WOLF GIRL © MED Theatre 2017
Written by Archie Baker, Isla Bloomfield, Elsa Collins, Wilhelmina Edwards-Tooke, Roxy Eligoloff, Alexandra Gofton, Charlie Harrod, Ayane Hingston, Ivaylo Karaivanov, Manu Kay, Aaron Kebbell, Jessica Lock, Bailey McNeven, Jesse Mogeni, Kit Mullet-Richman, Tatiana Musiaiska, Oliver Pickard, Alisha Somers, Charlotte Willis
Cast List:
Shadow (She Wolf) TAT
Lightening (Pup) KIT
Scar (Alpha Male) MANU
Thunder (Young Wolf) ELSA
Storm (The Elder) ARCHIE
Claw (vicious, mischievous) BAILEY
Samuel (Dad) IVAYLO
Mary (Mother) ALEX
Lyra (Older Sister) ISLA
Lucy (Wolf Girl) MINA
Jessie (the joker) ALI
Taylor (the sceptic) JESSE
Alex (the storyteller) AYANE
Charlie (the scaredy-cat) CHARLIE
Jake AARON
Candice ROXY
Bella JESS
Farmer Emma CHARLOTTE
The Detective OLLIE
Prologue
(Written by Tat and Ali)
DETECTIVE: (To the audience) In all my years of being a detective, there was one case that stood out from all the rest. I will never forget it. How could I? It was the strangest case I have ever worked on. I hope nothing like it ever happens again.
It was a warm pleasant day in the middle of June. A family were enjoying a picnic on the Moor. They were celebrating their youngest daughter’s fifth birthday. They were happy, but not for long…
Exit DETECTIVE
Scene One: a grassy glade
(Written by Mina and Elsa)
MARY walks in from the left carrying a picnic basket followed by SAMUEL, LYRA, and LUCY.
MARY: What a wonderful day for a birthday picnic.
MARY takes out a blanket and puts it down.
LYRA: Oh mum, should I help you put the food on the plates?
MARY: Let’s just take in the view a moment.
LUCY: Look how beautiful the blue bells are!
SAM: Oh these pesky bees are annoying!
LYRA: Oh yeah, the blue bells are really nice. Let me take a photo.
LYRA takes out her phone and takes pictures of the blue bells.
SAM: I hope my car will be OK. There were lots of young people hanging around the car park.
MARY: (Shouts whilst putting down the picnic blanket) Oh Samuel, lighten up!
LYRA: I know what to do, Lucy, let’s play hide and seek.
LUCY: Yeah! Mummy, Daddy, are you going to play?
MARY: No thank you, I’m going to lay out the picnic. I left the food in my back-pack behind that rock, out of the sun.
SAM: I need to put on some of that sun cream.
MARY: It’s in the back-pack.
SAM: I’ll come with you to help then.
Exit SAM and MARY
LYRA: (Gesturing to Lucy) So it’s just me and you.
LYRA counts to thirty whilst Lucy runs off. Enter SHADOW near where Lucy is hiding
LUCY: Oh what a beautiful shadow. Do you want to play? You have grey fur and sharp teeth and blue eyes.
Shadow makes a quiet howling noise meaning ‘follow me’. Lucy listens carefully and seems to
understand that Shadow wants her to follow. She looks back at her parents sitting by the picnic and looks around for her sister. Lucy smiles and starts to skip off after Shadow.
LUCY exits
LYRA: Ready or not, here I come!
LYRA exits
Scene Two: the woods
(Written by Manu and Kit)
LUCY follows SHADOW onto the stage. SHADOW growls, spinning around. LUCY slowly toddles towards SHADOW and strokes her on the nose. SHADOW says the following in a soothing but growling voice.
SHADOW: Where do you come from, oh little youngling?
LUCY doesn’t understand SHADOW and she is oblivious to what she says.
LUCY: (In a baby voice) You, Shadow.
SHADOW trots off beckoning for the child to follow. SHADOW and LUCY move off stage. The WOLF PACK move on stage while SHADOW and LUCY, after doing a loop, enter from the other side.
SHADOW: (Confronting the pack) To my pack I bring a child of the two footed ones.
