Little Red Riding Hood Readers Theatre

THE LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Cast List

Narrator 1 Narrator 2 Narrator 3 Little Red Riding Hood Wolf Hunter Mother Nurse Grandmother

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Little Red Riding Hood

Scene 1: A Girl Without A Name Narrator 1:

Once upon a time, there was a woman who had many children.

Narrator 2:

She had 17 children. And by the time she had one more, she was too tired to even name her new baby.

Narrator 3:

The nurse wrapped her baby girl in a tiny red gown with a little red hood.

Nurse:

What will you name her?

Mother:

I’ve run out of names. I’ll just call her “little red riding hood.”

Nurse:

That’s going to be her name?!

Mother:

I don’t have the time to think up another name. I have more than 17 kids!

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Little Red Riding Hood

Scene 2:

A Care Package for Grandma

Narrator 1:

And so the years passed.

Narrator 2:

Little Red Riding Hood was just about four years old.

Narrator 3:

One afternoon, the phone rang. Ring Ring Ring!

Mother:

Hello?

Grandmother:

It’s me, your mother.

Mother:

Mom, I don’t have the time to talk. I’ve got to take __________ and ____________ to Lacrosse. My twins ___________ and _______________ have chess class. My oldest kids ________________ and ______________ and _______________ are going ice skating.

Grandmother:

But I am sick! I am all alone in my cottage deep in the forest. I need a care package.

And I need it NOW!

Mother:

Mom, I don’t have the time! I’ve got to drop off _____________, _________________ and ________________ at the Theatre cause they’re in a school play. My other kids _____________, ________________, and ________________ are going to play tennis at 6. Then I have to pick 3

Little Red Riding Hood

up _______________, _______________, _________________, ______________________, and ___________________ from Dance Class.

Grandmother:

Well, I need attention. Can’t you send one of your kids with a basket of goodies for me?

My remote control is fresh about of batteries and in my weakened state, I’ll never get to the TV in time to turn it on for The View.

Mother:

All my kids are busy.

Grandmother:

Well, what about that one that’s always wearing the red jacket?

Mother:

Which one, Mom?

Grandmother:

The little one with the red jacket

Mother:

Can’t you mention her by name?

Grandmother:

Well, that’s just it! You never gave her a name! So how can I mention her by name if you never gave her a name?

Mother:

Describe her.

Grandmother:

She’s very small and she always wears a red jacket with a red hood.

Mother:

Little Red Riding Hood?

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Little Red Riding Hood

Grandmother:

That’s her! Send her with a basket of goodies across the forest to me.

Mother:

Ma, she’s only 4! She’ll get lost.

Grandmother:

Nonsense! As long as she doesn’t get lost or eaten by an animal, she’ll be perfectly safe.

Mother:

I don’t know, Ma. She’s almost a baby.

Grandmother:

Then her short little legs will have plenty of energy. All she needs to do is follow the path straight across the forest and not talk to any strangers.

Mother:

I don’t think it’s a good idea.

Grandmother:

Of course it’s a good idea. Put her on the phone. I’ll explain it to her.

Mother:

Little Red Riding Hood! Phone!

Little Red Riding Hood: Hello?

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Little Red Riding Hood

Grandmother:

Little Red Riding Hood, this is your grandmother. Listen closely. This is what I want you to do. I want you to get a basket and fill it with the following goodies: • a thermos of piping hot cocoa, • a bag of cough drops • some Earl Grey tea • a box of dark chocolates • the latest issue of People Magazine • Some fresh batteries for my remote control • A thermos of piping hot chicken noodle soup • Some lavender bubble bath so I can rest my weary bones • A fragrant candle • A box of tissues with the aloe infused into them so that they won’t hurt my nose.

• A humidifier • Eucalyptus oil • Some flowers to brighten up my cottage Then I want you to put all those things in the basket and carry it across the forest to my cottage.

Little Red Riding Hood: Okay, grandma, I’m gonna do it.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Grandmother:

Now here is the most important part. Do not talk to strangers. If someone or something approaches you as you make your lonely way across the humongous forest, politely explain to them that you cannot talk to them because he/she or it is a stranger. Then go along your merry way.

Little Red Riding Hood: Okay, grandma. I’m gonna do it.

Grandmother:

Well, what are you waiting for? Hang up the phone, organize my basket of goodies and run over here as fast as your short little legs will carry you.

