Welcomeby Richard Stuart Dixon
©Richard Stuart Dixon, 2005
(Note: Performance of this play requires the author’s permission. Please contact Good School Plays for details.)
Production Notes:
• running time: approx. 40 minutes.
• style: lyrical drama
• suitable for general audiences
• 28 characters (20 female, 8 male)
• black-box staging (no set required)
Recommendations:
• This play lends itself well to a simple, elegant presentational style, and looks lovely if the actors are wearing basic black costumes (full length skirts/dresses for the girls and women) with black shoes or socks. The captain and crew can wear uniforms to differentiate them from the families. The idea is to minimize visual distractions so as to support the voice work of the actors.
• The set requires nothing more than a few blocks or risers that suggest the deck of the ship and enable the cast to form attractive, multi-level tableaux. The little boat used at the end of the play can be a simple cardboard or plywood device, or it can be mimed.
• The performance style calls for stillness and economy of movement, and careful, clear vocal work that captures the cadences of the lyrical dialogue.
• The play is well-suited to ninth or tenth grade drama classes.
Summary of Script Content:
• “Dreaming Lady” is a dreamlike tale of a group of runaway families aboard a sailing ship. They sail westward toward unknown shores, enduring dissension, hardships and doubt. Becalmed, they’re threatened by a pirate ship and must decide upon a drastic course of action.
(This play was first performed on September 28, 29, 30, and October 3, 4, in the year 2005, at Gleneagle Secondary School in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.)
∗Published Online by Good School Plays, April 1, 2015.
Go to:
Act One, Scene 1
Act One, Scene 2
Act One, Scene 3
Act One, Scene 4
Act One, Scene 5
Act One, Scene 6
Act One, Scene 7
Act Two, Scene 1
Act Two, Scene 2
Act Two, Scene 3
CHARACTERS:
The Crew:
Captain Rose Gray, 42
First Mate Daniel Eliot, 36.
Second Mate Ellen Barrett, 32.
Sailor James Hopkins, 28
Sailor William Milton, 27
Sailor Robert Chaucer, 22
The Families:
John Blake, 35.
Marion Blake, 33.
Hannah Blake, 13.
Emily Blake, 11
Luke Byron, 40
Jessie Byron, 38
Faith Byron, 15
Rachel Byron, 14
Naomi Byron, 10
Nathan Keats, 43
Delilah Keats, 38
Elizabeth Keats, 17
Jenny Keats, 13
Susan Keats, 11
Heather Coleridge, 37
Ruth Coleridge, 16
Jane Coleridge, 14
Hope Coleridge, 12
Melissa Shelley, 44
Sam Shelley, 17
Charity Shelley, 15
Colleen Shelley, 10
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 1:
(The cast is assembled on stage. They speak to the audience)
CAPTAIN GRAY
I am the captain of the ship,
Out here upon the brilliant ocean.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
Five weeks have passed
Since last we walked on land.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
And many more than that must pass
Before we land again.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
No land out here for you and me,
Just the vast and empty sea.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
The shores of home have disappeared.
They are forever gone.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Onward to the west we sail,
Following the sun.
JOHN BLAKE
There was a storm.
The ship was pounded by the waves.
MARION BLAKE
I thought we all would drown,
Sinking in the drink.
EMILY BLAKE
Hannah lost her biscuits,
Heaving and puking,
As the ship rolled.
HANNAH BLAKE
The solid ground is all I want.
It neither rolls nor rocks.
LUKE BYRON
I’ve never been a sailor,
But all on board
Must help to trim the sails.
JESSIE BYRON
The ship is hard to manage.
We’re not used to ropes and canvas.
FAITH BYRON
The masts rise upwards
Taller than the tallest trees.
RACHEL BYRON
Mother and Pa must go aloft,
Scrambling in the rigging.
NAOMI BYRON
The wind blows hard…
What if Daddy
Drops into the boiling sea?
NATHAN KEATS
Fishy food is what we eat,
Brought up in nets each day.
DELILAH KEATS
And for a treat on Sunday,
A biscuit hard as nails.
ELIZABETH KEATS
We cannot drink the salty tons
of water in the sea.
JENNY KEATS
We drink from wooden barrels,
The water warm and flat.
SUSAN KEATS
Fish and water for my tum,
No sugar plums for me.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
I have no man, and daughters three,
Out here upon the endless sea.
RUTH COLERIDGE
Mother wishes Dad could be
With her on the voyage,
but he, alas, is dead.
JANE COLERIDGE
Out here with nothing but the sea,
I can’t recall my Daddy’s face.
HOPE COLERIDGE
I wish he was on board with us
And telling funny stories.
MELISSA SHELLEY
My brats are naughty on this ship
And restless for the land.
SAM SHELLEY
I’m seventeen and so I’m forced
To work as hard as any man.
CHARITY SHELLEY
Scrub-a-dub the deck, they say.
How will I stay pretty?
COLLEEN SHELLEY
I hate the ship. I’d like to run
On the ocean top,
But I would sink and drown.
CAPTAIN GRAY
This ship’s called the “Dreaming Lady”…
She’s bound for lands unknown.
FULL CAST
Our ship is called the “Dreaming Lady”…
Bound for lands unknown.
(All exit except for the CAPTAIN, and the FIRST and SECOND MATE, and the two SAILORS.)