SCAR, STORM, and CLAW erupt into growling while THUNDER and LIGHTNING observe with fascinated curiosity.
CLAW: This being is not part of the pack, let me rip this female to shreds.
SHADOW: This unlikely animal is now part of the pack and I say this as a leader. You will treat her with respect and whoever tries to harm her will end up howling on the dark ground.
SCAR: Let us agree to disagree. We will make this pact not to harm her but we are now a pack within a pack. It is you and us, as day is different from night.
STORM: I am wise and old so I will tell you that this child is trouble, you will see. It is only a matter of time before the two legged ones come for us.
With that, SCAR, CLAW and STORM trot off away from the den (offstage). LIGHTNING and THUNDER crawl over to LUCY and empathise with her. They show her the way to the den, following in SHADOW’S direction.
Scene Three: near the woods
(Written by Aaron, Jess, and Ivaylo)
Four children are discovered sitting in a circle at their camp.
TAYLOR: Go on, tell us another story. I bet you have no more to tell.
JESSE: Make it a funny one this time!
CHARLIE: But please not a scary one! We’ve got to camp here all night and I’ve heard Blackingstone Rock is haunted.
TAYLOR: Don’t be a spoil-sport, Charlie!
ALEX looks up to the sky and thinks
ALEX: OK, so, once there lived a girl…
JESSE: What, so, she’s dead?
CHARLIE: Oh no! Is she dead?!
ALEX: Who knows. But there was a girl who went missing on her 5th birthday. It was the 14th June 2011. Her family were having a picnic on Blackingstone Rock and noticed she wasn’t there. Apparently she was playing a game with her sister and disappeared. The family are still looking for her in this area, to this very day.
TAYLOR: That’s not scary at all! I don’t believe it, it’s fiction.
ALEX: Did I mention she was carried off by the beast of Dartmoor?
CHARLIE: Please stop! I’m getting scared.
JESSE: BORING! Let’s play Truth or Dare!
ALL: Yeah!
TAYLOR: I’ll go first. Alex, truth or dare?
ALEX: Umm, dare.
TAYLOR: I dare you to go into the woods.
ALEX: No chance, we’re banned from going into the woods –
TAYLOR: On our own…
JESSE: How about we all go?
CHARLIE: I’m staying here.
JESSE sneaks off and hides behind a bush
ALEX: Come on, Charlie. It will be fine.
TAYLOR: Come on you scaredy-cat!
ALEX and TAYLOR begin to leave. They walk past the bush and spot JESSE. He gestures for them to “shh”
CHARLIE: Don’t leave me!
TAYLOR: Well, come with us then!
CHARLIE runs towards the group, as he passes the bush JESSE jumps out
JESSE: BOO!
CHARLIE: (Jumping) Ahhhhhh!
JESSE falls on the floor laughing. CHARLIE runs away from the group and the rest follow.
ALEX: (Calling after CHARLIE) Come back, Charlie!
CHARLIE: No, you’re mean!
The group laugh and follow CHARLIE into the woods
Scene Four: in the woods
(Written by Manu and Kit)
BELLA, CANDICE and JAKE enter the stage looking puzzled. They pace the stage looking everywhere.
BELLA: Where are those sheep, I wonder?
CANDICE: (sighing) They are missing. There’s nothing we can do. I loved those sheep so much.
JAKE: She’s right you know, all we can do is watch as they disappear.
BELLA: (with a puzzled hand gesture) Alright then, we better head back as you give up so easily…
JAKE: That’s unfair, Bella. You’re giving up too.
The camping children exit the stage. From the opposite direction JESSE, ALEX, CHARLIE, and TAYLOR enter.
CHARLIE: (shivering) I just feel like that beast of Dartmoor is going to start roaring any second.
Howling noises erupt around them making CHARLIE jump and scream. BELLA, CANDICE, and JAKE enter. Both the camping children and the farming children have their backs to one another and scare themselves by walking into each other.
JAKE: /AHHH!
CANDICE: /AHHH!
BELLA: /AHHH!
ALEX: /AHHH!
TAYLOR: /AHHH!
JESSE: /AHHH!
CHARLIE: /AHHH!
CANDICE: Oh, hello, you startled us so much. Why are you out here?
