The Last Dragon On Earth
A timeless tale of tolerance and compassion
"Charming! Delightful! Lovable! The colorful set and enchanting puppets told a wonderful story
which entertained adult and child alike. What a wonderful feeling emanated from the audience as they laughed,
gasped and were totally silent at all the appropriate times. Top notch!"
Newton Arts in the Park, Newton, MA
For as long as anyone can remember, princes have killed dragons and rescued princesses. It's the way things
have always been done. But what happens if the princess doesn't need rescuing, and the dragon to be killed
is the very last one on Earth?
The time has come for the Prince and the Princess to marry. In the past, this has meant that the Prince
must fight and slay a terrifying dragon, then rescue the Princess. But times have changed. With increased development,
McCastles are popping up everywhere, crowding the dragons out. With more McCastles come more princes and princesses,
requiring more dragons to be slain so that they can marry. By the time our Prince and Princess are to be married,
there is only one dragon left.
"Why kill the very last dragon?" asks the Princess.
"Gone is gone," she thinks, "and extinct is extinct, and it seems a shame, not to mention stupid,
to eliminate the last dragon." And if the dragon has to be fought, it makes sense for her to do the fighting;
she is a much better fighter than the Prince, whose skills tend more to philosophy and mathematics. The Princess tries
to convince her father to waive the dragon-slaying requirement, but the King insists. "If it was good enough
for my generation, it's good enough for yours," he says," and besides, the whole town expects it!"
The whole town turns out to tie the princess up and carry her to the dragon's cave, then they scurry back
to the castle. They send the Prince off and wait for him to return with the rescued Princess and the dragon's head.
The Prince sets off in his brand-new motorcar. It takes him a while to get to the dragon's cave
(the highway system has yet to be invented, he's not that great a driver, and navigation isn't one of his strong suits).
After a number of wrong turns, much backtracking, and countless backfires, he arrives at the dragon's cave, where
the Princess has been rolling around trying, unsuccessfully, to untie herself. Once the prince manages to stop the car
AND keep it from rolling back down the hill, he unties her and they are ready to face the dragon together.
At least, they hope they are.
The Prince and Princess can't help but notice,
however,
that the dragon seems to have no interest in attacking them or in having the Princess for brunch. In fact, he wants to be left alone.
"But we want to get married!" the prince explains. "How nice for you. Congratulations! I hope you'll be very happy
together. Now go away!" growls the dragon irritably. The Prince and the Princess are stumped. The whole town is waiting!
What to do now?
"What can we do?" asks the Prince. "Your father said I had to bring him the dragon's head if we're going to get married."
"Yes . . ." says the Princess. "But he didn't say it couldn't be attached to the rest of the dragon, did he?
Perhaps it's time for a new tradition!"
This modern fairy tale is a wonderful introduction to the concept of species extinction and is brought to life
by the Crabgrass Puppet Theatre with their trademark blend of beautiful puppets, fabulous scenery full of castles and caves,
and hysterically funny action.
"I like the part when the prince and princess made friends with the dragon. I like to make friends too."
RECOMMENDED AUDIENCE: Grades K-6 and family audiences.
AUDIENCE SIZE: Up to 500
PERFORMANCE TIME: 50 minutes
STAGE SIZE: Minimum 16' wide/ 12' deep/ 9' ceiling height
Crabgrass Puppet Theatre is a participant in the Connecticut, Vermont, and New England States Touring Programs.
Contact the CT
Commission of the Arts, the VT Arts Council
and the New England Foundation for the Arts
for more information.
This page last updated on 7/2/07 All text and images copyright 2004-2007 by the Crabgrass Puppet Theatre, Jamie Keithline and Bonny Hall.
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