THE LITTLE MERMAID

EC1 VERSION
Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower,
and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable
could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not
reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There
dwell Neptune the Sea King and his subjects.

(Neptune & mermaid appear)

Neptune has been a widower for many years. He lived with his six little
daughters, the princesses. They were six beautiful children; but the youngest
was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf,
and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea.

Scene 1: The 15th birthday:

That was a day that the Little Mermaid has been waiting for: her 15th
birthday, a special occasion on which she could swim far from the
underwater castle, rise above the water and see the beauty of the above
world.

[Neptune]: My dear Siren, now that you are fifteen, you are allowed to
freely discover the world around you. But still, there are things you need
to remember. First, don’t rise above the surface unless it is extremely
necessary. Those human beings will try to catch you with those lethally
sharp hooks that will tear your throats apart. Remember, human beings
are dangerous. Secondly, remember what papa told you: you’re still young
so do not fall in love…

[Siren]….do not fall in love. (in chanson with Neptune) Dad. You know
what? I’m….fifteen! You know? I can handle it myself! And I’m not so
stupid that I can’t remember what you’ve been telling me like E-VERY-DAY.
I’d better get going. Bye dad!

[Neptune] Hey remember what I said! And enjoy yourself!

[Siren] See ya!

Scene 2: How Mermaid met the prince (Nhàn)

M: Wow, so this is firework! So wonderful!

{Footage of sea, ship, firework}

Curiosity led her to come nearer the ship and her heartbeat was in tune with
the joyful music.

Then Mermaid saw the prince, with his attractiveness standing out of the
crowd. She swam near the ship to take a closer look.

M: He is so handsome! Sea Pig, look at those black eyes! I think I can see
the night sky in it. {Mermaid stares at the prince with twinkling eyes}

Sea Pig: Talking about night sky, Siren, look up! A lightning! A storm is
coming!

M: You’re right! What will happen to the ship?

Sea Pig: We don’t know yet, but let’s find a place to hide first!

{sound of lightning and storm. Footage of storm on the sea. People on the
ship struggle then all lie down}

M: No! I must save him at all cost!

{Realizing how dangerous the situation the prince was in, Mermaid quickly
came to rescue him regardless of all the dangers around her.}
{Finally, Mermaid managed to carry the prince to the shore. Never has she
felt so exhausted. Under the sunlight, the prince looks gorgeous. Mermaid
stares unstoppably at the prince’s face…}

(music: You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, you’re beautiful it’s true

I saw your face in a not-so-crowded place
But I don’t know what to do, ‘cause I’ll never be with
you)
Scene 3: The Prince woke up, mistaken his true lifesaver for
another girl (Nhơn)
Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of young girls
came into the garden.

{Girls chatting}

Sea Pig: [whisper] Hey Siren, Siren, SIREN! Some people are coming. Hide
yourself, quickly!

{The little mermaid swam out farther from the shore and placed herself
between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then she covered her
head and neck with the foam of the sea so that her little face might not be
seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor prince. }

[princess (and her servants)]: What a beautiful day! The sunshine is warm
and the beach is covered with fine and white sand!...But…oh… who is lying
over there?

{The princess approached the spot where the poor prince lay… She slaps on
his faces several times to bring him round}

[princess]: “He’s breathing!”.

{The prince opened his eyes when the sun rays touched him. }
[prince]: Where am I? What happened to the… oh, the ship! ….You…you
saved my life…

[Mermaid] (whispered) : No, I saved your life, That was not her!

{His eyeslids flickered. He slightly smiled upon the girl who was standing
next to him. Unfortunately, he fainted again.}

[princess]: Hurry up! Let’s take him to the Church. Hope that he will relieve
soon and return to his home.

