Prologue: (pages 3 - 7)
Everyone on stage, but no one has a name.
Stache snaps his finger and lights change.
Orphans/ Lost Boys:
Boy
Ted
Prentiss
Lord Astor: father to Molly
Mrs. Bumbrake: Molly’s nanny, played by a man, 50ish
Grempkin: schoolmaster
Two identical trunks slated for two ships - one for the Wasp, captained by Robert Falcon Scott, destined for Rundoon, with cargo belonging to Queen Victoria.
A miniature of the Wasp is passed around by the crew.
Slank switches the identical trunks - one with cargo belonging to the Queen, with another trunk filled with sand, destined to be put on the Neverland, an older, slower ship, also destined for Rundoon.
A miniature of the Neverland is passed around by the crew.
Grempkin plots to sell the boys into slavery.
The cast becomes the crew. Slank begins to order the crew about as they begin to set sail….
Scene One: (pages 8 - 17)
Setting: The Neverland Vessel
Characters:
Slank, Lord Astor, Molly, Mrs. Bumbrake, nattily attired naval officers, ragged Neverland crew, the Lost Boys
Slank orders the crew to stow the switched trunk - the one with the Queen’s belongings - in his cabin.
Singing
Nattily attired British sailors, smart and neat, snap to attention and march on, led by Lieutenant Greggors to accompany Lord Astor to the Wasp. Lord Astor places Molly, his beloved daughter, in the care of Captain Slank, and gives him a gold coin to insure her safe keeping.
(Perhaps the trip bearing the Queen’s cargo to Rundoon might be more perilous and subject to pirate attacks…..)
There is a cat on board the Neverland.
During Slank’s narration, the boys climb into a crate, and then tumble out, with the Boy hanging just over Molly’s head. This is how Molly and Boy meet for the first time.
Lord Astor tells Molly that there is nothing of value in the Queen’s trunk, but the contents have to be destroyed, and it has to be done before the king of Rundoon knows he’s on the island.
Lord Astor tells Molly how he is going to destroy the contents of the Queen’s trunk in the language of the “DoDo”, a now extinct and quite stupid bird.
Lord Astor tells Molly how he is going to destroy the contents of the Queen’s trunk in the language of the “DoDo”, a now extinct and quite stupid bird.
Lord Astor gives Molly an identical amulet to his and tells her never to take it off nor allow anyone to touch it.
Molly begins to cry, upset that she can’t go on the adventure with her father, and says she is only an apprentice “starcatcher” - if she were a real starcatcher, she would be allowed to go with her father on his grand adventure.
At the word “starcatcher”, Slank twitches.
Lord Astor marches off, escorted by his smartly dressed naval officers.
As soon as Lord Astor leaves, Slank turns nasty and has Molly and Mrs. Bumbrake hustled into their cabins as prisoners - but not before propositioning Mrs. Bumbrake.
Alf, a kindly sailor, takes Mrs. Bumbrake under his wing. There is chemistry between the two of them.
Slank orders the sailors to set sail and threatens them with his whip (a rope) if they don’t snap to immediately.
Scene Two: (Pages 18 - 22)
Setting: Molly’s Cabin: tiny square of light
Characters: Molly, Mrs. Bumbrake, Alf
Alf: a short, chubby sea dog
Props: a bucket of slop
Mrs. Bumbrake has a monologue about her youth.
Alf bumbles in to check on them. There is an immediate connection between Alf and Mrs. Bumbrake.
He leaves to feed the slop to the “pigs”. Thinking they are real pigs, Molly runs out after to play with the little piggies - she loves animals - and leaves the door ajar.
Scene Three: (Pages 22 - 23)
Setting: the Ship’s Bowels
Characters: Ship’s crew
Mack: Captain Pembridge, the rightful captain of the ship who has been imprisoned by Slank
Featured: Alf, Molly, Slank, Mack
Special Details: The men’s backs make up the walls and the doors of the ship.
Molly opens up a “door” to reveal a group of scalawags playing poker. She makes her way down the gangway (a rope) and opens another door to reveal sailors singing hymns. She slams it shut. Molly then opens another door and finds Slank torturing Captain Pembridge with a branding iron - branding a “P” on his left hand so he won’t forget which side is port. Molly spots Alf and follows him to where the pigs are.
Scene Four: (Pages 24 - 32)
Setting: the bilge of the boat - claustrophobic
Characters: the three filthy urchins, Alf, Molly
Prentiss: claims to be the leader
Ted: obsessed with food, fights with Prentiss about
Alf enters the dungeon, followed unseen by Molly, to feed slop - worms! - to the boys. As soon as he enters, the boys, Prentiss and Ted, begin to ask Alf questions and try to claim leadership from the others. Alf throws a bucket of slop at Ted who devours the contents, which turn out to be worms! Alf informs the boys - rudely - that they have to stay in the dungeon until Slank hands them off to Zarboff, the King of Rundoon.
