The Show
We want you to know what you're getting, so the cast list and first third of the script are available here! Bad Wolf shows are written for flexibility and can be edited however you like to meet the needs of your actors, school, curriculum, parents, astrological chart, latest whim, etc. If you have questions about the portions of the script not shown, please contact us.
Casting
Flexible casting from 11-40 students.
Use as many Rangers, Ducklings, Rates, etc. as desired.
Actors can easily play several roles, or a single role can be divided between multiple actors. All parts can be played by any gender.
CHARACTERS:
Rapunzel
Cinderella
Humpty Dumpty
Snow White
Dwarves (2)
Billy Goats Gruff
Troll
Little Red Riding Hood
Princess (and the pea)
King
Queen
Miller's Daughter
Rumpelstiltskin
Messenger
Prince
Rangers
Witch
Hansel and Gretel
The Boy Who Cried "Duck!"
Ducklings
The Golden Rule Singers
Pied Piper
Rats
and a CHORUS comprised of all students who are not playing roles on stage
at the time.
Script
This is the first one-third of the script.
(Entire CLASS faces the audience and sings:)
Song 1
CLASS:
Math and science are important
Reading is good for you
But when it comes to good decisions
Character matters too.
Even folks who live in folktales
Struggle to think things through
Yes even in enchanted kingdoms
Character matters too.
Oh
Pied Piper
Don't get mad like that
Oh
Pied Piper
I think I smell a rat!
Rumpelstiltskin's not behaving
What can an ogre do?
And even for poor Sleeping Beauty
Character matters too.
Snow White's been dissing the Seven Dwarves
Things are not as rosy as they seem
Life has been tough for Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Ugly Duckling needs some self-esteem.
Math and science are important
Reading is good for you
But when it comes to good decisions
Character
Character
Character matters too.
(STUDENTS sit in a large semi-circle around stage, facing
the audience. RAPUNZEL, CINDERELLA, and HUMPTY
DUMPTY walk to front of stage and address the audience.)
RAPUNZEL: Hello. I'm Rapunzel. From the fairy tale.
CINDERELLA: And I'm Cinderella.
HUMPTY DUMPTY: And I'm Humpty Dumpty. We're delighted
you're here for our meeting of the Fairy Tale Advice Council.
RAPUNZEL: Today's meeting is special because this is the
very first time Cinderella and Humpty have been on the Council.
HUMPTY: It's so exciting. We get to give advice to fairy
tale characters who find themselves in a bind.
RAPUNZEL: Even us fairy tale folk don't always know
what's best to say or do in tough situations.
CINDERELLA: Like when it was
midnight at the ball and my
carriage turned back into a yam.
HUMPTY: A yam? I thought it was a pumpkin.
CINDERELLA: No, it was a yam. I should know, I was sitting
on it. It took those mice FOREVER to drag me home.
RAPUNZEL: But it all had a happy ending, which is what we
like to see. Humpty, what's our first case today?
HUMPTY (looking at a list): Ooh, looks like trouble
between old friends. It's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
(SNOW WHITE and TWO DWARVES appear)
RAPUNZEL: Welcome.
CINDERELLA: Hey, I only see two dwarves. Aren't you short
a few dwarves?
DWARF #1: Is that some sort of comment?
CINDERELLA: Oh no, I'm sorry. I just thought there were
seven of you.
DWARF #2: It's the recession---we've been downsized.
(CINDERELLA starts to say something, but RAPUNZEL
cuts her off)
RAPUNZEL (to CINDERELLA): Don't even go there.
(TO the newcomers)
Now, what seems to be the problem?
SNOW WHITE: My friends are very upset with me, and it's
so, well, upsetting.
DWARF #1: Of course we're upset! After all we did for you.
DWARF #2 (to Council): And she never even stopped to thank
us. Just rode off into the sunset with her prince without a word of
gratitude.
Song 2
DWARVES:
We never faltered
We never shirked
We even whistled
While we worked.
But did she thank us
As she now claims?
She never never ever really knew our names.
SNOW WHITE:
That's not true
One was Lumpy
Maybe not
Was it Stumpy?
Was it Bob or Billy...oh poor me!
DWARVES:
See?!
CHORUS:
Gratitude
Gratitude
It's the proper attitude
Take time and don't be rude
It's the proper attitude
Be thankful, show some gratitude.
DWARF #1(spoken): And what about when she ate the poisoned
apple!
DWARVES:
We did the Heimlich
And CPR
And when she woke up
SHE's the star!
She got Prince Charming
She got the fame
She never never ever really knew our names.
SNOW WHITE:
That's not true
One was Lumpy
Maybe not
Was it Stumpy?
Was it Bob or Billy...oh poor me!
DWARVES:
See?!
DWARVES and CHORUS:
Gratitude
Gratitude
It's the proper attitude
Take time and don't be rude
Its the proper attitude
Be thankful, show some gratitude.
Be thankful, show some gratitude.
RAPUNZEL: Snow White...do you have something you'd like
to say to your friends?
SNOW WHITE (to DWARVES): I'm terribly sorry. You were so
kind and helpful. I just got caught up in that fairy-tale ending and
forgot.
Thank you. Thank all of you very much.
DWARF #1: Oh, that's okay.
