Mrs. Taylor - Opera Dialogue

Opera - E3 (Mrs. Taylor’s Grade 5 class)
Setting: Ancient Egypt
Year: 2435 B.C.
Characters:
Howard Carter Jr. - Grade 5 student
Vanessa - Grade 5 student
Valerie - Grade 5 student
Peter - Grade 5 student
James - Grade 5 student
King Tutankhamen
Queen Hatshepsut
Egyptian Villagers
Pyramid Builders
A Scribe
A Marsh man
A Sailor
A Bird netter
Grave Robbers
Mrs. Taylor - Grade 5 teacher
Grade 5 students
Act 1
Scene 1:
This scene takes place outside a pyramid, next to the Nile River

Music #1 (Teacher sings)
Please class, we’re almost there
I think that I’ll pull out my hair!
We’ll look at dino bones
And the famous Rosetta Stone.
Squiggles and symbols are a mystery to us
Oh my goodness, let’s get off the bus!
Round the corner, past the bats
Mummies, coffins, scrolls and cats.
In the museum,
hope we see ’um!
Student 1: I love the ROM! I’m so excited I think that I’ll scream!
Student 2: Finally, we’re off the bus! (exasperated)
Student 3: I can see gold statues and dead people.
Student 4: Well, I can see something even better, the Rosetta Stone!
Howard Carter Jr.: Come on guys, let’s go read the hieroglyphics. (excited)
James: I think it says, “Only the Great must pass, but can you live to last?”
Peter: I don’t think that’s right. (worried)
Vanessa and Valerie: Uh oh, What’s happening? Maybe it’s something bad…Ahhhhhhhh (speaking and then screaming in unison)
Howard Carter, James, Peter, Vanessa and Valerie disappear into a cloud of smoke and reappear in Ancient Egypt, the year 2435 B.C.
Music #2 (sung by Howard Carter Jr., Peter, James, Vanessa and Valerie)
Oh my goodness, where are we going?
There is no way of knowing.
What year is it?
Maybe the time of hieroglyphics.
Oh my goodness, what a flood!
Run, Run, Mounds of mud!
Into the pyramid, we must hide.
Chambers, tunnels deep inside.
I see something up ahead.
Is it spirits of the dead?
Pyramid Builder 1: Run for your lives!
Pyramid Builder 2: We’re all going to die!
Pyramid Builder 3: The flood waters are rising fast and getting really close to us! (afraid and worried)
Pyramid Builder 4: Wait for me!!
Pyramid Builder 5: If you don’t hurry up, we’re going to leave you behind.
Pyramid Builder 4: You know, that might not be half bad. I can’t believe how hot it gets in the desert.
Pyramid Builder 5: Whatever! Let’s get out of here. Head for the pyramid, we’ll be safe in there.
Pyramid Builder 1: I want my mummy!!
Howard Carter Jr., Peter, James, Vanessa and Valerie reappear next to the pyramid builders, in time to see a wave of water heading for them. They run with the builders into the pyramid.
Act 2
The children stop, just inside the entrance to the pyramid. They are greeted by King Tut and Queen Hatshepsut.
Howard Carter Jr: I’ve seen those people before. In books, back in our classroom. (whispers)
James: Yeah! Me Too!
Vanessa and Valerie: They are King Tut and Queen Hatshepsut! Jinx!. They‘ve been dead for thousands of years. Maybe it‘s their spirits. (loudly in unison)
Peter: Hey! Didn’t we see them at the ROM?
Queen Hatshepsut: SILENCE!! (loudly, with authority)
King Tut: STEP FORWARD, IMMEDIATELY!! (loudly, with authority)
Queen Hatshepsut: Do as he says. He is the King of Egypt. (with a jealous attitude)
King Tut: I’ve cursed generation after generation of your family! Did I ever come to your home and steal your family jewels and treasures? NO! But your great, great grandfather, Howard Carter stole mine!
Music #3
You took my jewels
You rotten fools
Bring back my treasure
Or you’ll stay forever
Find the secret maps
Before you’re trapped
Bring back my sacred charms
And you will not be harmed
If you want to return in time
Back to the year, 2009.
Queen Hatshepsut: You must find the 6 amulets, if your are to return to the year 2009 and for us to reach the afterlife.
Peter: Will it be difficult?
Vanessa and Valerie: Our adventure won’t be hard but we’ll make yours difficult. (in unison and with a snotty attitude)
Queen Hatshepsut: This will lead you to the rest of the amulets. (hands them a piece of the map)
Music #4
A long time ago
We really didn’t know
About this horrible curse
Can things get even worse?
If Carter did the crime
Must we do the time?
What are we supposed to do?
Off we go to follow through
We must return the charms and gold
If we’re to get home ‘fore we’re old.