He then leaves, and Molly steps forward into the light. The boys have never seen a girl before and they shrink in fear from her. Again, Prentiss and Ted begin to argue about who the leader is, when the boy steps forward into the light and addresses Molly. We find out that the boy and Molly are thirteen - but, wait! - today is her birthday so she is fifteen. (Molly has read Alice in Wonderland, and now, like Alice, only celebrates odd-numbered birthdays.)
The boys refuse to tell Molly their names until she informs them that they will get meat if they tell her their names, which they promptly do. Prentiss tells Molly that Ted is obsessed with food, which he promptly denies, until Prentiss utters the phrase “Sticky pudding”, which makes Ted fall to his knees in a swoon.
Molly notices the dirty boy hiding in the shadows. Ted and Prentiss begin to tease him, calling him “Friendless” and “Nameless”. Molly takes an interest in the boy, which is the first time anyone has ever paid any attention to him at all. Ted brings the conversation back to his favorite topic - food - and wants to know when are they going to eat. Printess informs Molly that she can be the temporary leader until they can eat - because girls can’t be leaders. Being vastly superior to boys - and everyone in general - she ignores the insults and leads the two boy to the mess hall, leaving the nameless boy alone.
When Molly and the boys leave, the nameless boy is haunted by the voices and images of his tortured past at St. Norbert Orphanage.
Flashback to St. Norbert Orphanage, where many orphans are standing shivering in the cold while Grempkin, the headmaster brandishes a whip.
Narrator Bumbrake enters singing a snatch of a lullaby, which is reminiscent of the nameless boy’s childhood.
Narrators Astor and Alf enter and narrate a tableau of the nameless boy’s parents and his family embracing him.
Scene Five: (Page 35 - 43)
The Wasp - Captain’s Cabin
Characters: Aster, Greggors (who is actually Smee), and the seamen.
Greggors (Smee) and his men have disguised themselves as Her Royal Majesty’s Officers, but they are actually pirates. They usher Lord Aster, Molly’s father, into the captain’s quarters. When Lord Aster demands to see Captain Scott, Smee advances to the center of the cramped quarters where there is a large lumpy shape covered by a Union Jack. See throws off the Union Jack to reveal - Captain Scott, trussed up like a chicken with a gag in his mouth.
Smee demands that Aster give him the key to the Queen’s trunk, but Aster refuses, saying Smee will have to kill him first. Smee shrugs and says he was going to kill him second, after Scott, but he’s flexible.
Offstage, a loud sneeze can be heard, and the sneezer is approaching the cramped quarters, sneezing mightily. Smee informs Aster that all of his crew are in chains in the hold below.
*Aster and Smee do a little vaudeville routine as a run-up to Stache’s entrance.
When Aster asks who their leader is, Smee answers that their leader is “the devil himself” - Stache! At the utterance of Stache’s name, all the pirates scream in terror. Suddenly, there stands Black Stache himself, holding a bucket, which he promptly pukes in. “Black Stache” cordially waves hello to Aster and launches into a limerick, ending with a demand for the key to the trunk.
Stache commands his men to take Lord Aster’s coat which he then puts on and admires his reflection in the mirror. Stache asks again for the key, but when Lord Aster refuses he throws a temper tantrum and orders Smee to drag in the trunk. Stache suggests to Lord Aster that they intercept The Neverland, which Molly is on, so Aster can watch her die. He reaches into Lord Aster’s pocket for the key to the trunk. Everyone’s attention is so focused on the key that they don’t notice that the amulet which hangs around Lord Aster’s neck is beginning to glow.
Scene 6: (Page 44 - 47)
Setting: Onboard the passageway in “The Neverland”
Charaters: Molly, Prentiss, Ted, the Boy, Mrs. Bumbreak
Special Effects: red glow, floating cat, ringing bells, glowing amulets
Molly’s amulet is also beginning to glow - and ring! When Prentiss - who is still insisting he’s the leader - demands to know why her amulet is glowing and ringing, Molly tells them her father is going to Rundoon on a secret mission for the Queen. We suddenly hear Mrs. Bumbreak’s voice calling for Molly. Molly hustles the boys out of the passageway with the promise of more food if they keep it quiet. The only thing on Ted’s mind is food - glorious food - and pork!
Now there is ringing heard from someplace else, and the shadow of a cat can be seen on Slank’s cabin door. Inside his cabin is a red glow.
The boy, intrigued, opens the cabin door and out floats Slank’s cat, along with bells ringing, and the cabin glowing.
Molly immediately makes the connection between the floating cat, the ringing bells, and the glowing cabin.
“This can only mean one thing!” Molly says.
Cut to: Lord Aster on “The Wasp” who is holding his glowing amulet, and whispers the word, “Star Stuff!”
