The Ant and Grasshopper_Readers Theater

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

Cast List

Narrator 1 Narrator 2 Narrator 3 Ant 1 Ant 2 Ant 3 Grasshopper 1 Grasshopper 2 Grasshopper 3 Tree 1 Sun Wind

1

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Scene 1: Meet the Ants and the Grasshoppers Setting: A field in the summer Narrator 1:

Once upon a time there was a family of ants.

Narrator 2:

All they ever did was work, work, work.

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

Work, work, work!

Narrator 3:

And there was a family of grasshoppers.

Narrator 1: Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3: Narrator 1: Narrator 2: Narrator 3:

All they ever did was play, play, play.

Play, play, play!

It was summer.

All the sun did was Shine, shine, shine.

Sun:

Shine, shine, shine!

Narrator 1:

But all the ants ever did was work, work, work!

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3: Narrator 2:

Work, work, work.

Meanwhile, the grasshoppers were sitting under a tree 1

The Ant and the Grasshopper

2

Narrator 3:

Because it gives shade, shade, shade

Tree:

Shade, shade, shade!

Grasshopper 1:

It is so nice and cool.

Grasshopper 2:

Let’s play ball!

Grasshopper 3:

Maybe the ants willl play with us.

Grasshopper 1:

Hey, ants! Join us!

Ant 1:

No way. We’ve got to work.

Ant 2:

You should be working, too.

Grasshopper 2:

Why?

Grasshopper 3:

It’s summer.

Grasshopper 1:

Time for fun in the sun.

Grasshopper 2:

Can’t you just feel the sun’s rays?

Grasshopper 3:

Warming everything

Grasshopper 1:

And making so much food!

Sun:

Shine, shine, shine!

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

We love you, sun.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Ant 1:

The sun is great!

Sun:

Thanks!

Ant 2:

But the sun won’t always shine brightly.

Sun:

I won’t?

Ant 3:

No, you won’t.

Ant 1:

Seasons will change.

Ant 2:

Winter will come.

Ant 3:

Winds will blow.

Wind:

Here I am! Blow, blow, blow!

Grasshopper 1:

Yikes! It’s getting colder!

Grasshopper 2:

Let’s get out of here!

Grasshopper 3:

Let’s go inside!

Grasshopper 1:

Inside where?

Ant 1:

Don’t you have a house?

Ant 2:

A house where you can be safe and warm?

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

No

Grasshopper 2:

We forgot to build one.

3

The Ant and the Grasshopper

4

Grasshopper 3:

We were too busy having fun in the sun.

Ant 1:

Well, while you were having fun...

Ant 2:

we were working.

Ant 3:

So now

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

we have a house.

Grasshopper 2:

It is so nice!

Grasshopper 3:

And so big!

Grasshopper 1:

Can we stay with you?

Ant 1:

Nope.

Ant 2:

Sorry, Charlie.

Ant 3:

You have to learn your lesson.

Grasshopper 2:

What lesson?

Ant 1:

If you have to ask, you haven’t learned it.

Ant 2:

Uh-huh!

Ant 3:

Come on, ants! Let’s go back to our cozy home.

Grasshopper 3:

Those ants sure are mean!

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Grasshopper 1:

And I sure am hungry!

Grasshopper 2:

And that wind sure is cold!

Wind:

Blow, blow, blow!

Grasshopper 3:

Wind, stop it!

Wind:

I can’t stop! It’s my job. Blow, blow, blow!

Narrator 1:

Meanwhile the sun started to disappear (The sun goes away)

Grasshopper 1:

Sun, where are you going?

Grasshopper 2:

Yeah, Sun! Come back here!

Sun:

Sorry, Charlie! It’s the season when I shine on the other side of the planet!

Grasshopper 3:

What!?

Sun:

Don’t worry. I’ll come closer in about 8 months.

Grasshopper 3:

Eight months?!

Grasshopper 1:

What are we going to eat in all that time?

Grasshopper 2:

There was plenty of food in the summer.

Grasshopper 3:

But now the cold wind has blown it all away.

5

The Ant and the Grasshopper

6

Wind:

Blow, blow, blow!

Grasshopper 1:

Let’s go to the Ant House!

Grasshopper 2:

I bet they have some food!

Grasshopper 3:

Maybe they’ll give us some!

Narrator 2:

So the grasshoppers hopped over to the Ant House.

Narrator 3:

They knocked on the door.

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

Who is it?

Grasshoppers 1, 2 and 3:

Who do you think it is? It’s us! The grasshoppers!

Ant 1:

What can we do for you?

Grasshopper 1:

You can feed us.

Grasshopper 2:

We’re starving!

Grasshopper 3:

You put away a lot of food during the summer, didn’t you?

Ant 2:

Yes, we did.

Grasshopper 1:

Well, we didn’t.

Grasshopper 2:

And now we’re hungry.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Ant 3:

Why didn’t you put some food away for the winter?

Ant 1:

That’s what we did.

Grasshopper 3:

We were too busy having fun.

Ant 2:

You should have done some work.

Grasshopper 1:

We know that now.

Grasshopper 2:

Will you give us some of your food?

Ant 3:

No, because you have to learn your lesson.

Grasshoppers 1, 2 and 3:

What lesson?

Ant 1:

If you have to ask, you haven’t learned it.

Ant 2:

Sorry, Charlie.

Narrator 1:

All winter long, the grasshoppers went hungry.

Grasshopper 3:

We won’t ever let this happen again.

Grasshopper 1:

We will put some food away next summer.

Grasshopper 2:

We won’t just play the summer away.

Narrator 2:

Little did they know,

Narrator 3:

the ants were listening.

7

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Ant 1, 2 and 3

They’ve learned their lesson!

Ant 3:

Let’s help them!

Ant 1:

Let’s do it!

Narrator 1:

So the ants ran over

Narrator 2:

to the grasshoppers.

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

Come inside our house.

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

Really?

Ant 2:

You can be safe and sound

Ant 3:

And we’ll give you some good food.

Narrator 3:

8

So the ants and the grasshopper shared a lovely meal.

Ant 1:

You know...we’ve been thinking.

Grasshopper 1:

About what?

Ant 2:

Well, all last summer, we worked really hard

Ant 3:

And you played all summer long.

Grasshopper 2:

What’s your point?

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Ant 1:

You should not play all the time and never work.

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

We know, we know!

Ant 2:

But we were wrong, too.

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

You were?

Ant 3:

We should not work all the time

Ant 1:

and never play.

Ant 2:

Maybe we can learn from each other.

Ant 3:

What if we taught you how to work hard

Grasshopper 3:

and we taught you how to play hard?

Grasshopper 2:

Then we’d all be working hard

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

and playing hard together!

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

Great idea!

ALL:

Let’s do it!

Narrator1:

So that is just what they did.

Narrator 2:

The next summer, 9

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Narrator 3:

the ants still worked hard

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

but we also had a lot of fun.

Narrator 1:

And the grasshoppers still played

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

but we worked hard, too.

Sun:

And when the sun went away (The Sun goes away)

10

Wind:

and the cold winds started to blow.

Ant 1, 2 and 3:

both the ants

Grasshopper 1, 2 and 3:

and the grasshoppers

Narrator 2:

got through the winter

ALL:

just fine!

Narrator 1, 2 and 3:

The End!