Storyteller/ Eldest magician - Alan Faulkner
Animals - Everyone

King Elephant - Graham Mackenzie
Queen Elephant - Sue Branson
Elephant 1 - Stuart Aldridge
Elephant 2 - Chris Tucker
Elephant 3 - Sheila Tallon
Elephant child - Ryan Carter
Adult elephants - Alice Brady, Andy Branson, Laura Browne, James Coleman, Richard Farndon, Simon Goodwin, Stuart Gordon, Andy Penhallurick, Colin Williams, Lindsey Williams
Kolokolo bird - Kirsteen Wray
Parsee - Sam Coleman
Cooking stove - Lindsey Williams
Rhino - Malcolm Evans
Cooking ingredients/chefs - Matt Austin, Charly Branson, Iona Cameron, Morven Cameron, Amy Cooper, Katie Dobson, Megan Hague, Liz Harding, Hannah Hughes, Andrea Lees, Sophie Lees, Megan-Rose O’Boyle, Eva Penhallurick, Sarah-Jayne Powell, Tom Robinson, Amy Roper, Zoe Ruiz, Laura Siddle, Charlotte Taylor, Jenny Turnbull
Giraffe - Laura Browne
Zebra - Alice Brady
Wildebeest 1 - Colin Willliams
Wildebeest 2 - Andy Branson
Wildebeest 3 - Stuart Gordon
Wildebeest 4 - Matt Austin
Wildebeest - Stuart Aldridge, Sue Branson, Richard Farndon, Graham Mackenzie, Andy Penhallurick, Tom Robinson, Sheila Tallon, Chris Tucker
Tap dancers - To be advised
Jaguar - James Coleman
Leopard - Simon Goodwin

Jungle light soloists - Charly Branson, Iona Cameron, Katie Dobson, Hannah Hughes, Amy Roper
Jungle Light chorus - All the cast

Pau Amma - Andy Penhallurick
Kangaroo - Richard Farndon
Dingo - Katie Dobson
Narrator (leaps and bounds) - Colin Willliams
Wallaby 1 - Sophie Lees
Wallaby 2 - Charly Branson
Wallabies - Matt Austin, Andy Branson, Iona Cameron, Morven Cameron, Amy Cooper, Stuart Gordon, Megan Hague, Liz Harding, Hannah Hughes, Andrea Lees, Megan-Rose O’Boyle, Eva Penhallurick, Sarah-Jayne Powell, Tom Robinson, Amy Roper, Zoe Ruiz, Laura Siddle, Charlotte Taylor, Jenny Turnbull, (other members of cast may be involved)
Crocodile - Chris Tucker

JUST SO Eldest Magician
THERE’S NO HARM IN ASKING Elephant Child
ANOTHER TEMPEST Elephants
PARSEE CAKE CAKE-WALK Parsee Man
THICK SKIN Rhino
WE WANT TO TAKE THE LADIES OUT Leopard and Jaguar
PICK UP YOUR HOOVES AND TROT Giraffe and Zebra
WAIT A BIT Kolokolo Bird
LEAPS AND BOUNDS Kangaroo and Dingo Dog
DOES THE MOMENT EVER COME? Elephant Child
LITTLE ONE, COME HITHER Crocodile and Elephant Child
IF Eldest Magician

Characters appearing throughout the whole show:

Eldest Magician (male or female)

The Elephant’s Child (probably male) has an insatiable curiosity and is always asking questions.

The Kolokolo Bird (female) is a gawky, sparky flightless bird – with plenty of attitude!

Characters appearing in several scenes:

The Parsee Man (male) is a zany character – a superb cook - who lives alone on a desert island apart from his most treasured possession, the long-suffering Cooking Stove (male or female).

The Rhino (male) is in the mould of a classic, greedy school bully who appears deliberately to embellish his own bad reputation. He cuts a swathe through anything that stands in his way. His skin appears painfully tight.
Pau Amma the Crab (voice (probably male) from off stage).

The Leopard and the Jaguar (both male and not very bright, acting like two London “spivs) are very hungry and have their designs on Giraffe and Zebra.
Giraffe and Zebra are two modern girls (with high heeled hooves) who think they can look after themselves as they have seen it all before!

