Song 1 Welcome to the Monkey House. Full Company

Echo Beach

Act I

Scene I Town Centre shops

Song 1 – Welcome to the Monkey House. Full Company

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Echo Beach

Here we are in the monkey house

We've taken all our clothes off

Here we are in a soundproof room

Making all the noise we want to hear

Big apes, small apes

Anything at all apes

Playing in our cages

When the lights go down

Cut out the facts and only let in the rumours

We're going to be rich tonight

We're gonna be huge

We're going to be rich tonight

We're gonna be

Da, da, da – Da, da, da, da, da, da, da – Da, Da, da

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da – Da, Da, da

Da, da, da, da, da, da - fill

I, I, me, me, run, run, run

Welcome to the monkey house

Here we are in the monkey house

We've taken all our clothes off

Here we are in a soundproof room

Making all the noise we want to hear

Big apes, small apes

Anything at all apes

Playing in our cages

When the lights go down

Cut out the facts and only let in the rumours

We're going to be rich tonight

We're gonna be huge

We're going to be rich tonight

We're gonna be

Da, da, da – Da, da, da, da, da, da, da – Da, Da, da

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da – Da, Da, da

Da, da, da, da, da, da - fill

Drum

I, I, me, me, run, run, run

Welcome to the monkey house

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Echo Beach

Scene II Derelict buildings, dark and shady …

Linda / Well, it seems a shame to darken the mood… but things are not good here … … strikes, picket lines power cuts, football hooligans and economic trouble…. depressing isn't it and we're talking the 1980's now … sound familiar ?
Dave / Sarge, tell me what it was like in the old days …
Linda / Well Dave, there was no way I'd have been allowed to do this a few years back… we were in our own little Policewomens Department, … and we looked after Kids in trouble and shoplifters… There was One female Sergeant… and she was a battleaxe… The sex discrimination act certainly shook it up a bit … now we're equal
Dave / Not really though are you Sarge…
Linda / Constable, I will remind you we are not… I'M THE SERGEANT (taps arm where stripes would be) … and don't you forget it …
Dave / I don't mean me Sarge… I mean the Law changed a bit ago now, but it's just taking some time to catch on in Society…
Linda / Anyway, enough of that …. (to audience) we are working undercover…. our job was to infiltrate a group of Local Youth who are protesting about the Council, the state of the Town, lack of jobs or Investment and the absence of tourists, and they appear to be intent on causing trouble for the Council…
Dave / Dark, Damp, Depressing, Dismal, Dismaying… and a whole host of other D's …. if you ask me the place needs a bomb under it…
Linda / We'll have no more talk like that, remember our role is to gain intelligence, and I know in your case that's a 'stretch'…. intelligence and information about what these young people are planning… I have to report to the Mayor, Major Bob 'the Greenhouse' Roberts ….
Dave / Good luck with that then, he's a dinosaur…. And although we’ve managed to join the group and infiltrate the protestors, they do have a point, and don’t seem to be anarchists.. do they ?
Linda / No, not yet, but Roberts happens to be a personal friend of the Chief Super and they’re in the same lodge ……
Dave / What's the Lodge, Sarge
Linda / (looks round, finger to lips…) Sshhhhhhhhh It's a secret !!!!!! Come on, we're expected at Hammerlin Council ….

Song 2 – Ghost Town. Ensemble

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Echo Beach

This town (town) is coming like a ghost town
All the clubs have been closed down
This place (town) is coming like a ghost town
Bands won't play no more
Too much fighting on the dance floor
(A-la-la ...)

Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?
We danced and sang as the music played in any boomtown

This town (town) is coming like a ghost town
(Why must the youth fight against themselves?
Government leaving the youth on the shelf)
This place (town) is coming like a ghost town
(Nojobto be found in this country)

Can't go on no more
The people getting angry
(A-la-la ...)
This town is coming like a ghost town
This town is coming like a ghost town
This town is coming like a ghost town
This town is coming like a ghost town

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Echo Beach

Scene III The Council Chamber

People milling about before a Council meeting

Roberts / (addresses Dave) So what can I do for you officer?
Dave / The Sergeant here has been told to report to you, Sir
Roberts / I don't know what things coming to… first a female prime Minister, now they seem to be taking over the World ……. Anyway, what’s the news on these revolting kids
Linda / If I may be so bold, Mr Roberts, Chief Superintendent Harris has asked me to make contract with you… Myself and Constable Holmes here have managed to gain the confidence of some of the ringleaders of this group, and I will report back to you when we have any useful information … for now they seem to be content to make their protest in a calm manner ….
Lane / Yes, those kids are revolting…. And a stint in the army wouldn’t do them any harm … National Service, that’s what they need … Okay sweetheart, is there anything else
Linda / Yes, call me sweetheart again and you may live to regret it … and you are…
Lane / I'm the largest landowner and farmer in these parts young lady, and you'd do well to remember that …. Darling (The Officers leave … )
Roberts / Can I call this meeting to order please….
Eileen / So, Mr Mayor, can you update us on the presentations you received from these Developers….
Roberts / If I could hand over to my esteemed colleague Mr lane, he has been heading up the Planning Committee
Lane / We've sat through endless presentations from a number of 'get rich quick' yuppies with Pie in the Sky ideas … and to be frank, I don't think we're any further forward…
Vicar / I can support that, What the youth of this Town needs, what the people of this Town needs is more spiritual intervention… my church group…
Eileen / (interrupts) your Church group attracts a handful of people who would be sat at home watching the Telly if they weren't busy being do-gooders at the Church hall… what this Town needs is a root and Branch reform… a lift… Investment… encouragement …
Dexy / We need to bring new business to the Town, Visitors, Tourists, we need to create jobs for the young people, and once they have meaningful lives they will invest in the Town…
Lane / That’s the 'pie in the Sky' guff the developers were coming out with too… what we need is a tougher line by the Police, though if what I've just witnessed is any indication, I don't think we can rely too much on a tough stance from the Police if they are being led by Women
Eileen / That's typical of you and your sort… Dinosaurs in the Ice Age… get used to it… Women are equal ..
Roberts / Never in the reign of pigs pudding, Look, things are getting heated, can we take a break and regroup…… (they break away)
Vicar / The nerve…. jumped up, airy fairy Liberal tree huggers… they want to get out there in the real world… then they'd realise there's no place in this Mans World for soppy feminists …
Lane / While I agree wholeheartedly with you, we must remember the Elections are looming, and if we don't do something, they may carry Public Favour and gain support…. Perish the thought if they ever got in…
Roberts / We need to be pragmatic Gentlemen… Lets see what our Press Officer can tell us (he motions) Annie, love, come here would you…. you've got your finger on the pulse…. Now, sweetheart, can you tell us what the polls are looking like
Annie / There is a ground swell of Public Opinion that something needs to be done to attract money into the Town, Business and Tourists… they mean jobs… and there's a large network of young people who are in dead end jobs or out of work… they need some ambition and inspiration… If the Developers are raising their own finance, surely it's a win-win situation… you get a new development, lots of ticks in the boxes and at no cost to the Public purse ….
Roberts / Thanks love…. (he dismisses her …) She's got a point there you know… with the election coming up ….. we need to be seen to be doing something… I say we embrace this situation and pretend it was our plan all along… take the credit and maybe even some (looks around… then whispers) backhanders … If it doesn't suit we can always pull the plug after the elections …..
Lane / Well I suppose if we're going through the motions of agreeing this.. …. That Piper outfit seemed to be the best of a bad bunch and our best shot at blinding everyone with pretty drawings and yuppie speak
Vicar / So that's it settled then … we go with Piper … This is democracy at work ……
Roberts / Okay, Gentlemen … and Ladies … can we reconvene… Thank You … in hindsight we were perhaps a touch hasty, and so we're proposing that we push forward with the development at Echo Beach… and try and breathe some life back into this great Town of ours…. we will be pushing the barriers to explore every possibility and bring prosperity back to our people …
Dexy / Goodness, what’s got into them… that was a U turn of epic proportions…. I wonder what caused that
Eileen / Mr Mayor, I am delighted that you are at long last listening to us, and what the people of this Town are saying… and we welcome this huge U turn in your Policy making…. the cynic in me though questions your motives …. (muttering in background)
Annie / (to Eileen and Dexy)… well you can be sure it had nothing at all to do with the forthcoming elections… much !!!. Before it became a derelict waste I used to love Echo beach… maybe, who knows, one day .. it could be just like the good old days …