“Star Stuff!” Molly repeats. “And the Queen’s trunk is in Slank’s cabin!”
Molly, with great effort, closes Slank’s cabin, and tells the boys, “Nothing to see here! Move along!” But the boys aren’t so easily distracted; they insist they saw the cat flying and the cabin glowing and they heard the bells ringing.
Molly decides to try another distraction and offers to tell them a bedtime story, but Prentiss and Ted ask her - “A bedtime story? What’s that? It’s kinda hard to have a bedtime story when you don’t have a bed!” Molly is appalled and tells the boys she is sorry. The boy speaks up for the first time and calls her out on constantly saying “sorry” to everything as if that makes everything all right. It doesn’t! And he dreams of the time - maybe 200 or 300 years from now - when boys will be free and no one will ever have to say “sorry” because there won’t be a reason to be sorry about anything.
Molly is moved by this glimpse into the boy’s soul. And so she insists on telling them the story of “Sleeping Beauty” as she hustles them out of the passage way towards safety.
Scene 7: (Pages 49 - 51)
Scene 7: (Pages 49 - 51)
Setting: “The Wasp” - the Captain’s Cabin
Characters: Stache, Smee, Aster, Sanchez
The trunk slides on with Stache lounging on top of it, waxing beatifically about his childhood. He then hops off with the key in hand, opens the trunk’s lid and waits - dramatically. But nothing happens. It’s just sand in the trunk! Stache does a little jokey thing about how he needs a hero to complete him as a villain.
Smee suggests that perhaps the trunk with the magic sand has been switched and it’s sailing away on the Neverland; Smee, then fearful of Stache’s ire, immediately contradicts himself - “No, stupid, Smee! Stupid!” Surprisingly, Stache sees the plausibility of that scenario and immediately calls for some “intel” about the Neverland and the boy slowly pushes on stage a large scale model of the Neverland. Then, Stache calls for intel on their ship, the Wasp, a model of which is pushed onstage by the much put-upon Sanchez. The Wasp is much faster than the Neverland, which means that their ship is far ahead of the much slower Neverland - a feat of mental gymnastics which eludes Sanchez. Stache commands Sanchez several times to turn the ship around to catch the Neverland. And as his poor put-upon crew push Stache and the trunk off, Stache screams “The game’s afoot! Catch me a Neverland!”
Scene 8: (Pages 52 - 53)
Setting: The Neverland; the bilge dungeon
Characters: Molly, the boy, Narrator Aster, Ted, and Prentiss
The boys are curled up asleep around Molly’s feet as she finishes her bedtime story of Sleeping Beauty. As soon as she finishes, her amulet glows red. Molly knows that it is her father trying to contact her. She leaves the sleeping boys and heads for the deck. Aster appears on The Wasp. The Narrator Aster begins to narrate the following action as the boys act it out.
Aster and Molly use the amulets as if they are poorly working cell phones, constantly adjusting the phones’ positions, their positions, and asking, “Can you hear me now?” Finally, Molly blurts out that the Queen’s trunk is on board The Neverland. Aster admonishes her not to speak in English and switches to “Dodo” - a language of chirps, squeaks, and burps. Molly’s dodo is not as strong as dad’s and so thinks he is saying a bunch of parrots have taken over the ship. Dad switches to English and says, “Pirates! Pirates have taken over the ship!” Aster tells Molly that The Wasp is bearing down on The Neverland and for her to steer clear of Black Stache and bring the trunk to him, Aster, immediately. Lord Aster tells her not to let him down, that this is her mission now. Molly is so ecstatic at being charged with this awesome responsibility and able to prove her mettle at last, that she begins to screech in dodo, until the boy appears and asks, “What are you dong?” Startled, Molly lets go of her amulet. Lights out on Aster.
The boy excitedly says he can help because he’s going to Rundoon to be a helper to King Zarboff. But Molly breaks the news to him that he’s not going to be King Zarboff’s helper, he’s going to be snake food for Zarboff’s pet snakes! Horribly disappointed by yet another adult lie, the boy becomes angry and starts yelling, which brings in Slank who’s been looking for him. Slank announces he’s going to deliver the trunk full of starstuff to King Zarboff who’s promised him his whole bleedin’ fleet in exchange for it. Slank takes out his whip, snags the boy, reels him in like a struggling fish on a hook, and flings him into the ocean. The boy screams for Molly to save him, and Molly - always to the rescue - jumps in, saves the floundering boy and pulls him back to the ship and to safety.
Aster appears on the deck of The Wasp, waiting for Molly to bring the Queen’s trunk from what’s left of The Neverland to The Wasp. But Molly is more concerned with the fact that Peter has been once more thrown overboard and cannot swim! She yells directions to Peter that the Queen’s trunk floats and to ride it to the island - and then pushes the trunk into the water while Aster is screaming at her, “No, Molly, No! Bring the trunk to me!”