Vanessa and Valerie: (they look at the map and the amulet) We WON’T go through dirty, dark tunnels. Like, that is so 2000 BC. (with attitude)
Queen Hatshepsut: Go now on this quest! (loud, impatiently)
Vanessa and Valerie: But there are insects and who knows what else is in there.
Queen Hatshepsut: WE DON’T CARE!!!!! STOP YOUR WINING !!!(really angry)
James: Do as she says or she just might CURSE US ALL!! (nervously)
Peter: I think that I stepped on a spider!
Vanessa and Valerie: Us too, EWWWWW!!
Peter: We’re here! (excited, but nervous)
James: I see a big tunnel with a door at the end.
Peter: Open it! (loud and excited) This must have been King Tut’s tomb.
Vanessa: Whoa!!!!!
Valerie: Like, totally whoa!!!!!
Peter: Hey!! There’s the amulet and there is a map with it. (excited and relieved)
All of the Kids: Next stop, The Valley of the Kings!!!
Vanessa and Valerie: Now we can really be “Valley Girls”!!
Students have travelled to the Valley of the Kings
Howard Carter Jr.: Wow! These cliffs are so hard to climb! (exhausted)
James: Hey! Look in there. I see a body wrapped in old linens. (anxiously)
Peter: Look, there is one amulet beside the mummy. I guess the grave robbers missed that one.
Vanessa and Valerie: Good thing for us! (in unison)
Howard Carter Jr.: This map piece tells us our next destination, The Temple of Dendera.
Students travel from the Valley of the Kings to the Temple of Dendera
The Scribe: Who dares to enter the Temple? I am the King’s scribe and I record the King’s days events.
James: Wow!! A real live scribe. (surprised)
Vanessa and Valerie: Why is there only boy scribes? (curious)
The Scribe: Girls are always working in the house, learning from their mother.
Vanessa and Valerie: That’s unfair! In Canada, we have a Constitution that allows girls to have the same rights as boys. Hooray for Equality Rights!! (snotty and disgusted)
Howard Carter Jr.: Did you see that statue? That’s the Goddess of Hothur. She is the Goddess of Beauty.
Peter: That amulet hanging around her neck makes her really beautiful. Let’s grab it and get going!! (anxious to get out of there)
Vanessa and Valerie: Give us the map. Follow us guys, the map is guiding us to the Nile River, the longest river in the world.
Students travel to the Nile where they are met by a marsh man cutting the reeds from the banks of the river.