TAYLOR: Why are you out here?
BELLA: Well, our mother farms just over the hill.
CANDICE: And our sheep have mysteriously been going missing.
JAKE: Have you seen them?
TAYLOR: I’m sorry but we haven’t seen them.
CANDICE: And you?
JESSE: Oh, we’re just out looking for the missing girl who disappeared here years ago. Some say she’s dead, some say she’s still alive and Charlie, over there, (pointing to CHARLIE) is being a massive chicken.
ALEX: Going on from Jesse’s point, some people think she was captured by the beast of Dartmoor and eaten!
BELLA: There’s no such thing. We’ve got to go home – so can you look out for our sheep?
JESSE: Yeah – and on the way home can you look out for the girl?
JAKE: (Disbelievingly sarcastic) Sure, it would be our pleasure. Bye!
The farming children walk off stage. As the camping children begin to leave the stage CHARLIE trips over something.
CHARLIE: Owww!
CHARLIE looks down and realises that he’s tripped over some bones. He sprints off in the opposite direction to the farming children.
CHARLIE: (Calling) IT’S THE BEAST OF DARTMOOR! IT ATE THE MISSING GIRL!
TAYLOR: No, Charlie, they’re too small to be human bones, they must be animal remains.
ALEX: They could belong to those children’s sheep?
JESSE: We should give the bones to them, they’ll know what to do.
ALEX: You go after Charlie, I’ll run after the others, give them the bones and meet you back here, OK?
JESSE: /OK
TAYLOR: /OK
JESSE and TAYLOR sprint off in the direction of CHARLIE whilst ALEX runs after the camping children.
ALEX: (Calling) Wait up, we’ve got something for you!
Scene Five: in the Woods, moonlight
(Written by Charlotte, Archie, and Ayane)
Enter SHADOW, STORM, CLAW, SCAR, THUNDER, LIGHTNING and LUCY, who moves like a wolf but more upright. They let out an almighty howl followed by song.
ALL: On a dark night,
When the moon is full,
We howl to each other,
Sisters and brothers.
We are the grey folk,
The furriest folk,
The ‘beasts’ of Dartmoor,
That everyone is scared of.
People think we’re extinct,
But they’re wrong,
We’re right,
As we steal through the dead of night.
We are the grey folk,
The furriest folk,
The ‘beasts’ of Dartmoor,
That everyone is scared of.
Our juicy growl,
As we prowl,
Through the dead of night,
Gives travellers a fright.
We are the grey folk,
The furriest folk,
The ‘beasts’ of Dartmoor,
That everyone is scared of.
And we are proud to be a wolf.
SHADOW, STORM, CLAW, and SCAR scarper away leaving LIGHTNING, THUNDER and LUCY. They lie in the blue bells.
LUCY: Is it not lovely in the blue grass?
LIGHTNING: Sure, sure, but I’m tummy growly.
LUCY: It is like lying on the sky only it smells sweeter!
LIGHTNING: Sure, sure, but we must feed! What shall we do about hunger-vanisher and dry-throat banisher?
LUCY: I have no knowledge of what to–
Bushes rustle and twigs crack
THUNDER: We need to go, the two legs are coming.
LIGHTNING, THUNDER and LUCY disappear into bushes, LUCY looking over her shoulder. Enter JESSE, TAYLOR, ALEX, and CHARLIE panting.
TAYLOR: Charlie, you are such a scaredy-cat! Let’s get back to the tent.
JESSE: I’ve just heard something, maybe it’s the….GHOST HOUND!
CHARLIE jumps
TAYLOR: Jesse!
ALEX: Do you remember that ghost hound tale?
JESSE hides behind a tree and makes a howling noise. CHARLIE starts to cry.
ALEX: Hello?
All (except ALEX): Of course we do!
ALEX: Well, I’ll tell it anyway.
ALL: Do you have to?
ALEX: Yes, I do. I’m the storyteller, remember?
Everyone huddles around her, listening reluctantly.
ALEX: Once, in these very woods, a petrifying hound took campers who were sleeping here.
CHARLIE whimpers
ALEX: Those who were taken were never found again. There were also no bodies.