Peter makes the boys hold hands so no one gets lost.
Scene 9: (Pages 54 - 59)
Setting: On the deck of The Neverland (Continuation of the preceding scene)
Characters: Molly, the boy, Slank, Narrator Alf
(Continuation of the preceding scene)
The boy begins asking questions about who she was just talking to and what is that thingamabob around her neck? Molly tries to play it off by saying she was talking to a porpoise that was swimming near by. The boy doesn’t buy it - “Then how come your neck-thing glows and rings by itself?” Molly answers - not very convincingly - that it’s a swimming medal. The boy is just full of questions and now wants to know what was that stuff she was talking about - that starstuff? She makes the decision to trust this boy and tell him. It’s star stuff that falls to the earth from shooting stars, Molly explains, and it’s very, very powerful! It changes those who touch it. Depending on what is inside the person, it can have either a good effect or a bad effect. Evil people wanting world domination want to steal this starstuff.
The boy wants to know what a starcatcher is and Molly explains they have special powers to keep starstuff away from tyrants who would use it to try to rule the world. There are only six and a half star catchers in the world, Molly continues. Why six and a half, the boy asks. Molly replies she is only an apprentice. The boy wants Molly to prove it but she says she’s not a magic show, but decides to dazzle him anyway by putting on a little show of levitation - levitating both herself and the cat. The boy becomes excited and wants to fly like Molly and the cat, but Molly explains that the starstuff is too dangerous and must be destroyed. Her father plans to intercept their ship, confiscate the trunk full of starstuff in Slank’s cabin and throw it into the world’s hottest active volcano, Mount Jalapeño, which is on Rundoon.
The boy excitedly says he can help because he’s going to Rundoon to be a helper to King Zarboff. But Molly breaks the news to him that he’s not going to be King Zarboff’s helper, he’s going to be snake food for Zarboff’s pet snakes! Horribly disappointed by yet another adult lie, the boy becomes angry and starts yelling, which brings in Slank who’s been looking for him. Slank announces he’s going to deliver the trunk full of starstuff to King Zarboff who’s promised him his whole bleedin’ fleet in exchange for it. Slank takes out his whip, snags the boy, reels him in like a struggling fish on a hook, and flings him into the ocean. The boy screams for Molly to save him, and Molly - always to the rescue - jumps in, saves the floundering boy and pulls him back to the ship and to safety.
Scene 10: (pages 61 - 80)
Setting: The Neverland and The Wasp
Characters: Narrator Scott, Sailor Scott, Sailor Smee, the boy, Molly, Slank, Mack, Narrator Stache, Pirate Bumbrake, Pirate Aster, Narrator Prentiss, Ted, Boxing Announcer, Pirate Alf
Storm at sea: narration, choreography, lighting cues, and an undulating rope suggest the story.
Song and choreography at the end of Act 1.
The narrators narrate the action: The Wasp is spotted fast approaching the Neverland. Molly drags the boy on the ship’s deck and kickstarts him into breathing again after his near drowning. Meanwhile, Slank mutters that Astor probably figured out that he switched the trunks. Stache orders Mack to steer hard to starboard to outrun the Wasp, but Mack, the first mate, is confused by the whole starboard/port thing. While Stache and Mack are bickering, and Stache is threatening to brand Mack’s other hand with an “S” to help him remember, the boy takes the opportunity to seize the wheel and turn the Neverland back to the Wasp. Unfortunately, the wheel snaps off and goes flying into the ocean.
The resulting jolt interferes in the “love scene’ that’s going on in Mrs. Bumbrake’s cabin between her and Alf. Suddenly, Mrs. Bambrake remembers the reason she’s on the ship - her charge, Molly! Where is Molly? She’s been gone ever so long! She tells Alf to cease and desist from kissing her arm and help her look for Molly!
Stache is standing on the deck with his men as the Neverland draws ever closer to the Wasp. We see the two ships pair off, each captain piloting a tiny replica of the Neverland or the Wasp, with a trunk, and his crew clustered around him. Narrators provide the action. Stache orders Smee to take down the Union Jack and to run up the Jolly Roger!
Two crews are assembled behind the two captains, steering two tiny ships and two similar trunks toward a moment of reckoning.
On the Wasp: Stache and his crew, pretending to be British sailors, run up the Jolly Roger. Stache and his men then board the Neverland and melee ensues!
Molly finds the boys below deck in the bilge dungeon, where she congratulates the boy for his daring move in turning the Neverland so that the Wasp could catch up. Prentiss doesn’t get what just happened nor that it’a a really good thing that the boy did that. When Molly asks them to help her get the trunk out of Slank’s cabin, Prentiss refuses - “Sorry, not our issue!” Molly shrugs and with her usual plucky can-do attitude, says, “Never mind, I’ll do it myself!” and runs out.
