Rumplestiltzkin - the 1999 M.A.D. Pantomime by Vanessa K Breach

Rumpelstiltzkin was staged at Bohunt from Thursday 18^th to Saturday 20^th February 1999.

Vanessa's Introduction	A brief plot outline and scenes	The Cast, and the Crew
Performance Pictures	Other Pictures
A bit about Rumpelstiltzkin
Other Pantos
Email	Back to Main Panto Page

Vanessa's Message

Synopsis

A very warm welcome to you all, and many thanks for supporting our new venture into "Panto in February".
For our eighth production we have chosen the story of Rumpelstiltzkin. No, it's not the one about the Princess who lets down her long hair, that's Rapunzel. This one's about.... well, why don't you sit back and relax, while we take you somewhere west of Liphook, where the grass is green and the custard is creamy. Please join in the fun as we present to you the story of Rumpelstiltzkin.

Synopsis & Scenes

Our story is set in the village of Caramel in the Kingdom of Butterscotch. The Kingdom is ruled by King Marzipan and his sister, the bossy Queen Madeline.

The King's son, Prince Florentine, is in love with Victoria, the daughter of Dame Eccles, the mill owner with a penchant for men's trousers. And of course Victoria loves Florentine.
Needless to say the kingdom is bankrupt and the Queen wants Florentine to marry someone rich. When the King and Queen visit the village to demand that Victoria stops chasing after Florentine, Dame Eccles is so riled that she boasts Victoria could make gold out of straw and so the Queen decides to put her to the test.

Of course with all the straw collected to make gold, there's none left for poor old Buttercup! So the king gives the Kingdom's last five gold pieces to Farmer Scrumpy to buy some straw from the Kingdom of Battenburg because although Butterscotch is covered in grass, we all know you can't buy straw with grass!

Shut in the castle cellar, Victoria is suprised by Rumpelstiltzkin - it is he that has stolen all the gold from the King and Queen and made the kingdom so poor.
Victoria asks him to help her turn the straw into gold and he eventually agrees but asks for three precious things in payment. Victoria only has a ring that Florentine has just given her and a necklace of her grandmother's so he takes those and promises to return in a year for her most precious possession.
With the help of his sprites, Rumpelstiltzkin changes the straw into gold.

When the cellar door is unlocked the next morning, everyone is amazed. Florentine and Victoria can now be married and the kingdom will be rich again

Meanwhile - what are those dwarves doing in this panto ? And how much longer will Dame Eccles resist the King and will Cooper ever get his trousers back ?

Act 2

It's a year later. Victoria and Florentine are married and have a beautiful baby son called Tom.
Everyone gathers for the baptism - even the dwarves who are looking for a mine - any sort of mine - we don't mind - we're miners you see !
The King gets Dame Eccles away from Cooper for a moment and serenades her so it looks like Cooper might never get his trousers mended.
Simon arrives with a present for the baby from him (his old teddy) and from Buttercup (a cowbell !) and Victoria says Tom is the most precious thing in the world.
BANG ! Rumpelstiltzkin appears and demands the baby as the third precious thing.
After the outcry, Rumpelstiltzkin gives them all a day to find out his name and disappears.
In the Gold Mine under the Palace the dwarves have set themselves up and Dopey is discovered and chased away by Rumpelstiltzkin. Meanwhile Buttercup strays into the mine and overhears Rumpelstiltzkin and learns his name.
The next morning, everyone gathers with the names - Simon suggests some strange names like Foxglove and is told off by dame Eccles who tells him to go away.
Rumpelstiltzkin goes through them - Algenon.... No, Boniface .... No, no, no, Horatio ...ooohh I like that ... but no it's not right .... all the way down to Zeus at the end ... No No No !
Two of the three extra guesses are squandered and everyone tries to find Simon, who's left the village, so that he can tell them what Buttercup is trying to say.
Simon is found - the name is discovered - Rumpelstiltzkin vanishes and the day and the baby is saved.
The King and Queen decide to stand down and pass the crown to Florentine and Victoria, and Simon is declared Minister for the Countryside.
Well that's our version - if you were there we hope you enjoyed it.