Little Red Riding Hood: Okay, grandma, I’m gonna do it.

Narrator 1:

So Little Red Riding Hood organized the

Narrator 2:

piping hot cocoa

Narrator 3:

and the cough drops

Narrator 1:

and the Earl Grey Tea

Narrator 2:

and the box of dark chocolates

Narrator 3:

and the latest issue of People Magazine

Narrator 1:

and bought some fresh batteries for Grandma’s remote control

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Little Red Riding Hood

Narrator 2:

and got a thermos of piping hot chicken noodle soup

Narrator 3:

and some lavender bubble bath so Grandma could rest her weary bones

Narrator 1:

and a fragrant candle

Narrator 2:

and a box of tissues infused with aloe vera

Narrator 3:

and a humidifier

Narrator 1:

and some eucalyptus oil

Narrator 2:

and some flowers to brighten up grandma’s cottage.

Little Red Riding Hood: And as a special surprise, I got her some lovely clementines. They have vitamin C. Grandma is going to love it.

Mother:

Are you sure you can carry that huge thing across the forest? It’s bigger than you are

Little Red Riding Hood: I’m gonna do it.

Mother:

Remember! Don’t talk to strangers.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Scene 3: Into the Woods Narrator 3:

And with that, Little Red Riding Hood was off.

Narrator 1:

She walked deep and deeper into the forest.

Narrator 2:

Her basket grew very heavy. For a moment, she stopped and held up the bag of clementines.

Little Red Riding Hood: Maybe I should get rid of the clementines. It would lighten the load. Oh but they are so healthy for grandma. I can’t bear to throw them out of the basket.

Narrator 1:

Suddenly a wily wolf approached her.

Wolf:

Well, hello, my dear. Out for a lovely walk?

Little Red Riding Hood: I’m very sorry, Mr. Wolf. But I’m not allowed to talk to strangers so if you don’t mind, I’m going to just carry this basket of chocolates and bubble bath and chicken soup and juicy clementines to my grandma’s house. My grandma is all alone in the cottage right at the other end of the cottage. And I have to get to her. I can do it! But I can’t talk to strangers so I have to say bye bye.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Wolf:

That is quite as it should be. I am so glad that you did not talk to strangers on your way to your grandmother’s cottage on the other side of the forest. Cheerio, my dear!

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Little Red Riding Hood

Scene 4: The Wolf Eats Grandma Narrator 2:

Well, what do you think the wolf did?

Narrator 3:

He ran straight across the forest to grandma’s house.

Narrator 1:

Then he entered grandma’s house and swallowed her whole.

Grandma:

How rude!

Narrator 2:

Then he put on one of grandma’s nightgowns,

Wolf:

And one of her frilly white caps,

Narrator 3:

And got into grandma’s bed.

Grandma:

Meanwhile I was stuck in his stomach having a very unpleasant time indeed! Plus, my favorite TV show was about to come on and I was going to miss it!

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Little Red Riding Hood

Scene 5: A Wolf in Grandma’s Clothing Narrator 1:

Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

Wolf:

(in grandma’s voice) Who is it?

Little Red Riding Hood: It’s Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma.

Wolf:

Come in!

Little Red Riding Hood: Hi Grandma!

Wolf:

Have you brought me my goodies?

Little Red Riding Hood: Yes, Grandma.

Wolf:

You are a dear girl. You brought me the chocolates?

Little Red Riding Hood: Yes, Grandma.

Wolf:

You brought me the bubble bath?

Little Red Riding Hood: Yes, Grandma.

Wolf:

And you brought me the clementines I asked for?

Little Red Riding Hood: (pause) Yes, Grandma.

Wolf:

Come closer, dear. Let me have a look at you.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood:

Grandma, what big eyes you have!

Wolf:

The better to see you with, my dear!

Little Red Riding Hood:

Grandma, what big ears you have!

Wolf:

The better to hear you with, my dear.

Little Red Riding Hood:

Grandma, what big teeth you have!

Wolf:

The better to EAT you with, my dear.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Scene 6: Little Red Riding Hood to the Rescue!

Narrator 1:

But before the wolf could gobble her up, Little Red Riding Hood ran out the door. She ran and ran until she came upon a kindly hunter. She had known him before because he was a friend of her parents.

Hunter:

Little Red Riding Hood! Is that you? What are you doing out here in the forest all alone?

