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Wind in the Willows, The (Morley)

John Morley has taken the well loved characters of Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger from The Wind in the Willows and woven their exploits into an exciting adventure story for all the family.

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Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Dramatic Comedy

John Morley has taken the well loved characters of Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger from The Wind in the Willows and woven their exploits into an exciting adventure story for all the family. Toad's addiction to caravanning and later his obsession with cars, his imprisonment and escape with the aid of Jenny and her washerwoman aunts, and his fight with the Weasels and Stoats to regain Toad Hall are all included.

May be staged simply or elaborately; casting is very flexible. Choice of music is left to the producer (song suggestions are included in text). Will provide an evening of magic and joy for all.

Characters

  • Casting: 22M, 22F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible)
  • Casting Notes: Plus Chorus

  • TOAD - Is boisterous, hearty, with a comically grating laugh ("Har har har"), swaggering, jaunty, not too brainy, amazingly conceited but a kind and warm-hearted soul, so he is popular. He has a butterfly brain that flits from one craze to the next. he is devoted to his home, Toad Hall.

  • RATTY - Is cheerful, energetic, efficient, frank in his criticisms, and nautical, for he is besotted about the river and the boats on it.

  • MOLE - Is gentle, easily impressed, shy and loyal. He stands with his toes turned in but his paws, being a mole's, are strong. He wears thick rimmed glasses. Male or female part.

  • BADGER - Is stolid, a bit condescending but a nice old buffer and older than the others so he is a father figure. He plods along, usually with a clumsy-looking walking stick, like a farmer and perhaps he has a mild rustic accent.

  • THE CHIEF WEASEL - Is insolent, loud, aggressive, ambitious and scheming. He is a 1908 gangster and we realize why all the RIverbankers are scared of him.

  • DOBBIN THE HORSE - Is almost a pantomime horse -- no dialogue -- but he has character. He is sensitive and "doesn't like to be left out of things." A part for two female, perhaps?

  • REGINALD AND FIONA - Edwardian motorists. They are written as an upper class, silly couple, but you can easily localize them to Welsh, Glaswegian, Geordie -- some local accent, if this is fun for your audience.

  • THE MAGISTRATE - Eccentric, comical, brisk and prejudiced against Toad. Male or female part.

  • THE CLERK - Wears glasses on the end of his nose, is a fool and a bit spiteful. Male or female part.

  • THE POLICEMAN - Red-faced, preferably fat and clumsy, and is dim, with either a Cockney accent, or a comedy version of some local accent.

  • MRS OTTER - Should really be sleek, just as all otters are, but it is more important to play her as a fussy and much worried mum.

  • PORTLY OTTER - Is as young as possible and there are deliberately few lines for him (or her) due to this age factor. The moment when Mrs Otter and her young son are reconciled is highly emotional if a very young child plays Portly. Portly doesn't walk, he waddles.

  • JENNY - The Policeman's daughter in intelligent, vivacious and kind. Mild cockney or "local" accent.

  • JENNY'S SIX AUNTS - These six washerwoman (or fewer if preferred) plus Jenny and the Policeman are all the same family, so whatever accent you choose for one applies to all. The main moment for the Aunts is a Cockney "knees-up" song, so Cockney seems best for this family.

  • THE BARGEWOMAN - Is a fat country woman, with a cruel streak.

  • ZELDA - Is a weird old gypsy hag, extrovert, shrewd and clearly the leader of the Gypsies.

  • THE CHORUS:
    THE GOOD ANIMALS - (Rabbits, etc.) have a Beatrix Potter warmth and charm.
    THE BAD ANIMALS - (Weasels, etc.) are cocky, sniggering, energetic 1908 gangsters.
    THE GYPSIES - are poor and desperate but extroverted and noisy.

  • NOTE: THE MAGISTRATE, CLERK and POLICEMAN are not just comedy characters. They should appreciated that they are in fact Toad's enemies until half-way through Act II.
    All the animals hold their hands up at chest level, as though paws. When the animals are pleased, or are gloating, they jump in the air several times.

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Wind in the Willows, The (Morley) Script This is optional. Order Now

    John Morley has taken the well loved characters of Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger from The Wind in the Willows and woven their exploits into an exciting adventure story for all the family. Toad's addiction to caravanning and later his obsession with cars, his imprisonment and escape with the aid of Jenny and her washerwoman aunts, and his fight with the Weasels and Stoats to regain Toad Hall are all included.

    May be staged simply or elaborately; casting is very flexible. Choice of music is left to the producer (song suggestions are included in text). Will provide an evening of magic and joy for all.

    		$24.95

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