ACT I		ACT II	a Year Later
Scene 1	The Village Square	Scene 1	Prince Tom's Baptism at the Palace
Scene 2	Dame Eccles' Garden	Scene 2	A pathway leading to the village
Scene 3	The King's boudoir in the Palace	Scene 3	The Gold Mine underneath the Palace
Scene 4	Dame Eccles' Garden	Scene 4	Dame Eccles' Garden
Scene 5	The Cellar in the Palace	Scene 5	The next day in the Village Square

Cast & Crew

CAST
Victoria, daughter of Dame Eccles	Kathy Carrig	Prince Florentine, son of King Marzipan	Jo Banbury
Rumpelstiltzkin	Jo Evans	Dame Eccles	Mick Selley
Queen Madeline, sister to King Marzipan	Jan Treacher-Evans	King Marzipan, brother to Queen Madeline	Steve Tarpey
Reverend Seedcake Tompkins	David Jenner	Farmer Scrumpy	Derek Bruce
Cooper, the Barrelmaker	Will Rawlings	Miss Macaroon, the School Misstress	Jackie Bruce
Postmistress Patsy	Mandy Godridge	Simon	Vanessa Breach
Town Crier	Kevin Carrig	Buttercup, the cow	Maggie Tarpey and Phill Evans

Villagers, Maids,
Dream Dancers, Cowboys,
Guests at the Christening

Sharon Anderson, Sue Calvert, Jenny Courtnage,
Don Ellis, Amanda Gowers, Lesley McCarthy, Lisa Ross,
Ruth Savage, Carol Selley, Mary West

Naughty Schoolgirls
and Trainee Flappers

Abigail	Megan Courtnage	Beatrice	Clare McCarthy
Clarissa	Rachel Bruce	Daphne	Claire Carrig
Edwina	Kate Williams	Felicity	Penny Wilson
Gloria	Deborah White	Harriet	Kathleen Adams

Jo's Girls - The Dancers	Bethany Breach, Catherine Bruce, Emily Courtnage, Alice Courtnage, Bekka Selly
Flower Girls, Miners, and Rumplestiltzkin's Sprites	Blair Anderson, Megan Treacher-Evans, Hannah Ross, Katherine Savage, Rebecca Savage, Charlotte Selley, Hannah Tarpey, Abigail West, Sally Wilson

The Seven Vertically Challenged Miners (for reasons of copyright and, of course, political correctness)

The one who's slightly stressed	Adam Tarpey
The one with a permenant allergy	Ben Ellis
The one who suffers from insomnia	Ben Calvert
The one who's lacking a little in confidence	Adam Ellis
The one who enjoys his work	Arran Treacher-Evans
The one who's doing very well with his studies	William Adams
The one who's academically challenged	Paul Gowers

MUSICIANS

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Piano	Phil Richards
Guitars	Grahame Polley & Julian Horlock
Drums	Ian Gowers

CREW

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Director	Vanessa Breach	Written by	Vanessa Breach
Choreography	Vanessa Breach	Choreography for Jo's Girls	Jo Evans
Stage Manager	Ray Breach	Backstage Crew	Phill Evans, Dave Evans, Carol Barratt, Timothy Breach, James McCarthy, Bryan Jackson, Matthew Carrig, Oliver Woodage, Alison Ellis, Garry Treacher-Evans
Lighting Crew	Kevin (Sparks) Carrig, Andy Woodage, Matthew Polley	Scenery & Props	Phill Evans, Mick Selley, Jo Evans, Jo Banbury, Vic Selley, Brian Simmons, cast and families
Wardrobe	Jennie Adams, Mary West, Nan Selley	Assisted by	Wendy Evans, Monica Church, Ruth Savage, Julie Wilson, and friends
Chorus Mistress	Carol Selley	Continuity Lady	Linda Gibbs
Refreshments	Sue Knight and friends	Front of House	Dennis Drysdale & friends
Dressing Rooms	Jennie Adams, Christine Williams, Caroline Stephenson, Therese Jordan, Angie Pawlyszyn, Rebekah White, Joanne Wilson, Paula West, Suzanne Battensby, Julie Wilson, Julie Jenner, Maggie Tarpey, Norma White
Treasurer	Sue Calvert	Publicity Officer	Carol Selley
Secretary	Jackie Bruce	Photographer	Brian Simmons
Poster Design	Leslie McCarthy	Programme Design	Leslie McCarthy
Producer	Vanessa Breach