Scene 4: Little desperate Mermaid turned to Sea Witch for help (H

Anh)
{The witch sat on a rock on an island, doing some rituals.}
Witch(W)(whisper): I sense fortune in the air.
The mermaid came.
Mermaid(M): Hello. Are you the wise sea hermit that can do anything?
W (evil smile): You found me, your majesty. What can this old man do for
you?
M: Thank you, hmm…I want to become human. Because I felt in love
with… a prince.
W: Oh, a beautiful love. So, you are very eager to become human? Before
you do so, let me tell you a bit about them.
W (lower voice): When the universe was recreated after the War of
Ancients, there appears 3 different races that lives in the three region of
this realm: birdman on the Northern Mountains, human on the Great
Continent and merman in the Rising Sun Ocean.Of all those races, only
humans have the “eternal soul”…(interrupted)
M (curiously): Eternal soul? My grandma told me about that, but she didn’t
explain what its was.
W: Please be patient, your majesty. When a birdman dies, his soul
becomes the winds that sweep through Celestial Gate valley. When a
merman dies, his soul becomes the salt that salten all our oceans. But only
the soul of humans, who were once angels, do not turn into incorporeal
things after death. Instead, it rises to the Heaven, where it could meet the
Holy God and gain the eternal life in form of stars in the sky.
M: Oh, that sounds interesting.My grandma said that, too. But I how can I
become human?
W: Well, I had a wonderful potion made from angels’s feather, faerie dust
and dragon scales that can give merman the human legs. I’m sure that you
will ask why the leg is necessary for human, am I right?
M: Yes, please explain it.
W: Sure, my princess. Each races have a body part that help then to move.
Of birdman is the wing, of merman is the tail and of human is the leg.
While mermaids can sing charming songs, human can dance equally
charming. Moreover, do you think that the prince will love a strange girl
with a fish tail?
M: Hmm, I think so.
W (evil smile again): But it will cost quite a lot.
M (impatient): I really love my prince and I will pay all I have for that
potion, no matter the cost.
W: Such an innocent love. That potion is not so costly. All I need is your
magical voice in exchange for it. ( low voice) However, I have to warn you
about something. After you drink my potion, you will feel as if a sword is
being passed through your body and you will NEVER be able to return to
the sea. But you will get a beautiful pair of legs that can dancelike no
human has ever danced before. Because the side effect of the potion, you
will constantly feel as if you are walking on thousands of sharp knives in
each step. In addition, you will only obtain a soul if you finds true love's
kiss and if the prince loves you and marries you, for then a part of his soul
will flow into you. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries
another woman, you will die brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea
foam. Are you sure you want that potion?
M: Yes I want, I will do all I could to win the heart of my prince.
W: Good.
(the Witch gave Mermaid a dread-looking potion)
W: right after you drink this potion, you will have the prettiest feet among
all human kind, yet your voice will be long gone. Now take the potion and
remember to be careful, your majesty. Farewell. (whisper: I hope so, little
mermaid).
{Mermaid took the potion and leaf the site}
Scene 5: Say goodbye to her family, Little Mermaid drank the
potion and turned into a beautiful girl. The prince found her and
kept her by his side (Siren)
{Neptune is sleeping. Siren swims close to him}

[Siren]: Dad, I’m so sorry. (sobbing) We’re in water so I cannot cry but
when I am up there I will cry for you, just know that. (sobbing). Goodbye,
daddy.

{Mermaid swims away. She emerges from the water, sits on the beach take
out the potion}

Sea Pig: Are you sure you want to do this, Siren? You will sacrifice
everything for this one man you’ve just met!
Siren: Sea Pig… Life is meaningful only if you have someone to sacrifice
everything for. I think I’ve found that someone. The one to be with whom
for 10 minutes I would give my 10 years. The one for whose life I would
give up mine. The one I love more than anyone else in the world…

Sea Pig: Even more than me, your lifelong friend? Look at you, bad girl!
{sulky face, khọt khọt}

Siren: I’m sorry, Sea Pig. But I need to do this.

