Just So (musical)
| Just So | |
|---|---|
| Music | George Stiles |
| Lyrics | Anthony Drewe |
| Book | Anthony Drewe |
| Productions | 1984 Newbury 1998 Goodspeed Opera House 2000 North Shore Music Theatre 2003 Starlight Theatre 2005 Chichester Festival 2006 Globe Theatre 2008 Kanata Theatre 2010 Birmingham Rep. |
Just So is a musical by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles written in 1984 based on the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Just So was originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh at the Watermill Theatre and later at the Tricycle Theatre in England. It was subsequently produced at various theatres in the US and UK.
Act One
The Eldest Magician begins by reading a story “before the High and Far-Off Times” to the Best Beloved. As he does so, various indistinguishable animals appear on stage. The Eldest Magician, who created them, was very pleased...until he realized that they all looked the same. He bid the animals to go forth and find out what they were. (Just So)
All of the animals did as the Eldest Magician asked except for Pau Amma the Crab, who vowed to be disobedient and play alone in the waters. He grew and grew and grew, and would go out looking for food twice a day, causing large areas of the land to flood, and so disrupting many of the other animals. (Another Tempest)
One day when the elephants have gathered round the watering hole, they discuss the tyranny of the Crab. Bursting into the middle of the circle, the Elephant’s Child decides (There's No Harm In Asking), and so to the elephants' annoyance he asks a continuous series of questions, all of which they dismiss as “silly” (Silly Questions). They are interrupted however by the Crab’s feed and are forced to move to higher ground.
The Elephant’s Child decides to find Pau Amma and make him stop. He finds the Eldest Magician who encourages the flightless Kolokolo Bird to join the Elephant’s Child on a journey to the Limpopo River in search of the Crab. (Limpopo River)
Travelling in a small raft, the two travellers are thrown off course by a storm created by the Crab and are washed up on an uninhabited island where the Parsee Man and his beloved Cooking Stove can no longer cook after the Crab constantly floods the crops they grow (Living On This Island).
The Elephant’s Child and the Kolokolo Bird ask the Parsee Man if they may stay and try one of his cakes.. As they chat, Rhinoceros bursts on stage complaining about his thick skin which appears painfully tight (Thick Skin). He then continues on his way.
Parsee Man and the cooking stove agree to cook a special cookie made out of the emergency rations as a gift. Along with the various Cake Ingredients (Butter, Sugar and Flour) Parsee Man shows the Elephant’s Child and the Kolokolo Bird how to limber up (The Parsee Cake Walk).
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