Ted scrutinizes the boy and says, “You’re different” and then turns to Prentiss and asks, “He’s different, isn’t he?” Printess’s only concern is to protect his own neck and declares the safest thing to do is to stay put in the dungeon. But the boy isn’t having it and runs off to help Molly.
A boxing ring! The crew gathers round Stache and Slank and the referee instructs the two to shake hands and come out rhyming in a lethal (s)word fight. The two square off, and come out swinging. Stache delivers the final blow with the first line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, but his victory gloat is cut short by a lightning strike! Everyone scatters! Molly, on top of the Queen’s trunk, is sent hurtling across the deck, howling from the lightning bolt. The Neverland is cut in two and begins to sink!
The narrators describe the splintering and halving of the Neverland by the lightning strike! Meanwhile, Molly and Mrs. Bumbrake are struggling with the Queen’s trunk to get it on board the Wasp. Slank sees them and runs over to wrench it away from them - but first he insults Betty Bumbrake. Mrs. Bumbrake, battling mightily with Slank over the trunk, calls for Alf to come help. Finally, Alf appears, and Mrs. Bumbrake grabs the ship’s cat and throws it right in Slank’s puss. Alf tosses Slank and the cat overboard to sleep in Davey Jones’ locker. But before the watery grave closes over his body, Slank first has his close-up where he emotes that his own mother abandoned him as an orphan - Mother left me on the steps of a tattoo parlor and around me neck was a notes: “Orphan Bill Slank: too wicked to end well.” That’s the end for Bill Slank!
Lord Astor, holding his amulet, sends telepathically to Molly the message that he is locked in the broom cabin on the Wasp. Molly responds telepathically that she has the trunk. But the Neverland is sinking fast! Smee runs on with the trunk of sand and like an airport style P.S.A. announces: “Check your trunk! Some trunks appear identical to others!” He drops the trunk of sand on the deck to save himself from drowning. Molly spots the boy and asks for help - she needs more time to wrestle the Queen’s trunk to her father. The boy is happy to oblige, hops on the trunk of sand that Smee dropped, and acts nonchalant.
Stache runs past and stops dead in his tracks, spins around and demands “What are you?” The kid, who is no fool, demands to know what Stache is. Stache, trying to be artful, asks the boy if that isn’t the Queen’s trunk he’s sitting on. The boy answers, “Oh, yeah, the Queen’s trunk, totally! Molly Aster told me to protect it.” Stache demands to know from whom is he protecting the trunk. “From pirates like you!” the boy answers. Stache tries to entice the boy to join the pirates - they have all sorts of fun - “a little swash, a bit o’buckle”…”Now give us the trunk and join the party!” When Stache demands his name, the boy replies he has no name. He is an orphan. And Stache, who will become the eternal nemesis of the future Peter Pan, after a long trying out of various silly names, names the boy - Pirate Pete, which the boy changes to Peter.
Stache throws Peter off the trunk and opens the trunk - sand, again! Peter tells Stache he blew it! The Queen’s trunk is now safely on The Wasp! Stache tells Peter he’s killing his buzz and throws him overboard - again!
Aster appears on the deck of The Wasp, waiting for Molly to bring the Queen’s trunk from what’s left of The Neverland to The Wasp. But Molly is more concerned with the fact that Peter has been once more thrown overboard and cannot swim! She yells directions to Peter that the Queen’s trunk floats and to ride it to the island - and then pushes the trunk into the water while Aster is screaming at her, “No, Molly, No! Bring the trunk to me!”
The storm whips up to a fury and everyone on The Neverland is preparing to abandon ship! There follows a rousing song about swimming on against the current which ends the first act.
Act 2
Prologue:
(Pages 84 - 87)
Mollusk Island - the shore
The pirates and sailors in “bewitching mermaid attire” sashay on stage to sing a song about the magical effects of starstuff!
Scene One
(Pages 91 - 93)
Setting: on a mountain top on Mollusk Island
Characters: Peter, Ted
The sky is bright, the sun is shining, and everywhere there is a sense of space and light. Peter is curled up on the Queen’s trunk, sleep talking to Molly. He wakes up and realizes he is free. Peter wonders if Ted and Prentiss made it off the ship alive. Along with the freedom comes the realization he is also alone. A yellow bird flies up and alights on his shoulder. Peter is terrified the bird will leave him and begs to stay but the bird flies away.
In staggers Ted and Prentiss, who jubilantly tells Peter that Ted floats. Printess latched onto Ted and they bobbed their way to the island. Despite Prentiss insisting that he is the leader, it’s Peter who takes on the leadership role, and sights the Wasp in the distance and decides they have to get to the ship.
