Stories told by Old Peter to his Grandchildren – Maroosia and Vanya – with dog Bayan and cat Vladimir, in a cosy log cabin lying deep in a forest. It is the middle of Winter and freezing cold. A series of enchanting stories to help pass the long dark evenings from the onset of Winter through until Spring arrives.
Adapted from Arthur Ransome’s enchanting second book of Russian Folk Tales ‘The War Of The Birds And The Beasts”. Curated into three ‘themes’. Altogether there are 9 ‘Combine And Perform’ Mini-Musicals (See Synopses below) with 5 Linking Scenes for you to create original performances lasting between 25 and 90 minutes.
Available as curated Themed Collections of three connected Tales:
Ist Collection ‘Time‘: (The War Of The Birds And The Beasts; The Heavenly Blacksmith; The Inseparable Brothers)
2nd Collection ‘Greed‘: (The Costly Ring; Poor Man Covetous; Death And The Soldier)
Each story has many named characters and opportunities for participation by large numbers of performers. MP3 backing tracks, Vocal Score/Piano Conductor Score, 5-piece band arrangements available for piano, accordion, clarinet, bass and percussion. Very ‘Russian-style’ arrangements.
- The War Of The Birds And The Beasts Why the birds fly and the Beasts don’t.
- The Heavenly Blacksmith
- The Inseparable Brothers description
- The Costly Ring description
- Poor Man Covetous description
- Death And The Soldier description
Earworm Musicals 