End of Act One, Scene 1.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 2:
CAPTAIN GRAY
What think you of our passengers,
First Mate Eliot?
FIRST MATE ELIOT
A tattered bunch of runaways,
But brave enough, I’d guess.
CAPTAIN GRAY
And what say you,
Second Mate Barrett?
SECOND MATE BARRETT
They work for us,
But know not what they do.
Landlubbers all,
They’ve never sailed before.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
With time, they’ll learn the watery ways
Of those who work on ships.
CAPTAIN GRAY
You sailors, have you anything to say?
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
The families aboard this ship
Often fuss and fight.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
Don’t they know we stay afloat
By working day and night?
CAPTAIN GRAY
It’s most important that we keep
A careful watch of the eastward sea.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
That’s right.
If we are caught by pirates,
They’ll slaughter us for sure.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
Their blades would still
Our throbbing hearts
And hack us into bloody parts.
CAPTAIN GRAY
All aboard must take a turn
In the crow’s nest way up high,
Watching day and night.
Except the children,
Who lack patience,
And fidget in their daydreams.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
If there’s sleeping in the crow’s nest,
We could come to harm.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
I’ll tie a rope to the lookout’s arm,
And give an occasional tug.
CAPTAIN GRAY
That should keep the lazy beggar
Wide awake and watching.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
Don’t tug too hard…
You might yank the watcher down.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
If he’s asleep way up high
He might be dreaming that he flies.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
No man alive can fly at all.
A dreaming chap would surely fall.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
A fall so far would break a bone,
Or even crush his skull.
CAPTAIN GRAY
We don’t want death upon the deck.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
The one on deck who tugs the rope
Will wait ‘til a tug’s returned.
If the one up top does not tug back,
Then we must go aloft
To wake the bugger up.
CAPTAIN GRAY
We’re on the run,
And pirates will pursue us.
They’ll seek the gold the Prince will offer
For the capture of us all.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
We must hope for blasting winds
To speed us on our way.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
If the wind won’t blow
Our ship will stop
And pirates will catch up.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Pirates travel fast indeed,
Speeding on the sea.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
A pirate ship is strong and quick
And we are slow and feeble.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
Their ships are galleys
Rowed by slaves
Driven onward by the whip.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
We can’t whip the lazy wind
And so they’ll catch us in the end.
CAPTAIN GRAY
A sad day will it be
If pirates catch our ship.
The prince will pay one hundred crowns
For every head brought in.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
The youngest children will be spared
And forced to live in chains
To die an early death as slaves
In depravity and sin.
CAPTAIN GRAY
We’ve talked enough.
The ship sails on
We must resume our duties.
(They exit)
End of Act One, Scene 2.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 3:
(JOHN BLAKE, his wife MARION, and their daughters HANNAH and EMILY enter.)
JOHN BLAKE
My good wife and my children,
What say you?
Does your life upon the sea
Bring you joy or misery?
MARION BLAKE
Look out there, anywhere.
What do you see?
Only water, water, water.
There’s nothing there for me.
EMILY BLAKE
There’s more out there than water.
I saw a leaping fish.
And clouds and sunsets too.
HANNAH BLAKE
I agree with Mama.
All this water makes me sick.
The thing I want is land.
JOHN BLAKE
I dreamt we sailed forever
And Hannah was a fish.
EMILY BLAKE
I’d like to be one, Father.
And play all day
In the green and foamy sea.
HANNAH BLAKE
Oh, Emily, what a thing to say!
A fish! A slimy awful fish!
MARION BLAKE
Emily, don’t yearn to be
Something cold in the endless sea.
It sounds too much like death.
JOHN BLAKE
Hannah was a fish,
And swam into a net.
The next thing you know
She was thrashing on the deck.
HANNAH BLAKE
Caught! Oh, Father, I was caught!
How terrible! How frightening!
Dying on the deck!
EMILY BLAKE
Caught and bonked upon the head
And stuffed into a barrel!
That’s what you get for being the fish
My silly sister Hannah.
MARION BLAKE
It was just a dream
Your father dreamt.
Hannah’s not a fish.
Look at her!
So pretty and so strong.
JOHN BLAKE
But in my dream
We all were fish,
And all were in the net.
And evil men with nasty clubs
Bonked us on our heads.
MARION BLAKE
You must not scare the children, John!
All you did was dream.
Don’t worry, girls, it’s just a dream,
And nothing to be feared.
HANNAH BLAKE
But Mother dear, our ship is called
The “Dreaming Lady”, is she not?
EMILY BLAKE
So what? So what?
That’s just a name,
It doesn’t mean a thing!
JOHN BLAKE
Perhaps it does.
Dreams are sometimes warnings.
MARION BLAKE
Nonsense! We will never be
Fishes in the sea.
HANNAH BLAKE
Perhaps the net in Father’s dream
Represents our enemies.
Perhaps they’ve sent a galley ship
To put us all in chains!
End of Act One, Scene 3.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 4:
(LUKE BYRON, his wife JESSIE, and his daughters RACHEL and NAOMI enter.)
EMILY BLAKE
Mr. Byron! Father’s had a dream.
He says we’ll all turn into fish
And end up in a net.
LUKE BYRON
A dream, John?
That’s more like a nightmare
Sent to frighten us.
JOHN BLAKE
Sorry, Luke,
I can’t help what I dream.
JESSIE BYRON
Be grateful, Luke.
John’s had a dream
That warns us we’re in danger.
