An outback musical by Bartlett-Leehy-O’Mara.
Duration: 60 minutes. 7 principals. Provisions for choruses of various bush birds and animals.
Written to suit performers from middle primary to early secondary.
Join Archie the English Badger and his Australian cousins on the worst-run station in the outback! Excellent for bushfire prevention & Australiana themes.
SYNOPSIS
DAVE the Kangaroo is the boss of Currawong Creek – the worst-run sheep station in the outback. Also on the station are NORMA the Emu (Union Boss), WALLY the well-meaning but confused Wombat and KOOKY the Kookaburra (the Station Cook).
One morning, SARGE KOALA, the Captain of the Volunteer Fire Brigade is carrying out a routine ‘bushfire- readiness’ inspection of the property. In the mail box he finds a letter that arrived long ago. It is from WALLY’s English cousin ARCHIBALD LAMMINGTON-SMITH BADGER. ARCHIE is arriving from England for a visit – that very day. Now, as it happens, some time back, WALLY’s uncle Reginald paid a slightly disastrous visit to the Station. He accidentally caused a fire in the paddock that killed SELENGI the Snake.
ARCHIE arrives and the gang get him settled in. Enter the ghost of SELENGI – ready to take her revenge.
ARCHIE is keen to do his share around the place while he is visiting. DAVE tries to think of easy jobs for him to do – jobs where he is not likely to cause any trouble.
While he is cleaning the tractor, SELENGI appears to ARCHIE and introduces herself as a farming expert. ARCHIE is relieved to have some expert help and follows SELENGI’s advice. She instructs him to soak the spark plugs in salty bore water (to clean them).
Following further advice from SELENGI, ARCHIE leaves the gates open for the sheep to ‘rotate themselves’, smothers KOOKY’s lamingtons in cold gravy and cuts up the fire hoses for neater ‘stacking’.
Needless to say, everyone is more than a little unhappy with ARCHIE. SELENGI appears again and advises him to make it up to them by organising a BBQ. Under her instruction ARCHIE unwittingly causes a huge fire in the woodshed.
Without hoses, all seems lost. Nobody knows what to do. So ARCHIE takes charge and organises a bucket brigade (‘like they used to do back home in the War’).
So, ARCHIE saves the day and goes from nuisance to hero, SELENGI has had her revenge and her ghost finally leaves the Station … and all have a country-style wing-ding.
Currawong Creek script excerpt
The Currawong Song sample
What Did They See in Australia sample
Selengi’s Song sample
Clean Up Australia sample
Storm on the Summer Horizon sample
Saturday Night Down Under sample