TAYLOR: Charlie you’re such a wimp! Alex, you should stop now!
JESSE: (Happily) Night everyone!
CHARLIE starts crying again, quivering as though he is having a fit
JESSE: Alex, you know that child? What if she’s still here?
CHARLIE: Don’t you dare –
JESSE: Lucy, wasn’t she called?
ALEX: Yeah.
JESSE: (Calling) LUCY! LUCY!
CHARLIE: Shut up!
Enter LUCY slowly, followed at a distance by LIGHTNING and THUNDER behind
ALEX: Woah…Where did you come from?
LUCY sniffs around the children like a wolf. CHARLIE jumps away in terror
TAYLOR: Eww, gross!
ALEX: (Gesturing to LIGHTNING) Aww, this one’s so cute!
LIGHTNING bares teeth
ALEX: Or not…
LIGHTNING bounds away and disappears with THUNDER
CHARLIE: (Pointing to LUCY) That one is a human!
They all look at LUCY
JESSE: (Spookily) What if it’s the missing child?
TAYLOR: Pfft. Of course it’s not.
LUCY sniffs TAYLOR and he screams before scrambling away. The four CHILDREN begin to retreat
LUCY: I… I…am…Lucy?
The CHILDREN turn and tentatively approach
ALEX: How did you survive for five years?!
LUCY: I…I…lived…with…the grey-furred ones! I…am…th-the two footed one.
ALEX: Amazing…
TAYLOR: Pfft, of course she didn’t live with them!
ALEX: I believe her.
JESSE: Come on Alex, you can’t seriously believe this?
CHARLIE: I don’t want to believe it!
WOLF CHILD: I…I…will c-call…th-them!
LUCY lets out an almighty howl, the pack rushes to her side.
SCAR, THUNDER, LIGHTNING, SHADOW, STORM and CLAW enter
SCAR: Why have you summoned us?! You have betrayed us to the two-legs!
LUCY looks away
SCAR: I told you five years ago we should not have accepted her!
SHADOW: You quarrel with my judgment, Scar?
SCAR: Maybe I do!
CLAW: It is hard not to, Shadow.
THUNDER: She is one of us, we should give her a chance to explain.
STORM: We must go. Remember the story our grandfather White Muzzle told us about when they shot what they believed to be the last of the grey folk? We are not safe with the two-legged ones.
LIGHTNING is scooped up and hurried away with the pack. LUCY looks at the children for a moment longer before SHADOW pulls her away.
ALEX: What…
JESSE: Just…
TAYLOR: Happened…?
CHARLIE: (Running in the direction of the village) AHH!
TAYLOR: Oh, Charlie, for goodness sake! For once, could you not run away?!
CHARLIE: (Calling whilst running) No chance!
JESSE: We need to tell someone about the wolves.
TAYLOR: Definitely!
ALEX: But the farmer will shoot them!
TAYLOR: (sprinting in the direction of the village) I can’t hear you!
JESSE follows in the same direction.
ALEX: I can’t believe them! (under breath) Idiots.
ALEX sighs and follows them
Enter the DETECTIVE
DETECTIVE: (To the audience) I bet you’re wondering if it’s actually possible that a child can be brought up by wolves? Well, in fact there have been many records in different countries. Take Marcos, the wild boy of Sierra Morena for instance. He lived with the wolves for years, and he is still alive today to tell the tale – he can’t sleep in a bed though, he prefers to lie on the floor, like a dog. So, I suggest you believe me. Let’s get on with the rest of the story, shall we?
DETECTIVE exits
Scene Six: in Lucy’s bedroom
(Written by Isla, Alex, and Roxy)
MARY, SAMUEL and LYRA are sitting in LUCY’s old room admiring photos of her.
MARY: Oh, remember that time when Lucy ate half of her pig cake?
LYRA: Oh yeah! She threw it up all over me!
SAM: Was that when you bought her the onesie that was five times to big for her?
LYRA: (Slightly embarrassed) It was on sale though!
They all laugh
MARY: Lucy was so funny! (slightly upset)
LYRA: (Sounding upset while changing emotions) I really miss her.
MARY: /We all do.
SAM: /We all do.