Characters appearing in only one scene (but may have a major song to sing)

Dingo Dog (female) – the person who chases the Kangaroo.
Kangaroo (male) – when he first appears he is a broken, humbled animal, but for his song becomes a bumptious, vain Australian “superstar”.

The Crocodile (male or female) offers help to the Elephant Child but instead tries to eat him.

Chorus:

The animals
Elephants
Boring Wildebeest
Wannabee Wallabies

ACT ONE
The Eldest Magician is very pleased with all the animals he has created, until he realises that they all look the same. He tells them to go forth and play at what they are so they can find out more about themselves. All the animals agree except for Pau Amma the Crab who vows to play alone in the deep water and never be obedient.

Soon Pau Amma has grown so huge that even the Eldest Magician can’t control him. Twice a day he goes out in search for food, flooding the land. One day as the Elephants are discussing what to do, the Elephant’s Child bursts in full of questions. When the other Elephants decide to head for higher ground, the Elephant’s Child decides to find the Crab and make him stop. The Eldest Magician encourages the flightless Kolokolo Bird to join him on the journey to the Limpopo River, and gives them a boat to help them on their way.

Blown off-course, they wash up on an ‘uninhabited’ island where the Parsee Man and his beloved Cooking Stove reside. Unfortunately, because of the Crab, the Parsee Man has no ingredients to cook with. Nevertheless he is eventually persuaded to use his emergency rations to cook a special cake as a gift for Pau Amma. But as the completed cake emerges, the Rhinoceros rushes off with it. Parsee Man vows revenge as the Elephant’s Child and Kolokolo Bird set sail.

The little boat reaches Africa. On the High Veldt, Giraffe, Zebra and Wildebeest lounge around whilst Leopard and Jaguar make advances. When Elephant’s Child asks the cats for help in finding Pau Amma, the ferocious felines agree, in exchange for help finding Giraffe and Zebra. Instead the Elephant’s Child persuades Giraffe and Zebra to escape into the jungle with himself and Kolokolo Bird.

But in the Jungle the Giraffe and Zebra stick out like sore thumbs, so together with the Eldest Magician the Elephant’s Child finds a way to disguise them. Just as everyone is celebrating, Pau Amma appears. The Elephant’s Child politely asks him to stop playing with the sea, but the plan backfires. Kolokolo Bird and Elephant’s Child set off once again towards the Limpopo River.

ACT TWO

The Elephant’s Child and Kolokolo Bird are lost and start to row, eventually choosing to go their separate ways. In the Howling Desert, the Eldest Magician tries to teach the Elephant’s Child a lesson by telling the story of how the Kangaroo got its huge hind legs.

Meanwhile in the Jungle the Kolokolo Bird is trying to overcome her fear of flying when she’s caught by the Jaguar and Leopard. The Elephant’s Chi!d comes to her rescue with the help of the camouflaged Giraffe and Zebra. In order to insure his safe passage with the Kolokolo Bird, the Elephant’s Child teaches the two cats how the trick of camouflage is achieved.

At that moment the Parsee Man and Cooking Stove appear in a boat made from an upturned crab shell, the Rhino chasing them. They explain how the Parsee Man got his revenge on the Rhino by putting cake crumbs in his skin Eventually they agree to be friends and walk off, leaving the Parsee Man’s boat behind.

At last the Elephant’s Child has reached the Limpopo River. The Crocodile offers help but instead tries to eat him. The Kolokolo Bird `flies’ to the rescue, and the Elephant’s Child escapes with a newly enlarged nose.

Now the two friends are finally reconciled they notice the Parsee Man’s abandoned crab-shell boat, which gives them a clue as to how they might defeat Pau Amma. With the help of the Eldest Magician they put their plan into action, and at last all the animals are safe from the Crab’s meddling.

In the meantime, if you want to have a sneeky preview of the show and the music, do visit the website of the authors, Stiles and Drewe and click on “Just So”. www.stilesanddrewe.co.uk

http://www.solihull-smash.org.uk/past-productions/whistle-down-the-wind-2007/