3b. Beauty’s Cottage MET2’s Beauty and the Beast (An Original Musical Adaptation) (Ft. A-Lex, Beauty, Captain Sobotka, ​ellie, Father, OLGA, Peter, Sailors, Sasha & Tanya)

(As BEAUTY sings the last lines of THE LULLABYE, she turns and looks upstage. There, behind the scrim, the lights have come up on the INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE. BEAUTY and FATHER rise and cross upstage, joining the rest of the family, who are waking up and moving about the house. There is a long, plain table with a few simple chairs/benches. Some crude mugs and bowls are on the table, possibly a fireplace. BEAUTY’s family consists of OLGA and TANYA, both teenagers, SASHA and PETER, about 12 and 10 respectively, and the little ones, ALEX, 7, and ELLIE, 5.)

ALEX: (spoken)
Good morning, Papa!

FATHER:
Good morning, and who are you? Are you my son Alex? I can’t see you for all the dirt on your face little boy!

BEAUTY:
Ellie, come here darling and let me comb your hair.

OLGA:
(OLGA and TANYA are used to the life they once led and are not accustomed to doing housework. BOTH carry baskets with clothing in them.) Oh, the wash! I hate doing the wash. Just look at my hands, all red and sore.

TANYA:
In the old days, we never would have done the wash ourselves!

OLGA:
How I wish that just once I could sleep late in the morning and have my maid bring me breakfast in bed.

SASHA:
(draping a rag over his arm) Here you are m’ladies, your breakfast in bed. Now do the wash!

(The other children laugh.)

TANYA:
You think it’s funny? How are we ever to find wealthy husbands when we are forced to live in this shack and act as servants?