Little Red Riding Hood: Oh Mr Hunter! Something terrible has happened. A wolf ate my grandma. And now he’s trying to eat me!

Hunter:

Perhaps I can be of service. I have my trusty ax. Show me the way to your grandmother’s cottage!

Narrator 2:

Well what do you think happened? The hunter ran back into the cottage. With his ax, he cut the wolf ‘s stomach opened. Out popped Grandma, good as new.

Grandma:

Finally! I was worried that I was going to miss The View. Little Red Riding Hood, have you brought me fresh batteries for my remote control?

Little Red Riding Hood: Yes, Grandma.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Grandma:

Well, this has been the most tedious day.

First, I wake up sick. Then, the batteries in my remote control stop working so I can’t watch TV from bed. Next, I get eaten up by a wolf..

Last, I get cut open by a hunter with an ax. I assume you have brought me some piping hot chicken noodle soup, Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood: Yes, Grandma. Thank you, Mr. Hunter.

Hunter:

You are quite welcome. How did you manage to escape the wolf ’s evil clutches?

The wolf is a skilled predator and few move quickly enough to escape his greedy claws.

Wolf:

That’s what I can’t figure out! I was about to gobble you up and then take a lavender bubble bath. Next thing, I know you’re out the door. It was like you were on to me or something.

Little Red Riding Hood: I was ON to you.

Wolf:

How? Where did I go wrong?

Little Red Riding Hood: When you were pretending to be my grandma, you asked if I brought you clementines.

Wolf:

Yeah. So?

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Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood: But my grandma never asked me to bring clementines. I brought them as a special surprise. So she would never have asked me if I brought them. But you saw me holding the clementines in the forest. That’s how I knew you were the wolf PRETENDING to be my grandma.

Wolf:

(with his head in his paws) She figured it out!

Grandma:

First of all, can you all lower your voices? I am trying to enjoy my chicken noodle soup while watching the View. Secondly, how did the Wolf know where you were going? You were told not to talk to strangers.

Little Red Riding Hood: I didn’t . I told him that I wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers so I couldn’t tell him that I was on my way to my grandma’s house across the forest.

Grandma:

Little Red Riding Hood! Don’t you see that by telling him all that you DID tell him where you were going? Do you even know what a stranger is?

Little Red Riding Hood: Not really.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Grandma:

A stranger is someone you do not know.

Maybe they are good like Mr. Hunter, or maybe they are bad like the Wolf. The point is since you don’t know them, you just don’t know if they are good or bad. That’s why you should never speak to them. It just isn’t safe. Now when you go back through the forest to your home, are you going to talk to strangers?

Little Red Riding Hood: Okay, Grandma, I’m not going to do it.

Grandma:

So if on your way home, you encounter that beastly Mr. Wolf, are you going to talk to him?

Little Red Riding Hood: Okay, Grandma, I’m gonna do it.

Grandma:

What? I just finished telling you: DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS! So why on earth would you talk to Mr. Wolf?

Little Red Riding Hood: He’s not a stranger anymore.

Grandma:

UGH! Don’t talk to strangers and animals that try to eat your grandmother. Does that help?

Now will you follow my rule not to talk to strangers?

Little Red Riding Hood: Okay, Grandma, I’m gonna do it.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Hunter:

Just to be on the safe side, I’m going to escort Little Red Riding Hood back to her house. Four is really too young to be walking through a vast forest all by oneself.

Grandma:

Well I needed my hot cocoa, so…

Narrator 3:

And so with that, Little Red Riding Hood and Mr. Hunter made their way across the vast forest to her home.

Narrator 1:

And when Little Red Riding Hood’s little feet grew tired, he carried her on his shoulders the rest of the way.

Narrator 2:

After all, it had been quite an eventful day.

Narrator 3:

And when she arrived home, the Hunter told Little Red Riding Hood’s mother.

Hunter:

If you don’t mind my saying so, I reckon this little girl has earned a proper name.

Mother:

Well, what to you suggest?

Hunter:

Call her Fortissima. Fortissima means “most brave and strong.” After all, she was very strong to carry that heavy basket and she was very brave when she discovered the wolf had eaten her grandmother.

Narrator 1:

And so from that day to this, Little Red Riding Hood has been called Fortissima.

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Little Red Riding Hood

Narrators:

The End.

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