On Hogswatchnight, the Discworld’s counterpart of Christmas, the Hogfather is missing and Death is trying to fill in. The publisher’s summary of the stage script sets the scene: Death creeping down chimneys, trying to say “Ho Ho Ho.”
Staunton High School’s theater students take on that problem October 2 through 4 in Hogfather, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld holiday comedy, in the stage adaptation by Stephen Briggs. It is the school’s fall play, and the poster is on the theater program’s Instagram page. Briggs, a longtime Pratchett collaborator, has adapted more than 20 of the novels for the amateur stage, and Methuen Drama published his Hogfather script in April 2021.
The Auditors, the Assassin, and a Missing Hogfather
The trouble starts with the Auditors of Reality. In Pratchett’s novel they decide to eliminate the Hogfather because he does not fit their ordered view of the universe, a first step toward erasing belief in the Tooth Fairy and, eventually, Death himself. The job goes to Jonathan Teatime, a young, dangerously talented assassin who hires a crew of criminals and a wizard. His plan runs through the Tooth Fairy’s realm. He collects children’s teeth and uses them to control the children and force them to stop believing in the Hogfather.
The cost of failure is the sunrise. “It was surprising to learn some more of the backstory behind the Hogfather and how the sun would not rise if he had died,” said Eleanor Cox, who plays the wizard Sideney.
Teatime’s crew is on the Staunton stage. Evie Culbertson plays Medium Dave, “a thug that works for Mr. Teatime who is an assassin trying to kill the Hogfather.” She said he is “all in it for the money.” Cox’s Sideney is “a Wizard who is working with the group of assassins,” and his knowledge of magic “is tested throughout the show,” she said. He also “must face his fear of teeth.”
Basil Contant plays Banjo, “a hired assassin with the mind of a five year old.” Banjo starts out “going against Susan at the beginning until Teatime tries telling him to grab/hurt Susan and then he stops being on either side,” Contant said. Banjo turned out “more silent than I thought he was.”
Death, Albert, and a Governess Who Would Rather Not
On the other side of the plot stands Death’s household. Laura Medley plays Albert, Death’s right-hand man. “Albert helps Death pretend to be the Hogfather and gives him advice on how to interact with humans,” she said. Medley is looking forward to “the scene where Albert is telling Death how to have a jolly ‘Ho, Ho, Ho.’”
Then there is Susan. In the novel she is Death’s granddaughter, a governess who can see bogeymen and defeat them with a fire poker. Emma Nylander plays her on the Staunton stage. “Initially, she doesn’t want anything to do with the Hogfather, but death ropes her in,” Nylander said. Once she is in, Susan is “the witty heroine who finds clues to figure out what’s going on with the Hogfather.” Nylander described her as “Mary Poppins but if Mary Poppins was related to the Grim Reaper,” a character who “can be sincere and sweet when she is nannying to Twyla and Gawain, but she can also be a no nonsense heroine.”
Susan does not travel alone. In the novel Bilious, the Oh God of Hangovers, goes with her to the Tooth Fairy’s realm. Jaxx Holsinger plays Bilious, who “falls in love with one of the tooth fairies who are the ones getting attacked.” The look is “a disheveled version of a god toga and leaf crown,” Holsinger said. His first entrance is a highlight, “because that’s where I get to be the most goofy and it’s my first impression to people in the audience.”
Streets That Turn Into a Castle
The Tooth Fairy’s realm needed a stage to match. “Our phenomenal director, Mr. John Fregosi, has designed an out-of-this-world set for this play,” Culbertson said. Emma Nylander described the pieces: “We have a sliding platform in the middle of the stage, two story buildings on each side that turn around from the streets of the city to the tooth fairy’s castle, and many props and set pieces to really set the tone.” The list also includes “a pencil eating monster running across the stage.”
Thomas Warner said the crew relies on “many moving set pieces for this purpose, often with wheels and rotating platforms beautifully painted.” Cox said, “All of the weirdness made it to stage, and even more was brought in by actors.”
Culbertson expects the castle to be the high point, coming after Act 1, Scene 4. “The tech crew is doing an amazing job at turning our moving set pieces around to reveal a magical castle on the other side,” she said. “Our carolers are beautifully singing Carol of the Bells as the Castle is revealed. This is a moment that the audience won’t forget!” Culbertson added that “some of the carols have been re-written to fit the ridiculousness of this show.”
Keeping the set in motion takes work. Holsinger named “the set moving every second of the play which always does make it challenging.” Shailynn Crawford singled out the Auditors of Reality: “For the auditors you have to move them around a little and it just gets harder for the auditors themselves and the people pushing them and with the set moving it’s just a whole other kind of hard for our set crew.” Contant’s list included “putting the wall covers on trying to find the wood boards behind it.”
A Dark Story With the Whole Plot Intact
The plot against the Hogfather is still in the show. “We kept the assassination plots,” Contant said. Medley said, “Our school did not cut anything from the Hogfather, so we have the whole story.” Warner said, “The show keeps all the story beats as presented in the script.” Crawford was more specific: “We did change some of the words for the carols and that’s honestly about it.”
Cox remembers it differently. “Some was softened so it wasn’t as directly about killing the Hogfather,” she said. “It is more so about erasing the belief in him, rather than the physical character.” Holsinger disagreed, saying “the intent and motives are still very much there.” Culbertson put the level of violence plainly: “There is slight violence, but no gruesome deaths.”
The comedy and the danger share the stage. “In this show, the darker moments of the story blend very well with the comedy,” Warner said. Nylander said the balance comes from matching energy: “everyone onstage has the same energy in each moment, and I think we do a really good job of that.” She added a warning: “It’s definitely the kind of show that you have to pay attention to.”
A Shopkeeper’s Complaint and a Narrator’s Job
Some of the funniest moments belong to smaller parts. Crawford plays Crumley, “a shop owner who is very stressed and quite upset that Death and Albert are giving away his merchandise for free.” Her favorite line is his argument: “how can WE expect people to buy things if we’re just giving them away.” Cox is looking forward to the scene “in the pub because it brings in a lot of comedy and jokes.”
Warner’s Narrator carries the exposition, “explaining some of the more fantastical elements of the story to the audience, as well as condensing story beats into a more concise and quick medium.” He is also waiting for the villain’s arrival. “His introduction balances intimidation and comedy in a very interesting fashion,” Warner said of Teatime.
What the Cast Hopes You Take Home
Asked what newcomers to Pratchett should leave with, the students gave a range of answers. “I hope that people walk out of our auditorium and think, ‘that was strange, but I’d gladly see it again!’” Culbertson said. Medley wants viewers to “think the play is really interesting and funny, even if they don’t totally understand it.” Holsinger called Pratchett’s world “a really weird and wacky place that people should really get to see because it will be confusing maybe but REALLY entertaining to watch.” Warner hopes audiences will “continue their exploration of his stories after the play is over.”
“I want them to take away how such a silly show can still be very meaningful and deep when you pay attention,” Nylander said. Crawford put it in capitals: “ITS AN AMAZING PLAY AND THEY WILL LOVE IT ALL.” Cox, whose line about the sun opened the plot, had the last word on what the play is about: “I want them to take away the knowledge of just how important it is to believe in things, no matter how impossible they may seem.”
Tickets are sold through GoFan for each night: Friday, October 2, Saturday, October 3, and Sunday, October 4.