Pied Piper of Hamelin  

On the banks of a green river, as legend has it, there once stood the town of Hamelin. The townsfolk were hard-working and honest, and some of them became very rich. But rats began to multiply in the town, so much indeed that even the cats couldn't keep them at bay. The concerned townspeople begged the town's powerless nobles to do something, but they were just as desperate. And lo!, when danger was most dire, a piper enters the town and promises to save the city in exchange for a suitable fee.

The town's nobles quickly collected one golden coin from each of the townsfolk and offered this wealth to the piper as payment for a job well done. The piper played a curious melody, and all the rats emerged from their hidey-holes and followed him through the streets, down to the river and into the water, to be carried away by the flow.

When the saviour returned to claim his promised reward, the nobles chased him away, as they had no further need of him, and pocketed his payment into their own purses. The piper boiled over in anger and left the town, promising vengeance. When night fell, he played a magical melody that could be heard only by children. They rose from their beds and followed the mysterious virtuoso far far away, never to be seen again. Perhaps they built their own city, far away; a city with no lying, greedy men.

Fairytale contrasts, a call for ethical balancing, simple social criticism and the belief in the magical power of music all come together in the surprising theatrical language of puppet transformation, underscored by a universal sound that addresses all age groups alike.