1481: A Little Knight Shtick
( A Little Knight Shtick or Right the Wrong and Wrong the Right )
Cast:
- Royal Court
- Jester
- Father Time
- Town Crier
- Robin Hood
- Friar Tuck
- “Mad” Marion
- Four Knights of the Squarish Table
Synopsis:
Begins with a greeting by the Jester and the appearance of Father Time, followed by the Royal Procession. All dialogue is supplied for the Wassail and Boar’s Head festivities and the short running gags during the meal. Following the dessert, the Jester enters and engages in a dialogue with the Royal Court, using the world’s first audiovisual aid to explain the function of government.
The entertainment continues when from the back of the hall, Robin Hood enters, riding on the back of Friar Tuck. (Keep in mind when casting that you need a strong Friar Tuck, and/or a light Robin Hood.) They are followed by a shuffling “Mad” Marion.
“Don’t you mean, Maid Marion? No, Mad Marion. She had to walk all the way from Sherwood Forest!”
This Robin Hood is very unlike the traditional Robin Hood. He has come to aid the economy with what he calls the “Trickle-Up Theory.”
“It is based on the fact that although water trickles down, money trickles up. . . The Trickle-Up Theory in practice goes like this: We steal from the poor and give to the rich, who slide it under the table to the King. This makes the King very happy and he doesn’t bother the rich, who are moderately happy and don’t bother the poor, who are convinced that they are the basic component of a great economic theory. That should make them proud! Hungry maybe, but proud.”
Friar Tuck has a modern television evangelist fervor in his request for funds, after which they exit.
Following their exit, the four Knights of the Squarish Table enter. They have come to “right the wrong, and wrong the right, but only if the right are left.” References to today’s political occurrences abound, but are cast in the light of the fifteenth century. Their comments seem eerily up to date. Scary! “Lets make welfare only for those who fare well. It has a nice ring . . . welfare for those who fare well. . . . we’ll save oodles of money!” ”You must at times wrong the right if you are going to right the wrong.” “But isn’t that wrong?” “Not if you know you are right, and we know we are right.” The Knights exit to the following chorus, “We are the Knights of the Squarish Table / We do our best when we are able / Always on the side of the right are we, / Moral to the core . . . That’s how you should be. / Fa la la la la and a doo be dee.”
Dialogue is supplied for the introductions to the various portions of the short concluding concert. Father Time bids a farewell to the audience prior to the recessional. Some of the dialogue is rhymed. The dialogue which isn’t, is not rhymed.
