At the end of July, I was sent and completely edited a silly version of
"The Wizard of Oz" for a Readers Theater from a middle school in south of Taichung; that's all I was told.It had many errors of grammar, lacked fluency, and was contextually wrong. I deleted some references that weren't in the
original film and put entrance of Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion (that had no teeth! not
a bad symbol for cowardliness) ahead a minute in the plot. The theme was 'good prevails over evil, teamwork is vital, and home is a place worth
returning to.' It could be read in under five minutes; the Reader' Theater limit. It
wasn't easy to do the revisions with the on-line script attached to the e-mail and keep it under the time limit, but it was done. I would love
to go help produce the show with the school and hope they request my assistance, but I was not told which school had requested it. I visited a few times on assignment from Kang Hsien Publishing. I was sent a dialogue adapted by one of their teachers.
Flash ahead three months to October. I was returning to Dong-Nan Girls Middle School, the paradise I visited and wrote about last January (Read "Dong Nan Girls' Middle School Paradise in Yun-Lin" here.) I had visited the school a few times on assignment from Kang Hsien Publishing; . Now they wanted to perform a Readers Theater they had been practicing and get my opinion; that's about all I could do. There was no time to make any changes with the contest approaching a few weeks later.
I was handed a Readers Theater script as I walked though the beautiful classroom to a subterranean dance studio where the troupe would perform for me to review. I was surprised to find the script to "The Wizard of Oz" I had edited before summer for an unknown recipient! How was I to know the script I edited was an adaption by one of their teachers? I heard that the school had asked another textbook publisher to send a foreigner to coach them. They hadn't asked me because the Kang Hsien agents changed and the one that brought us yesterday wasn't made aware. Not satisfied with the other's review, they contacted me. Unfortunately, there was only a half hour to hear and make adjustments to their presentation. I'm afraid my efforts will go for naught at the competition in a few weeks; they are not ready. I have to take it all in stride. Sometimes, if you wish real hard, the dream that you dare to dream really come true.
I was handed a Readers Theater script as I walked though the beautiful classroom to a subterranean dance studio where the troupe would perform for me to review. I was surprised to find the script to "The Wizard of Oz" I had edited before summer for an unknown recipient! How was I to know the script I edited was an adaption by one of their teachers? I heard that the school had asked another textbook publisher to send a foreigner to coach them. They hadn't asked me because the Kang Hsien agents changed and the one that brought us yesterday wasn't made aware. Not satisfied with the other's review, they contacted me. Unfortunately, there was only a half hour to hear and make adjustments to their presentation. I'm afraid my efforts will go for naught at the competition in a few weeks; they are not ready. I have to take it all in stride. Sometimes, if you wish real hard, the dream that you dare to dream really come true.
All (Sing): Somewhere
over the rainbow. Way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a
lullaby.
Narrator 2: Hello,
everyone. Today we are going to take a journey with a girl, her dog, and a team
of special friends.
Dorothy (Yells): Toto, come here! There’s a tornado coming!
Narrator 1 (as all hum
ominously “da-da, da-da, da-da-da…”): That tornado was so strong it ripped
Dorothy’s house from the ground and blew it way over the rainbow landing on a
wicked witch.
All (Stamp twice)
Narrator 2: When Dorothy
stepped out of the house, she heard little voices; the Munchkins.
Munchkin Mayor (Sings and
bows): And we welcome you to Munchkin land.
Dorothy: Why do you thank me?
Munchkin Mayor: Let Glenda, the Good
Witch, tell you.
Narrator 2: Just then, the good witch appears.
(All sprinkle confetti over Glenda)
Glenda: Hello, Dorothy. The evil witch’s powerful slippers now are yours. Use
them for your own good.
Narrator 1: But
then, another evil witch arrives.
All (Yell): Ohhhhhhhh!
Bad
Witch: What have you done! You destroyed my sister! Now I want her shoes!
Give them to me right now!
Glenda: Now the shoes belong to Dorothy!
Bad Witch: We’ll see, my pretty. I will leave now, but I’ll
find you later. Ha, ha, ha!
Dorothy (Crying): I want to go home.
Glenda: Be tough, Dorothy. The Wizard of Oz will help you.
Munchkin Mayor: Follow the yellow brick road.
Good
Witch: Go to Emerald City. Follow the yellow brick road, and your wishes
will be all granted.
Narrator 1:
On the road Dorothy meets a scarecrow
Scarecrow: I
want a brain
Narrator 2:
And a Tinman.
Tinman: I
want a heart.
Narrator 1: They
join her and walk on to Emerald City.
All (Sing): We’re off to see the wizard, the
wonderful wizard of Oz.
Narrator 2:
But the bad witch kept her promise and sent evil to scare her.
Narrator 1: Look! Here comes
a lion!
Lion (frightens, then
comically sings): If I were King of the
forest. Meow!
Narrator 1: Look! The lion has no teeth!
(Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow and Tinman laugh)
Cowardly Lion (crying): Don’t laugh at me. It scares me. I am
afraid.
Dorothy: Then join us to see the Wizard of Oz. He will give
you teeth and
make
you proud.
Tinman: Me a heart.
Scarecrow: And me a brain.
All (sing): We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful wizard
of Oz.
Narrator 2 (as bad witch sprinkles confetti
over the travelers): But the bad witch follows them out of the forest and puts
them to sleep with magic dust. She kidnaps Dorothy as they sleep.
Scarecrow (wakes first and
wakes the others): Oh no, what can we do?
Narrator 2: The bad witch put Dorothy in her castle.
Bad Witch: Give me my ruby
slippers, my little pretty, or you will be sorry!
Dorothy: What a horrible
person you are! My friends will find you!
Narrator 1: Dorothy clicks her heels twice and
her friends appear.
Evil Witch: I’ll take care of you, Scarecrow!
Narrator: Look! She lit his straw on fire!
(Dorothy takes a bucket of water and douses the
Evil Witch with it)
Evil Witch: Oh, No. I’m
melting! I’m melting! What a world!
Tinman: I’ll take her broom…
All (sing): We’re off to see
the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Narrator: In Emerald City,
they approach the Wizard.
Wizard of Oz (Happily receiving the broom): I see you killed the witch!
Now I will give you what you need. Scarecrow, here’s your brain! Tinman,
your heart! And Lion, your pride!
Dorothy: (Crying) I want to go home!
Wizard of
Oz: Oh Dorothy, I thought you knew! Your shoes can take you home.
Dorothy: But
how?
Wizard of Oz: Tap your heels together twice, and say: “There’s no
place like home”
Dorothy (Tap twice): There’s no place like home… Goodbye, my
friends.
All: Goodbye Dorothy!
Narrator 2: When Dorothy opens her eyes, she
is back home.
Dorothy: Thanks to the ruby slippers, I have
returned safely home. All my friends worked together to defeat the bad witch.
All: Working together:
Teamwork!
Scarecrow: And Respect
for your friends’ dreams
Copyright © 2019 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved.
