Swansea City Opera & Dragon Arts

“From Cars to Mars”- Synopsis

Scene One

The tribe goes about their daily work. They dwell by a river and enjoy their lives, but what lies beyond? The decision is taken to build a raft and explore new lands. However, the chief cook, Claybasket, is reluctant to travel with the others because of her inability to swim, but when the rest threaten to leave without her, her reluctance evaporates

Scene Two

They travel down river and sing about their adventure (In The Beginning). Then a storm hits and the raft falls apart, leaving the tribe to swim for their lives. They wash up on a beach exhausted and injured. A Carter, Ricky Rickshaw, introduces the tribe to the concept of payment for transport (Chip & Pin Rap).

Scene Three

As they travel in Ricky’s cart they find strange metal lines and are greeted by the sight of a railway engine (Dafydd the Engine Driver). As it is an infinitely more comfortable and swifter form of transport, the tribe abandon Ricky’s cart and get aboard the train. But the engine, Cariad, misbehaves and refuses to budge; the passengers vent their anger (Mumble Grumble Boogie) and eventually decide to disembark and go for a drink in the “Time Travel Lodge” (Cars to Mars).

Scene Four

They meet all manner of odd folk inside the bar including Sahara and Bubbles, tarts from Mars, (Step inside our Time Machine) and some very unusual men!

Scene Five

The tribe is offered tempting excursions to Venus and Mars, but settle on a trip to the dawn of time to go on a dinosaur safari (Welcome all to the Jurassic) and all pass through a time machine cunningly disguised as a telephone kiosk. Things take a turn for the worse when the dinosaur keeper has her hand bitten off by a particularly voracious Veloceraptor (Don’t bite the Hand that feeds you).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene Six

Disappointed by their discoveries and methods of transport, the tribe re-enters the time machine intending to return to their forest home where life was simple and they were content. To their horror a giant motorway has been built through the village and the group are stranded in the central reservation. As they muse on whether their journey was really necessary (Is This the End), the traffic drifts into gridlock. Making the best of their new situation seems like the best option and they sing of their adventure (Severn Lane Calypso).

Images from the Cardiff Performance