HANNAH BLAKE
I told you, Emily.
EMILY BLAKE
I will never be
Frightened by a dream.
FAITH BYRON
But dreams are stories, Emily,
From which we all can profit.
RACHEL BYRON
Your father’s dream reminds us
That we are runaways.
The Prince would like to catch us,
Just like we catch fish.
NAOMI BYRON
The prince is far away on land
And we are on the sea.
He would need a giant net
To cast it over me.
LUKE BYRON
Children, you must understand
The Prince is powerful indeed.
He will offer gold and jewels
To pirates on this sea.
FAITH BYRON
Pirates! Father, is this true?
Will pirates chase our ship?
LUKE BYRON
Yes, my child.
For that’s the fate
Of all who run away to sea.
RACHEL BYRON
Pirates! Father, please don’t tease.
I don’t want a pirate’s hands on me.
Promise, Father, to keep me safe.
JESSIE BYRON
We can promise nothing, child;
We broke the rules and ran away.
All we can do is pray
The pirates never find us.
JOHN BLAKE
We must always be alert,
And watch the eastern sea
In case a pirate ship appears,
Searching for the “Lady’s Dream”.
MARION BLAKE
We talk too much!
There’s fish to be caught
So we can eat.
Husband, children, we must go
And get the nets from down below.
(The BLAKE FAMILY exits.)
FAITH BYRON
We are the fish
And the pirates cast their cruel nets
To catch us as we flee.
RACHEL BYRON
Faith is right.
John Blake’s dream is a prophecy.
I wish we’d never run away.
JESSIE BYRON
Don’t be silly, Rachel.
Life at home was hard.
Have you forgotten
The mine in which we slaved?
NAOMI BYRON
They even made me work,
And I am only ten!
I had to push a little cart
Filled with chunks of coal.
LUKE BYRON
Rachel, you are frightened;
You don’t like the sea.
And now there’s talk of pirates.
Chasing us for gold.
JESSIE BYRON
And so you must remember
Why we’re on this ship.
We’re searching for a fine new home,
A place where we’ll be free.
NAOMI BYRON
Free! Oh, Rachel, think of it!
Working for ourselves!
We’ll find some land and make a farm,
And I will be a shepherdess.
RACHEL BYRON
But what if we sail on and on?
What if pirates kill us all?
What if there’s a storm?
FAITH BYRON
So many awful endings
Could befall us all.
JESSIE BYRON
Our ship is strong.
It didn’t sink
When last we faced a storm.
And pirates might not catch us
The farther we sail on.
LUKE BYRON
We can’t go back,
We’ve made our choice.
The only way is forward.
NAOMI BYRON
I’m not afraid.
I’m glad we’re here
On the ocean wide.
Don’t be scared, my sister dear,
Grace is on our side.
End of Act One, Scene 4.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 5:
(NATHAN KEATS enters with his wife DELILAH and his children JENNY and SUSAN.)
NATHAN KEATS
Good morning, fellow sailors,
Have you eaten your fish?
LUKE BYRON
No, Nathan, no time for that.
We’ve just discussed a dream.
DELILAH KEATS
What sort of dream?
Good or bad?
Troubled, angry, or sad?
JESSIE BYRON
John Blake dreamed of fishes
Trapped within a net.
ELIZABETH KEATS
It’s no wonder.
All we eat is fish.
What an awful diet.
I’d love to munch on birds instead.
FAITH BYRON
But his dream is not a meal;
It’s a warning to us all.
RACHEL BYRON
The fish in the dream
Might be us, you see,
And the net might be
The pirates hard and mean.
JENNY KEATS
Pirates! Mama, I’m afraid!
Pirates kill and steal,
And turn children into slaves!
NAOMI BYRON
Don’t act so weak, Jenny Keats.
You’re strong enough to fight.
Perhaps you’ll get a chance
To bash a pirate on the skull.
SUSAN KEATS
Give me an axe!
I’ll stalk a pirate while he sleeps
And chop off his gargoyle head!
NATHAN KEATS
There are no pirates anywhere.
Look out at the sea!
There’s only water, clouds, and sky.
No reason to fight or cry.
LUKE BYRON
Perhaps the sea is empty now,
But that could quickly change.
It would do no harm at all
To watch the sea with care.
DELILAH KEATS
That’s right, John.
We must be on our guard.
But what about the night?
In the dark we’ll lose our sight.
JESSIE BYRON
It doesn’t matter.
At night all men are blind.
We can’t see the pirates,
But they are sightless too.
JENNY KEATS
Pirates must look awful.
I bet they have bad teeth,
And stinking toilet breath.
RACHEL BYRON
Oh, Jenny, they’ll chain us up,
And make us be their slaves.
We’ll have to bear their babies,
Upon the stormy waves.
ELIZABETH KEATS
If only pirates were handsome and kind
Then perhaps I would not mind
To be a pirate’s special slave.
NAOMI BYRON
Stupid Rachel and her silly friend!
Can’t you ever just be brave?
FAITH BYRON
But if we want to stay alive,
We must perhaps be pirates’ wives.
SUSAN KEATS
I swear by all the stars above
I’ll never pick a man to love
Who makes me any sort of slave.
LUKE BYRON
Come, my family!
Don’t moan and wail.
We four must sew
The tattered sails!
(The BYRON FAMILY exits.)
