A Man for All Seasons

Originally written for a Harvest Festival celebration, this fantastic rhyming play stars a raggedy old scarecrow who is bullied by the crows. Thanks to kind deeds he had done in the past, a wandering traveler comes to his aid, saving Raggedy, the crops, and the farmer’s prosperity.

Students will delight in playing evil crows who devour the fields, and everyone will learn a valuable lesson about being kind to others.

*Additional crows may be added, and lines added in or ad-libbed.

Malcolm Henty is a part-time sales rep living in East Devon. He is relatively new to the world of theatre. His experience comes from writing and directing plays and pantomimes for the local children’s theatre group of which he is chairman. As well as putting on two shows a year, the group also runs a very successful Drama Club for which he has written various sketches for them to perform during the sessions. Happiness Stan is one of those short sketches which has been tried out by the younger ones who really enjoyed doing it. Malcolm has written many other plays and sketches, none of which have yet been published. These include a full-length musical “Hairgel”, a play based on a true story about a boy who was evacuated three times in WW2 entitled “Hitler’s Ear” and a murder mystery “All hell at Allhallows.”

Excerpt from the play:

CHARACTERS:

Raggedy
The Farmer
The Farmer’s Wife
Jo-D – Farmer’s daughter
Jo-B – Farmer’s son
The Crows
1. Sid
2. Dave
3. Clive
Tommy the Mouse
Smokey Joe – The Wandering Traveler

Scene 1 The Barn: The farmer, his wife, and children are busy building a scarecrow. As they talk, the scarecrow’s thoughts are heard through a microphone off-stage.

Farmer
First, you have to take some sticks
Not too thin and not too thick
Make a cross and tie them together
They need to be strong in all kinds of weather

Raggedy: (Voice from backstage)
Ouch that’s too tight, go a bit more slow
Scarecrows have feelings too, you know?

Farmer’s Wife:
Now we need to find him some clothes
Make him a head with a carrot nose
Then fill him up full of straw
He’ll be the finest scarecrow you ever saw.

Raggedy: (Voice from backstage)
Not a carrot again, it makes me look funny
And it dries up too, when the days get sunny

Jo-B:
Dad should we go and get him some boots
And one of granddads old Sunday suits?

Jo-D:
He will need a coat to keep out the rain
And a shirt for when it dries up again

Jo-B:
And some gloves for when there’s cold and ice

Jo-D:
And a scarf around his neck, that would be nice

Raggedy: (Voice from backstage)
Oh my, it’s the same come every fall
They dress me up like a Barbie doll
Getting me ready, for the year ahead
Oh no!! they’ve chosen the grumpy head.
Well, never mind It will scare off the crows
With my scary eyes, and my carrot nose,
I am sure things will go without any hitch
Careful with the straw, it’s making me itch

Farmer:
Well he’s nearly done what a handsome man

Farmer’s Wife:
Ready for work, that’s the plan

Jo-B:
Out in the fields, every night and day

Jo-D:
Scaring the rooks and the crows away

Farmer:
Watching over the crops as they grow
Guarding the seeds that we sow

Farmer’s Wife:
A man for all seasons, but what a shame
We’ve forgotten to give him a proper name

Jo-B:
Well, he could be a Henry, or maybe a Joe?

Jo-D:
I think we should call him “Raggedy Old Scarecrow”

Raggedy: (Voice from backstage)
Well I can think of some silly names they could have chosen
Like my friend the snowman in that film Frozen
But this one’s not so bad, you know?
I like it. “The Raggedy Old Scarecrow”