Accessibility Tools for “The Dragon Wagon”

Three actors pretend to be all the different characters in “The Dragon Wagon”.

Their real names are Catty, Maira, Audrey, Molly and Elli, but you’ll only see three of them when you come. Also, Maira’s got longer hair now. Here they are:

Contents:

1. Show Notes - exciting/loud moments. Scroll down to read these.

2. Synopsis of the story. Scroll down to read this.

 1. Show Notes for The Dragon Wagon

These are notes of some exciting/loud moments that may happen during the show, or that you may want to think about before coming to see The Dragon Wagon

The show is about 45 minutes long. There is no interval.

Characters climb the ladders and stand on top of the wagon. They are all careful, and safe. Sir Boghead Butterfingers pretends he’s falling into a big hole in the rock, but he isn’t really. He’s just pretending because it’s part of the story.

The actors sometimes communicate using Sign Supported English, signing key words and phrases.
The characters ask the audience questions, to ask for their help, and ask them to join in with a song.
Nobody has to join in, but you can if you want to.

During the show, there is music. All the actors sing and dance in a few songs. They play musical instruments. Jack plays the guitar and cymbal and cahon ( a kind of drum). Fergus plays saxaphone and accordion.

The Evil Queen, the baddie, might seem scary, but it is only pretend, and she doesn’t really hurt anyone.

To tell the story, Nerthus, Baugi and Gorm pretend to be the other characters in it. They dress up as
a Knight called Sir Boghead Butterfingers, an Evil Queen, a funny Troll and the Dragon Whisperer. These are costumes that the actors put on.
There are dragons in the show, but these are all pretend – they are puppets. There is a baby dragon puppet, a teenage dragon puppet and a big dragon puppet. They are all friendly characters, and pretend.

Nerthus hides a dragon egg in the audience and The Dragon Whisperer comes into the audience to look for it. The audience calls out “warmer” when she gets near to the egg and “colder” when she’s further away. You can join in if you want to but you don’t have to. Baugi runs around the audience with a baby dragon puppet, and Nerthus follows her with some orange and red scarves that look like flames. They are not real flames. Nerthus and Baugi will come closer to the audience.

The wagon turns around twice in the show. The actors push it, and it is on wheels. The actors have
practised doing this, and it is safe to turn the caravan.

Baugi, Nerthus and Gorm make the caravan look like a dragon. They do this by sticking a big dragon head through the front window, and attaching wings to the sides. The Dragon Whisperer stands on top of the wagon and makes the wings move to look like the big dragon is flying. He’s practised doing this and it is safe. Everything is designed so that it is safe to use.

Baugi, Nerthus and Gorm do a dragon dance. They will invite everyone to stand up and copy them. You can join in if you want to but you don’t have to.

If you need help or would like to ask any questions, please ask the stewards, they are happy to
help you. You can recognise the stewards by the Jellyfish Theatre badges they are wearing around their necks.

If you need to move around during the show, that is okay! This is a relaxed performance, and
we want you all to be comfortable.

2. Synopsis – The Dragon Wagon

Baugi, Nerthus and Gorm are three friends who live in a caravan. They call it their wagon. The wagon is full of stories. Baugi, Nerthus and Gorm are storytellers. In the morning, they wake up and start making breakfast. They are going to have eggs and it reminds them about the story of the Dragon Whisperer. He was a man who protected dragons’ eggs.

The story starts long ago and far away. There is an Evil Queen. She loves treasure. She sends her knight, Sir Boghead Butterfingers to slay all the dragons and bring her their treasure. Sir Boghead returns. He thinks he has brought treasure, but he’s made a mistake. It isn’t treasure. It’s a dragon’s egg. The Evil Queen is very angry. She tells Sir Boghead Butterfingers to get rid of the egg. So Sir Boghead throws the egg from the top of the tallest mountain. Then he slips and falls into a crevasse, a big hole in the rock. The egg doesn’t break. It bounces down the mountain and disappears.

A few years later, a strange woman with a funny wagon appears. She’s the Dragon Whisperer. Her job is to protect the dragons’ eggs and look after the young dragons until they can find their own way back to their caves. The Dragon Whisperer finds the egg. She knows the egg comes from a stoney dragon. She looks after it. The egg hatches. The Dragon Whisperer names the baby dragon Willy Nilly. She grows dragon fruit to feed Willy Nilly. This is the right food for dragons. If a young dragon eats this, they will be able to find their way home to their cave. Willy Nilly grows into a teenage dragon.

The Evil Queen hears about the Dragon Whisperer. She’s furious. She goes to the Dragon Whisperer’s wagon and steals Willy Nilly while the Dragon Whisperer is asleep. The Evil Queen thinks Willy Nilly will show her where the treasure cave is.

The Dragon Whisperer wakes up in the morning and finds Willy Nilly is gone. She sets out to find him. On the way she finds a fully grown female dragon. She’s a Stoney Dragon. She’s lonely. She’s the Lonely Stoney Dragon. She says that she had an egg once, but somebody took it from her cave. The Dragon Whisperer realises that it might be the same egg that Willy Nilly hatched out of. The Dragon Whisperer flies to the cave on the Lonely Stoney Dragon’s back.

They spot the Nearly There Troll, and they know that the dragon cave is close. They land and the Lonely Stoney Dragon flies away.

The Nearly There Troll tries to trick the Dragon Whisperer. She gives very confusing directions to the cave.

The Evil Queen is inside the dragon cave. She has tied Willy Nilly’s wings together so he can’t escape. She has found the treasure. Just as she is about to leave with her suitcase full of treasure, the Dragon Whisperer arrives.

Then Sir Boghead Butterfingers appears. He’s been stuck in the crevasse for years, and has finally managed to get out.

The Evil Queen says she’ll share the treasure with Sir Boghead. But she doesn’t really mean it. She tries to run away.

Suddenly the Lonely Stoney Dragon comes back. The Evil Queen is terrified. The Lonely Stoney Dragon tells the queen to release Willy Nilly and leave the treasure alone. The Evil Queen releases Willy Nilly. She gives the treasure back. She says “Sorry!” and then she runs away.

Willy Nilly goes back to the cave and lives there with the Lonely Stoney Dragon. She’s his Mum!

Baugi, Nerthus and Gorm have finished the story. They say “That was a fantastic story”. Then they sing a song.