ELIZABETH KEATS
Come here, Susan! I’ll box your ears
And show you who’s afraid.
You think you’re strong?
I’ll prove to you you’re wrong.
NATHAN KEATS
Elizabeth! No fighting!
This is no joke, you know.
If pirates catch the “Dreaming Lady”
You’ll regret your foolishness.
JENNY KEATS
Father, why is Susan
Always the one who’s right?
Don’t you see how she angers me
And tries to make me fight?
SUSAN KEATS
It’s not my fault my sisters are such cowards.
I’m only ten, but I’m the one you blame.
Why don’t you both grow up?
DELILAH KEATS
Have you all forgotten the factory?
The awful place where we all worked?
The grime, the sweat, the drudgery?
The dangerous machinery?
NATHAN KEATS
Susan nearly died
When she fell into a tank.
The chemicals burned her eyes
But she did not cry
When Mother pulled her out.
ELIZABETH KEATS
Though we’re free from the factory,
It’s not much better on the sea
So lonely and so dreary.
I am seventeen, and so I want
What every woman wants: romance.
JENNY KEATS
And I am only thirteen,
But still I want to dream
Of beautiful gowns and velvet gloves
And being a girl a prince will love.
DELILAH KEATS
A prince! Think of what you’ve said!
The prince of the land we’ve left
Would like to see us dead!
NATHAN KEATS
The factories and the mines
Make the Prince rich beyond belief
But we who work for endless hours
Make nothing but our own deaths.
DELILAH KEATS
Try to think, try to understand
Why we’ve left the Prince’s land.
End of Act One, Scene 5.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 6:
(HEATHER COLERIDGE enters with her daughters RUTH, JANE, and HOPE.)
HEATHER COLERIDGE
I can’t stand it down below.
Too much stink, not enough air.
No matter how we scrub and clean,
The smell remains.
ELIZABETH KEATS
Sometimes I miss the factories
From which we fled.
Life out here is worse than ever.
RUTH COLERIDGE
Must you be so stupid,
Elizabeth my dear.
You always talk as though
The factories were better.
DELILAH KEATS
Mrs. Coleridge, restrain your girl.
There have been too many scraps.
Fighting gets us nowhere,
And pirates might be near.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
Pirates! Well, that’s no good.
Ruth, stop your foolish tongue!
Must you always be so rude?
JANE COLERIDGE
She’s rude to me, that’s for sure.
Sticking out her tongue and snorting.
She teases me because she’s bored.
Make her do some work.
HOPE COLERIDGE
I’m only twelve, you snotty sisters.
But I’m the one with all the blisters.
You make me do all the work
While you sit on your flabby bums.
SUSAN KEATS
Listen to them fight!
Sisters never get along.
I wonder why?
HEATHER COLERIDGE
My brats need a dad.
He’d make them stop their noise.
Their father died on the mill floor
Just after baby Hope was born.
JENNY KEATS
A father is no guarantee of harmony.
We have one and yet we fight.
NATHAN KEATS
I’ve had enough of this.
The ship can’t sail itself.
We must assist the captain and the crew,
That is the most important thing to do.
(The KEATS family exits.)
HEATHER COLERIDGE
He’s angry. Did you see his face?
Our ship is plowing ever westward
To some land we’ve never seen.
We run from the evil Prince,
But in many ways we’re just like him.
RUTH COLERIDGE
Oh, Mother, don’t lecture!
In the Prince’s land
I worked as hard as anyone
Weaving on the giant looms.
I have a right to gripe.
JANE COLERIDGE
We will never find a land
Safe enough for me.
My sisters poison everything they touch.
HOPE COLERIDGE
Listen to them, Mother!
We should throw them in the sea.
They complain endlessly.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
The ocean is like death.
Those who tumble overboard
Sink down, down, and disappear
Into the cold, wet, dark.
RUTH COLERIDGE
Mother, you would never
Throw us overboard.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
I only say the ocean is like death.
Look at it.
Look, I say.
JANE COLERIDGE
It’s endless, and deep.
I will look no more.
HOPE COLERIDGE
Why do you make us look
At the awful, endless sea?
HEATHER COLERIDGE
You three fight and fight.
You spend your days and nights
Complaining.
Your whining makes us weak.
Now there’s talk of pirates,
So you must change your ways.
RUTH COLERIDGE
I don’t see pirates.
Where are they?
JANE COLERIDGE
The sea is just as empty
Today as yesterday.
HOPE COLERIDGE
The pirates are only a rumour
Made to make us behave.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
Only a rumour?
The day will come
When pirates will stand upon this deck.
You will be in chains,
And I will lie here dead,
With my throat cut.
End of Act One, Scene 6.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT ONE
Scene 7:
(MELISSA SHELLEY enters with her son SAM and her daughters CHARITY and COLLEEN.)
MELISSA SHELLEY
Good day, Mrs. Coleridge.
And a fine day it is!
The breeze is strong
And the air fresh and clear.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
There are rumours of pirates, Mrs. Shelley.
SAM SHELLEY
That’s strange.
Last night I dreamed
That pirates sank our ship.
RUTH COLERIDGE
It’s only a rumour, Sam Shelley.
And your dream is only a dream.
CHARITY SHELLEY
Sometimes rumours are true.
The Prince will do anything
To stop us from escaping.
JANE COLERIDGE
I’m not scared of dreams and stories.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
We ran away from our old land.
That is not a dream.
