Drama for Juniors - a modern morality play

The play was written for year 5 and 6 (10 and 11year olds) pupils in an urban primary school. It was first performed in July 1998 and involves up to 30 children.	The play opens with Harry, the young homeless boy, on stage, singing his song. Harry is living on the streets because of the actions of Rex, a businessman who foreclosed on a debt and reclaimed Harry's house.
Too Many Apples is a story set in modern times and is about a young girl from a wealthy family who meets and befriends a young homeless boy on the streets of a big city. There are many problems facing both children and the play deals with many modern issues - such as homelessness, troublesome youth, the difficulties of parenting, community policing and law and order	Rex has a wife, Stella, and they lead busy important lives. Rex and Stella's daughter, Celia, is bored at home and wants some excitement, and some company. She goes off to town and meets Harry. She also meets the Youth of Today and is very frightened. Harry helps her escape and they start chatting. Celia is horrified to hear of Harry's predicament and offers to help him. She doesn't know that her own father is the cause of Harry's problems and she gives Harry an expensive bracelet for him to sell to buy food. Unfortunately a policeman sees this transaction and jumps to the conclusion that Harry is stealing the bracelet. He arrests Harry.
Despite this, it is a moving and at times, very funny play which uses songs and a 'chorus' to describe the plot and comment on the characters' actions.	Harry makes an appearance in the magistrates' court. He does not hope to get a very fair hearing. In the nick of time, Celia finds out about what is happening and rushes to Harry's defence. Harry is released but the play ends with more questions than answers.
You can buy a copy of the script for £25. A cd of the songs costs £7.50 . To order, please send an email to enquiries@plays4kidz.com Thank you for your interest in my work. I look forward to hearing from you.	Now here is a sample of the play or you can hear the first song in the play "Harry's Song".

TOO MANY APPLES In the original production, the cast sat on steps at the back of the stage and formed The Chorus. When actors had lines to speak and act, they came 'out of' The Chorus. At the beginning of the play, Harry is on stage alone, curled up and covered by a blanket. The Narrators stood up from their places within The Chorus and proclaimed their lines.
Scene 1
Narrator 1	These are terrible times in which we live
Chorus	Hard, hard times
Narrator 1	There is much that is wrong in today's society.
Chorus	Sadly, sadly wrong
Narrator 1	Here is a boy, name of Harry.
Chorus	Poor poor boy.
Narrator 1	Lives on the streets, sleeps on the streets, in doorways, under bridges, wherever he can find shelter
Chorus	Poor poor boy
Alpha	It's a terrible way to live; no warmth, no joy, no security, no love.
Chorus	No kind of life at all.
Song Harry's song
Narrator 2	You must ask yourself, how? How does he live like that? and Why?
Chorus	Who is to blame?
Narrator 2	Here is a man, name of Rex King, though you must call him Mr King
Chorus	A big shot.
Song Rex's Song
Narrator 2	Mr King is a businessman. He knows that everything has a price and, as any good businessman will tell you, he knows the right time to buy and the right time to sell, the right time to lend and the right time to demand it back. He put Harry on the streets. He lent Harry's parents the money to buy a house, but wanted it back when they couldn't keep up the payments
Chorus	Nothing personal, just business.
Narrator 2	Then, when Harry's mum got sick, and Harry's dad had to go with her to hospital, Harry had nowhere to go so here he is.
Rex	Don't try to blame me, don't come whinging to me about life's drop-outs and hangers-on. It's business, pure and simple.
Chorus	There is no such thing as a free lunch
Rex	Right.
Narrator 1	Mr King has a beautiful wife, name of Stella. She works hard too, though not in the way her husband does. She keeps the house, supervises the domestic arrangements, has meetings with her friends,goes to town, organises dinner parties. She is a very busy lady.
Chorus	Busy busy busy.
song Busy Busy Busy
Narrator 2	The Kings have a daughter, name of Celia. Mr King might wish he had a son....
Rex	I won't say I'm disappointed that my wife has not given me a son.. yet, but Celia, that's my daughter's name, she seems to be all right. To be honest I don't know much about girls and she's usually in bed by the time I get home.
Narrator 2	But Celia is lavished with everything money can buy.
Narrator 1	Because Mr and Mrs King are so terribly busy, Celia spends lots of time on her own.
Chorus	How wrong can you get? What about the au pair?
Rex & Stella	That's absolutely right. How dare you insinuate that we are anything less than perfect parents.
Rex	We give her everything that money can buy. I would give anything to have had the chances she has, that she takes for granted.
Stella	We've got to have a life of our own anyway. Having a child isn't a life sentence to drudgery and boredom you know.
Narrator 2	Of course Celia is properly looked after. She is never on her own in the house. There is always an au pair to look after her. It's just that they don't stay long.
Chorus	Parlez vous francais? Au revoir. Parliamo italiano? Arrivederci. Sprechen zi deutsche? Auf wiedersehn continued.......