The Time Machine – H.G. Wells

Description

The Time Machine – H.G. Wells is one of a series of ‘Quickie Classics’ – for those who wish to dip their feet without committing to total immersion! Other such ‘Quickie Classics’ include the works of Charles Dickens (including favourites such as Great Expectations, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities) Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stephenson and Persuasion, Jane Austen.

This play can either be used for performance (Class Play or Assembly) Cast of 26  or as a set of guided reading scripts/readers theatre within the classroom- 5 scenes – 6 speakers each (with the exception of Scene 4, just 2.

• • Scene I Scientist Home – Dinner Party minus host (awaiting arrival)
  • Scene 2 Meet the Eloi
  • Scene 3 Meet the Morlocks
  • Scene 4 Escape – to the end of the world
  • Scene 5 Scientists Home – Dinner Party plus host

Total Reading Time – around 30 minutes

Sample Text:

Scene 1

Scientist’s Home – Dinner Party minus host (awaiting arrival) Cast:

• • Narrator
  • Friend
  • Mayor
  • Medical Man
  • Psychologist
  • Journalist

Narrator:             Well, this is all very charming. But where is our host?

Friend:                  Oh, probably still a million years away!

Mayor:                 (Testily, looking at his watch) Well, I for one haven’t all the time in the world!

Medical Man:     That’s a shame!

Psychologist:      Did nobody warn you we might have rather a long wait?

Journalist:           Communication does not seem to be our host’s strong point!

Friend:                  Well, even he cannot be in two places at once!

Mayor:                 How very inconvenient!

Medical Man:     Well, as a human being, he does have certain limitations!

Psychologist:      Though these be physical rather than psychological limitations, I would suggest.

Journalist:           Same difference!

Psychologist:      Oh, not at all! The mind can take you places where your body could not possibly follow!

Journalist:           Now, that bit makes sense!

Narrator:             Yes, it’s a great gift to have an imagination.

Journalist:           A what? Oh, you mean just making things up as you go along? Yes, that too makes sense to me!

Mayor:                 (Uneasily) I trust your interviews are carried out in a less cavalier manner?

Journalist:           Oh, they are.

Friend:                  It’s just what follows that

Journalist:           Has a little fine-tuning!

Medical Man:     Just as well we don’t all operate like that!

Psychologist:      (Laughing) Particularly in your case!

Friend:                  (Laughing) No, we certainly wouldn’t want you taking ‘any short cuts’ on the operating table!