent, bloated Mayor and his useless sidekicks aren’t fit to handle the situation. A boy called Peter (who struggles to keep up with the other children) is left behind in a game of chase. This turns out to be a good thing, as it leads him to meet the magical Pied Piper, who enchants birds and animals by playing tunes on his magic pipe.

When things in Hamelin reach breaking point, Peter calls the Pied Piper, hoping he’ll enchant the rats and lead them out of town - which he does! Everyone is delighted until the Piper returns to claim the 1,000 guilder fee promised to him by the Mayor. The Mayor has cheated him: there isn’t anything like 1,000 guilders in the treasury. ‘A promise is a promise,’ says the Pied Piper. To teach Hamelin’s people a lesson he plays a tune to enchant their children, leading them off into a mountain. Last as usual, Peter is the only one who isn’t trapped and returns to tell the horrified citizens of Hamelin what has happened.

All hope seems lost until Peter takes the initiative, suggesting that everyone contributes what they can to pay the Piper. When he returns, the Piper surprises them by saying that the only payment needed was their change of heart, which Peter has brought about. Now the people have learned their lesson, Peter – the true leader of Hamelin – is able to bring their children home.