Adapted from Philip Pullman's novel

In the little German town of Glockenheim many, many years ago, in the dead of winter, 2 young men have a problem.

Glockenheim, like lots of little German towns has a great clock on the town hall with clockwork figures in it which come out when the hour strikes. Every young trainee clock-maker must make a new figure for the clock to show to all the town’s people on the day his apprenticeship ends. Herr Ringlemann is the best clock-maker in town and his apprentice, Karl is just finishing his training, and so he must show his new clockwork figure, but Karl has a big problem . . . he hasn’t made one.

Meanwhile in the bar of The White Horse Tavern in Glockheim the townspeople are gathered excitedly, tomorrow the new figure is to be unveiled, and tonight the town storyteller, Fritz, is coming to the pub to tell his latest story. They hope it will be like all his other stories full of murder and ghosts. But Fritz has a problem, he doesn’t have an ending.

As the play opens, Karl comes to the bar to drown his sorrows, but little does he know that Fritz’s story will unleash more than a few goose pimples on the back of the neck.

 

Performed at The Forum in January 2001