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A fabulous musical for schools - not so
much a black comedy, more a black pantomime
telling the tale of the Gunpowder Plot. A
certain amount of audience participation is
encouraged at various points in the proceedings.
In some respects this is very much a tale
of our time, given the central, underlying
reason for the attempt to blow up the Houses
of Parliament was religious intolerance -
in this instance Protestants vs Catholics.
Queen Elizabeth I on her deathbed, charges
Lord Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury and
her Secretary Of State, to continue the subjugation
of the country's Catholic population. Cecil,
the archetypal villain in the play accepts
her wishes with relish - he enjoys subterfuge,
coercion, conspiracy and manipulating people.
With the passing of the old Queen, King James
(a shallow and stupid man) is crowned and
his sycophantic supporters, notably Lord Thomas
Percy, then find it easy to persuade him to
relax the previous persecution of Catholicism.
Lord Cecil however quickly reminds the new
King of the debt he owes him, and the relaxation
is swiftly reversed.
Percy, in despair over this, discusses the
problem over a pint of ale with his friend
Robert Catesby - a hothead who has hatched
a plan to strike at the very heart of the
Protestant parliamentarians; the Gunpowder
Plot. Cecil, adopting the role of spymaster,
listens in to their conversation, and then
'leans' on the landlord to eavesdrop on any
future meetings, or his pub will be burnt
to the ground.
Catesby and Percy decide to interview prospective
conspirators needed for the execution of the
plan. These conspirators are recruited from
a group of rather odd people, who each have
a certain peculiarity, during a Pythonesque
scene which is more pantomime than play. Cecil
by this time is fully aware of their plans,
but not the timing. He blackmails Francis
Tresham to infiltrate their number to find
this out for him.
Act Two opens with the conspirators moving
the barrels of gunpowder into position, while
Cecil with Tresham in his power mocks their
preparations. The scene changes to one where
King James presides over a session of Parliament
with such topical matters discussed as bridlepath
congestion, the break-up of the nationwide
'coach and four' network into many, smaller
companies resulting in late arrivals, and
the problem of old people having to wait six
months for a doctor to apply leeches to them.
The Chief Minister (a thinly disguised Tony
Blair) arrives late and attempts to paint
a rosy picture of these problems, until the
King decides he has heard enough.
Fawkes prepares to light the fuse, but is
discovered at the vital moment by Cecil, and
is carted off to The Tower, where three torturers
(Jack the Rack, Hugh the Screw and Brian the
Iron) in preparing their instruments of torture
carry on a conversation full of gallows humour.
More pantomime here, with the 'Oh, yes we
do - Oh no we don't' audience routine, finally
resulting in Fawkes signing a confession.
Cecil having no further use for Tresham then
'despatches' him, before giving the damning
evidence at the trial of the conspirators
sitting before the Attorney General, Lord
Edward Coke.  Being
a sadist, Coke delights in giving each of
the remaining eight conspirators their sentence
of death, becoming more 'over the top' with
each one. The musical closes with Fawkes being
given one last chance to reiterate his innocence,
before he too is snuffed out.
'1605 And All That' has an exceptionally well-written
script with excellent musical numbers that
complement the story being told. The subject
matter is covered in an easy-to-understand
manner in a generally comedic style which
ranges from satire to slapstick. Whilst historically
all the characters except Queen Elizabeth
were male, and thus shown in the script as
male, it would be possible for many of the
roles to be played by female actors pretending
to be men. |
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| Principals |
| King James I
- the original 'fop', concerned only with
his appearance and what others think of him,
short on friends, terrified of Robert Cecil. |
| Lord Robert Cecil
- the archetypal villain, omnipresent
and omniscient, driven by his deep hatred
of Catholics and his lust for power |
| Robert Catesby
- a young, energetic hothead, fully committed
to the Catholic cause |
| Thomas Percy
- aristocratic flatterer of the King, slavish
follower of Catesby |
| Guy Fawkes
- deeply committed to the Catholic cause,
recognises that he is no more than a pawn
in Catesby's plan. Requires an actor with
a strong singing voice. |
| Lord Edward Coke
- the Attorney General. A final scene cameo
role |
| Francis Tresham
- an archetypal dupe, easily blackmailed by
Cecil, the 13th conspirator |
| Landlord -
self-important prig, easily swayed by Cecil |
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| Supporting Cast |
Queen Elizabeth I - old and ill. A small melodramatic
cameo role |
| Flunkey - a servant of King James |
| Bates - the faithful servant to Robert Catesby,
a conspirator by association |
| Thomas Wintour - a conspirator |
| Robert Wintour - another conspirator, brother
of Thomas Wintour |
| John Wright - a conspirator |
| Christopher Wright - another conspirator,
brother of John Wright |
| Robert Keyes - a conspirator |
| John Grant - another conspirator |
| Ambrose Rookwood - a conspirator, a stereotypical
gay man |
| Everard Digby - another conspirator, a stereotypical
gay man |
| MP 1 - a Member of Parliament |
| MP 2 - another Member of Parliament |
| Chief Minister - a caricature of the current
UK Prime Minister |
| Princes Henry and Charles - two optional
characters, the sons of King James, non-speaking |
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| Chorus of Catholics, Protestants, Soldiers,
Parliamentarians, Gloaters & 21st Century
Children |
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| (Click on a title to hear a
Windows Media clip) |
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| 1) Remember,
Remember * |
Chorus |
| 2) Here
Today And Gone Tomorrow + |
Guy Fawkes and Chorus |
| 3) Our
Queen, Our King + |
Chorus |
| 4) Oh, What Fun It Is
To Be King |
King James and Chorus |
| 5) The
Gunpowder Plot + |
Catesby, Bates, Percy and Chorus |
| 6) Hung
Up On Evil + |
Cecil and Chorus |
| 7) Here I Stand At The
Crossroads |
Tresham and Chorus (or Bates) |
| 8) Burn! |
Conspirators |
| ~~ Interval ~~ |
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| 9) Livin'
In A Dream + |
Conspirators, Cecil and Tresham |
| 10) Burn! (Reprise) |
Catesby, Percy, Fawkes, Bates
and Chorus |
| 11) Oh, What Fun It Is To Be
King # |
KIng James |
| 12) So
Now's The Time + |
Fawkes, Cecil and Chorus |
| 13) Good
Afternoon! * |
Torturers, Cecil and Chorus |
| 14) Here Today And Gone Tomorrow
(Reprise) |
Fawkes and Company |
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| * from
Backing Tracks CD |
| + from
live recording at Woodcote House School |
| # has
a changeable topical verse (a la Gilbert &
Sullivan) |
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Schools who wish
to order using Official Orders and
Invoicing may do so by adding those
items required to the Shopping Basket
as normal. Please make sure you have
an Official Order Number and the school
e-mail address BEFORE you get to the
Checkout.
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Royalties
The royalty fees below are payable for
each performance
given to an audience, where the seating
capacity of the venue does not exceed
200. Obtain a quotation by either completing
the Application at the Credit Card payment
Checkout, or mail-in our printed Application
Form. |
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Schools
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£
30.00 |
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Amateur Groups :
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£ 45.00 |
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| Duration |
: 120 mins |
| Acts |
: 2 |
| Cast |
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Principals
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: 8m |
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Support
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:13m, 1f |
| Sets |
: 2 |
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| ISBN |
: 1 904458 59 9 |
| Size |
: A4 |
| Pages |
: 30 |
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| Other Historical Titles |
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