1507: Mertonsire & The Pirate’s Tale

Cast:

• Royal Court
• Jester
• Mertonsire
• Town Crier
• Captain Walker D’Plank
• Matey (His First Mate)
• Ahoy (His Secont Mate)
• Admiral Anchorbottom
• Jolly Roger (audience member)

Synopsis:

Begins with a greeting by the Jester, followed by the Royal Procession. All dialogue is supplied for the Wassail and Boar’s Head festivities and every other word uttered in the performance, except maybe words like “bravo,” “jolly good show .” While the Jester buries a sack of “seed money,” hoping it will grow, the Kingdom eagerly awaits the arrival of the great seafarer Admiral Anchorbottom, who will regale the Royal Court with his daring-do tales of the sea. Mertonsire has sent the good Admiral a map to show him the way overland to the land-locked kingdom. Unfortunately, pirates, led by that nefarious Captain Walker d’Plank, have stolen this map and think it’s a treasure map!

The three buccaneers arrive and proceed to look for the buried treasure. Mertonsire sees them and not realizing they are pirates, or even thinking they might be wandering Vikings or an abandoned contingent of the Spanish Armada, looking for their ship in the middle of England, far from the sea, , believes they are the long-waited-for story-telling Admiral Anchor-bottom and his crew.

Captain d’Plank reluctantly tells them a tall tale of the sea, while his two Mates, First Mate and Second Mate, of course, look for the treasure that may or may not exist. The appearance of the real Admiral Anchorbottom (How did he get a name like that?) turns the story on its head. Who is the real Admiral Anchorbottom?

Will the disreputable Captain d’Plank and his crew be found out before they find the treasure? Is there a treasure to be found? Why is the Jester carrying a shovel? Will Mertonsire become a privateer, and if so, can he keep it private? Who is Roger, and why is he so Jolly? Find this, and much more, out when your group performs this delightful script.