The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Welcome to our 2003 Children's Theatre Week play by Robert Ketton in celebration of Robert Browning's classic 1849 poem, The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

This is no mere pretty tale. The Pied Piper and the rats bring many a sharp moral question to gnaw at us. We all know the classic tale, of the good folk of Hamelin besieged by a plague of rats and the Piper who appears suddenly, dressed half in yellow and half in red, offering a swift cure for reasonable payment. The townsfolk eagerly engage his services. What have they to lose? But when the rats have been drowned and the Piper presents his bill, they say that the agreed amount is now outrageous and refuse to pay. As the Mayor says, "What's dead can't come to life,
I think." The Piper's coat changes colour and his magic tune too as he takes his retribution by spiriting away the town's children - all except one lame child.

You may wish to read the entire Robert Browning poem - The Pied Piper of Hamelin in order to prepare for the theatre performance.

	1 Preparing Your Students for Live Theatre
	2 About the Authors
	3 Synopsis
	4 History of the Tale
	5 The Characters
	6 The Design
	7 Themes and Issues
	8 Who is the Pied Piper?
	9 The Moral
	10 Further Study and Interest

Please be aware that these notes provide information about our version of the tale, and not necessarily the poem itself (although it does appear throughout the play in various forms). The production you will see has been written by USQ Senior Theatre in Lecturer, Robert Ketton especially for young children. These Teacher's Notes were devised and documented by students from the Children's and Young People's Theatre (S1, 2003) course offered as part of USQ's Bachelor of Theatre Arts (Drama and Theatre Studies) major. The authors are: Ros Billingsly, Belinda Walton, Charlie Facoory, Sara James, Mark Morgan, Meekah Parsons, Alan Cooper, Josh Coleman and Casey Kiem. We would be grateful of any feedback regarding these notes - please send to: Dr Janet McDonald.