Happiness Stan-Play Script

This is a short fairy tale based loosely upon the 1960s song by The Small Faces which featured the gobbledygook of Professor Stanley Unwin. Happiness Stan has lost half of the moon from the heavenly bode. He enlists the help of Girl and Something to help him get it back. He meets The Fly who knows its whereabouts and Stan transforms the fly with his magical powers to take him to a far-off land and Mad John who knows the secret… Deep Joy.

Excerpt from the play:

CHARACTERS:

NARRATOR – The storyteller
HAPPINESS STAN -The Keeper of the Moon
DARKNESS – The one who steels the moon (Very small part can be played by Girl or Something)
GIRL – A girl who helps Stan in his quest
SOMETHING – A friend of Girl’s
THE FLY – Carries Stan, The Girl and Something on their journey
MAD JOHN – He who lives in the woods

TIME: Another time, another place.

SETTING: Happiness Stans cottage and the wild woods

Narrator: This is a fairy tale, and as all good fairy tales start, so does this one with “Once upon a time” and so we begin. Once upon a time in a land where strange things happened, and no one knew why, there lived a man, no ordinary man, no, for Stan was the guardian of the moon and its many secrets…

Enter Happiness Stan.

As you can see Happiness Stan was quite small for his age, he was in fact 92 but he took his job very seriously, especially as he had heard whispers that a man in a far-off kingdom wanted the moon and would stop at nothing in order to get his wish.

Moves to one side.

Happiness Stan: (yawning) I am so tired, but I must not sleep, I must guard the moon up in the heavenly bode. But, mending pots and pans all day with little pay is a hard life, now I shall rest a while before making my supper, but I must stay aw……………

He falls asleep – the stage darkens, and the moon rises but it is only half a moon.

Enter Darkness with a sack – something inside glows.

Darkness: The fool he sleeps, and I have it, safely in my sack, but only half, I had no idea it was so fragile, now I must be on my way, I shall return another night and finish the job, then the secrets will be all mine…. Sleep tight you fool

He exits. Stan stirs.

Happiness Stan: Halt, who goes there, wait come back… (looks around) nothing there, I must have imagined it, it must have been a bad dream, now I must get some shepherd’s pie for supper and (he looks up, startled) The Moon, someone has stolen half of the moon, oh my, what shall I do, I must get it back before anyone finds out, I must start searching straight away.

He runs around and bumps into a GIRL.

Girl: You look upset, have you lost something

Happiness Stan: Yes, but please, you must not tell anyone.

Girl: I do not know Anyone, but what is it, why is it so important, what is it that you have lost?

Happiness Stan: It’s the moon, or part of it.

Girl: The moon.

Happiness Stan: Yes, half of the moon has gone, I am the keeper of the moon and I must find before someone discovers its lost.

Girl: That’s a very serious offence.

Happiness Stan: It’s a beheading offence.

Girl: Ouch, never mind, Something will surely turn up I am sure.

Happiness Stan: How do you know?

Girl: Because I saw her earlier, look her she comes.

Enter Something.