Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki.
Cinderella
Roles
Cinderella - Cho Hakkai
Evil Stepsisters - Anastasia - Sha Gojyo
- Drizella - Dokugakuji
Evil Stepmother - Genjo Sanzo (death glares)
Fairy Godmother - Kanzeon Bosatsu
Prince (or in this case, princess) - Yaone
King - Kougaiji
Duke - Son Goku
Messenger - Lirin
Narrator - Homura
The roles are given by our producer/director/script writer/prompter, Jiroushin. Needless to say, Sanzo and Gojyo rounded up on him to give them a better role.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cinderella - Part 1
Hakkai got ready in his rags behind the curtains. The scene is made to look like a kitchen. Lirin and Goku pulled the curtains and the lights on as the audience clapped.
"Once upon a time," Homura started as the narrator, "in a faraway land, there lived a lovely young girl - I mean, guy - I mean, girl - by the name of Cinderella.
"Cinderella lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters," Homura continued. Sanzo, Gojyo and Dokugakuji, all dressed in fine clothes, went on stage. Sanzo was glowering. "Her stepmother spoiled her own daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, with fancy clothes and stuff, but treated Cinderella badly and only gave her rags to wear and crust to eat."
Hakkai got up and gave a bow to Sanzo with a smile.
"To top it all, her stepmother gave her countless chores to do," Homura narrated.
"Are you done cleaning the kitchen yet?' Sanzo snarled. He paused and looked blankly at Hakkai.
"Hurry up!" Jiroushin hissed, doing his job as a prompter. "You still have the laundry to do!"
"Hurry up!" Sanzo repeated. "You still have the laundry to do!"
"Yes, stepmother," Hakkai said meekly.
"Forgetting lines? Sign of old age," Gojyo muttered with a grin before fixing a look of disdain at Hakkai. He opened his mouth and paused, looking blank.
"Ugh, look at you!" Jiroushin prompted exasperatedly.
"Ugh, look at you!" Gojyo repeated, his face red. "You better hurry up and get going with cleaning my room!"
"And mine too!" Dokugakuji said.
"Yes, Anastasia, Drizella," Hakkai said meekly.
"Come, boys," Sanzo said as he 'went out' of the stage.
"Girls!" Jiroushin hissed. Sanzo ignored him.
Gojyo and Dokugaji followed Sanzo, strutting passed Hakkai.
The curtain closed. Behind the curtains, everyone went in a frenzy as they took out the cardboard fireplace, the wooden table and chairs and replaced it with a throne and a magnificent oak table. They're changing the scene to look like a throne room.
"Why did you have to forget your lines?" Jiroushin yelled at Sanzo and Gojyo. "Don't forget it this time!"
"It's not fair!" Gojyo said. "Hakkai gets the main role, but his lines are so short! I thought all main roles have long lines!"
Jiroushin ignored him and went over to help out with the re-arrangement.
Kougaiji took his place on the throne. Goku sat behind the oak table. The curtain rose.
"One day at the castle," Homura said. "The king is complaining to the high duke again."
"It's high time my son - I mean, daughter - married with a gentleman and settle down!" Kougaiji said. "I want grandchildren! I want it!"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Goku said. "But these things take time. The princess haven't found a proper gentleman yet."
Kougaiji sighed. Then he suddenly brighten up. "I know!" he said.
"What?" Goku asked. "Are we having lobsters for dinner today?"
Jiroushin was horror struck. He waved frantically at Goku. Goku caught sight of him and waved back. The audience craned their neck, trying to see who Goku was waving at.
"No," Kougaiji said with a frown. "I was thinking of a grand ball. We'll have all gentlemen gathered so my daughter could choose."
The curtain fell. Everyone started demolishing the stage of its furnitures again to replace it with another kind. Jiroushin stormed towards Kougaiji and Goku.
"What do you mean by your ad-libs?" he yelled at Goku. "And you! Why did you replace son with daughter, prince with princess?"