MARY pats LYRA on the back
LYRA: (Pleading) Can we please just take one last look at the place she disappeared?
SAM: Maybe we should, Mary. How did we let this happen?
LYRA: Please Mum, I want to feel close to Lucy today.
MARY: But I don’t want to bring back bad memories, it’s too much.
SAM: I agree with Lyra. There could be a clue somewhere, anywhere. We can’t give up now.
MARY: OK, come on, let’s go. But don’t get your hopes up.
They go out
Scene Seven: a farm house
Written by Jesse & Bailey
Enter JAKE, CANDICE, and BELLA running.
JAKE: Mum, I have found some bones. I think they may be from our flock.
EMMA: (Making an angry face and shouting) Where did you find them?
CANDICE: We were up in Blackingstone woods and we came across some children. They must have been camping nearby. We asked them about our sheep but they said they hadn’t seen anything.
JAKE: We went to leave, but one of them came running after us. They said they’d found the bones just as we were leaving.
BELLA: We stood looking at them for ages and Jake decided we should bring them home.
EMMA examines the bones closely
EMMA: Please can you show me exactly where you found them.
The children and Emma begin to leave.
BELLA: But what if there are dangerous animals out there?
EMMA: Do not be afraid, I will be with you.
BELLA, JAKE and CANDICE go out with EMMA following, gun in hand
Scene Eight: outside the woods
(Written by Charlie & Ollie, Jesse and Bailey)
TAYLOR, ALEX, JESSE, and CHARLIE enter running from the woods. They bump into MARY, SAM, and LYRA who are centre stage. The children look surprised and nervous. Meanwhile, SCAR, STORM and CLAW watch from a distance in hiding but visible on stage
SAM: Hey, watch where you’re going!
JESSE: How can we watch where we’re going when we’re being chased by wolves?!
SAM: What do you mean “being chased by wolves?”
JESSE: The huge grey furry things we’ve just been chased by.
LYRA: There are no wolves on Dartmoor, they became extinct in 1780.
CHARLIE: (With a bad attitude) Yeah…definitely…
SAM: If they were there, we would all be in danger!
CHARLIE: /But we are in danger!
TAYLOR: /But we are in danger!
ALEX: /But we are in danger!
JESSE: /But we are in danger!
MARY: (Interrupting) Stop talking such nonsense! This is a hard day for us, we don’t have time for this.
LYRA: Please leave us alone.
JESSE: Aren’t you Lyra?
TAYLOR: Yeah, we know you from school.
CHARLIE: If she’s Lyra, doesn’t that mean –
JESSE: Be quiet!
SAM: If they’re Lyra’s friends, perhaps we should listen to them, Mary. They do seem very upset about something.
CHARLIE: We have to tell them!
MARY: Tell us what?
ALEX: We’ve just found Lucy living wild in the woods with wolves!
JESSE: Alex!
ALEX: You have to come with us, into the woods, now!
SAM: How dare you try and trick us into going into the woods, you inconsiderate children! How could you be so cruel?
LYRA: Don’t you realise how upsetting this is for us? This isn’t a game!
MARY sobs
ALEX: We’re not lying!
JESSE: Yeah, we’re not trying to trick you!
CHARLIE: The wolves are real!
ALEX: And so is Lucy. Please believe us.
Small silence
MARY: We should follow them.
SAM: But what if it’s some cruel trick?
MARY: It’s worth the risk, isn’t it?
They all exit in the direction of the woods.
SCAR, CLAW, and STORM move centre stage
SCAR: See, this child of the two-legged devils has revealed it’s true nature. It has summoned its kin!
CLAW: We must warn the others.
They exit, hurriedly
Scene Nine: at the wolf den
(by Alex, Roxy, Isla, Mina and Elsa)
Enter SHADOW, LIGHTNING, THUNDER, and LUCY.
THUNDER: Why are the two-legged ones our enemies?
SHADOW: They are fearful of us, young one.
THUNDER: Could they have just been looking for the child of the two-legged?
LIGHTNING: Storm says they are not to be trusted.
THUNDER: But then how did this two-legged one get to live with the grey folk?
Enter SCAR, CLAW, and STORM
STORM: It is as we thought. The two-legged are coming for us.