Peter also informs Prentiss - who is still calling him “No Name” - that he has a name now and it’s Peter, which doesn’t impress Prentiss at all. Printess idly speculates that Molly has probably drowned, but Peter says not at all. He saw her dive off the boat as it went down like a real swimmer and he’s sure she made it to the Wasp.
Suddenly, there is a brief interlude of Mrs. Bumbrake and Alf floating by on some Neverland flotsam. She is scolding him to row faster; otherwise, they’ll end up in China at this rate and she is in no mood to eat moo shoo. Tried it once. Went through her like the winter wind in Wessex.
Suddenly, the sounds of the jungle waft up to the boys’ ears, and they are afraid. Very afraid. Peter makes the decision to hide the trunk, and then go to the beach to find some branches to make a raft to float out to the Wasp where Lord Aster will take them home.
Peter makes the boys hold hands so no one gets lost.
Scene 2 (Pages 94 - 97)
Setting: the jungle
Characters: Peter, Ted, Prentiss, Mollusks, Fighting Prawn, Stache, Smee, Molly
The boys are making their way through the jungle down the mountain, when suddenly, they are surrounded by the Fighting Prawn, Stache, Smee, and the Mollusks. The Fighting Prawn speaks “Italian” which is words for Italian food and wine. There begins a chant where everyone starts making demands: Stache wants the trunk, Smee wants some tea, the boys want food, etc. Meanwhile, Molly shows up and explains to the audience that she had to save Peter but now, her next mission is to find the trunk and take it to Daddy. The Mollusks take the boys prisoner.
Scene 3 (Pages 99 - 105)
In another part of the jungle, Fighting Prawn and Hawking Clam enter hopping mad - those bloody English ruined their bedtime story! Those bloody English always ruin everything! Hawking Clam says he and his men will capture those Bloody English and kill them, but Fighting Prawn orders him to leave Peter and little Miss Squid Poop for him. He’s going to butterfly flay them and deep fat fry! “Scampi!” he yells at his son and his men to scat. The Mollusks dance off chanting “Butterfly and deep fat fry!”
Scene 3 (Pages 99 - 105)
Setting: Mollusk Territory
Characters: Fighting Prawn, Ted, Prentiss, Hawking Clam, Peter, Molly
Fighting Prawn, the king of the Mollusks, informs Prentiss he is no savage when he expresses surprise at hearing Fighting Prawn speak French. Fighting Prawn claims it is the “not-so-great Britain” where savagery resides. He recounts the tale of how he was kidnapped and forced to labor for many years as a cook for a British nobleman until he poisoned his cannelloni and walked out wearing the Brit’s hat. Fighting Prawn makes it clear that feeding time does not mean Peter, Ted, and Prentiss are going to have dinner - it means that the boys are going to BE dinner!
The boys are about to be escorted to Mister Grin, a huge crocodile the Mollusks worship, to be sacrificed. But Peter hits upon a plan to stall - the boys will give the Mollusks a gift - a fairy tale, The Sleeping Beauty, which they will act out for the Mollusks, and if the story pleases Fighting Prawn, he will let them go. Fighting Prawn asks for the holy relic of his captivity - the kitchen timer - and gives them one minute to be amusing. A Jeopardy like tick-tock can be heard.
The boys have only heard one fairy tale and that was last night, which they fell asleep in the middle of, so they haven’t a clue how Sleeping Beauty turns out. Peter, Ted, and Prentiss valiantly act out the story but make a thorough mess of it and wind up slapping and poking each other like the Three Stooges.
Not able to stand this any longer, Molly comes out of the jungle and yells at the boys for missing the entire emotional arc of the story and abusing the theatre collective. The boys yell back at her, telling Molly that she should have stayed hidden, but suddenly Fighting Prawn begins to laugh. “You called her Molly!” laughs Fighting Prawn. “In our language Molly means ‘squid poop’ First prize - you got me with squid poop! Two thumbs up! Two thumbs way up!” Peter thinks that means that they can go free, but Fighting Prawn quickly disabuses them of that idea. “The law is the law! All English must die!” The Mollusks point their spears at Molly and the boys.
Scene 4 (pages 106 - 109)
Mister Grin’s Cage
Characters: Narrator Astor, Prentiss, Ted, Peter, Molly, Fighting Prawn, Hawking Clam, Mollusks
Props: Mister Grin is created with two plastic salad bowls painted red with a light shining on them for his eyes, triangular shaped pieces of cloth for his teeth, and rope.
Molly and the boys find themselves imprisoned in a pen with Mister Grin, the crocodile god worshipped by Fighting Prawn and the Mollusks, whom we can hear roaring. Ted yells at Prentiss to “do something! You’re the leader! Have a plan!” The best that Prentiss can come up with is throwing the kitchen timer at Mister Grin. We hear an enormous roar, a chomping and then a “tick-tock-tick-tock”……Ted groan, “Great. We can count the seconds ’til we die!”
