PLAYS FOR YOUNG ACTORS |
A Comic Gothic Horror Fairy Story!
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The play was fantastic: Kids loved it and the parents, etc had a ball!
Sally Fithall, St Francis Xavier College, Berwick Campus, Australia
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Duke Bluebeard lives in a grim castle, is feared by all, and everyone stutters when speaking his name! No one really knows what dark things happen in his castle. Having disposed of wife number five Bluebeard decides that Boulotte, the local May Queen, will be his next wife, little knowing what he has let himself in for! Presenting Boulotte, his new wife, at the court of King Bobeche and Queen Hortensia he spies their daughter Princess Marie and immediately decides that she shall be wife number seven. He orders his personal inventor, Popolani, to make the arrangements for disposing of Boulotte and proceeds to the palace. Challenged to a duel Bluebeard apparently kills Marie's fiancé, Prince Bruno, and demands the princess's hand in marriage. Suddenly Boulotte and Bluebeard's previous wives reappear, disguised as gypsies, and confront him. Everything is neatly resolved in a way that shatters the Bluebeard myth in its entirety!
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Characters Minimum Male roles = 12. Minimum Female roles = 8. Minimum total with doubling = 24. Minimum total without doubling = 33 .
Running time - about 70 minutes (depending on production) + interval  |
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Three simple sets - a dungeon, a village green and the throne room of King Bobeche.
Every one in the play can be very involved and even the shorter part
give good opportunities for the cast.
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has been produced in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
One of our audience, a friend of mine with no children on stage, said he almost had to go out of the hall at one point because he was laughing so much. Many people asked where I had found the script and said how funny and well written it was. I also had comments that it was the best night out for ages. Thank you, Mark, for writing such a wonderful play! Jacki Ballinger, Chetwood Primary School, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex |
 | Bl ... Bl ... Bluebeard!
is published by Lazybee Scripts Ashurst Southampton UK and can be read on line
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Above: The cast of the first production
H. B. Dupont School, Rhode Island.
Of 20 teachers about 15 thought it was the best play our drama club had ever performed. I credit the script for that; the play was very funny and the language, even with the British humor, was easily understood. Peggy Johns, H B Dupont School, Rhode Island, USA |
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The last scene with the bomb and audience involvement worked well also. We had one sixth grader in the audience who ducked and was roundly teased for believing it was a real "bomb".
Peggy Johns, H B Dupont School, Rhode Island, USA
'Bl ... Bl ..Bluebeard!' will be performed at Elizabeth Moir Junior School, Colombo, Sri Lanka during February 2012 |
Plays for Young Actors
Links to the plays etc, are at the top of each page.