"I think it's silly to let Yaone take the role of a man, and the men to take the women's roles," Kougaiji said. "And anyway, they're wearing men's clothes!"
"Yeah!" Goku said.
"Why don't you just change your script a bit? Make it a male Cinderella," Kougaiji said.
There was a pause. "Oh, alright," Jiroushin said. "But no more crazy ad-libs!"
The demolishing is finished. Sanzo sat down on a red velvet chair as Gojyo and Dokugakuji took their places in the middle of the stage. Hakkai stood by them with a broom. A cardboard door was placed in front. Jiroushin gave the okay sign for the curtain to be pulled open and he ran helter-skelter back behind the stage.
Gojyo and Dokugakuji began singing. Dokugakuji ran out of tune, and Gojyo nudged him. Hakkai, as Cinderella, swept the floor as he watched the 'stepsisters' at their singing lesson. Sanzo merely looked bored. Jiroushin, seeing this, felt like going out on stage and shaking him.
"Back in Cinderella's mansion, the stepsisters were in the middle of their singing lessons when there came a knock on the door," Homura narrated.
Just then, there was a knock on the cardboard door. Lirin stood, dressed like a royal messenger.
"Hakkai - " Sanzo started.
"Cinderella!" Jiroushin hissed urgently.
"Cinderella," Sanzo said, looking like something sour was in his mouth. "Get the door!"
"Yes, stepmother," Hakkai said and went over to the cardboard door. He opened it.
"In front of Cinderella stood a messenger from the palace," Homura narrated.
"Hello, hello!" Lirin said eagerly.
Jiroushin smacked his forehead with his palm. It wasn't in the script, that hearty hello!
"May I help you?" Hakkai asked with a smile.
"I have a letter from the king!" Lirin said, thrusting an envelope into Hakkai's hands. "Good day, sir!"
She disappeared back behind the stage and found herself face to face with Jiroushin.
"That wasn't your line!" Jiroushin hissed.
"I know," Lirin said. "I forgot, so I made it up!"
Back on stage, Sanzo snatched the envelope from Hakkai. He tore it open and read the letter.
"By royal command, every eligible - " Sanzo squinted. The word 'maiden' was crossed out and Jiroushin had scribled something above it. Sanzo couldn't read it.
"Gentlemen!" Jiroushin hissed.
" - gentlemen," Sanzo said with a frown, "is to attend the ball!"
Gojyo and Dokugakuji gave a half-hearted squeal of fake joy. They said their lines about getting new clothes at once.
"Why, that means I could go too!" Hakkai said.
"Yes, I supposed," Sanzo said. "If you finished all your chores."
"And find something to wear other than your horrible rags," Dokugakuji said with a snigger.
"Sweep the floor, clean the windows, finish the laundry, clean the fireplace, wash the dishes..." Sanzo reeled off the chores from the words written on his hands. The audience, of course, saw that and Jiroushin smacked his forehead once again.
"I will finish them," Hakkai promised with a smile.
The curtain dropped. Everyone started changing the scene of the mansion's living room to the garden. Jiroushin, looking exasperated, decided not to press the subject.
The stepmother and stepsisters changed into a different costume and took their places by the 'gates'. Hakkai, still in the rag costume, stood. The curtains were pulled apart.
"Cinderella had finished all her chores, but she didn't have any dress for the ball," Homura narrated, not knowing that Jiroushin had changed the gender. The audience sweatdropped. Some felt confused with the gender of the characters. "She watched as her stepmother and stepsisters got ready to leave for the ball."
"Well, goodbye, Cinderella," Gojyo said.
"It's a great pity that you couldn't come along," Dokugakuji said in mock sympathy.
Sanzo merely walked out of stage followed by Gojyo and Dokugakuji.
Hakkai sat down on the bench with a sigh.
"I had so wanted to go to the ball," he said sadly. His words were so full of sadness that the audience were silently crying. For once, Jiroushin felt happy with the play.
"Dry those tears now, dear," said a voice. "You can't possibly go to the ball looing like that!"
To be continued...
A/N: Review!