Act 1

Set in the north of England, Water Babies is the story of Tom, a young sweep’s boy, exploited by his cruel master, Mr. Grimes. The story begins at Harthover Hall in the early morning, where the sweeps are about to begin work. Tom accidentally comes down the wrong chimney and lands o­n the hearthrug of the Squire’s young daughter, Ellie.

Being about the same age, although from totally different backgrounds, they strike up a friendship. Ellie’s maid is horrified to see them playing together and is convinced Tom is up to no good. There follows a chase which begins as a slapstick farce and ends as Tom tries desperately to escape across the river ...
Act 2

Tom finds himself transformed into a Water Baby, but is disappointed not to be allowed to play with all the other WBs as it seems he is being punished by Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid for some recent acts of underwater mischief. The formidable Mrs B appears in person to make it very clear to Tom that those who do not doastheywouldbedoneby had better look out!

Meanwhile, back o­n dry land, Ellie is convinced that there is more to the underwater world than her crusty and pedantic old Professor Pttmllnsprts knows about: she believes that “Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True”.

Tom, in the meantime, has disgracefully been tempted to raid Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby’s sweetie bag and is shocked to find himself covered in prickles as a result. Mrs D assures him that if he wants to get rid of his prickles so that he can be cuddled he must go somewhere he doesn’t like and help someone he doesn’t like….

How many children is the show written for?

Water Babies was originally written for 90 children. It is modular, so groups of children (e.g. water babies, shrimps and lemon, fish, sweeps etc.) have their own self contained scenes which can be rehearsed separately and then bolted together. This means rehearsal times can be very efficient. Tom, Ellie and Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid straddle different scenes.

It would be possible to produce Water Babies with a smaller cast by doubling sweeps (Act 1 o­nly) with water babies, fish, shrimps etc in Act 2.