MELISSA SHELLEY
The Prince pays pirates well
To bring back runaways.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
We knew when first we made our plan
To sneak away at night
That we would be put to death
If ever we were caught.
SAM SHELLEY
I’m glad we left.
I’d rather fight the pirates
Than work myself to death
Pulling barges up a river.
RUTH COLERIDGE
What will you fight with, Sam Shelley?
Your skinny arms and tiny fists?
CHARITY SHELLEY
Sam is strong, and so are we.
Pulling barges is hard work.
Strength sometimes goes unseen.
JANE COLERIDGE
She’s bragging, Mother.
We worked hard as well, little miss,
Before we ran away.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
Will the pirates hurt us, Mummy?
MELISSA SHELLEY
They will try, Colleen,
If ever they catch us.
But the breeze is strong
And the sea is empty.
HOPE COLERIDGE
The pirates will chop off your mother’s head, Colleen.
Just ask my mother.
She knows what they do.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
Forgive my girls, Mrs. Shelley.
They are out of sorts again
And I’m the one to blame.
(CAPTAIN GRAY, FIRST MATE ELIOT,SECOND MATE BARRETT, and the THREE SAILORS enter.)
CAPTAIN GRAY
Mrs. Coleridge,
You and your girls must hurry.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
There’s a leak on the port side.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
The sea is filling up our ship.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
But we have other jobs to do.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
So we must leave the leak to you.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
You must man the pumps.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
Hard work is good for my girls.
Come on, you lumps.
RUTH COLERIDGE
Call us lumps if you want.
JANE COLERIDGE
We must preserve our beauty.
HOPE COLERIDGE
Who will marry a girl
With a bent back?
(The COLERIDGE FAMILY exits.)
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
Those girls are lazy beggars.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
All they think about is beauty.
Don’ t they know that life means duty?
FIRST MATE ELIOT
We’ll make them pump
Until they whimper.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Do they suppose
Our ship will sail itself?
SAILOR JOHN HOPKINS
They’re fools to think their beauty
Will bring them health and wealth
When they’re drowning in the sea.
CAPTAIN GRAY
Sometimes I think
All we’ve done
Is bring our troubles with us.
(They exit.)
CKOLLEEN SHELLEY
What does Captain Gray mean, Mother?
MELISSA SHELLEY
She fears that we have not learned
The lessons of the past.
SAM SHELLEY
What lessons are those, Mother?
MELISSA SHELLEY
The land we left was cruel.
We worked ourselves to death
To make the Prince and all his friends
Rich beyond belief.
In the new land,
Such terrible injustice
Must not ever happen.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
Hope Coleridge is a bossy child.
And her sisters are so lazy.
SAM SHELLEY
I don’t like to think of them
As neighbours on the land we seek.
CHARITY SHELLEY
I don’t trust them.
They think only of themselves.
MELISSA SHELLEY
Don’t complain.
We are lucky to be here.
Remember how many tried to leave?
COLLEEN SHELLEY
I recall the dark, dark night,
And people struggling at the docks.
They fought to get on board.
CHARITY SHELLEY
And mother pushed us forward,
Squeezing us towards the ship.
I fell and someone stepped on me.
SAM SHELLEY
I pulled you up, and made you move
Towards the dark shape of the ship.
Somehow we got on board.
MELISSA SHELLEY
So be grateful.
There are many, many others
Who will never get a chance.
(CAPTAIN GRAY, FIRST MATE ELIOT,SECOND MATE BARRETT, and the THREE SAILORS enter.)
CAPTAIN GRAY
Sam, you must take your turn
In the crow’s nest, up above.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
Watch carefully, young Sam.
And shout if you see a sail.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
Pirates will be after us.
The Prince will pay a fortune for our heads.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Don’t let us down, young man.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
You must do the best you can.
SAILOR JAMES MILTON
Just be sure to climb with care,
A man gets dizzy way up there.
SAM SHELLEY
What will we do if I see a pirate ship?
CAPTAIN GRAY
We will have a meeting
Of all who are on board,
And make a plan.
MELISSA SHELLEY
Go, Sam, and do your job.
It does no good to stand here dreaming.
SAM SHELLEY
I’ll climb up there right away.
(He exits.)
CHARITY SHELLEY
Captain, do you really think
Pirates will attack us?
COLLEEN SHELLEY
Will these rumours become the truth?
CAPTAIN GRAY
We have not talked of this before.
I did not want to make you worry.
But we are moving much too slowly.
The winds have not been strong.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
The pirates sail in galleys.
They have both sails and oars.
In the end, they will overtake us.
Unless a miracle occurs.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
The sea is always dangerous.
Of that, you can be sure.
I will go and pull the rope
To see if Sam’s awake.
(She exits.)
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
The lad must watch with care,
No chances can we take.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
He must stay awake
For everybody’s sake.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
Perhaps he’s dreaming.
That’s what young men do.
MELISSA SHELLEY
Sam is patient.
He’ll watch with care.
CHARITY SHELLEY
His eyes are sharp like an eagle’s,
And he’ll be wide awake.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
I hope he does not have to call.
His silence is a blessing.
SAM SHELLEY
(from offstage)
A ship! I see a ship, on the eastward sea!
FIRST MATE ELIOT
His silent blessing has been broken.
He spies a ship on the eastward sea.
And now accursed we all will be.
CAPTAIN GRAY
We must call a meeting.
