MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
SCRIPT
Stage directions are suggestions only.
Owners of a valid performance licence for Micromusicals | The Highwayman may photocopy this script.
SCENE 1
optional incidental music
(overture)
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Backdrop of a barren, purple moonlit moor.
Half of the cast stand to form a semi-circle from stage-left around the back of the stage to stage-right.
The rest of the ensemble lay silently centre-stage, ready to become TREES on the moor.
The NARRATORS are seated in front of stage-right. NARRATOR 1 stands.
NARRATOR 1 The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
NARRATOR 1 sits.
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SONG 1 | HOWLING, MOANING
(Page 14)
During the musical introduction, the children lying centre-stage rise slowly and begin to grow to become
TREES on the moor. THE HIGHWAYMAN enters stage left at the end of the first verse and moves furtively
around the stage as though looking for something. As the ensemble quietly whistle, THE HIGHWAYMAN
exits stage-left. The TREES then wither back in to the ground so that during the final 4 bars of whistling the
children are lying down.
ALL Howling, moaning,
the wind whistled through the trees,
and the highwayman came riding
with the moon like a ship on the seas.
Riding, still riding,
up to the old inn door he came,
and he tapped with his whip on the shutters
and he whistled a quiet refrain...
(Whistled tune)
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NARRATORS 2 & 3 stand.
MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
NARRATOR 2 He’d a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh!
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
NARRATOR 3
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
NARRATORS 2 & 3 sit.
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SONG 2 | BESS
(Page 18)
Children from centre-stage split. Some move back to join the semi-circle whilst others sit in a line at the front
facing the audience. BESS waits stage-right. THE HIGHWAYMAN enters stage-left and crosses to stageright, bowing deeply to BESS. He takes her hand and escorts her centre-stage where he bows again and then
crosses his arms to create an imposing figure. BESS rests her hands on THE HIGHWAYMAN’s left shoulder
and turns her head to face the audience. Three other couples repeat this.
ALL With his French cocked-hat
and his swagg’ring air
and a flash at his chin of fine lace so fair,
his claret coat and his fancy tie
made him twinkle under the jewelled sky.
THE HIGHWAYMAN ‘I’ll return to the old inn-yard,
though its shutters there
will be locked and barred.
Bess will wait ‘neath a ghostly moon
for the sound of my horse
and my whistled tune.
ALL With her piercing eyes and her long black hair,
the landlord’s daughter was waiting there.
She plaited a love-knot so dark and red
as she murmured the words
to her love she’d said:
BESS
‘Come back soon; I’ll be waiting here
for your tap on the window, your tuneful air.
I will open the gate for you.
You’ll be welcomed here by my love so true.’
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NARRATORs 4 & 1 stand.
MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
NARRATOR 4
And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened; his face was white and peaked;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,
But he loved the landlord’s daughter,
The landlord’s red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—
NARRATOR 1
‘One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize to-night,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Then look for me by moonlight,
Watch for me by moonlight,
I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way.’
NARRATORs 4 & 1 sit.
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SONG 3 | ONE KISS, MY BONNY SWEETHEART
(Page 22)
A chair is placed centre-stage, facing offstage. BESS and THE HIGHWAYMAN enter from opposite sides
of the stage. BESS sits whilst THE HIGHWAYMAN kneels in front of her. During the whistling between
verses they extend their arms to each other and then BESS plays with her hair while he tries to hide his
embarrassment. He then mimes smelling her perfumed hair before exiting stage-left on the line ‘galloped way
to the west’. BESS exits stage-right, and the chair is removed.
ALL
‘One kiss my bonny sweetheart,
I’m after a prize tonight,
but I shall be back with the yellow gold
before the morning light.
Yet if they press me sharply
and harry me through the day
then look for me by moonlight
though Hell should bar the way.’
(Whistled tune)
Upright in the stirrups
he scarce could reach her hand
but she loosed her hair in the casement;
his face burnt like a brand.
As the sweet black waves of perfume
came tumbling o’er his breast
then he kissed its waves in the moonlight
then galloped away to the west.
(Whistled tune)
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NARRATOR 2 stands.
MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
NARRATOR 2
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i’ the casement! His face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
(Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the West.
NARRATOR 2 sits.
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SONG 4 | LOOK FOR ME IN THE MOONLIGHT
(Page 26)
Children on the outside of the semi-circle morph into TREES leaning inwards towards stage-centre. (Enough
space should be left between each tree for movement.) BESS, searching for THE HIGHWAYMAN, enters
from stage-right. Each time the lines ‘look for me by moonlight…’ are sung, THE HIGHWAYMAN moves
from the rear of the stage around the semi-circle in and amongst the TREES; BESS does not see him on any
occasion.
ALL
The highwayman galloped away to the night.
He did not return with the morning light.
Bess waited so long, she waited in vain,
but over and over she heard his refrain:
‘Look for me in the moonlight,
watch for me in the moonlight,
I’ll come to you in the moonlight,
though hell should bar the way.’
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NARRATORS 2 & 3 stand.
NARRATOR 3
He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon;
And out o’ the tawny sunset, before the rise o’ the moon,
When the road was a gypsy’s ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A red-coat troop came marching—
Marching—marching—
King George’s men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
NARRATOR 4 They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed;
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!
There was death at every window;
And hell at one dark window;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.
