The Red Balloon. Anthony Clark

the story the balloon should ‘die’ very slowly. After losing lots of balloons, we discovered the best way to do this: after the ‘pack of children’ had all fired their catapults at the balloon, they would rush Pascal who was holding the balloon, triumphantly, and mask him while he cut a very small hole near the nozzle of the balloon with a small pair of nail scissors. They then broke away from Pascal as he released the balloon, and watched it deflate. The effect is moving, and capable of creating an extraordinarily tangible silence in the theatre.

      The Revolt of the Balloons, in the closing minutes of the musical, was done equally simply. Fishing lines were attached to various points on the set and stretched to hidden points in the auditorium. Balloons with weighted strings (large curtain rings did the trick) were then set down the lines and collected by the cast. The strings were pulled through the curtain rings by the cast and handed to Pascal. Where flying was available flying wires were attached to Pascal while he was surrounded by hundreds of floating balloons and he then took off, to spontaneous applause.

      The Company: This musical can be performed by as few as eleven actor-singers or as many as you like. I saw it produced in Holland in 1998 with fifty children and two adults, to great effect.

      Antony Clark, 1999

      A version of this script of The Red Balloon was first performed at the Contact Theatre, Manchester, in December 1989, with the following cast:

      Louise Yates, Amelia Bulmore, Jane Cox, Philip Rham,

      Claude Close, Kieran Cunningham, Andy Crooks,

      Rachel Spry, Chris Garner, Jane Lancaster and

      Philip Aldridge.

      The Royal National Theatre cast included:

      Nicky Adams, Malcolm Shields, Jane Howie,

      David Rubin, Rashan Stone, Lucy Dixon, Nigel Betts,

      Naomi Radcliffe, Daniel Crowder, Joanna John,

      Natascha Bain, Graeme Henderson, Katherine Oliver,

      Rachel Spry and Simeon Truby.

      Characters

      RED BALLOON

      PASCAL LAMPLIGHTER

      TRAMP

      MAMAN

      PAPA ALBERT

      a caretaker

      MLLE ELAINE

      a teacher

      HEADMASTER

      GIRL

      in the white dress

      BUS CONDUCTOR

      PICTURE SELLER

      CYCLE SELLER

      PHOTOGRAPHER

      BLUE BALLOON

      SCHOOL CHILDREN

      AND PEOPLE OF PARIS

      MUSIC / SONGS

       PART ONE:

      1. Prologue

      2. Every Morning the Same

      3. Hopscotch

      4. Every Schoolday the Same

      5. Every Evening the Same

      6. Every Evening the Same (reprise)

      7. The Argument

      8. Put Him Back

      9. Always the Same (reprise)

      10. Going Out

      11. Balloon Theme

      12. Waiting for the Bus

      13. Running to School

      14. Frères Jacques (trad.)

      15. Go Home

      16. Please Can We Share Your Umbrella

      17. Back Home

      18. At the Window

      19. Next Morning

      20. The Balloon Game

      21. Don’t Get Lost

      22. My Red Balloon

       PART TWO:

      23. Where’s the Red Balloon Gone?

      24. The Classroom

      25. Out of School

      26. The Games They Play

      27. We Want the Red Balloon

      28. Don’t Get Lost (reprise)

      29. The Market of Memories

      30. Clearing the Market

      31. We Saw You Talking to Him

      32. Red and Blue

      33. The Chase

      34. I Will Miss You

      35. The Revolt of the Balloons

      36. Encore