Janet C. Smith's Blog, page 6
January 14, 2024
'Manifesto for Murder'. Murder Mystery stage play.
'Manifesto for Murder' is on at Queens Theatre, Hornchurch, (off West End)). A supper evening on 11th Feb is sold out, but a handful of tickets are available for afternoon tea event on 18th Feb. See Queens Theatre website for more info.
Synopsis: It’s election time in Smallbury, where the incumbent Independent MP has reigned for ten years. The arrival of a challenger stirs up sediment in the community, and one character will be permanently voted out!
Synopsis: It’s election time in Smallbury, where the incumbent Independent MP has reigned for ten years. The arrival of a challenger stirs up sediment in the community, and one character will be permanently voted out!
'Manifesto for Murder'. Murder Mystery stage play.
'Manifesto for Murder' is on at Queens Theatre, Hornchurch, (off West End)). A supper evening on 11th Feb is sold out, but a handful of tickets are available for afternoon tea event on 18th Feb. See Queens Theatre website for more info.
Synopsis: It’s election time in Smallbury, where the incumbent Independent MP has reigned for ten years. The arrival of a challenger stirs up sediment in the community, and one character will be permanently voted out!
Synopsis: It’s election time in Smallbury, where the incumbent Independent MP has reigned for ten years. The arrival of a challenger stirs up sediment in the community, and one character will be permanently voted out!
January 8, 2024
It's panto time
'tis the pantomime season - oh yes it is - oh no it isn't - oh yes it is! I do like panto; it's the one chance in the year to be really silly. And silliness raises serotonin levels, and creates a feeling of happiness. Once one becomes an adult, and even before, pure fun and uncontrollable giggling seem to decline. What I really like about King Charles III, is that he's a giggler. Apparently he and Queen Camilla have really good giggles, shoulders going up and down. We've just finished our panto, and have hopefully given our audiences a good dose of serotonin to see them through a few frosts and dark nights.
Pantos have a long long history; some say it originated from the Italian 16th century Commedia dell-Arte with its stock characters; others that it migrated from the royal courts with jesters, tumblers, acrobats etc. The ancient Greeks enjoyed a good chortle too, with a comic play being put on at the end of a day of tragedy and satyr plays. They probably needed it!
Pantos have a long long history; some say it originated from the Italian 16th century Commedia dell-Arte with its stock characters; others that it migrated from the royal courts with jesters, tumblers, acrobats etc. The ancient Greeks enjoyed a good chortle too, with a comic play being put on at the end of a day of tragedy and satyr plays. They probably needed it!
December 28, 2023
'Merry Christmas' Everyone.
It's hard to believe that Christmas, as we know it, and either love it or loath it, is less than 200 years old. Pre 1843, Christmas was a low profile affair, with workers scarcely noticing it come or go. Come the Industrial Revolution with the rise of the middle classes, there came as surely and as relentlessly as the water wheels that powered the mighty mills, Christmas with all its accoutrements. Setting the scene was the 1823 publication of Clement Clarke Moore's whimsical 'The Night Before Christmas', followed in 1843 by Charles Dickens hugely popular moral tale 'A Christmas Carol'.
Christmas celebrations were banned by Oliver Cromwell in 1647, (along with Easter and Whitsuntide). But this un-Christmassy state of affairs lasted only 15 years, compared with Charles Dickens 180 year old story, still going strong, which advocates a day off, a turkey, gifts to charity, and general bon homie. Who says that the pen isn't mightier than the sword!
Christmas celebrations were banned by Oliver Cromwell in 1647, (along with Easter and Whitsuntide). But this un-Christmassy state of affairs lasted only 15 years, compared with Charles Dickens 180 year old story, still going strong, which advocates a day off, a turkey, gifts to charity, and general bon homie. Who says that the pen isn't mightier than the sword!
December 3, 2023
'The Bell Inn' - free to listen.
If you fancy listening to a ghostly short story, the Talisman Theatre have made a free to listen to audio 'The Bell Inn'; a short story from my 'Stories from the Snug' series.
'Our final Tea with the Tali offers something dark, mysterious and foggy and all may not be as it seems. Tired and hungry travellers are lured to an unusual pub by the tolling of a mysterious bell. The food smells delicious but something is troubling about their fellow diners….
Directed by Kathy Buckingham-Underhill.
Link below. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuu2I...