Peter throws a temper tantrum and starts to blame Molly for getting them into this mess. Molly fires back with “Not a good time for a hissy fit, Peter. You failed, so you try again. My father always says that! Molly starts berating herself “Why didn’t I give the trunk to my father!” And then she realizes “The starstuff inside my amulet!” She turns to the sulking Peter and asks, “Are you with us, boy? Or is it sulk and die?” Peter tells her he’s with them; to which she replies, “It’s a better team with you on it!”And then she kisses him to his eternal shock and amazement!
But Mister Grin’s enclosure ratchets open and Peter springs into action without thinking, dancing around and waving his arms and screaming, “Tasty boy! Fresh today! Come and eat me!” to get Mister Grin to open his huge maw. Molly aims the amulet at his giant gaping maw and throws it in. A moment of extreme tension and then a very satisfied burp!
The narrators Prentiss, Ted, Peter, and Molly narrate that bells are ringing in the air, and Mister Grin begins to coo and gurgle and grow and groW and grOW and gROW and GROW! Until the crocodile shatters through his bamboo enclosure.
Peter says, “So basically I’m thinking: Let’s -
Ted: “ - get outta -“
Prentiss: “HERE!”
And Molly and the boys run off!
In another part of the jungle, Fighting Prawn and Hawking Clam enter hopping mad - those bloody English ruined their bedtime story! Those bloody English always ruin everything! Hawking Clam says he and his men will capture those Bloody English and kill them, but Fighting Prawn orders him to leave Peter and little Miss Squid Poop for him. He’s going to butterfly flay them and deep fat fry! “Scampi!” he yells at his son and his men to scat. The Mollusks dance off chanting “Butterfly and deep fat fry!”
Scene 5 (Pages 111 - 112)
Setting: the Beach
Characters: Stache, Smee
Stache enters being carried on by Smee, who orders him to put him down, he cannot go another step. They hear the roar of Mr. Grin and after a series of bad jokes, they run off.
Scene 6 (Pages 113 - 115)
Setting: The Jungle’s Edge
Characters: Molly, Peter, Ted, Prentiss, Mollusks
Molly runs on, followed by the boys who are exhausted, winded and collapsing. Molly keeps running and runs off stage. Peter yells to grab anything that can be used for a flotation device - we’re getting off this island. Molly comes running back, stops, checks her vital signs - pulse, etc. - and countermands his order and says, “No, take me to the trunk. Remember the mission!” Peter and Molly begin to bicker until a blinding blinking light hits them in the eyes. Molly informs the boys it’s her father sending her “Norse Code”. The boys snicker, “You mean Morse code.” But Molly replies that it’s Norse Code, an ancient Viking signaling system her father taught her. She begins to translate for them. “Marla bella urn seen henna ferna….” means “Take the trunk down to the beach where Father will be waiting for them in the long boat. They will be safe once they get past the pirates. Love, Daddy.”
The boys feel rather stupid for not knowing the ancient Viking signaling system, and being outrun by a girl. Molly comforts them with, “it’s not a contest. Though, if it were, I’d win.” She concedes that Peter is a better leader. “Really?” he asks. “No”, she laughs. Then, she turns to the matter at hand and commands, “Take me to the trunk!” At a distance, we can hear the Mollusks chanting, “Butterfly and deep fat fry! Butterfly and deep fat fry!”e
Peter tells the boys to go with Molly. He’ll stay behind to get the Mollusks to follow him! Ted turns to Prentiss and says admiringly, “ Hear that Prentiss? That’s the sound of a leader!” The boys run off. Molly tells Peter she’s not leaving him, but before she exits she turns and says, “Bravo, Peter!” and then runs, leaving Peter waving his arms to attract the Mollusks.
Scene 7 (Pages 116 - 117)
Peter, the Mollusks, Mermaid, Narrators: Fighting Prawn, Stache, Aster, Prentiss, Smee, Molly
Peter acts out the chase with the help of the other actors as the Narrators narrate it. He is running from the Mollusks as memories of his terrible past flash through his mind - the beatings, the garret he was imprisoned in, the smell and the filth he was forced to live in, etc. The Mollusks are closing in on him, when suddenly, the yellow bird returns, followed by a huge flock of other yellow birds who flutter about his head, distracting him, causing him to miss a ledge, and calling out Molly’s name, he falls, and falls, and falls into a deep crevice, until he falls into a thick sheet of golden glass. Except it’s not glass, it’s not glass at all! But a shimmering lake of golden water, far, far underground. He should have been drowning, should have been afraid, but he bobs to the surface, safe from the Mollusks, bobbing like a rich man in a rich man’s bath - warm, and oily, and golden. Peter looks up and sees looking down on him from above - with fondness - is a - MERMAID!
The faster Peter runs, the more he distances himself from his terrible past by running headlong to his destiny!