CLAW: They know where we are.
SCAR: We were right never to trust the two-legged youngling! You should never have brought her to us, Shadow! (Growls at LUCY)
SHADOW: (Growls back) You will not touch her, Scar.
Enter EMMA, JAKE, CANDICE, and BELLA near by. The WOLVES react.
STORM: They are here.
The WOLVES hide
EMMA: See, I told you no wolves are in this forest.
SCAR: (Whispering) We must face them.
THUNDER: (Whispering) They must have just come to look for our two-legged, they may not wish to harm us.
SCAR grabs the LUCY and pulls her out towards the humans. The rest of the pack follow behind.
SHADOW: Scar, you will not harm her!
The wolves approach the EMMA and her CHILDREN from a distance
EMMA: What is that? It’s huge!
JAKE: I told you so!
EMMA: Get out of the way children so I can get a good shot at one!
SCAR drags LUCY to the front of the pack
EMMA: What is that? Is it a wolf or a human?
Enter SAM, MARY and LYRA. They look at LUCY, puzzled.
LYRA: Lucy…??
SHADOW: (Interrupting) May it be…
STORM: The youngling’s family.
They ignore WOLVES
MARY: What has happened to you?
LYRA: Lucy????
LUCY: Lyra?
LUCY bounds up to LYRA and tries to give her a hug. LYRA beats her away in fear.
LYRA: Keep away from me!
LUCY: Don’t you r-r-remember me, Lyra?
Then gradually lets het come close and hug
LUCY: Mum…n..nothing has happened to m…m…me. I got lost… I’m..oh.. (She says this while hugging MARY)
SAM: Where have you been all this time?
LUCY stands still in front of SAM, slightly confused, for a couple of seconds, then answers
LUCY: Been living out here… with these..wol..ves.. Looked after me.
CHARLIE: OH MY GOSH!
CHARLIE runs offstage, but other children drag him back
EMMA: Everyone out the way. I am going to shoot these wolves as vermin.
MARY: You what?
EMMA: I’m going to shoot these awful wolves because they keep killing my poor sheep.
MARY: No you will not. They looked after my baby girl.
LYRA moves in front of the gun
LYRA: If you’re going to shoot them, then you will have to shoot me first.
LUCY: And me.
JESSE: And me.
ALEX: And me.
TAYLOR: And me – and I’m sure Charlie too.
CHARLIE shakes his head vigorously to suggest ‘no’
CANDICE: And us.
JAKE: /And us
BELLA: /And us.
CANDICE: Forget shooting the wolves, this is the missing child.
EMMA: Alright – I won’t shoot. But something’s got to be done to protect the sheep.
SAM: Mary and I will talk to the authorities.
The WOLVES howl and begin to move back into the forest. LUCY starts to move with them, but then looks back and returns to her family, with a regretful look over her shoulder at SHADOW, who howls bitterly
Scene 10: Epilogue: the Village Green
(Written by Ali and Tat)
Enter DETECTIVE
DETECTIVE: Well, you must be wondering if wolves and people were able to get on in the long run, and if so how. Follow me and I will show you.
The wolf child didn’t want the wolves to die so the people from the village gave them part of Dartmoor where they could safely be re-wilded and people could visit them.
Although some people, such as farmers, didn’t appreciate it and wanted the wolves to be dead because they kill the farmers’ sheep, the wolves have told the wolf child, in their language, that they won’t eat the sheep as long as they are allowed to hunt other food everyday, such as deer and rabbits.
If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.
Enter MARY, SAM, LYRA, and LUCY.
MARY: We finally found our child safe with the wolves. We are so thankful that Shadow protected her, we would do anything to thank her. So, we persuaded the authorities to give her and her pack part of the forest where people can visit the wolves and we didn’t let the famers kill them.
Enter BELLA, CANDICE, JAKE and EMMA
CANDICE: Lucy told us that the wolves had promised to hunt only deer and rabbits…
BELLA: As long as human poachers were prevented from shooting deer and rabbits…
JAKE: So we persuaded Mum to put her gun away.
Enter ALEX, TAYLOR, JESSE and CHARLIE
ALEX: We can go to see the wolves…
TAYLOR: In the wild