The Tale of Despereaux: Reader’s Theater Bundle!

Description

Despereaux Meets Princess Pea

(4 parts): Despereaux loves to listen to King Phillip playing his guitar and singing to his daughter, Princess Pea, every night. Despereaux breaks a basic “mouse rule” and reveals himself to the humans. When the princess sees the mouse, he comes even closer, and Pea picks him up. Despereaux realizes she looks exactly like the picture of the princess in the fairy tale he adores, and he falls instantly in love. Pea wants to keep the mouse, but her father refuses. Then Despereaux breaks an even greater “mouse rule”—speaking to the humans. He tells the princess not to cry and gives her his name before he runs off.

To the Dungeon! (10 parts)

Furlough scurries off to tell his father, Lester, who immediately calls a Mouse Council meeting. At the meeting, the Most Very Honored Mouse declares that something must be wrong with Despereaux, and that his behavior is a threat to all of the mice. The entire Mice Council, including Lester, votes to send Despereaux to the dungeon to be eaten by rats. First, however, Despereaux is called before the Council and given an opportunity to repent. Despereaux refuses to say that he is sorry for what he has done and continues to profess his love for the princess. The threadmaster mouse arrives with a spool of red thread and ties a piece around Despereaux’s neck; this mark of death seals Despereaux’s fate.

Light, light, everywhere (5 parts)

Roscuro wanders through the castle, he discovers a party in process and is enchanted by how happy and bright the revelers look, including King Phillip, Queen Rosemary, and Princess Pea. Roscuro decides to watch the party from a chandelier, but he slips and falls into the queen’s bowl of soup.

Soup is Queen Rosemary’s favorite food, and she eats it at every meal. When she sees the rat in her soup, the queen dies instantly of shock. Roscuro runs off but looks back at the Pea. Her expression full of repulsion and rage, the princess tells the rat to go back to the dark, “where you belong.” Her harsh treatment breaks Roscuro’s heart. Determined to have something beautiful, Roscuro picks up the queen’s discarded soup spoon, and with it he returns to the dungeon.

Into the Dungeon, this time by choice!

(6 parts)Despereaux re-enters the dungeon in order to save the Princess Pea. He takes a spool of red thread so that he can find his way back. The cook was making soup, even though it was outlawed throughout the land, and gives some to Despereaux. Despereaux ultimately finds his way to the hiding place where Roscuro had hid Miggery Sow and Princess Pea. Roscuro smells soup and falls to the ground begging Despereaux to kill him, because all he wanted was some soup and light. Princess Pea tells Roscuro if he led them out of the dungeon he could have some soup.