The Land Meets the Sea

In this play the stories of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast combine (with some brand-new characters) to tell the story of what happens when the ocean is disregarded by the human race. In the end, who will win? The ocean led by King Poseidon or the land led by King Spruce? And what will Ariel and Beauty do?

Hayley Cotton is a Performing Arts teacher and actor who discovered her passion for writing at a young age. She never imagined she would be writing scripts for young actors, but it has easily become one of her favorite creative outlets. Her love of fairytales and the devising process have led to all of the scripts you can find of hers on Drama Notebook.

Excerpt from the play:

CHARACTERS:

NARRATOR
ARIEL
BEAUTY
MERCHANT
KING POSEIDON 
KING SPRUCE
AQUATA, ARIEL’S SISTER
ANNABELLE, ONE OF BEAUTY’S SISTERS
MARGUERITE, ANOTHER OF BEAUTY’S SISTERS
VILLAGER 1
VILLAGER 2
MERMAID
MERMAN

Settings: The beach near Beauty’s house, King Spruce’s Castle, King Poseidon’s Castle

NARRATOR: Once upon a time, a Merchant was bidding farewell to his three lovely daughters.

MERCHANT: Behave yourselves while I’m away. I’ll return with gifts.

ANNABELLE: Oh, thank you Papa - but this time make sure you bring me rubies, not emeralds!

MARGUERITE: And I want diamonds this time. Diamonds go best with my hair.

MERCHANT: Of course. And what would you like, Beauty?

BEAUTY: Oh father, nothing really.

MERCHANT: There must be something….

BEAUTY: Well, I suppose a beautiful rose would be a wonderful gift.

The MERCHANT smiles and nods his head before walking away.

NARRATOR: Now if you haven’t guessed. This is Beauty. You probably know her as Belle, but we are not here today to tell you the story you think you know. We are here to tell you the story that no one talks about. It all began a few days later when Beauty and her sisters went to the beach.

BEAUTY, ANNABELLE, and MARGUERITE enter.

ANNABELLE: I wish father would hurry back already. I want my rubies!

BEAUTY: He’ll be back when he can, Annabelle. Really, just relax and enjoy this beautiful day!

MARGUERITE: The sand is getting into my shoes!

ANNABELLE: Why did you bring us here anyways?

BEAUTY: It’s so beautiful here! I like to imagine that merpeople live just beneath the waves and maybe one day, I’ll get to see one!

ANNABELLE: *laughing* Don’t be ridiculous.

NARRATOR: At that exact moment, the Little Mermaid, also known as Ariel, happened to be swimming by with her sister.

ARIEL and AQUATA enter downstage. BEAUTY sees them immediately, looking joyful. ANNABELLE and MARGUERITE are shocked by their beauty and slowly become annoyed throughout the following scene.

ARIEL: See Aquata! This is where the castle is that I told you about - it’s covered in paintings of trees, what do you think that’s about?

AQUATA: How strange!

BEAUTY: Um…excuse me.

ARIEL: *surprised* Oh! I didn’t see you there! I’m sorry, we’ll get out of your way.

BEAUTY: No, please don’t go! My name is Beauty, are you……

ARIEL: A mermaid? Yes, yes, I am. My name is Ariel.

BEAUTY: I have wondered for years if there were real merpeople in the oceans.

ARIEL: Of course, we’re real! We’ve lived on this planet longer than your kind.

BEAUTY: That’s amazing!

MARGUERITE: Beauty, can we go!?!?!?

BEAUTY: Just a second! I want to talk to Ariel a little longer! Don’t you want to know what it’s like to be a mermaid?

ANNABELLE: Ewwww, no.

ARIEL: It’s really beautiful under the ocean. It’s colorful and full of every kind of creature imaginable. It’s this wide-open space just waiting to be explored!

BEAUTY: That sounds incredible! I think it would be wonderful to be a mermaid.

NARRATOR: Beauty and Ariel talked until the sun started to set. Reluctantly, Beauty bid her farewell and they made plans to meet again. Little did they know, they would be seeing each other sooner than they thought under much different circumstances. Everything would be put into motion the next day by none other than Beauty’s two sisters.