Scene 8 (Pages 118 - 119)
the Grotto
The Mermaid, Peter, Narrators
Peter finds himself on a rocky ledge above the water. A grande dame of a mermaid looks down upon him from a great height. The Mermaid introduces herself as Teacher who knows many things about Peter - that he’s in a hurry. He’s running away from the Mollusks. And that he doesn’t need a raft to get to the Wasp or to get home. All he needs is starstuff. The mermaid explains that when Peter rode the trunk to this island, seawater seeped into the trunk and was enchanted by the starstuff, which enchanted the fish in the wake of the trunk and then the waves washed the water into this grotto which enchanted the mermaid, which used to be a regular old fish - a Scotch salmon, to be exact - and is now a glorious enchanted mermaid!
The mermaid tells him that with the starstuff - the sky’s the limit! The starstuff will change you and make you what you want to be! Peter just wants to be a boy for awhile, and then go home and find a family. But the mermaid tells him he will need a family name first, and the the mermaid speaks to the grotto and says, “We’ve come up with a good one, haven’t we?” And the grotto whispers, “Pan!” But Peter doesn’t quite understand; he thinks of pots and pans and things having to do with the kitchen. The mermaid tells him there are two meanings to the word “pan” - there is anarchy, and mischief, and fun - all the things a boy really likes! Peter is totally down with that - “Fun! Okay! I’ll be Peter Pan!”
But he stops short and questions the mermaid, “You said there were two meanings to the word Pan. What's the other one?” The teacher/mermaid distracts Peter from his question by reminding him of Molly - “ Shouldn’t you be on your way? Molly’s going to beat you with the trunk!” The narrators urge him on,”Molly!” Peter scrambles up and dashes off - “THE TRUNK!”
Thunder and lightning!
Meanwhile -
Scene 9 (Pages 123 - 128)
Setting: the mountain Top
Characters: Molly, Prentiss, Ted, Alf, Mrs. Bumbrake, the narrators: Grempkin, Stache, Aster, Bumbrake, Alf, Peter, Scott, and Astor.
Props: the trunk, umbrellas, etc.
Molly is jubllant! She has beaten Peter to the top of the mountain and she has every intention of making that very clear when he gets here! Prentiss is convinced that Peter is dead and that finally the decision regarding who is rightfully the leader can be settled.
Suddenly, Mrs. Bumbrake and Alf appear on a raft - along with a couple of fart jokes - with Mrs. Bumbrake’s red bloomers as a sail! They are safe, away from the island, the Mollusks on the island, and on their way home!
Molly directs the boys’ attention back to the trunk and that they need to drag the trunk down the mountain to the beach.
The entire company enters with umbrellas as the rainstorm begins. Narrator Grempkin narrates that the night Ted and Prentiss spent dragging the trunk down the mountain is worse than any at the orphanage….The narrators Ted, Prentiss, Stache, Aster, Bumbrake, Molly, Alf, Peter, Scott, and Aster narrate the harrowing descent down the mountain with the rain like stones, the wicked trees, the flying, crawling, sticky, crunchy bugs that stick in your throat, and up your nose, and you can forget about sleep cuz it’s way too scary out there to sleep.
The umbrellas become trees. Now they are parted and Molly is revealed guarding the trunk while Prentiss and Ted are sound asleep. One umbrella is still open on top of the trunk. It closes revealing Peter! Molly throws her arms around Peter ecstatic! They begin to talk excitedly! Peter points to the trunk’s lock and says that they should open it and make sure the starstuff is good, but Molly immediately says no, that’s not a good idea at all. It’s very dangerous! Peter wants to know if she thinks he has changed. She says he’s dirtier.
Peter wants to talk about that kiss. Molly doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about. She accuses him of being sentimental and says when she marries - which Peter accuses her of assuming he’s proposing - which she immediately disabuses him of the notion she would EVER be interested in him - “Uch, the ego!” - she will be a spinster, and have a good dog, and be part of a different sort of family, with friends, you know? - who will understand that things are only worth what you’re willing to give up for them.” Molly loses steam and sputters to a silence. Peter sweetly says, “Got it” - and sweetly and gently takes her hand. Silence.
Then Molly yawns, jumps down, curls up in front of the trunk, and falls asleep. Peter quietly takes the umbrella and tries to jiggle the lock open. The jiggling disturbs Prentiss who mutters, “No, Molly, the leader has got to be a - “ Not wanting to wake the others, Peter quickly runs off with the umbrella.
Everyone awakens. Molly wants to know where Peter is and Prentiss answers, “He got eaten by the Mollusks, remember?” It is now morning. And the sun is rising and shining. Which means if you can see the sun and the sky, then - Molly scrambles up and says, “We must be very near the beach! C’mon, boys! We made it!”
The strumming of a ukulele can be head as the kids push the trunk to the beach!
