A theatrical adaptation of George MacDonald's classic fairy story. Suitable for performance by adults or children alike, this new play script of The Princess and the Goblin will charm and surprise you.
A magical fairytale at your fingertips
The Story
The evil goblins under the mountain plan to kidnap princess Irene and force her to become their queen. Can her magical great-great grandmother and Curdie the brave miner boy save Irene before it is too late? What other dastardly plots might the goblins be hatching, and will Curdie be in time to stop the goblins wreaking the most terrible of revenges?
This stage-play adaptation of the classic and timeless children's fantasy by George MacDonald is suitable for adult ensembles or for performance by school or other children's drama groups and has options for larger or smaller numbers of cast.
"Magic transformed from book to stage."
"A brilliantly adapted version of a magical tale ."
"Eminently performable by groups of all ages and abilities ."
Photo credit Robin Watson
About the Play
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The Princess and the Goblin: a Play for Children was premiered at Holkham Hall, Norfolk in 2020 as part of their Education Programme. It was performed in the round. The play was devised for a space that did not have any traditional theatre staging or lighting facilities; this makes it particularly suitable for drama groups who do not have access to a professional theatre space.
For the play’s premiere, a minimum of cast was used, with actors playing more than one character. This helps to symbolise the parallels between the human and goblin worlds (which are actually very similar despite their emnity). However, it is not obligatory to double up roles, and a larger number of actors can be used if desired.
The writer has deliberately left a lot of artistic decisions to the director and ensemble - for example at the end of 8:1 the stage direction is simply 'ALL EXIT AS A GREAT ROARING DELUGE FILLS THE STAGE'. Great creativity is called for here - have fun!
For more information about some of the artistic visions involved in the making of the play see the Author's Note, available in the free sample download.