'Our final Tea with the Tali offers something dark, mysterious and foggy and all may not be as it seems. Tired and hungry travellers are lured to an unusual pub by the tolling of a mysterious bell. The food smells delicious but something is troubling about their fellow diners….
Directed by Kathy Buckingham-Underhill.
Link below. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuu2I...
September 21, 2023
'Climbing Kilimanjaro'. New script.
A new script published this week. Titled - yes I found a title early for this one - 'Climbing Kilimanjaro'; which was a bit of a no brainer really. And it's not a murder mystery! Although who knows what the characters get up to once the writer has tapped in the last full stop. Anyway, here's the synopsis of the 40 minute one act comedy.
'Greg is looking for a challenge, Chrissie is obsessed with disinfecting, Leoni wants a commitment from Mark, but Mark is happy with things as they are. Things are about to be shaken up, when Greg embarks on climbing the equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro in the national domestic ‘Stair Climb Challenge.’
Furloughed in their flat during the pandemic, Greg and Chrissie are feeling stifled; their former lives shrunk to online shopping and hand sanitizers. When Greg decides to join in a national keep fit challenge to climb the equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro in domestic stairs, Chrissie, uptight and stressed is unhappy. After all, they’ve only recently taken ownership of their 50% wool/nylon stair carpet. When fun, glamourous life couch Leoni and her easy-going partner Mark, suggest he does it at her vacant flat, it seems like a solution. But when Leoni joins in with him, they don’t tell Chrissie. And when Mark tells Chrissie, and suggests they give them a taste of their own medicine, things take an unexpected turn.
Available to licence for performance now at
https://stage-write.com.au/
'Greg is looking for a challenge, Chrissie is obsessed with disinfecting, Leoni wants a commitment from Mark, but Mark is happy with things as they are. Things are about to be shaken up, when Greg embarks on climbing the equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro in the national domestic ‘Stair Climb Challenge.’
Furloughed in their flat during the pandemic, Greg and Chrissie are feeling stifled; their former lives shrunk to online shopping and hand sanitizers. When Greg decides to join in a national keep fit challenge to climb the equivalent of Mount Kilimanjaro in domestic stairs, Chrissie, uptight and stressed is unhappy. After all, they’ve only recently taken ownership of their 50% wool/nylon stair carpet. When fun, glamourous life couch Leoni and her easy-going partner Mark, suggest he does it at her vacant flat, it seems like a solution. But when Leoni joins in with him, they don’t tell Chrissie. And when Mark tells Chrissie, and suggests they give them a taste of their own medicine, things take an unexpected turn.
Available to licence for performance now at
https://stage-write.com.au/
August 14, 2023
'Happily Never After - the Murder Mystery Panto!'
'Happily Never After - the Murder Mystery Panto!' is now published online if you fancy solving it! It's totally free to read apart from the denouement at the end, which is available if you download for a very small fee. After all, we can't have anyone cheating! A performing licence is also very reasonably priced.
Synopsis: Beauty and Beatie, the Ugly Sisters, run a holiday retreat for down and out pantomime characters. Trouble starts when Goldilocks, serving her community sentence for stealing porridge, wishes for a happy ending to her story. Visited by Fairy Godmother, she has her wish granted, although it’s somewhat off the mark. But when Goldilocks starts wishing for happy ever after endings for other characters too, the Wicked Witch of the West North West, is having none of it! Add Dick Twittington alias highwayman Dick Turpentine, Velcro alias Buttons, Prince the Pantomime Horse, a chest full of pirate treasure, and you have a recipe for mayhem, murder, and happily never after!
The link to read 'Happily Never After' and all my other scripts online is https://scriptsforstage.co.uk/wp/writ...
Synopsis: Beauty and Beatie, the Ugly Sisters, run a holiday retreat for down and out pantomime characters. Trouble starts when Goldilocks, serving her community sentence for stealing porridge, wishes for a happy ending to her story. Visited by Fairy Godmother, she has her wish granted, although it’s somewhat off the mark. But when Goldilocks starts wishing for happy ever after endings for other characters too, the Wicked Witch of the West North West, is having none of it! Add Dick Twittington alias highwayman Dick Turpentine, Velcro alias Buttons, Prince the Pantomime Horse, a chest full of pirate treasure, and you have a recipe for mayhem, murder, and happily never after!
