Photo by hello aesthe from Pexels
TIME AND PLACE
Inside each child’s imagination. The North Sea; Scotland; and beyond.
CHARACTERS and SPECIAL PROPS
Storyteller(s), female.
Ginger, a young girl, pre-11 (non-speaking part).
Actors in costume as an owl, a cat, a spoon, carrots and pomegranates (non-speaking parts).
A teddy bear; two whales; Bong-Trees; and a small space ship.
Puppets; wooden and/or cardboard cutouts.
SCENE 1
The North Sea. A small sailboat in it.
A young girl (and her parents) in the boat.
(The actual presence of the parents in the boat is not necessary.)
Two whales.
Enter the Storyteller(s).
STORYTELLER
When Tommy Teddy Bear was a tiny teddy bear,
he took a great big teddy bear’s fall.
From the back of a goose, a long-necked goose,
A goose enters, flying.
Tommy is sitting on its back as it flies.
on the crest of the wind with the screech of an owl,
he fell and he fell, and he yelled and he yelled.
Tommy falls off the goose and, head over heels, somersaults slowly into the water.
From the back of a loose and a high-flying goose,
with the cry of a peacock, and the shriek of a cat,
he tossed and he tumbled through clouds of pink lace.
He flopped and he bumbled all over the place.
And then with a splat and a bend in his knee,
he splashed in the lap of the waves of North Sea.
Yes, he dropped with a plop and up to his ears,
in waters off Scotland, the sea of salt tears.
After a splash, Tommy floats on the water.
Now, the sea of salt tears is a home to its own.
It’s a place for the fishes and for creatures alone.
It’s a place for some sailors and mysterious unknown.
But no place for a teddy, to find Tommy a home.
A lonely little teddy, drifting at sea,
looking and looking for someone to see.
Fish and more fish, and a great big whale,
eels, and stray seals, and a distant sail.
A whale swims near; and a sailboat sails into view in the distance.
A sail in the distance attached to a boat,
tacking and trimming where Tommy’s afloat.
“O wonderful whale, would you give me a ride
I so need a ride,” the teddy bear cried.
The whale heard the words, with a bit of surprise –
Tommy’s too weeny for walloping whale eyes.
He looked and he looked, but he couldn’t see,
where in the world tiny Tommy might be.
So he circled about, blowing water up high,
till again he could hear the teddy bear’s cry.