blog # 2 - the script

The script - The foundation of the panto.   I'm afraid Blog # 2 is a bit wordy - I got a bit carried away (thankfully it's not as long as the script though!).

THE SCRIPT:  PUSS in BOOTS, a wild west panto.

scribble and scrawl of the script

This script (in the nicely contrived picture on the left) took about three weeks to write  - not sure of the actual hours but writing doesn't take long really.  There's a lot of sitting and thinking and bits of research involved (yes, real research), as well as actual writing.  Also, there's plenty of scribbling out, loads of doodling (loads) and some ripping out of pages.  Also, plenty of tea drinking and chocolate eating (including a couple of creme eggs - that is not a chicken reference).  Anyway, enough of that. It's done now, about a month ago in fact (this blog is a bit behind!).  Yay!

If you happen to be interested, here's a bit (a lot?) more detail:

Hatching an idea and a script:

my well-loved ladybird book

Although the story of Puss in Boots is fairly well known, it is not really a good story to fit into a pant (! the autocorrect on my computer keeps changing panto into pant - does it change pantos into pants? No!).  My main research for this story was my old ladybird book 'Puss in Boots'  (there it is in the picture on the right).  It tells the story of a cat (aka Puss in Boots) who tricks the King and his daughter, the Princess,  into thinking that his master, the miller's son, is a wealthy landowner and Marquis. This is to get the King to approve of the miller's son marrying the Princess.  Somewhere along the way, Puss gets the miller's son to jump into a river and pretend that he has had his clothes stolen.  The King helps him out and gives him some new clothes (very nice posh marquis style clothes!). The plan works out swimmingly until Puss has to find a home for the miller's son (the pretend Marquis) to impress the King and Princess when they visit.  The clever Puss finds a castle owned by a shape shifting ogre.  He then tricks the ogre into turning into a mouse and eats him up so that his castle can be taken by his master (the pretend Marquis).  The King and Princess visit the castle and are impressed!  So finally the miller's son, now established as a Marquis can marry his daughter, because he has a nice house! (Well, the story goes something like that!).

Now that you've read all that, I'm afraid to say this story isn't really much like the one I've written in the script!

Although I used to really like my ladybird book story when I was young (actually, I liked the pictures mainly), I don't think it's that great for a pant or a panto.  It isn't a good idea to have Puss tricking and deceiving the king and the princess all the time, and it's not good form having the miller's son (as the principal boy) going along with it all. The main protagonists have to have good moral standards don't they?  I'm not the only one who thinks that.  When you look at Puss in Boots panto scripts to buy on the internet, lots of them have stories that don't really follow the original tale.

So this is how our idea for a script came about: We decided that we fancied doing a panto set in the American wild west, but (listening to wise words of doubt) we realised it would be a good idea to pick a panto that children would relate to as well.   Many people recognise the Puss in Boots character in Shrek.  That superb Puss even has his own film now.  We didn't want to follow the story in the film at all, but decided the connection was useful to encourage people to want to come and see a panto about a Puss in Boots.  It's important to remember that we are performing our shows in France, so it's nice if the story or the character is known to the French (and other nationalities) as well as all the British expats who live here.  So, American wild west + Puss in Boots = Puss in Boots in the wild west, of course!  It's not unusual to find a well known story placed into a different setting (Cinderella, last year's SPS panto, written by Ben Crocker, was set in Venice).  There is a version of Cinderella set in the wild west available to buy, but I don't think anyone has written a wild west version of Puss in Boots yet.

Once we'd decided on this Puss in Boots/wild west combo, I sat down at my dining room table and wrote it.  There are lots of things to consider when writing the script - scenery changes, costume changes, timing, where to put a chicken into the plot*.  It's important to have a story that fits the basic panto format:  introduce the main characters, set up the story, bring in the baddie and the threat to the good characters, have a bit of slapstick, get the principal girl and boy together, bit more story, maybe a journey or quest, bit more baddie stuff, overcome the baddie, have a celebration, a bit more fluffy stuff and then it's done! Amongst all that, there are a couple of scenes that have nothing to do with the story - they are just there to add entertainment, for example the slapstick scene (custard pies and gloop!).  And then there are songs and dances to fit in... And the chicken*.

There can also be other factors to consider for our particular theatre group. Our SPS panto is amateur (by name, not by nature, of course!) and usually has lots of people wanting to be on stage. So including a few extra minor characters can help provide roles for a few more people on stage.  When all those characters are added, they have to have something to do! There might be a few extra lines for them, but mainly they say dialogue and do jobs that other principal characters would normally say and do.  Unfortunately, whilst trying to please people by providing more roles, it makes things more complicated and rehearsals are like Piccadilly Circus.   I have tried to avoid this happening, but it'll be my own fault if I end up having to direct lots of 'traffic' on stage - I won't be able to blame anyone except the silly fool who wrote the script!

Once the script was written, I had to type up the bloomin' thing!
Here's the 1st draft all typed up  - carefully placed in the photo so as to avoid any spoilers!

For my own benefit:
Inside my ladybird book I noticed, with surprise, that I had been practising a bit of French!  

Je m'appelle Catherine (should be spelt Kathryn!).

*footnote:

Please note, chickens are not always necessary in traditional British panto!