Notandi:Gottskálk/sandbox

The Message Pouch – The Musical

The Message Pouch is an Icelandic fairy-tale musical. Story and lyrics by Þorvaldur Þorsteinsson (1960 – 2013); Music and additional lyrics by Jóhann G. Jóhannsson (1955). The musical is based on Þorsteinsson's book Skilaboðaskjóðan (The Message Pouch) 1986. It was premiered at The National Theatre of Iceland in 1993 to rave reviews, and revived in 2007 with two additional musical numbers. It has also been staged by many smaller theatre companies outside Reykjavik. The musical is intended for children and at the same time well suited for the parents because of the many-levelled humour and catchy melodies. A CD recording with the music and a narrator was made with the first production cast in 1993 and is still popular in Iceland. The musical has been translated to German and English, the lyrics however, as far as the English translation goes, have been translated for content only (not for singing).

The Message Pouch is a two-hour musical requiring 14 actors, a singing/acting boy who looks 8-10 years old, and a small group of young singers. The original score for the theatre pit calls for 7 musicians (4 multi-wood wind players, contrabass, percussion and piano-conductor). The score includes an overture and 15 songs.

A brief synopsis

The story takes place in the Enchanted Forest where little Puck lives with his mother, seamstress Mammaline, who takes care of all the sewing and mending in the forest. When the terrible Night-Troll abducts the boy and locks him up in his cave up in the Troll Mountain the well known fairy-tale characters join forces and set out to rescue him before the Troll changes him into a Troll-doll. When the evil riff-raff of the Enchanted Forest - the Wolf, the Witch and the Wicked Stepmother - refuse to lend a hand the remaining residents of the forest, e.g. Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and the witty Dwarves, succeed in freeing little Puck and turning the Troll into stone by using the magical message bag, from which the work gets its name, The Message Pouch (Icelandic: Skilaboðaskjóðan).

A Concert Version

A concert-performance version of the work with the composer's new orchestrations was performed by The Iceland Symphony Orchestra in Harpa in September 2013 with four singers/narrators and a girls' choir.