The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

bitetheatre a note that rang in your ears! The motorised rats and their eerie red laser eyes were directed to the river, where they fell in and died. Sally Snorekin reported the incident. “Rats dead! Hamelin’s river is bright red. The Pied Piper made everyone’s dream come true, but he made them rats screaming, too.” She added the townspeople were so happy they didn’t know what to do with themselves. Crotchet heaved a sigh of relief as she was saved from the rats despite still being homeless. Both she and Robyn contemplate what their friend- ship means to them both. Robyn promised to be a better friend. “I know I wasn’t there when life became hard. But now I’d help to heal your scars. Wherever I go, I’ll still feel our glow.” The Mayor delighted the rats had finally gone, had to be reminded to pay the Pied Piper as he tried to avoid relinquishing the 100 pieces of gold he promised. The Pied Piper threatened to take tools from his townspeople if he wasn’t paid, but the Mayor arrogantly replied he’d only repurchase them back, as he has “unlimited money!”. The Pied Piper promised to make life difficult for him. He sang a magical song to the entire town. “I’ve travelled lands, and I’ve trav- elled seas. I came to you, offered honesty. That’s not a way you should talk to me. You should cross my palm with some apology. Everybody’s gonna follow me. You could’ve handled this quite easily.” Sally Snorekin reported what was happening on the ground as the kids started to sway to his magical music and hypnotised followed his melody. “They slid to their doors, away from their beds and floors, and onto the ledge of win- dow panes. The view was insane. Like a routine dance in a trance.” The Mayor, now distressed, as even his precious Robyn had been hypno- tised, tried to bargain the magical release by offering him 500 gold coins instead. The Pied Piper refused, claiming the Mayor had his chance to be honest and pay up in the first place. Meanwhile, the hypnotic music contin- ued, and now the whole townspeople’s children (and the Mayor’s factory workforce) had been placed in a trance on their way to death. He and the Pied Piper continued to argue before the Mayor’s pleas turned to taunts. “You think you’re good? With all that you’ve done? You love yourself. You don’t care about anyone.” The Pied Piper retorted, “Your eyes were on the pies. Your pies were in the sky.” Sally Snorekin, remembering the power of a united song and beat, got the audience to help beatbox the sound Conrad gave us earlier. As the childrenwere at the edge of a rock cliff, about to jump into the river, Crotchet woke up and turned back but realised her bandmates were also at risk. Singing, she helped pull them out of the trance, but Solo was in extreme danger of dropping, adding a theatrical moment to this play. Eventually, each child woke up, returned to the town, and confronted the Mayor. “You were our leader. You couldn’t lead. You kept on taking. When we were in need, you made us think you cared. You made us feel aware. But the truth is you are the real rat!” As the town turned against the Mayor, the Pied Piper came back on stage to announce a beatbox battle that would decide the mayor. The audience was asked which Rebel Clef they preferred to battle against the Mayor, and Sally Snorekin was chosen. It resulted in joint mayors as both were brilliant. The first order as collec- tive mayors was "No kids in the factory. No kid has ever to work again! Kids are gonna play, and kids are going to make music!” The townspeo- ple cheered, and the ensemble sang the catchy outro song of ‘Kids up! Rats Down!’, ending the evening. With interspersed audience participation in responding to prompts, taking audience votes, or creating simple but melodic beatbox efforts, this lively, multi-disciplined performance was a must-see. With so many layers of learning, I had a sense of reflection on the morals subtext- ed in this brilliant performance. Billed as a fam- ily show, my (adult) companion and I enjoyed it as much as any child in the audience. There weren’t many, apart from the large cast of Beat- box Academy kids that surprised us halfway through by coming onto the stage and wowing us with their beatboxing talent. The sounds some of those kids emitted from their vocal chords had me transported back into a field at a music festival surrounded by extra-large bass speakers! Who needs discs or playlists with them around? To know that this story of a ‘dark, dingy, smelly, terrible (tale of) a rat problem’ may be based on a true story from the late 1200s, with its mor- al to ‘never be ungrateful’, it’s mind-blowing to know over 700 years later it is both still relevant and inspirational to new theatre forms. The beauty of art and performance! https://bac.org.uk