NARRATORS 2 & 3 sit.
MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
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SONG 5 | REDCOATS
(Page 30)
The cast on stage marches in time to the music to form four lines of four REDCOATS. Their posture is straight
and tall, and each mimes carrying a musket. At the end of the song they stand to attention before returning to
their original positions.
ALL Redcoats came marching
up to the inn-keeper’s door;
they drank his ale then bound poor Bess
and left her there, trapped for sure.
Two of them knelt at the window
with muskets by their side
waiting for the highwayman
on the road where they knew he would ride.
‘Look for me in the moonlight,’
he’d said as he rode once more.
Beth knew for sure death lay in wait
if he returned to that door.
Redcoats came marching.
Redcoats came marching.
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NARRATORS 1 & 2 stand.
NARRATOR 1
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
“Now, keep good watch!” and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say—
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!
NARRATOR 2
She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
NARRATORS 1 & 2 sit.
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MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
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SONG 6 | BESS WAS BOUND
(Page 34)
A chair is placed centre stage facing the audience. An archway is created by two children upstage.
Two REDCOATS pull a struggling BESS onto the stage and place her in the chair. They stand either side of
her as guards while she struggles (but fails) to free herself from her bonds.
ALL Bess was bound.
See them jest.
Tied a rifle beside her,
pointing at her breast.
They kissed her in the darkness
and she heard her dead love say:
(Spoken) ‘Look for me by moonlight,
watch for me by moonlight,
I’ll come to you by moonlight,
though Hell should bar the way.’
Bess was trapped.
The knots held good.
She writhed her hands
until wet with blood.
She stretched and strained in darkness
till the trigger at last was hers.
(Spoken) ‘Look for me in the moonlight,
watch for me in the moonlight,
I’ll come to you by moonlight,
though Hell should bar the way.’
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NARRATORS 3, 4 & 1 stand.
NARRATOR 3
The tip of one finger touched it; she strove no more for the rest!
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight;
Blank and bare in the moonlight;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love’s refrain.
NARRATOR 4
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, riding!
The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still!
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MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
NARRATOR 1
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.
NARRATORS 3, 4 & 1 sit.
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SONG 7 | THE HIGHWAYMAN APPROACHES (part 1)
(Page 36)
The two REDCOATS guarding BESS turn her chair so that she has her back to the audience and is facing
the archway made by the two children upstage. During the song she struggles on her chair until the line ‘she
warned him with her death’ when she dramatically drops her head to the side to signify her demise.
ALL
They heard the sound of horse’s hooves;
the highwayman appeared.
She stood up at attention,
the barrel beneath her breast.
Her finger moved in the moonlight;
she warned him with her death.
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The two REDCOATS guarding BESS remove her corpse and chair off stage-right. The children creating the
archway remain in position. The rest of the cast resume their positions as for Song 1, with some standing in a
semi-circle, and others lying on the floor centre-stage.
NARRATOR 2 stands.
NARRATOR 2 Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Blood-red were his spurs i’ the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
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MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
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SONG 8 | THE HIGHWAYMAN APPROACHES (part 2)
(Page 39)
Four children kneel at the front of stage and face the archway as REDCOATS holding muskets. During the
song another four children enter, one-by-one, as THE HIGHWAYMAN (doubles) to be shot down by a soldier.
The last to enter should be THE HIGHWAYMAN.
ALL
Then back he spurred,
went back to the inn,
his rapier brandished high.
They shot him down on the highway.
He lay in his blood on the highway
with the bunch of lace at his throat.
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NARRATORS 3 & 4 stand.
NARRATOR 3
And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding—
Riding—riding—
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
NARRATOR 4
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard;
He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
NARRATORS 3 & 4 sit.
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MICROMUSICALS | The Highwayman
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SONG 9 | AND STILL OF A WINTER’S NIGHT
(Page 42)
This is almost a repeat of the drama for the first song. Children centre-stage, rise slowly from lying position
and begin to ‘grow’ into TREES on the moor, during the introduction to the song. The Highwayman
enters stage-left at the end of the first verse and moves around the stage as though looking for something.
He mimes tapping on the shutters and whistling a tune to the window. Bess comes to meet him, this time
wearing a white dress; the trees part to create a pathway in the centre of the stage. The Highwayman
and Bess take each other’s hands and walk through a gateway created back, centre-stage by two children
as in the previous songs. As they do so the trees fill centre stage again hiding them from view. The trees
then wither back in to the ground so that during the final whistling the children are lying down. On the last
chord of the piece all the children around the outside of the stage bow their heads.
ALL
And still of a winter’s night, they say,
when the wind is in the trees,
when the moon is a ghostly galleon
tossed upon cloudy seas,
when the road is a ribbon of moonlight
over the purple moor,
a highwayman comes riding
up to the old inn-door.
Over the cobbles he clatters still
and he sees the dark inn-yard;
and he taps with his whip on the shutters,
but all is locked and barred;
Still he whistles a tune to the window;
who should be waiting there
but the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
love-knot in her hair.
‘Look for me in the moonlight,
watch for me in the moonlight,
I’ll come to you in the moonlight,
though hell should bar the way.
Look for me in the moonlight,
watch for me in the moonlight,
I’ll come to you in the moonlight,
though hell should bar the way.’
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THE END