Gulliver's Travels (adapted from Jonathan Swift - Version 2)

A musical journey into the soul of a person who has had his view of life challenged, in his search for a 'better' way to be.

Prologue – The Attic

Shadowy memories haunt Lemuel Gulliver as he reads in his attic ('Another Way’).

At Sea – The San Salvador

Flashback five years, to a ship at sea – The San Salvador – Gulliver is hauled on-board, a dishevelled broken man, rescued from the ocean by the compassionate Captain, Don Pedro, who pledges to help him recover his mind.  Gulliver starts to recount his extraordinary travels to Don Pedro as they journey back to London, explaining how he left his wife and family years ago, only to be shipwrecked in a strange land. At which point his miraculous and unbelievable travels began…

Lilliput

In the land of Lilliput, Gulliver discovers a land of tiny people embroiled in a futile war with near-by Blefuscu ('The Story of The Egg'). The Lilliputians discover him ('Enormous') and bind him so he cannot move. Marvelling at his size The Empress of Lilliput tries to convince her husband The Emperor to use this ‘Great Man Mountain’ to Lilliput’s benefit ('What a Man Like That Could Do'). An enormous pistol is discovered in his pocket ('The Inventory') and the Emperor and his ministers hatch a plan to defeat their Blefuscan enemies. The Emperor agrees to free Gulliver if he swears allegiance to Lilliput and drags the enemy ships away ('Fifty Men Of War'). Gulliver does as he is asked and following the Blefuscan defeat is commended highly for his actions ('Nardac Ceremony'), to the outrage of The Emperor’s jealous ministers.  The palace set alight, Gulliver’s attempts to extinguish the fire leads to chaos and the ministers turn The Emperor against him ('What a Man Like That Could Do' Reprise). Finally, The Emperor gives the order to have Gulliver executed.

Transition – On the San Salvador

Gulliver wakes screaming from this nightmare in Don Pedro’s cabin and relates his lucky escape from Lilliput and his return home to his family, only to set sail shortly after on an even more astounding and unpredictable voyage.

Brobdingnag

Landing in Brobdingnag, he finds that he is now only six inches tall, compared with the giant inhabitants - ('Golden Corn'). A young girl, Glumdalclitch, spots him in a field and hides and befriends him, until her nasty parents hijack and exploit him for financial gain ('Happy Day'). Forced into a touring freak show, his fame spreads and The Queen of Brobdingnag hears of him and requests Glumdalclitch bring him to the palace, ('My Little Man').

Palace life is hard for Gulliver. He is attacked by frogs and wasps and very nearly killed by falling apples. The Queen’s Jester does everything he can to get rid of Gulliver, feeling usurped by this freak of nature, to the chagrin of the Queen ('Making Amends').  A final confrontation in the orchard ('Orchard Sequence') plays out passionately as Gulliver is snatched from the caring arms of Glumdalclitch and thrown from the clifftops into the ocean.

END OF ACT ONE

Opening – On the San Salvador

Gulliver is flying through the air, until he wakes suddenly from his dream and finds himself in Don Pedro’s cabin again.  He relates how a passing ship rescued him from the ocean and returned him home to his family again, his children now teenagers. Tensions rising with Mary, being pregnant again and further financial struggles lead to Gulliver taking up a lucrative job as Captain of The Adventure.  Though this means leaving Mary at a most challenging time he sees no alternative and sets sail promising it will be the ‘last time.’ Left to cope alone with the children Mary’s inner-life and strength of character comes to the fore (‘One last Time’).

Laputa

Meanwhile, unlucky at sea and with a shortage of fresh water (‘Mutiny’) Gulliver’s captaincy is short-lived and his mutinous crew set him adrift in uncharted waters.

Alone on a boat, he observes a strange sight - a flying island moving overhead ('How Does The Sun’) and ominously towards an island in the distance.  Once above land, the flying island demands provisions from those below on pain of death.  Gulliver follows the flying island to Lindalino and there meets a young freedom fighter called Gaia who draws Gulliver into the rebellion against the despotic Laputans (‘Hope Rising’). Seeing the scope of Laputan ignorance and lack of compassion whilst casing the Laputan laboratory on Lindalino ('The Academy') Gulliver comes up with a plan to bring the flying island of Laputa down. Gulliver is lauded by the rebels as some kind of Messiah and together, Gaia and Gulliver become close (‘Here and Now’) Flattered, Gulliver responds to her affections and gives her a locket as he puts Mary to the back of his mind.  But his actions inadvertently pave the way for Gaia’s death when she finds out that she has been lied to and rushes into battle, a martyr for her cause.

Transition – On the San Salvador

Gulliver is fighting with his conscience in the dark on the deck of the ship when Don Pedro approaches him. Gulliver’s guilt and anger is so violent that Don Pedro leaves him alone.

Houyhnhnmland (pronounced 'Hwyn-im-land')

Guilty beyond belief, a new land emerges – a land of wild sub-human creatures that taunt and mock him.  In the depths of his imagination the torment increases until - a white horse appears in a stream of light. The Master. He is in Houynhnmland – the land of horses. Gulliver has a spiritual experience in this land of light and dark and learns the Master’s language ('Hnuy Nyha Maiah'). He is drawn in to their peace-loving, non-materialistic ways, and clothes himself in their ways and customs.  But his inability to overcome his more human characteristics force the council of Houyhnhnmland to class him as a Yahoo (one of the wild creatures) and he is ordered to leave. 

Transition – On the San Salvador

Gulliver is seen railing and distraught on deck and Don Pedro approaches him again. Gulliver looks like he will throw himself from the ship, but Don Pedro stops him and offers a different perspective on Gulliver’s Travels (‘Journey On’). He takes Gulliver back to his cabin as they will dock in Portsmouth the next morning.

Epilogue – The Attic

Back in England, five years later, Gulliver’s mental health is still under question. Clearly obsessed by his travels, Gulliver is revealed in the attic writing a letter to the publisher of his book - 'Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World In Four Parts'. His imagination takes flight as the characters from his journeys appear once more  ('Attic Sequence'). The last figures to appear before him are Don Pedro and Gaia, who remind him to honour love in everything and continue to search for a perfect way to live ('Journey On' Reprise).

At the climax of Gulliver’s vision, Mary enters the attic room and he breaks down. Her quiet dignity, inner strength and understanding affect Gulliver profoundly.  He notices a locket around her neck and asks her where she got it, only to find that he had given it to her before his last journey. They leave the attic room, together.