The link to read 'Happily Never After' and all my other scripts online is https://scriptsforstage.co.uk/wp/writ...
July 28, 2023
What's in a Title?
What's in a Title? Rather a lot; in fact it's the play, book, sketch, in a teeny weeny nutshell. The title gives or should give a clue to the genre, story and tone of a piece of writing. So important is a title, that it should be up there on the title page, before pointing your mouse at the screen. Which is why I've struggled with my last piece of writing. For almost the first time ever, I began without a title.
Latterly, it dawned on me, that I couldn't summon up a title, because I didn't have a crystal clear vision of the story. When I eventually found my title, the fog, to use a terrible cliche, cleared, and I hung onto it like a life jacket. The piece I'd been working on needed clarifying, and some minor surgery, but finding that title really helped.
Now I've finished, I'm happy that it reflects the story, even though I've discovered that there's a film, and film series with an almost identical title. Hey ho!
Latterly, it dawned on me, that I couldn't summon up a title, because I didn't have a crystal clear vision of the story. When I eventually found my title, the fog, to use a terrible cliche, cleared, and I hung onto it like a life jacket. The piece I'd been working on needed clarifying, and some minor surgery, but finding that title really helped.
Now I've finished, I'm happy that it reflects the story, even though I've discovered that there's a film, and film series with an almost identical title. Hey ho!
May 16, 2023
'Robin Hoodie and his Merry People - the Murder Mystery Panto!'
Just published 'Robin Hoodie and his Merry People - the Murder Mystery Panto!'
Synopsis:
Robin Hoodie and his Merry People have a problem! So successful have they been in robbing the rich to give to the poor, there are no poor anymore! Bored almost to death, Alan a-dale, the resident minstrel organizes snail races; Friar Tuckin dreams of his next meal; Robin is ensuring his horse is kept off the menu; and Mad Marion is bossing them all about. Throw in an invisible forest sprite, the devious Sheriff of Nottingham, the treacherous Prioress of Kirklees, Pitkin an innumerate peasant, and you have a recipe for mayhem – and murder!
Can you solve it? Read free online at
https://scriptsforstage.co.uk/wp/scri...
You can read the script freely online. If you wish to download it, there's a very small fee. You can get a very good idea of 'who dunnit' from the script, but to get the actual denouement, you need to download it. We can't have the audience cheating!! After all, there may be a box of chocolates at stake! The performing licence for dramatic societies is very reasonably priced.
A Murder Mystery Panto is not just for Christmas!
Synopsis:
Robin Hoodie and his Merry People have a problem! So successful have they been in robbing the rich to give to the poor, there are no poor anymore! Bored almost to death, Alan a-dale, the resident minstrel organizes snail races; Friar Tuckin dreams of his next meal; Robin is ensuring his horse is kept off the menu; and Mad Marion is bossing them all about. Throw in an invisible forest sprite, the devious Sheriff of Nottingham, the treacherous Prioress of Kirklees, Pitkin an innumerate peasant, and you have a recipe for mayhem – and murder!
Can you solve it? Read free online at
https://scriptsforstage.co.uk/wp/scri...
You can read the script freely online. If you wish to download it, there's a very small fee. You can get a very good idea of 'who dunnit' from the script, but to get the actual denouement, you need to download it. We can't have the audience cheating!! After all, there may be a box of chocolates at stake! The performing licence for dramatic societies is very reasonably priced.
A Murder Mystery Panto is not just for Christmas!
April 2, 2023
'Murder on the Catwalk'
Has anyone managed to solve the murder mystery 'Murder on the Catwalk' podcast yet? This audio version made excellently by Southwell Theatre Club during the pandemic, is available on Soundcloud to listen to freely. The denouement, provided by Monsieur Parrot, is at the end of the approx 50 minute podcast. No cheating!
https://soundcloud.com/user-791744720...
Alternatively, you can read the stage script online freely, which has slightly different casting from the podcast. Here the denouement will not be revealed, unless you select to download. There is a small fee payable to download. A performance licence must be applied for if it's being performed.
https://scriptsforstage.co.uk/wp/scri...
https://soundcloud.com/user-791744720...
Alternatively, you can read the stage script online freely, which has slightly different casting from the podcast. Here the denouement will not be revealed, unless you select to download. There is a small fee payable to download. A performance licence must be applied for if it's being performed.
https://scriptsforstage.co.uk/wp/scri...
