Friday, 7 June 2013

Show #4: Fiddler on the Hoof

Our fourth instalment proved very much to be a story of two halves. We began with a quest to find a lost object. But why did the object carry so much significance in the first place? Well the answer lay firmly in the living room of Johnny Moon’s family, as a ‘gritty’ northern, kitchen-sink drama emerged, and for the first time, we meet Johnny’s dad…

Waking up under a lamppost is rarely a sensible thing. Few do it for choice, and in this particular case, Johnny Moon, renowned musician, woke up to a terrible surprise: His violin has been stolen! It was a priceless Stradivarius with Horsefeather Strings and a pure Bavarian Oak Mahogany body. Each tuning peg had been delicately engraved with a letter to spell the word M-O-L-E and its market value was estimated at 28million Crowns. It was irreplaceable.

A distraught Johnny is discovered by a bumbling police officer, determined to help locate the instrument. Things are complicated further when Johnny’s mother comes to tell Johnny that they expect a private concert that very evening to celebrate his father’s birthday. The hunt for the violin suddenly becomes a lot more urgent. The kindly officer suggests that they take a visit to the black market…

Meanwhile… at the black market… two sinister old women are cradling the violin that they have lifted from Johnny’s person earlier that morning. Unaware of its value, they think they’ll be able to pawn it off in exchange for some lunch (they like lunch). Johnny and the Officer confront the old women, where Johnny foolishly explains in great detail the violins true worth. The old women, flabbergasted by the amount of lunch they can buy with 28million Crowns (they like lunch), run away and a chase scene unfolds.

Eventually, the old women realise they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. They sell it to the nearest person they can find: a mysterious beggar man in a bright blue cloak. This beggar man happens to have 28million Crowns on his person (both coincidental and curious) and purchases the violin. The old women retire to lunch (they like lunch).

Meanwhile, with the violin nowhere in sight, a grim reality sets on Johnny: he is going to have to tell his family that he lost his violin. His Father, a curmudgeonly old grouch, initially welcomes Johnny back into the family. Because of his prodigal talents Johnny has always been the favourite child, much to the dismay of his put-upon younger sister Samantha - who can only play “the Cello *shudder*”. When Johnny breaks the news, his father flies off the handle, disowning Johnny and promoting Samantha from the basement to the “Previously untouched but perfectly usable front bedroom”. Determined to not let Samantha have something good happen to her, Johnny vows to get his violin back.

Meanwhile, the mysteriously wealthy beggar man discovers something hidden in the violin – a key. But what does it open? He does not have time to find out, as he is apprehended by the simple police officer and is revealed as Raphael Lugaggi, of the Lugaggi Crime Family. With the police officer finally doing something right, the villain can be put away and the violin restored to its rightful owner.

But the Police Officer makes another error... he returns the violin to Samantha instead. The jaded sister threatens to overshadow Johnny’s big performance and she can be the favourite child once and for all.

Meanwhile, the birthday party is swinging. Well, only three people turn up, but it’s still quite the gathering. With Dad still despondent over losing his favourite child, and being stuck Samantha, Johnny enters explaining that Samantha has his violin. Dad is surprised but revels in pitching his two children against each other in a battle for his love. Various musical renditions of “Shame on a N***a” by Wu-Tang-Clan ensue until eventually Johnny emerges triumphant.

Johnny’s dad explains that the key opens up a safe that stores all of his metaphorical love for his children, and that Johnny can have it all. An impassioned speech follows, where Johnny explains that a father should love all his children equally. It isn’t enough just to love the talented one, or the pretty one, or the one with the most friends (all of which are Johnny, by the way), and that Johnny had been so scared that his father would be ashamed of him that he hadn’t even admitted that he’d been sleeping under a lamppost for weeks.

The family crisis is resolved when Dad sees the error of his ways. Johnny is allowed to share the metaphorical love and moves into the basement, with Samantha moving into the bedroom she always dreamed of. Johnny will return to retake his music examinations and the world is at peace again.

“That was a brave thing you did there Johnny... calling me a racist old fart.”

Best Wishes,
Windermere Productions
@WindermereProds

Cast
Stan Hodgson – Johnny Moon, Raphael Lugaggi
Matthew David Lewis – Police Officer, Johnny’s Dad
Katie Peel – Old Woman #1, Johnny’s Mum
Meghan Doyle – Old Woman #2, Samantha

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