First Mate, summon all aboard.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
I will have them on this deck
Before a minute’s passed.
(He exits.)
CAPTAIN GRAY
The time has come.
Our fate will be decided
Before the rising of tomorrow’s sun.
End of Act One, Scene 7.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT TWO:
Scene 1:
(The FULL CAST assembles on the deck, and form family tableaux)
CAPTAIN GRAY
Sam has seen a sail
On the eastern horizon.
JOHN BLAKE
My dream is coming true.
MARION BLAKE
Is it pirates, Captain Gray?
CAPTAIN GRAY
We are far from land.
Only pirates would follow us here.
They seek the Prince’s reward.
HANNAH BLAKE
I’m going to be a fish
In the pirates’ cruel net!
EMILY BLAKE
I won’t let pirates catch me.
I’ll jump into the cold deep sea.
LUKE BYRON
Why is the pirate ship
Faster than our “Dreaming Lady”?
FIRST MATE ELIOT
The pirates have a galley ship,
With both sails and oars.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
We are doomed to move as slow
As the wind should choose to blow.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
They race as fast as slaves can row,
Driven by whips, in the cruel hold below.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Time is now our enemy.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
And a friend to the pirates bold.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
The sea is calm;
The wind is dead.
Every moment draws them closer.
JESSIE BYRON
Captain Gray, tell us plain,
When will they catch us?
CAPTAIN GRAY
By sunset, their galley ship
Will be five hundred lengths away.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
By midnight, they’ll be hard upon us,
Set to ram “The Dreaming Lady.”
SECOND MATE BARRETT
And then we’ll know our fate.
FAITH BYRON
And so our journey’s bound to end
In darkness and disaster.
RACHEL BYRON
Is there nothing we can do
To make our ship go faster?
CAPTAIN GRAY
Only the wind can help us,
And the wind has ceased to blow.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Feel the air.
It’s become as still as death.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
The only breeze
Is from our breath.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
The pirates will not rest
Until they claim our ship.
NAOMI BYRON
Then we must fight the pirates.
What weapons do you have?
CAPTAIN GRAY
We have no weapons of any kind.
All we have is common tools.
Perhaps with those we’ll make a stand.
NATHAN KEATS
I can swing a carpenter’s axe.
I used one as a lad.
DELILAH KEATS
Any heavy object will I use
To bash the pirate skulls.
I’ll not let them touch my children.
ELIZABETH KEATS
I can’t fight.
You must hide me somwhere,
Perhaps in a barrel or under a sack.
JENNY KEATS
They’ll make me into a slave!
Why, oh why, did we leave our land?
SUSAN KEATS
I’ll jump on a pirate’s back
And stab him with a kitchen knife;
I will never be a nasty pirate’s wife.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
Captain Gray, we must make a plan
To try to save our children.
I know my girls are shameless,
But the future rests within them.
CAPTAIN GRAY
I am a sailor, not a soldier.
I have no knowledge of battles grand.
I only know the wind has died,
And the ship will fall into their hands.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
There’s nothing to be done.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
We’ve lost, and they have won.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
We’ll not see tomorrow’s sun.
RUTH COLERIDGE
Doomed! And the wind’s to blame!
Mother, you’ve led us to our deaths!
JANE COLERIDGE
Mother, I trusted you.
And now because of you I’ll die.
HOPE COLERIDGE
My twelve years of life,
Working every day,
Ends in chains, a galley slave.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
Your complaints do not help.
We must defend this ship.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
Has no one anything to suggest?
MELISSA SHELLEY
There is too much fear aboard this ship.
Paralyzed, we wait.
I say we must be brave.
We must choose how to face our fate.
SAM SHELLEY
We don’t know how
To defend our ship,
So perhaps we should attack.
CHARITY SHELLEY
Yes, yes, attack! But how?
The pirates will fight back
With guns and swords.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
Look at Emily!
She is ready to explode!
Emily, speak to us!
Are you inspired?
EMILY BLAKE
I am small, and so is Colleen,
And Naomi and Susan too.
JOHN BLAKE
Yes, you are small.
Our youngest child indeed.
Emily, what do you mean?
EMILY BLAKE
There is a tiny boat on board,
That’s used to tow the nets.
MARION BLAKE
Emily, that’s just a little tiny bit of wood.
It won’t do you any good
Against a pirates’ galley!
EMILY BLAKE
That’s just it,
The boat is tiny.
The pirates will not see it.
We’ll sneak up beside them
And set their ship on fire!
HANNAH BLAKE
That’s a job for grown-ups,
Not tiny little girls!
Your plan is just a dream.
NAOMI BYRON
I’d like to go in the boat.
I’m not afraid to try.
I’m small but I can help to row
And to set their ship ablaze.
SUSAN KEATS
Send me too.
I know how to build a fire.
I’ll turn their ship
Into a funeral pyre.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
I too will go
For this I know.
I am not a coward.
Though just a child,
I’ll help my friends
Build the fire of our salvation.
EMILY BLAKE
I know we’re your treasured children,
But we’re brave and clever.
Sometimes children know best
How to win a fight.
Please let us try.
MARION BLAKE
Emily, my child,
I cannot bear to think of you
In that tiny boat,
With only children as your crew.
JESSIE BYRON
Naomi, you’re only ten.
You’d be out on the sea
With little girls as company,
Facing the awful pirates.