{Siren takes out the potion and drinks a drop of it… and passes out}

{Turn out the light. Slide: black. Mermaid transforms. Put the “censored”
board in front of her}

{Turn the light on again. Sound & image of shore}

{Prince walking with his servants}

Prince: (Asking his servant) Wait, isn’t it a girl lying there? Wait, is she,
NAKED????

{Prince runs to Mermaid, eyes wide open}

[Music: Beautiful girls all over the world, I could be chasing but my time
would be wasted
They got nothing on you baby
Nothing on you baby…]

Prince: Hey beautiful girl, wake up! Who are you and why are you here
totally… nude?

{Siren looks down on her body, scream secretly and slap the prince}

Prince: How dare you! Servants!!!!!!!!!!! Arrest her!

Servants: Yes sir!

{Servants look at each other and smile evilly, then take Mermaid to the
castle}

Scene 6: the prince’s feast

{The prince was throwing a feast. There are girls singing. Mermaid was a
server at the table}

Sea Pig: Siren, you could sing far more beautiful than those girls! So sad
that now you can’t sing…

Siren: (shrug her shoulders)

Sea Pig: How can you impress the prince then?

{Siren puts down the tray, winks at the Sea Pig, then starts to dance. People
around starts to compliment her}

Prince: Wow. You’re such a surprise! Suddenly you came from the sea with
no cl…., ehem, no notice in advance, then you are mute, and now you can
dance so beautifully. I don’t know, but, I start to find you interesting.
Would you like to be in my company?

{Siren looks down shyly}

Sea Pig: That means “absolutely”, your majesty.

The prince said she should remain with him always, and she received
permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. He had a page’s dress
made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback. They rode
together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs
touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She
climbed with the prince to the tops of high mountains; and although her
tender feet bled so that even her steps were marked, she only laughed, and
followed him till they could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock
of birds travelling to distant lands.
{The prince and Mermaid go here and there, pointing here and there}

Scene 7: The prince and Little Mermaid on the way to the

neighbor country (Tuệ)
As the days passed, she loved the prince more fondly, and he loved her as he
would love a little child, but it never came into his head to make her his wife.

“Do you not love me the best of them all?” the eyes of the little mermaid
seemed to say, when he held her hand.

Prince: “Yes, you are dear to me, for you have the best heart, and you are
the most devoted to me; you are like a young maiden whom I once saw. I
was in a ship that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy
temple, where that maiden saved my life. She is the only one in the world
whom I could love”

The prince doesn’t know, his words are killing the little Mermaid from the
inside, both figuratively and literally.

Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the beautiful
daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife.

{Slide: sea, a ship sailing}

Prince (to Mermaid): I must see this beautiful princess; my parents desire
it; but they will not oblige me to bring her home as my bride. I cannot love
her; she is not like the beautiful maiden in the temple. If I were forced to
choose a bride, I would rather choose you, with those expressive eyes.

{The prince looks vacantly to the far kingdom. Siren looks at Sea Pig secretly
and smiles}

Scene 8: The prince met the princess and proposed to her (Nhàn)
Scene 9: The wedding was ruined by Sea Pig. The prince realized
his true love (Hệnh)
There came the wedding. All the churchbells rang and heralds rode through
the streets and announced the wedding to the people. On all the altars costly
silver lamps burned with fragrant oil. The priests swung censers with burning
incense in them. Every citizens of the kingdom gathered in the marvellous
assembly hall to witness the remarkable event of a lifetime. There was joy in
the air, but all the little mermaid could feel is her heart breaking into pieces,
for this ceremony would bring her death. (ko qua mat con seapig).

[SP]: - It is sad then that the prince’s happiness is at the expense of my

master. How poor she is, my little mermaid. Why is a smart girl like her so
foolish in love? If love hurts that much, why can’t she fall out of that “love”
as easily as when she fell in it? Well, I can never understand this human
feeling…

{But the seapig lost its train of thought when suddenly the bells rang,
replacing the previously noisy hall with silence. Then the orchestra started
playing, and within a minute, the hall was filled with music. Then there
came the prince, so handsome in his ceremonial dress, his eyes sparkled
with joy and his smile lit up his charming face. }

[SP]: If only he knew that he is marrying the wrong person. It is so obvious

that my master is the one all along. This young man is so foolish, too. I
wonder why he came to be the prince of such a kingdom.

