ACT 2

SMILE, THE YELLOW SUN

(The Great Entry Hall. The lights come up slowly on LITTLE JACK by himself, kneeling on the floor, surrounded by his Action Figures: Dick, Jane, Spot, and the Smiling Yellow Sun. Around him the house shows the signs of a fight: books are thrown on the floor and the chandelier has crashed into a million pieces. As JACK sings, with the aid of projections his Action Figures seem to assume terrifying size, becoming grotesque phantasms and pursue him this was and that around the Hall.)

LITTLE JACK

See Spot run
Smile the yellow sun
It's a game I play every Saturday
Jane's got style
And Dick a winning smile
It's a game I play when the big kids go away
Where did they go?
Leaving me alone....

(Now a light comes on in an upstairs room and we see TEACHER TESS chained and shackled to a chair in a small closet.)

LITTLE JACK TEACHER TESS

One What have I done?
By one It's all gone wrong
They all popped off to have their fun Those kids should not have come here.
Queer, It's my worst fear
Oh dear Bubsy in here!
The bad men are quite near Who's that I hear?
I mustn't fear... He musn't fear.....


(BUBSY BEALS now storms angrily into the closet where TESS is imprisoned her and jabs her in the eye with his cane, cackling malevolently. TESS cries and slumps back in her chair.)

BUBSY BEALS

See how YOU like being imprisoned there, Tessie! How do YOU think it feels eh? Well....if you think I almost destroyed yer precious kingdom before, just WAIT and see what I'm gonna do this time!!! Heh heh heh.

LITTLE JACK

Hear Tess cry
He pokes her in the eye
Now he slams the door
But he'll be back for more

(Now we see that CRAFTY FOXX has started slinking around the House. CRAFTY is carrying a great big oversized pair of scissors and "snicker-snacking" them menacingly as he tiptoes around. He clearly realizes that Little Jack is loose somewhere but he can't find him, as JACK keeps ducking behind armchairs tables and sofas just in the nick of time.)

Jane crawls by
Nod and whisper "hi"
The house's scent has changed
And the chairs all rearranged
But what should I do?
I haven't got a clue....

LITTLE JACK CRAFTY FOXX

Jane, I heard a noise!
oh Jane A rattle of toys
I may experience some pain Left by those snotty girls and boys.
Jane, I hear a tramp
oh Jane A sneaky scamp
Don't let me go insane I'll find his camp
I'll find a way I'll find a way

LITTLE JACK

I'm so cold
I feel I'm two years old
Hidden in the house I'll stay quiet as a mouse
His blade goes snicker-snack
He's looking for Little Jack
But I can get quite small
Til I'm hardly there at all
I'm hardly there at all
I'm hardly there at all....

(Now the cat and mouse game continues for a while until eventually LITTLE JACK curls up underneath a large armchair and CRAFTY FOXX fumes, unable to find the young rascal.)

BUBSY BEALS
(Offstage)

Hey Crafty! What's taking you? Hurry up and let's finish trashing the witch's house!

(So CRAFTY gives up the search and skips off cursing under his breath. Then the house blacks out while the music continues, and we come back up on the Study, a nice oak-panelled room that CRAFTY FOXX is in the midst of destroying.)