DWARF #2: And our names ARE kind of hard to remember.
(THEY hug)
HUMPTY: That's so nice to see. It's always good to be
thankful. You know, I can never remember the names of all
seven dwarves myself. What are they?
DWARF #1: Sorry, we can't say them aloud.
DWARF #2: They're copyrighted. Every time we call each
other we owe Disney 10 bucks.
(DWARFS and SNOW WHITE EXIT)
RAPUNZEL: Well, that worked out nicely. Humpty, who's next?
HUMPTY (looking at list): Our next appointment is with...
(HUMPTY is interrupted by the loud entrance of THREE
BILLY GOATS GRUFF and TROLL)
BILLY GOAT GRUFF #1: This has GOT to stop. I can't take
it anymore.
TROLL: But I've changed my ways.
BILLY GOAT GRUFF #2: Oh sure. The last time you told me
that you tried to EAT me.
TROLL: It was just a nibble.
BILLY GOAT GRUFF #3: All that was sticking out of your
mouth was a foot.
TROLL: Okay, it was a BIG nibble. But I don't DO that
kind of thing anymore.
HUMPTY: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Who ARE you?
BILLY GOATS GRUFF: We're the Billy Goats Gruff.
BILLY GOAT GRUFF #1: And this is a Troll.
HUMPTY: I'm sorry, but you're not on the list. You'll
have to wait.
BILLY GOAT GRUFF #2: But we CAN'T wait! He's gonna
EAT us!
CINDERELLA: Is that true?
TROLL: NO! I want to be their friend.
BILLY GOAT GRUFF #3: Every time we get to his bridge, he
tries to swallow us.
TROLL: That was before! I USED to be a big bully. I
thought it was cool eating people on the bridge. But it WASN¹T
cool. I know that now. Being a bully is never cool.
Song 3
TROLL:
Yeah I'm a troll it's true
I guard a bridge or two
I eat folks like you if you attempt to pass
I'm tired of this work
'Cause all I do is lurk
When tales need a jerk that's how I am cast.
TROLL and CHORUS:
But I don't want to be a bully anymore
I don't wanna be the villain I have been before
I will be an ogre folks adore
I don't want to be a bully anymore.
TROLL:
Yeah when it's said and done
We bullies have no fun
Always on the run, nobody cares for me
I wanna walk the street
With friends that I don't eat
Billy goats I meet I'll invite to tea.
TROLL, GOATS, and CHORUS (TROLL
and GOATS put arms around each other):
But I don't want to be a bully anymore
I don't wanna be the villain I have been before
I will be an ogre folks adore
I don't want to be a bully anymore.
I don't want to be a bully anymore.
(ALL exit. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD enters holding an
envelope.)
LITTLE RED:
Hi there. I'm Little Red Riding Hood, and this is the part
of the meeting where I introduce this month's winner of the
Good Manners award. You may remember what a polite child I
am. When I saw the wolf in my grandmother's bed, I said things
like "Grandmother, what big eyes you have." And, "Grandmother,
what big teeth you have." But I was just being polite. What I
was thinking was, "Grandmother, what happened to you? Were
you in some horrible accident?" My politeness paid off, though,
giving the Hunter time to save all of us. And now, this month's
Good Manners award goes to...
(SHE opens envelope)
The Princess from The Princess and the Pea.
(CHORUS applauds. PRINCESS, KING, and QUEEN enter.
LITTLE RED exits.)
PRINCESS: Thank you, thank you. I'm so honored. I'd like
to thank my agent for getting me the gig, and especially the King and
Queen
here for deciding to test me.
KING: It was our pleasure.
(to audience)
We had to make sure she was a very polite princess if she
was to marry our son.
QUEEN: So we came up with a whole slew of tests to see how
she would respond. The pea under the mattress was just one small part
of the evening's examination.
(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)
LTD4Kids (verified owner) –
We love Bad Wolf Press plays. This year we presented two shows on the same night, Character Matters 1 & 2. The children, grades 3 – 5, had a lot of fun working on the musicals. The music is fun. The songs and script are easy to learn. The children also learned a lot to in the process about how to act in different situations. The audience loved the presentation of both plays and gave the children a standing ovation. It was a wonderful evening for all.
Katy Bridges (verified owner) –
Character Matters II is a wonderful musical with fun-loving humor and life-long lessons throughout the drama. The show is extremely adaptable and flexible to fit your needs. We had 51 speaking/singing solo/duet parts, 2 choirs singing the chorus, and a stage crew – making our cast 127 strong. It was an amazing experience for all of our 4th grade students.
Ms. Tatarowicz (verified owner) –
The performance went very well! The program was for our summer Musical Theater Camp; 18 children participated, ages 7–13. Both the kids and the parents really enjoyed it. I know I thought it was great! The music and lines were very well written. Their performance took about 35 minutes from start to finish and then we had a Q & A with the audience. The kids made some very simple stage props and scenery and used simple costumes like hats and sashes. Thank you for offering such friendly scripts!
Kelly Hendrickson (verified owner) –
This was the easiest and most fun play that we had ever done. Everybody absolutely loved it. It was humorous and very entertaining. The first grade students thoroughly enjoyed singing and performing for their parents and the school. Thank you for making it so manageable.