So great was the seapig’s love for its mermaid that it decided to so
something foolish itself.

[SP]: I have to embarrass the prince in front of everyone. This way, no one
can find any charm in him anymore. The girl he’s supposed to marry would
run away (ehe :3) and finally he can marry my master.
{And then the seapig butted the prince from the back. The poor prince fell
unconscious immediately. The seapig was so glad with what it had done that
it didn’t notice anything. It was not until it ran back to find its master that it
realized that the little mermaid had already left. And that was when the
seapig had a premonition of disaster, that its master would never come back
again.}

[SP]: Yes! Now all you have to do is to pull him back to your side. Siren,
Siren, SIREN? Where is she? OMG Has she done anything stupid???
{As for the prince, he was brought back minutes later. And it turned out the
powerful knockout was a blessing in disguise.}

[Prince] What happened? Why was I unconscious? What hit me?....

{Footage of “memory rewind”}

[Prince]: I’ve just remembered something. It was Siren who saved me! It
was her on that stormy night! But why didn’t she tell me?

Sea Pig: She tried, but you don’t understand her you stupid prince! To
come by your side she had to drink the witch’s potion, which was at the
expense of her beautiful voice. And when you’re here enjoying the
happiest moment in your life, she is preparing to be turned into sea foam…
(crying) Oh my poor little princess.

Prince: (mặt ngu 1 chặp){Sitting up, looking around} Where is she now? I
need to find her before it’s too late.

{The prince forgot all about his upcoming wedding. Everyone stood up in
surprise when they saw the prince running out of the hall. But the prince
saw nothing, not even the beautiful princess who was making her way to
him. The only thing he saw then was the figure of the mermaid’s pet
disappearing in the distance. }
[Princess]: (to prince) where are you going? (to her father <chắc vô lễ
đường có ba dắt vô chơ hén>) where is he going? What am I supposed to
do now? What about our wedding? *worried, nhìn theo bóng chàng*

Scene 10: The prince found Mermaid walking miserably on the

beach. Happy ending.
(Music: I am not the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a white
veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy who should be marrying the wrong girl
So don’t say yes run away now, I’ll meet you when you’re out of the
Church at the back door
Don’t wait or say a single vow, you need to hear me out and they said
speak now… (sad ver))

{The prince searched everywhere for Mermaid. He ran around crazily crying
Siren’s name. Then he ran to the beach where they “1st met” (sound of the
shore). There he saw Siren, sitting on the shore. }

Prince: Siren! (Siren looks up)

Prince [runs to Siren, tries to catch his breath]: You are asking why I am
here right now, right? I’m here because I don’t want to miss out on my
true love…

Prince: It was you, not anyone else but you who saved my life on that
stormy night. Why didn’t you tell me all along?

{Siren points to her throat “ư ư”}

Prince (laugh): But it doesn’t matter anymore. Now I’ve known everything
and, this maybe too sudden but, …

[Prince – on his knee] Will you marry me? {pull out a shell}
{Siren shakes, then nods, looks like crying. Siren takes the shell}

{Prince stands up and approaches her face. Sea Pig brings the “censored”
board to cover 2 faces}

Then they live happily ever after.

{the whole cast take a bow}

PROPS AND COSTUMES

- Ship
- Mermaid’s tail + dress
- Prince’s wedding suit
- Princess’s wedding gown
- “Censored” board
- Nylon bags
- Shells
- Some “food” for the feast
(snacks?)
- Tray to serve food
- Neptune 111
- Crown
- Neptune’s cape
- Flowers (bouquet)
- Witch: hat, makeup
- Potion
- Pig’s face
- Slides & footages