Performance Pictures

The King`s Dream	The Queen and Dame Eccles	The King & Queen
The Accessories	Victoria gets a letter
Dame Eccles & The King	Hold on ...	Dame Eccles
Dame Eccles	Dame Eccles	Oh, Mother. What HAVE you done
Victoria and Florentine share a moment	On A Wonderful Day Like Today	Baby, Baby, Baby
Silence!	Curses!	The King !
On A Wonderful Day Like Today	The Wedding	The Glory Of Love
Rumpelstiltzkin returns !	The King and Queen	Queen Madeline
Spring, Spring, Spring	Postmistress Patsy (Mandy Godridge)	Dame Eccles
Baby, Baby, Baby	I never promised you ...	Baby, Baby, Baby
One day ...	Are they all from men ?	Caramel
Dame Eccles	Just in time for lunch !	Last guess...
Caramel	Algenon ...	Zippah Dee Do Dah
Pansy !	A little game	I`ve just noticed ...
...Algenon ...	Boniface ...	Hang on, maybe ...
Buttercup, do you know ...	The Adult Cast	...no, it`s not Algenon
If I Were Not ....
The Baptism	Baby, Baby, Baby	I told you ...
The Finale	Baby, Baby, Baby	So that`s how ...
Is this really necessary ?

Other Pictures

Costume designs by Mary West
Set blueprints by Mick Selley
Painting the set
Rehearsals

The Rumplestizkin Story

Rumpelstiltzkin was first assembled in it's current form by the brothers Grimm from four different but complementary versions of the tale.
The Grimms, Jacob and Wilhelm, were businessmen and academics working in Hesse in the early 19^th century and they collected tales from educated people of their acquantaince, while exercising a strong editorial control. The stories where meant to be morally uplifting and included warnings to children.
Although the best known version has come from the Grimm's book, there are many other versions of the tale and many versions of the little man's name
The Scots have

Little kens our guid dame at hame
That Whuppity Stoorie is may name !

while an Irish version has

Little does my lady wot
That my name is Trit-a- Trot

and in Suffolk

Nimmy nimmy not
My name's Tom Tit Tot

and the Cornish have him singing

Duffy, my lady, you'll never know - what?
That my name is Terrytop, Terrytop- top

Other versions of the name are Trwtyn-Tratyn from Wales, Purzinigele (Austria), Ricdin-Ricdon (France), and Panczimanczi (Hungary) and the story is known in Cornwall as Duffy and the Devil or Duffy and the Buccaboo. There is a lovely version set in the Caribbean called How the Crab got his Shell.
The original English translation of the Grimm's tale was by Edgar Taylor in 1823 and he was one of the first to point out these occurances not only in British folklore but also a similar story in a book published in Amsterdam in 1708. In fact the name seems to have existed back in the late 1500's when Rabelais book Gargantua, Geschichtklitterung(1575-90) listed Rumpele stilt oder der Poppart as a game.
Rumpelstiltzkin has very primitive roots : it hinges on the interdependence of name and identity (the dwarf's magic can only be defeated by the knowledge of his name), the outwitting of supernatural forces by human cleverness, and the terrible pledge by the heroine of her first-born child (this was an age of high infant mortality and it was generally believed that gnomes and fairies stole young children).
It may now have been made into a more amusing story but when it was being told in darkened rooms in long winter nights long ago, it must have had considerable power.
Why spinning straw into gold ? Well the storytelling centres of castles and houses were the spinning and sewing rooms. The work was dull and the women working there told stories to pass the time. So many of the stories mention spindles, spinning wheels, needles and sewing !
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A bit Rumpelstiltzkin humour
If anyone wants to write some sequels, please feel free - as long as you send them in so I can add them to the page !
Diary of a Gnome
Monday. Woke really late feeling happy. Found myself in a castle with a silly young girl who thought she could turn straw into gold. After spending all night with her crying on my shoulder I began to wonder if this wasn't a nightmare....
Tuesday. See Monday

Blind Date
"When the screen went back I decided my dad was right and I shouldn't talk to strange men, especially when they are small, talk in riddles, throw temper tamntrums, and want babies" .....Miss Miller

Thanks to Sarah Reed and Chris of Hampshire Schools Library Service for all of the history and the humour. Original sources included Classical Fairy Tales by Iona & Peter Opie.
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20 December 2005