cricket on the hearth

Based on: The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens

Genre/Theme: A Musical re-imagining of Dickens' classic story exploring finding yourself and

returning home.

Logline: When a mysterious stranger arrives in Saint Ives, the town’s status quo threatens to change, but will it be for better or for worse?

Summary:

It’s been five years since Edward Plummer was lost at sea. May Fielding has long since lost hope of her fiancée’s return and Tackleton has taken over Caleb Plummer’s Toy factory, leaving Caleb and blind daughter, Bertha, living in poverty. Mary has grown to enjoy her new life after an arranged marriage to John Perrybingle, but John still wonders if she is happy with him. His fears only grow when Mary lets a strange man board at their house.

Tackleton announces his engagement to May, much to the surprise of the town and to the dismay of Bertha, who has fallen in love with Tackleton from her father’s stories. Mary can’t understand May’s plan to marry Tackleton, despite her own arranged marriage. The fact that May admits to not loving Tackleton only adds to the confusion, but May is unable to stand up to her mother’s plans for her future. Bertha professes her love for Tackleton, but is only left heartbroken. Meanwhile John’s fears are confirmed when he sees Mary embracing the strange man, driving him to leave her.

The stranger is revealed to be Edward, but he is thrown in prison by Tackleton when he attempts to reveal himself to May. In prison he learns that Tackleton was behind everything, but he owns so much of this town that everyone is too scared to stand against him. Edward convinces the jailor to let him break up the wedding, where he and May are reunited once more and married instead. Realizing his mistake, John tries to apologize to Mary, but before he gets a chance she tells him how much she loves him, leading to a happy ending for everyone in St. Ives. 

 Created in collaboration with Gonzalo Zubillagaat Kairos Music Composition Studio. (https://www.gonzalozubillaga.com/) 

Both movie script and theatrical script available.

 Interested parties should contact us at info@danitaprod.com