James: Why are you standing by the Nile River?
The Marsh Man: I am cutting the reeds to make boats, ropes, mats and paper.
Peter: Can we use your boat to sail down the Nile?
The Marsh Man: Yes, you may. My friend, the sailor will guide you.
Peter: Thank you, we will be eternally grateful.
Sailor: Be careful boys and girls. The crocodiles and hippo’s can be very dangerous. They would enjoy snacking on you fine children.
Vanessa and Valerie: Hey, what’s that attached to the oar?
James: Isn’t that another piece of the map and an amulet?
Peter: Yeah! Let’s get it before the crocodiles do. (excited)
Howard Carter Jr. sees a crocodile and almost falls into the river trying to get the amulet. At the last second, James grabs him. After seeing that Howard and the amulet are safe, the kids cheer! (loud)
Vanessa and Valerie: Pull over there! The clue tells us to see the bird netter. There he is!
Howard Carter Jr.: What do you do with that net, fine sir?
Bird netter: I catch birds with my net. I take them to the village market where I can barter for other things I need. That is the way of Egyptian life.
James: I see that you have an amulet and map attached to your net. Could we please have it?
Before the bird netter can answer, a bird swoops down and grabs the amulet. The students chase the bird and finally retrieve the amulet when the bird crashes into a tree and drops the amulet. The students give the bird to the bird netter as a way of saying thank you.
Bird Netter: Thanks for the bird!! I bestow my best wishes on you. Good luck on your quest! (grateful)
Act 3
Music # 5 - (sung by grave robbers)
Let’s open up the coffin
Let’s see what’s inside
We’ll find good treasures
And precious golden eyes
We take our big bags
And fill them with things
We leave Tut’s tomb
With diamonds and rings
There’s somebody coming
We don’t know who
We turn ‘round to look
But we don’t have a clue!
Peter: Who are those men running up the street with those gold statues?
James: They are the grave robbers that steal from the tombs of the pharaohs. They helped get us into this mess in the first place.
Howard Carter Jr.: I think that they have the amulet that we need.
Vanessa and Valerie: Let’s go, Get them! (loud)
Peter: Wait, I’ve hurt my foot. I must have stepped on something sharp. (whimpering)
James: I think you stepped on the amulet. The grave robbers must have dropped it.
Vanessa and Valerie: Our luck is beginning to change already!! (excitedly)
The students walk into the pyramid where the spirits await them.
Howard Carter Jr.: Now, if we could just put the puzzle pieces together to reveal our final message. (anxiously)
King Tut and Queen Hatshepsut: Thank you boys and girls for helping us. We have waited for this moment for thousands of years.
Music #6 (King Tut and Queen Hatshepsut)
Thank you for the sacred charms
It will keep you out of harm
Howard Carter’s curse is lifted
For this you have been gifted
Now return back to the ROM
Where Mrs. Taylor has waited long
Tell the history of the past
Then this journey will end at last.

As the students put the final puzzle piece into place, a message appears.
All students read the message in unison: Now leave the amulets here alone and go back to the time of your own.
The students reappear at the Rom to find a frantic Mrs. Taylor.
Howard Carter Jr.: Do you feel that?
Vanessa and Valerie: What, Howard? (snotty, impatiently)
Howard Carter Jr.: I feel a huge sense of relief. I think the Carter Curse has been lifted. We did it guys, we really did it!!! (excited)
Mrs. Taylor: Where have you been? I have been worried sick about you!! (mad, but relieved they have returned). What are you talking about? What did you do?
The children reread, like they have been told so many times before, the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone, but this time correctly. In unison, they chant, “We are finally back at last, so we can tell the story of the past.”
All the students begin to tell of the adventures, all calling out at once.
Mrs. Taylor: Please children, one at a time!! (pulling her hair out)
The rest of the students stand with their mouths hanging open, in disbelief.
Student 1: Oh my gosh!
Student 2: Woah, so cool dude!
Student 3: I’m so jealous, I wish I had gone!
Student 4: I’m glad that your family is now free of that horrible curse, Howard.
Howard Carter Jr.: Thanks!! You know what? I think that when I grow up I will study to become a famous Egyptologist and tell the world about the unexplained mysteries of Ancient Egypt.
All Students in Unison: And he did!!
Mrs. Taylor: This has been quite a day, boys and girls. Let’s get back on the bus and go home.
As the students leave the stage, they whine and complain that they want to stay longer and learn more about Ancient Egypt. Mrs. Taylor continues to pull her hair out!

The End !!!!