Song 3 – Echo Beach. The Town Council

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Echo Beach

I know it's out of fashion and a trifle uncool
But I can't help it, I'm a romantic fool
It's a habit of mine to watch the sun go down
On Echo Beach, I watch the sun go down
From nine till five I have to spend my time at work
My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk
The only thing that helps me pass the time away
Is knowing I'll be back at Echo Beach some day
On a silent summer evening, the sky's alive with lights
A building in the distance, surrealistic sight
On Echo Beach, waves make the only sound
On Echo Beach, there's not a soul around
From nine till five I have to spend my time at work
My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk
The only thing that helps me pass the time away
Is knowing I'll be back at Echo Beach some day
Echo Beach, far away in time
Echo Beach, far away in time
Echo Beach, far away in time
Echo Beach, far away in time

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Echo Beach

Scene IV Offices of Piper Enterprises

Piper / I'm so glad you could all be here today…. It is my pleasure to announce ….. drum roll please….. we have won the contract to redevelop Echo Beach in Hammerlin… now I've no need to tell you what this means to the Company … (they break off into excited groups)
Penelope / That's wonderful news darling… (air kisses) mwa mwa… ) now about this holiday you've been promising me … I suppose this means we can afford it now…
Piper / (urgently..) Darling… (he takes her aside …) It's not healthy for word to get out that we have been short of money… that could cause us all sorts of problems…. With this lot, with our investors … and after all, it's only a temporary 'blip'
Penelope / Well this new contract should sort that out… and I'm due a new car… and now, at long last… perhaps we can look at setting a wedding date, darling….
Piper / That may have to wait…. Darling… we may be a bit busy getting this one off the ground…..
Mike / That's good news…we worked hard on that presentation… but the Planning Committee didn't seem at all interested… it's a bit of a shock actually
Amanda / Yes, but very welcome nonetheless…. My only concern is that we're looking at tight timescales, and some huge penalty clauses ..
Roger / Take your 'money' hat off for a minute Amanda… this is just what the Company needed… it's a huge boost… and very prestigious… Get this one right, and we will, then the Worlds our Lobster …
Petra / I need to get onto the Contractors and tell them to pull the stops out on this one… this is one gravy train that needs to arrive on time …. I need to look at the Drawings again and … oh there's a million things to think about…
Mike / Here he is. the man of the moment, come on old pal… enjoy the moment, we don't get that many … and certainly not of this magnitude …
Piper / I know…. but I can't help thinking it's like starting all over again…
Roger / I'm sorry Old thing, I don’t get you, what do you mean…
Piper / Well I didn't want to burden you all before now….. Amanda, you tell them
Amanda / We're looking for a new Financial Controller
Petra / I thought you hired one a couple of months ago
Piper / That’s the one we’re looking for … we're not sure yet, but it looks like he managed to defraud us out of a large amount of money …
Roger / I see what you mean now….
Amanda / We didn't want to say anything before …. Word would have got out and our investors would have been nervous…But now we've got this contract… well… that should help soften the blow ….
Mike / So Echo Beach was sort of make or break…. good job we got it….
Pertra / Sorry to talk shop…. Before we start to put the plans together I just want to confirm we are running with the 'Love Shack' Brand… are we sure it's right for Hammerlin… is Hammerlin ready for the Love Shack !!
Piper / It's stood us in good stead so far, and it's a popular Brand…. I think it's the reason we stood out from the crowd in the presentations… to think this Company all started when I bought the Love Shack I fell in love with when I was at Uni …. happy days … come on, lets celebrate this good news….

Song 4 – Love Shack. Piper Construction