Mary Beth Panneton

PART 2, FLAT STANLEY: THE PLAY

Scene 5

 

Narrator 1:  One day Stanley got a letter in the mail.

 

Stanley:  I got a letter from Thomas in California.  He’s inviting me to visit!  Can I please go?

 

Mr. Lambchop:  A plane ticket is very expensive.  I will need to think of a cheaper way.

 

Mrs. Lambchop:  Maybe you can get into this envelope.  We can mail you to California!

 

Stanley:  Yes, it fits!  There’s even room left!

 

Arthur:  We have to put lots of stamps on the envelope.  

 

Mrs. Lambchop:  Here’s some food to take with you, it is a tiny sandwich and a bit of milk.

 

Mr. Lambchop:  Now we are going to put you in the mailbox.

 

Mrs. Lambchop:  Are you all right?

 

Stanley:  I’m fine!  Can I eat my sandwich now?  

 

Mrs. Lambchop:  Wait about an hour.

 

Stanley:  Good bye!

 

Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop and Arthur:  Goodbye!

 

Narrator 2:  So Stanley went to California in an envelope.  He had a lot of fun visiting his friend 

 

Thomas.  When his visit was over, his friends’ parents mailed him back in a beautiful envelope 

 

they made themselves.

 

Stanley:  I’m back!  It’s fun to travel in an envelope!

 

Arthur:  I wish I could go to California in an envelope!

 

Scene 6

Narrator 1:  Mr. Lambchop always liked to take Stanley and Arthur out for walks on Sunday 

afternoons.  But he worried that they would get lost.  It was easier after Stanley got flat.  Mr. Lambchop could just roll up Stanley and carry him!

 

Narrator 2:  Stanley didn’t mind being carried.  He had never really liked to walk.  Arthur didn’t like to walk either.  But he had to.  It made him mad!  One day they met one of Mr. Lambchop’s friends.

Mr. Jones:  Well, George, I see you have bought some new wallpaper.

Mr. Lambchop:  Wallpaper?  Oh no, this is my son Stanley.

Stanley:  How do you do?

Mr. Jones:  Nice to meet you, young fellow.  George, that boy is flat!

Mr. Lambchop:  He’s smart, too.  Stanley is third in his class!

Arthur:  Phooey!

Mr. Lambchop:  This is my younger son Arthur.  He will apologize for his rudeness!

Arthur:  I’m sorry.

Scene 7

Narrator 3:  Arthur was sad and angry because Stanley was flat and he wasn’t.  Arthur wanted to be flat too.  So one day he tried to make himself flat.

Arthur:  I know how to get flat!  I’ll lie on the floor and put books on top of me!

Mrs. Lambchop:  Arthur!  What are you doing with all of those heavy books?

Arthur:  Don’t just stand there!  Help me!  Put on some more books!

Mr. Lambchop:  Arthur, put those books back in the bookcase!

Arthur:  Awww!  I want to be flat like Stanley!

Narrator 3:  Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop decided to talk to Stanley.

Mrs. Lambchop:  Arthur can’t help being jealous.  Be nice to him, Stanley!

Mr. Lambchop:  You’re his big brother, after all!

Arthur:  Someday, I will have a big kite, and I will win a kite-flying contest.  I’ll be famous!  Nobody knows who I am these days!

Stanley:  I have an idea!  You can fly ME, Arthur!  I’m flat like a kite!

Arthur:  Good idea!

Scene 8

Narrator 3:  So one windy day Arthur and Stanley went to the park.  Arthur tied a long string around Stanley.  Then Stanley ran along the grass.  Suddenly he was up in the air!

Stanley:  Look at me!  I’m a kite!

Arthur:  You’re really flying!  Do you want to go higher?

Stanley:  Yes!  Let all the string out!  I want to go as high as I can!

Arthur:  Everyone is watching you fly!

Stanley:  WHHEEEE!

Narrator 4:  But after a while people got tired of watching, and Arthur got tired of flying Stanley.  So Arthur tied the end of the string to a tree.

Stanley:  Hey!  Where are you going?

Arthur:  I’m going to get a hot dog!  I’ll be right back!

Stanley:  Okay, I’ll just fly by myself for a while.

Narrator 3:  But Arthur was gone for a long time.

Stanley:  Where is he?  I want to come down now.

Narrator 4:  The wind blew and blew and the string started to wind around the tree.

Stanley:  The string is getting shorter!  I’m coming down!

Narrator 3:  Soon the string was so short that it pulled Stanley all the way down to the tree.

Stanley:  Oh no!  I’m stuck in the tree!  I can’t get down by myself!  Where is Arthur?

Arthur:  I’m back!  What happened to you?  Why are you hanging in the tree like that?

Stanley:  What took you so long?  I’m stuck!  Why did you leave me?  I’m really mad!

Arthur:  Sorry, I was having fun and forgot about you.

Narrator 4:  Stanley was so angry that he wouldn’t talk to Arthur for two whole days.

 

Scene 9

Narrator 1:  The Lambchops had a neighbor named Mr. O. J. Dart.  He was the director of the Famous Museum of Art in the city.

Narrator 2:  Mr. Dart was usually friendly and cheerful.  But Stanley noticed that Mr. Dart was not cheerful any more.  He seemed very worried about something.

Stanley:  What’s the matter, Mr. Dart?

Mr. Dart:  Some of our famous paintings have been stolen!

Stanley:  Oh no!

Mr. Dart:  I’m at my wit’s end!

Mrs. Lambchop:  Can’t the police help you?

Mr. Dart:  The police think that they are SNEAK THIEVES!

Mr. Lambchop:  Oh no, that’s the worst kind!

Mrs. Lambchop:  They work by SNEAKERY!

Stanley:  That makes them really hard to catch!

Mr. Dart: The sneak thieves work at night.  It’s hard for the museum guards to stay awake at night!  I fear it is hopeless, hopeless, hopeless!

Narrator 1: Suddenly Stanley had an idea.  He told it to Mr. Dart.

Mr. Dart:  That’s a great idea!  But you need permission from your parents!

Mrs. Lambchop:  All right, but Stanley has to take a long nap this afternoon.

Narrator 2:  So that afternoon Stanley took a long nap.  That night he went to the Famous Art Museum with Mr. Dart.

Narrator 1:  When they got to the museum, Mr. Dart showed Stanley a big painting.

Stanley:  Wow, that’s a big painting!

Mr. Dart:  That is the most expensive painting in the world!  I’m afraid the sneak thieves are going to steal that painting tonight!

Stanley:  I brought my disguise.  It’s my cowboy suit!  Nobody will recognize me in a million years!

Mr. Dart:  No, you have to wear this disguise.  It’s a dress and a long curly wig.  

Stanley:  But I’ll look like a girl!  

Mr. Dart.  You’ll look like a shepherdess.  The museum does not have cowboy pictures but it has a lot of shepherdess pictures.  

Stanley:  I’m disgusted!  I wish I never had my idea!

Narrator 2:  But Stanley was a good sport so he put on the disguise.

Narrator 1: Then Mr. Dart helped Stanley climb up into an empty picture frame.  Stanley put his hands and feet on four little spikes in the wall.

Mr. Dart:  Stanley, you’re so flat, you look just like a picture!  But shepherdesses are supposed to look happy.  You look angry!

Stanley:  I look like a girl!  But I’ll try to smile.

Mr. Dart:  You’ll be a great spy!  If the sneak thieves come, they’ll think you’re a picture!

Narrator 2:  Then Mr. Dart went away and left Stanley in the picture frame.  Night came and it was very dark in the museum.