All the Discworld's a Stage

By Stephen Briggs and Terry Pratchett

Feet of Clay
Someone is killing Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. No one knows who, no one knows why and, worst of all, no one knows how– he just gets weaker and weaker. But it’s not just Vetinari – across the city, people are being murdered, but there’s no trace of anythingalive having been at the crime scene. Commander Vimes, Head of the City Watch, is a man who hates ‘clues’. He and his team must questioneveryone – the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. In a city teeming with vampires, werewolves, dwarfs with attitude and golems,Vimes must solve the crimes and save the Patrician.
The Rince Cycle
As a punishment, failed wizard Rincewind is given the task of guiding and safeguarding the Disc’s first tourist, Twoflower (with his magicalluggage on legs). As they travel the city and beyond, they meet the world’s oldest hero, Cohen the Barbarian. With him, and with Bethan(a qualified sacrificial victim), they encounter druids, trolls, adventurers, a hairdresser and a power-crazed wizard. Oh, and Death. But notfatally. Did we mention that Rincewind also has to save the world from destruction by a huge red star that will collide with the Discworld atHogswatch? The Rince Cycle is mostly based on The Light Fantastic, with bits of The Colour of Magic and Sourcery added for good measure.
Unseen Academicals
‘Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Ankh-Morpork, where we lay our scene…’
Football divides the city. Each area has its own team – and rivalry means supporters never mix. Until a Dimwell fan falls for a Dolly Sisters girl.And now an ancient bequest means the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic. Luckily they’re coached by themysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too). As the match approaches, four livesare entangled and changed forever. Because the thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.

• Language: English
• Publisher: OBERON BOOKS Ltd
• Release date: Feb 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781783196616

Stephen Briggs

Stephen Briggs lives in Oxfordshire and has been involved in the world of amateur dramatics for many years. Oxford Studio Theatre Club staged his adaptations of Wyrd Sisters, Mort, Guards! Guards!, and many others. As well as compiling The Discworld Companion, The New Discworld Companion, and, now, Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion . . . So Far, he has also co-authored the Discworld Diaries, the Mapps, and voices the UK and US Discworld audiobooks.

Reviews for All the Discworld's a Stage

[Ben KARLIN · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rather than being Sir Terry's work, this is adaptations for staging three stories as plays. Imagine taking Feet of Clay, The Rince Cycle, and Unseen Academicals, stripping them until all that's left is the major plot with only the worst puns for covering. Delightful.

I am relatively new to Discworld. If my goal was to produce any of the scripts two things would be needed: the understanding which could only come from reading the original from which it was pulled, and the license granting permission to stage it.

The scripts are streamlined with only the barest of stage directions. Briggs talks about decisions made to stage his shows at the Unicorn Theatre and the reasons behind them. The producers and directors of other productions are offered suggestions without hard-and-fast rules for their stagings. The suggestions include making the most of the theatre space available to you.

Of the three scripts only Unseen Academicals really requires British accents. Pratchett's character names are clever — sometimes downright funny — but don't always include indicators of gender. Without the books it is impossible to guess at characters' appearance and clothing but those devoted to Discworld are going to be highly critical of a production that tries and gets these wrong. It is going to be especially challenging for the director who doesn't have a clear mental image of the differences between humans, vampyres, trolls, gnomes, orcs and golem to pull off productions unscatched by criticism. This kind of information is absent here.