'The Prince and the Pilot', commissioned by Borderline Theatre Company, is adapted from Antoine de Saint Exupéry's classic 'Le Petit Prince'. However it is not a straight adaptation, and weaves elements of Exupery's biography into the story. The play is set in a desert where the pilot has crashed his plane. His life is in danger. As he attempts to repair his plane he is visited by a small boy, a Little Prince who leads him on a journey through a desert peopled by strange characters. But is the prince a saviour or a mirage?
"Self discovery comes when a man measures himself against an obstacle." (Antoine de Saint Exupéry: 'Wind, Sand and Stars' 1939).
Duration: 45 minutes.
All scenes take place in a North African Desert, in the late 1940's. The set includes parts of a crashed plane and later The Well.
'The Prince and the Pilot' was commissioned and produced by Borderline in Summer 2000 and toured extensively to schools and theatres throughout Scotland. It was directed by Leslie Finlay.
During its development the play was workshopped extensively with 8 - 12 year-olds. I also got help and advice from the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre.
Little Prince text in English: http://home.pacific.net.hk/~rebylee/text/prince/contents.html
Saint Exupéry biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry
Saint Exupéry resources: http://www.westegg.com/exupery/
[The pilot has crashed his plane in the desert. He has met the Little Prince.]
PILOT -One day, when I was about your age, I heard a strange sound and looked up. I saw my first aeroplane. It’s noise filled the sky.
[Pilot spreads his arms and flies. The Prince joins in]
PILOT -Neeea-hoiwwww! Higher than birds. Faster than birds. The most amazing thing I ever saw. Then the noise stopped, and it fell from the sky.
Prince -No!
Pilot -Spinning: Sky: Land: Sky: Land. Then smoke. Fire. Choking. The ground
rushing up, like a punch…
[They fall on the sand. The fox howls.]
Prince -You saw that horrible crash when you were little and it made you want
to fly!
Pilot -I wanted to live at the top of everything. To be all I could be. Better
than birds. I didn’t want to die quietly, to be an old man who never saw
the sunset from the sky.
Prince -Is that still important?
Pilot -Well right now I just want to be home. With clean white sheets to sleep
in. To sleep for a long, long time. But I know that as soon as I was rested,
I'd want to be flying again. When something is that important to you, it isn't
a simple thing to leave it behind.
Prince -Like the old house where you were a child.
Pilot -What?
Prince -The old house. Far from here, in the cool green place. With the trees
all around, and the stairs that creak. Remember? In that old house you believed
there was treasure… Maybe it is under the floor-boards?
[They start to play.]
Pilot -Or in the cellar?
Prince -It’s dark and spidery.
Pilot -Scary.
Prince -Then that is where it’s sure to be. What sort of treasure is it?
Pilot -It might be a pirate’s horde.
Prince -Or a book of magic spells.
Pilot -Or a princess’s jewel.
Prince -Or just the most beautiful thing you ever saw.
Pilot -Or nothing at all.
Prince -So it is better that we don’t see it. We believe it is there and
that's what's important.
Pilot -Like the sheep in the box.
Prince -Like the rose on my planet. You’re not like other grown-ups.
Pilot -Thank you. How did you know about my old house and the treasure? I haven’t
thought about it since I was a child.
What is really good to see is theatre for family audiences being taken seriously. Guardian Guide 17/6/00
Anita Sullivan has worked wonders, The little prince is a marionette... he is half of a double-act with the pilot whose very human need for water and rescue balances the other wise fey story of the original book. Sullivan builds interest in the pilot by making him the narrator and hooks the audience in with a sequence of drawings he makes for the prince.... the production scores again and again. Times Educational Supplement 9/6/00 Brian Hayward
The oldest cliché in children's theatre is the chestnut about how THIS show is equally accessible to adults and children. On this occasion, though, there are grounds for believe the claim. Borderline's new adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's only children's story boasts a magical mythic landscape, as well as a basis in real life experience. Another factor is Anita Sullivan, the adapter of Leslie Finlay's production. The young writer's work has, like the original author's, been largely geared to an adult audience. The List 8/22/2000 Steve Cramer
Poster
Set designed by Suzanne Field (the sand-dunes are on wheels!)
This is how a primary school class thought the set should look: see the well (far left) the plane (middle) and the rose (right). You can put your face through the hold in the middle of the rose. Suzanne used these ideas in her design.
How a different school thought the Prince puppet should look. Not bad for a morning's work!