Meet the Parents

No, not my own, just the parent characters in my newly published panto 'Sleeping Beauty'.  So starting at the top:


King - Princess Tina's father.  Which is it - is he hen pecked or suffering from a rather guilty conscience?  Having had a relationship with the Shadow Witch Malaria before her magic flared, he bows an awful lot the wishes of his wife.


Queen - a regular battle axe.  When she gets into full flow there is no stopping her so it is best to interrupt before that point.  Just make sure you are out of arms reach.


King Neighbour - Father of Prince Feet and twelve others.  His kingdom hasn't always been at peace with Tinytown, in fact he tried to invade some years before the panto starts, but having Malaria-as-a-dragon drop in on his army and send it running for the boarders rather curbed that ambition.  He treads rather carefully around the issue of boarder control now.


Queen Neighbour - Mother of Prince Feet and twelve others.  Spends most of her time training up her boys ready to marry them off to other royal families, except for her youngest Prince Feet.


Fairy Sweetpea - Fairy Godmothering is not for the faint of heart.  Rushed off her feet and out of time trying to make the world work, or at least, keep running.  Has a thing against prejudice and bigotry, probably because she's seen what it has done to her sister, Malaria.


Malaria - the Shadow Witch, not a title she wanted.  Born with the Shadow Magic, she has one massive great chip on her shoulder as she has done nothing but try and help people with it and in return all she's got is being cast out, not because of what she has done but because of what she is.  The lack of an invitation to Princess Tina's christening really was the last straw.


Chamberlain - Lives in a perpetual state of panic, not surprising as he is the favourite target when the Queen is in a bad mood.  Sends most of his time running around trying to complete the ever growing list of jobs to do that she gives him.


Coughs, Colds and Sneezes - Malaria's three imps and sometimes Shadows.  Sneezes is the brains of the trio, although that isn't saying much, with Colds being fairly observant, while Coughs brings up the rear in the brains department.  Good for a lot of slap stick and mucking about.


Dame Fuzzy - the only one who tried to help Malaria when her magic first flared, not that the King and Queen realise that when they give Princess Tina over to her care.  The panto dame and all round mothering soul, she'll take anyone in under her wing, even the Chamberlain.


Princess Tina aka Elderflower - practical and not easily scared.  Has a more balanced view of Malaria then her parents expect or want, due to Dame Fuzzy's influence.  Though she has done all the training of a Princess, she has also learnt how to cook, clean, wash and sew.  She is no lady in an ivory tower, that's for sure.


Prince Feet - the youngest of thirteen and the one over looked.  Meets Princess Tina as a child due to the work of a certain Fairy Godmother.  Unlike his brothers, this one does not have a swell head.


Prince Philip - The oldest of Prince Feet's brothers that we meet (the others have already been married off).  To some it up everything is always about him.


Prince Nigel - a lawyer in the making and another of Prince Feet's brothers.  Just about every sentence contains a reference to one law or another.  Even Fairy Sweetpea is pleased to see the back of him.


Prince Roland - another of Prince Feet's brother and a CEO to the core.  I can't work out which is worse Prince Nigel or Prince Roland.


Prince Dan - just about the only one of Feet's brothers who willing recognises the fact that Feet is there.  An athlete who isn't overly enthusiastic about being married off to royal, it's all work and no time to train.


Mayor - someone has to run the county when everyone in the castle decides to permanently catch z's for several years.


Colonel Vins - a soldier with good sense.  He knows an ally when he sees one, even if they are as unlikely as a shadow helping the light.


Chorus of peasants, courtiers, soldiers, monsters and magic.  Suggestions for how to make the special effects work are written in to the script.


I hope you like the character summery and I know that was rather more than just the parents but once I started writing I was on a roll so just kept going.  Oh yes, I did.


To see the full script:


http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto

I'm Published!!!!

Yes!  I have finally managed to be published on DriveThruFiction!  Thank you very much to the team of DriveThruFiction for their support and definitely a lot of thanks to Stephen Hughes, a fellow DriveThruer and great friend for talking me through the whole process.

You can now view my Panto 'Sleeping Beauty' on:

http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/137733/Sleeping-Beauty-Panto?filters=0_0_44419_0_0

Please have a read and review, even if you don't buy.

For fellow am-dram actors and actresses, I hope that it is a clear and concise script without any scenes that are difficult to stage.  If you like I will do a character description over the next few blog posts.  As a taster here is the blurb:

"When Princess Tina of Tinytown was born the good Fairy Sweetpea and the Shadow Witch Malaria decided that here was the perfect tool in their on going arguement about the existence of love.

The traditional tale of 'Sleeping Beauty' with Shadows, Imps, Monsters and magic where an honest heart might just win out over plans, plots and a very nasty case of the man flu."

The Equalizer

Went to see The Equalizer yesterday and rather enjoyed it.  It is not a film to watch if you disagree with vigilantes but I don't so I'm fine with it.  If the world governments and police forces would protect us from criminals then we wouldn't have to do it ourselves.  I think what I like most about it is that the main character always gives the ring leaders of the mob cells he takes on the chance to make the choice between continuing with their evil or giving it up.  Also if he has to use force he will leave them alone if they put their guns down.  Granted he'll then tie them up and leave them where the police can find them but that's different from just killing them all.

It rather made me think as well, because to save the young girls that are being trafficked and to stop the crooked cops that are in on both that and the protection bracket he has to do some nasty stuff but to some he's their guardian angel.  What made me realise it was when the crooked cops walk out of the shop after they've given back all the money and the lady stands in the window and says a pray of thanks.

Sometimes angels come in funny shapes.  There are people who will disagree with me on this but it is a thought that has struck me several times as I have read through my Gideon's Bible over the years.  In the book of Revelations, in chapter nine there is predicted the arrival on earth of Abaddon, who is given crown and command, by God no less, and ordered to go out and torment those that have persecuted the faithful of God.  This wouldn't be anything to remark about if Abaddon was an angel but he's not.  Abaddon is said to be the demon lord of the Seventh Pit of Hell.  So why is a demon lord being handed crown and command by God?  Why would a demon obey God?  Unless the battle lines between good and evil are not as clear cut as we humans like to think.  After all what is a demon but an angel that knows how to hate?  And what is an angel but a demon that knows how to love?

I wouldn't know the answers to that but I've read through Revelations several times and no where does it mention Abaddon and his scorpion people being destroyed along with Satan and the other demons.  That's something to think about, isn't it?  One of the gaps in the Bible narrative that we have to fill in for ourselves.

Perhaps just praying for God to come and make everything right on earth is not enough?  Perhaps we need to stand up and be counted for what we believe in, which kind of makes me realise that our angels and our demons are right here with us.  The interenet can be a tool for criminals and worse but it can also be the tool we use to fight them.  So really it comes down again to the choices we make.

Rather leaves us responsible for what we do, doesn't it?