DELILAH KEATS
Think, Susan, of what will happen.
The pirates will smash your tiny boat
And send you to the ocean bottomr.
MELISSA SHELLEY
Colleen, Emily, Naomi, Susan,
You dream of saving all of us.
But our duty, of course,
Is to try to save you children.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
Maybe today things have changed.
Maybe today we children will save you.
CAPTAIN GRAY
There is merit in their plan.
Four small girls can paddle silently
In a tiny wooden boat.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
They can crouch and stay well-hidden
As they move towards their prey.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
In the dark, they’d have a chance
To paddle softly to the galley.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
Their arms could be their silent oars.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
Their boat would be a shadow
Hidden by the night.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
The girls could creep up close
And set that ship alight.
CAPTAIN GRAY
They can carry lantern oil
Mixed with pitch and chemicals
And smear it on the galley’s sides,
Then light it with some flint.
A bonfire of this sort
Cannot be dowsed.
LUKE BYRON
This is madness.
We can’t send
Four girls to do a task
That’s meant for four strong men.
JOHN BLAKE
I will never let my child be used
To carry out this crazy deed.
We must think of something else
The children’s plan cannot succeed.
NATHAN KEATS
We’ve listened to a young girl’s dream.
That’s all it is, a dream.
We cannot send our children
To their certain death.
HOPE COLERIDGE
I’m a child, and I would never
Take part in this stupid plan.
Those silly girls will just be killed.
SAM SHELLEY
I am seventeen, and strong as any man.
I could row that little boat
And strike the pirate ship.
But Emily is right:
Somehow our foes would know
If a grownup were to go.
RUTH COLERIDGE
You’re just a coward, Sam Shelley.
You’d send those silly girls to die.
MELISSA SHELLEY
My Sam is no coward,
And he loves his sister.
And always it is harder
To stay behind and wait.
HANNAH BLAKE
Then let Emily go.
Perhaps she’ll save our souls.
FAITH BYRON
She’s wise and strong
For one so young.
RACHEL BYRON
The pirates would never guess
Four little girls could burn their ship.
Perhaps they would succeed.
ELIZABETH KEATS
I’ve not heard any woman or man
Advance a better plan.
Speak up if you have one.
JENNY KEATS
Why not try the children’s scheme?
Death or slavery will come for us all
Whether they go or not.
JANE COLERIDGE
Send them, send them!
Let them try to burn the pirate ship.
RUTH COLERIDGE
They’re old enough to try.
Let them be little heroes, dead or alive.
HOPE COLERIDGE
A boat full of little girls
Will be our navy.
It almost makes me laugh.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
My daughters, you are more than willing
To send those girls to fight your fight,
Even though they’re children!
EMILY BLAKE
Let me speak!
We four girls will go.
Support us in our plan.
There is nothing to lose
And everything to gain.
NAOMI BYRON
Let us go, I beg you.
Don’t be afraid to trust us.
SUSAN KEATS
We know you love us.
And now you can protect us
By letting us go forth to fight.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
Your hearts must tell you
That this is meant to happen.
Do the hardest thing of all:
Let us go.
SAM SHELLEY
Good Captain, people of the “Lady’s Dream”,
These brave girls must have their chance.
Let them have their scheme,
And perhaps by morning,
We’ll have watched the galley burn.
JOHN BLAKE
We must choose.
Let’s put it to the vote,
And let democracy decide.
CAPTAIN GRAY
No vote!
That will only cause division.
We must all support the plan
Or give it up forever.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
Our plan depends on unity.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
On this plan we must agree.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
There must be no regrets.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
Is there anyone
Who will not support our girls?
SECOND MATE BARRETT
No one opposes them?
Not a single one?
JOHN BLAKE
How could I oppose
The courage in my daughter’s heart.
MARION BLAKE
Though it grieves my soul,
I will not stand in Emily’s way.
LUKE BYRON
There’s nothing left to do
Except to help the four of them
As best we can.
JESSIE BYRON
Perhaps it’s best.
I must be brave
And let my daughter go.
NATHAN KEATS
I accept the wisdom of the plan.
There is none better.
I’m proud of you, my daughter Susan.
DELILAH KEATS
A mother fears her daughter’s duties
As a soldier on the sea,
But it’s even worse to think of her
Enslaved in chains, a pirate’s bride.
MELISSA SHELLEY
Colleen, go with your three friends.
You could share the task with no one finer.
CAPTAIN GRAY
Then it is decided.
The girls will go
When darkness falls.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
How will they find the galley
In the darkness of the night?
SECOND MATE BARRETT
They will hear the splash of oars
As the slaves are made to row
Searching for us in the dark.
JOHN BLAKE
We must prepare the boat for them.
It must not leak.
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
We’ll work and work in the failing light.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
And make the vessel strong and tight.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
We’ll send the girls into the night
In a boat that’s fit to fight.
CAPTAIN GRAY
Then let us set to work
To prepare as best we can
To help the girls succeed.
(The cast lapses into silence stillness and watch as the four of the crew members exit and carry on the boat. The four girls step into the boat, which is facing the audience. The girls remain standing in the boat.)
End of Act Two, Scene 1
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT TWO
Scene 2:
CAPTAIN GRAY
The boat is ready.
And darkness has fallen.
Farewell.
We bless you with our hearts.
REST OF CAST
We bless you with our hearts.
EMILY BLAKE
Goodbye, good people.
