TITLE:

Dullsville
by Alan David Perkins
Copyright © 2002

CLASSIFICATION:

A play for children, ages 9-12.

SYNOPSIS:

King Delbert and the kingdom of Dellsville hold education in very high esteem. His three daughters, Deborah, Deidre and Diana, are schooled within inches of their very lives, for the smartest one will inherit the kingdom. However, Diana finds it necessary to paint pictures than study math and, though this does not effect her grades, this frivolous behavior displeases both the teacher and the King.

As the daily petitions come in, the King’s daughters listen in. King Delbert deals with each problem in a methodic, intelligent way, though Diana comes up with more thoughtful and creative solutions. Angered by this, the King banishes all non-academic activities from the kingdom.

Before long, the kingdom is lifeless and boring, and losing money fast. Tourism picks up, not to see the sites of the kingdom but to see the novelty of how dull it is.

With the economy and spirit down, Queen Jill of Jilliansville (a neighboring kingdom) feels that the time is ripe for taking over Dellsville. Her plan is merely to walk in and have it handed over, as the people of Dellsville have no care ... or army for that matter.

But before admitting a logical defeat, Diana and her friend the Jester start spinning a wild tale about the kingdom’s dragon, who is waiting to destroy Queen Jill’s army. Not knowing whether to believe her or not, they don’t take their chances and retreat.

Through this, King Delbert realizes the benefits of creative thought and institutes a greater curriculum for his daughters and the kingdom.

Click here for an excerpt in PDF format.

CAST:

QUEEN – Female. The Queen of Dellsville.
TEACHER – Male or Female.
DEBORAH – Female. Princess of Dellsville.
DEIDRE – Female. Princess of Dellsville.
DIANA – Female. Princess of Dellsville.
SIR REX – Male. The Knight of Dellsville.
KING DELBERT – Male. The King of Dellsville.
ADVISOR 1 – Male or Female. King Delbert's advisor.
ADVISOR 2 – Male or Female. King Delbert's advisor.
JESTER – Male or Female. The Jester of Dellsville.
FARMER – Male or Female. A farmer in Dellsville.
CARPENTER – Male or Female. A carpenter in Dellsville.
ACCOUNTANT – Male or Female. Dellsville's Royal accountant.
TOUR GUIDE – Male or Female.
TOURIST 1 – Male or Female.
TOURIST 2 – Male or Female.
SIR PHIL – Male. The Knight of Jilliansville.
QUEEN JILL – Female. The Queen of Jilliansville.
JILL'S ADVISOR 1 – Male or Female. Queen Jill's advisor.
JILL'S ADVISOR 2 – Male or Female. Queen Jill's advisor.

LENGTH:

30 - 35 minutes.

REQUIREMENTS:

The set should be divided into three sections, with the king’s Throne Room as the centerpiece. The Throne Room should be sparse with little more than a plain wooden chair for a throne. To the sides should be a classroom with little more than three desks, and a bedroom with a few chairs or a bed.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

As with all my children's plays, this was written by request for my wife.  Normally the plays requested would be for a group of 30 or 35 with parts ranging from sizeable to silent walk-ons.  This time, however, it was different.  She was assigned the school's Drama Club, so all parts had to be relatively sizeable.  Granted, some are puny, but there are no walk-ons.

The whole Arts in Schools theme is near and dear to my hear, as you would imagine.  I didn't originally want to write a play with kings and queens and such, but that was a direct request from the Drama Club themselves.

CONTACTING THE PLAYWRIGHT:

The entire script of Dullsville is available upon request from the playwright. No production of this play can take place without permission from the playwright.