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Welcome to this introduction to Marsha: A Girl Who Does Bad Things, a new

piece of theatre with music. The librettist is Alan Harris and the composer is Harry

Blake. The director is Martin Constantine.

The audio-described performance at the Arcola Theatre will be on aturday !"th

 Au#ust at $.%% pm with a touch tour at &.'% pm. This introduction will be repeated

li(e in the auditorium at ).*". The production runs for appro+imately "% minutes with

no inter(al. The li(e audio description will be #i(en by o Chalmers.

ur introduction to Marsha/s world be#ins before we enter the auditorium. 0shers

hand out cardboard masks, askin# us to wear them durin# the performance. They

ha(e a child/s coloured drawin# of Marsha/s face with two cut outs for eyes, frin#ed

with lon# drawn-on eyelashes. Wa(y bri#ht oran#e hair frames a round face with a

wide red mouth open in a happy smile, showin# e(en white teeth. Her nose is

simply a cur(ed line with oran#e freckles dotted on either side.

The Arcola/s tudio 1 is an intimate auditorium with seatin# for up to !%% people.

2or this production three le(els of benches and chairs surround the floor le(el

playin# area on three sides. n some of the chairs are bundles and ba#s of sweets

 3 4ion bars, sherbet dips, Maltesers - or 5ars of honey and drinkin# chocolate, ba#s

of brown and caster su#ar.

The bare brick walls of the studio ha(e been co(ered with o(er '%% hundred A*

sied sheets of paper. 6ach bears a child/s drawin# 3 a little #irl with oran#e hair

and bi# round eyes with a dot for a pupil, frin#ed with lon# lashes. Her arms are

outspread and she beams at us. he wears a knee len#th yellow dress belted at the

waist, white socks and black plimsolls. 6ach picture is indi(idually drawn so there

are tiny differences, such as the sie of the #irl, the width of her smile or the intensity

of colour.

The only e+ception to this wallpaper is a small area on the ri#ht hand side of the rear 

wall of the playin# area, where ei#ht sheets of paper are left blank. This is used as a

screen where pencil drawin#s are pro5ected to illustrate the story.

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 As we enter the auditorium Marsha is en#a#ed in colourin# one of the drawin#s on

the left. he has her back to us, her nose inches from the wall. 4ike the drawin#s,

she has wa(y auburn hair. he/s wearin# a yellow dress and black plimsolls and has

added a cornflower blue cardi#an. ne of her white socks is rolled down to her

ankle, the other pulled up to mid-calf. When Marsha turns to speak to us she has a

bri#ht perky smile and her wide eyes ha(e lon# eyelashes drawn abo(e them. he

pulls on a red backpack and a red and white checked sunhat and prepares to tell her 

story. Marsha is played by Tilly 7aunt

 Accompanied by sound effects and the pro5ections on the wall, Marsha walks

throu#h her (illa#e introducin# us to people. As she does, they rise from the

audience. They are all dressed identically to Marsha, in yellow dresses and blue

cardi#ans but they wear different masks to identify themsel(es. The first we meet is

Mrs Hoare, who keeps the sweetshop. Her mask shows #rey hair parted in the

middle and cut into a strai#ht bob. mall round #lasses are perched on the end of

her nose. As they speak, pencil drawin#s of Mrs Hoare appear onscreen standin#

behind her counter surrounded by 5ars of sweets. Mrs Hoare is sun# by meo-

soprano 8ictoria 7ray.

Marsha mo(es on (isit Mr MadDonald in his farm. The screen shows drawin#s of

fat little cartoon cows, chickens and pi#s as well as more e+otic creatures such as

#iraffes, bears, lions, ti#ers and hippos, and most e+otic of all, a unicorn. Mr

Mad9onald/s mask depicts him as a #rumpy old man with a spiky #rey beard and a

wrinkled brow. He wears s:uare-framed #lasses and on his head is a broad-

brimmed brown straw hat. As Marsha and Mad9onald con(erse, a real unicorn

appears, walkin# on two le#s and carryin# a red plastic chair. ;t comes to sit silently

at Marsha/s side. The unicorn is dressed in white trousers and a close fittin# white

ip-up 5acket. ;ts horse/s head is finely shaped with a pink mule and its mane is

white and fluffy. A small white horn protrudes from its brow. Mr Mad9onald is played

by soprano

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pushin# a pram, and inside, a baby with a little tuft of hair and bi# sad eyes, suckin#

a dummy. usan is played by meo soprano =erri-4ynne 9iet.

 At times durin# the performance the li#hts are suddenly e+tin#uished and only (oices

are heard in the total blackness. At one point we hear usan/s boyfriend Johnny, 

who stutters.