Perhaps we shall return.
SUSAN, NAOMI, and COLLEEN
Farewell, farewell.
(The FOUR GIRLS crouch in the boat. The rest of the cast forms tableaux of quiet waiting. The girls paddle with their arms.)
EMILY BLAKE
Quietly, quietly.
We must not be heard.
SUSAN KEATS
Try to listen
For the sound of oars.
(The four become still. NAOMI points.)
NAOMI BYRON
Over there!
(They paddle again.)
COLLEEN SHELLEY
There is something large ahead,
Looming in our path.
SUSAN KEATS
The pirates’ galley.
EMILY BLAKE
They do not see us.
Don’t be afraid.
Naomi, Colleen,
Hold on to its side
As it passes.
(NAOMI and COLLEEN reach out and hold onto the side of the imaginary pirates’ galley.)
EMILY BLAKE
Hold tight!
Now Susan, help me smear this mess
All over the wooden planks.
(They pretend to smear the sticky lantern oil concoction on the side of the pirates’ ship.)
EMILY BLAKE
Now I will strike the flint.
And burn this galley.
(She pretends to strike a flint to make a flame and pretends to light the ship on fire. They all crouch back down in their boat.)
NAOMI BYRON
(as they shield their faces from the blaze)
It burns! It burns!
Let’s get away!
(They paddle for a few moments in silent haste.)
COLLEEN SHELLEY
The flames are bright.
The pirates see us in the glow.
SUSAN KEATS
We’ve been discovered.
We can’t escape.
EMILY BLAKE
Paddle away from “The Dreaming Lady”.
We must not lead them to her.
NAOMI BYRON
We will not give away
The secret of our ship’s position.
COLLEEN SHELLEY
We will lead them out
Into the empty sea
While their galley burns.
SUSAN KEATS
Their ship, though all ablaze,
Turns her bow towards us.
EMILY BLAKE
Good. Let them follow.
NAOMI BYRON
They are getting closer.
EMILY BLAKE
Every second counts.
We must paddle ‘til the end.
NAOMI BYRON
They will crush our boat.
EMILY BLAKE
Yes. They will crush us.
But their galley is in flames.
Don’t be afraid of death:
We have done what we set out to do.
(The FOUR GIRLS freeze, then stand and get out of the boat, and carry it offstage.)
End of Act Two, Scene 2.
Dreaming Lady by Richard Stuart Dixon, Good School Plays.
ACT TWO
Scene 3:
(The remaining cast form new tableaux.)
MARION BLAKE
My daughter Emily is dead.
But the pirate ship has burned.
JOHN BLAKE
My daughter Emily is dead,
But we are saved.
HANNAH BLAKE
My sister’s gone to a watery grave,
But I am still alive.
LUKE BYRON
Naomi too is gone.
Her courage took her to her death.
JESSIE BYRON
My daughter’s gone,
But our ship sails on.
FAITH BYRON
Onwards to the west we fly
Though poor Naomi had to die.
RACHEL BYRON
I will always try to be
As brave and noble
As Naomi.
DELILAH KEATS
My little Susan is gone
To the bottom of the sea.
She saved me.
NATHAN KEATS
I have lost my Susan,
Such a price to pay
For my family’s life.
ELIZABETH KEATS
Susan’s dead.
But I live.
What will I do with my guilt?
JENNY KEATS
Life is hard, and always will be.
But at least it’s life.
Susan has only death.
MELISSA SHELLEY
Colleen, my little child,
Gone forever with her friends.
But I shall not end.
SAM SHELLEY
I swear my sister’s death
Will make me twice as strong.
Every fight I fight will be for her.
CHARITY SHELLEY
Goodbye, Colleen, and thank you.
I will remember you and be brave
Whenever life is hard and I’m afraid.
HEATHER COLERIDGE
Four girls died to save you three.
There’s a lesson to be learned.
Perhaps you will no longer be
The fools you once were.
RUTH COLERIDGE
I’m glad to be alive.
I thank those girls for that.
Perhaps I’ll try to be kinder.
JANE COLERIDGE
The dead go to the bottom of the sea.
We go to the new land.
Everyone goes somewhere.
Those girls went to their deaths for me.
HOPE COLERIDGE
They drowned! How awful.
And the pirates too, jumping in the sea
From a ship on fire.
I must try to be good, but I’m not brave.
SAILOR JAMES HOPKINS
Think of the slaves
Trapped in that burning ship!
SAILOR WILLIAM MILTON
I heard their cries.
For us to live, they had to die.
SAILOR ROBERT CHAUCER
For us to live, they had to die.
CAPTAIN GRAY
The “Dreaming Lady’s” sailing onwards,
Towards a land unknown.
Once again the wind is blowing,
Once again there’s hope.
SECOND MATE BARRETT
Four girls fought our battle for us.
Four girls died to save us all.
Such a story for my children,
If ever I am brave enough
To have them,
Knowing I could lose them.
FIRST MATE ELIOT
Now we have cut the final ties
To the land we left behind.
The girls killed the pirates,
With our blessing.
There is no going back
From a thing like that.
FULL CAST
We have cut the final ties
To the land we left behind.
CAPTAIN GRAY
This ship is called the “Dreaming Lady”,
She’s bound for lands unknown.
FULL CAST
Our ship is called the “Dreaming Lady”…
Bound for lands unknown.
END OF PLAY.