Hen
A children’s musical about how to make friends and influence people.
Opening
[MOTHER HEN is putting her chicks CHICKO, CHICKLET and CHICORY to bed and they are choosing a story. All her stories are about chickens. Once they choose one, the chicks act out the parts of PIG, DOG and CAT.]
CHICKO:
Is that about...
MOTHER HEN:
...chickens, yes. All the best stories are, you know...it’s quite amazing. Then there’s Talking Eggs, The Little Red Hen...
CHICKO:
What’s The Little Red Hen? We don’t know that one.
MOTHER HEN:
Well, you might like this, because it does have a hen,
ALL CHICKS
[They groan]
MOTHER HEN:
Alright, I’ll be the Hen but it also has a PIG. Who wants to be the pig? A CAT- Who wants to be the cat? And a DOG. Who wants to be the dog?
[She gives them each a role which they find a prop or two from an onstage basket to indicate, like a tail and ears, and she takes the role of cat and narrator. Or maybe the audience help to dress the chicks.]
Once upon a time, a little red hen found a grain of wheat. She realised that it was a seed. She had an idea. She asked some nearby animals,
HEN:
[puts on a voice to be the hen in the story]
Who will plant this wheat grain?