a traditional tale from Norway - a seasonal treat for Christmas
A white bear comes knocking at the cottage door. The daughter of the house agrees to join him in
his icy palace. There she has all the riches that she could ask for but she is curious as to why
the white bear won't let her light any candles at night.
When eventually she does so, she discovers that the bear is in fact a handsome
Prince. But she has broken a spell and the Prince is carried away to the Castle of the Trolls,
which lies East o'the Sun and West o'the Moon.
Aided by three mysterious women and abetted by
the four Winds the girl finally reaches the Troll Castle where she has to use all her powers to
save the Prince from marriage to the Troll Princess.
Gill and Bill animate a whole host of characters - humans, animals, trolls and winds - using their
physical and vocal skills along with simple costumes, masks and some very effective shadow-play.
"Extremely well thought through story-telling - this should stimulate further drama and writing, especially in KS2.
The children were intrigued by the screen and loved the costumes. The production will initiate writing.
We like to provide our children with experiences beyond their own lives. The performance was perfect for this."
Grenville Combined School, Buckingham
"This is a truly enchanting, wonderfully told tale that is visually exquisite in its simplicity, and full of the humour, movement and music that have become the hallmark of multi story."
North Devon Journal
Technical details:
get-in 75 minutes;
performance 60 minutes;
post-performance questions and discussion 15 minutes;
get-out 45 minutes;
performance area 5m x 5m x 3m height;
access to a 13 amp socket for the lighting rig that we carry.
synopsis
script
follow-up work
a teacher's response
It’s cold in the cottage. The snow is piled up against the door. Suddenly there’s a knocking and
Mother and Father are confronted by a big white bear. He wants their
daughter to join him in his ice palace. And he gives them till Thursday to
make up their minds. Mother and Father decide it will be in everyone’s best
interest if their daughter goes with him – after all he has promised that
they will be rich. So Father breaks the news to his daughter.
Next Thursday
the bear returns and whisks the girl away. He installs her in his Palace of
Ice. She is comfortable but lonely – there’s no-one to talk to and the bear is
always away about his business. The bear sleeps in her room to protect her but
she hears a different pattern of breathing and is sure that someone else is
there.
She persuades the bear to let her visit her parents.
He agrees as long as she doesn’t talk to her mother alone. She does speak to her mother alone and her mother gives
her a candle-end to light so that she can see who is in her room.
Back at the
Palace of Ice the girls lights the candle-end and discovers a beautiful Prince
asleep in her room. She is so taken with him that she leans over to kiss him.
But three drops of burning candle-wax spill onto his shirt, which wakes him.
He is distraught. Now they will never see each other again. He has been under
a spell – a bear by day, a prince by night – and because she has seen him as a
prince the Trolls will carry him away to marry the hideous Troll-Princess. The
girl instantly falls into a deep sleep.
When the girl
awakes she finds that not only has the prince disappeared: so too has the
Palace of Ice. She sets off to find the prince, knowing only that the Castle
of the Trolls lies somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon.
A young girl
gives her a golden flask that will never run dry and a horse. The young girl’s
mother gives her a golden pot that will never empty. And the young girl’s
grandmother gives her a golden shawl to protect her against the extremes of
temperature. The grandmother also summons the Wind of the East to help her on
her journey.
The Wind of
the East runs out of puff and hands her over to his brother, the Wind of the
West. The Wind of the West hands her on to the Wind of the South. And the Wind
of the South finally hands her on to the Wind of the North. The Wind of the
North delivers her to the crack in the cliff that leads to the Castle of the
Trolls – which is buried deep beneath the earth.
In the Castle
the girl meets the Troll Princess – who speaks a very strange language. She
uses the golden gifts to persuade the Troll Princess to let her see the
prince. The Troll Princess takes the gifts but then drugs the prince so that
he is always asleep. Finally the girl barges into his room and they hatch a
plot.
The prince
interrupts his own wedding with the Troll Princess to announce that he will
only marry the girl who can wash the three drops of wax out of his shirt. The
Troll Princess tries but fails. The girl tries and succeeds. And the Trolls
are so angry that they explode – propelling the girl and her Prince back to
the little cottage where father and mother are delighted to see them. And
where, we hope, they will all live happily ever after.
