The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase.

The play (originally a book) is set in 1832 England.

Lady Green (Bonnie's mother) is in poor health and so Sir Willoughby is to take her on a trip for her to recover. As they are to be gone for a while, Sir Willoughby takes in a distant relative Miss Slighcarp to be her governess. When Bonnie's parents leave, Miss Slighcarp's true colours come to light, she is a mean and frightening lady. Bonnie's cousin Sylvia is also brought from London to stay at the chase with her. The plan of Miss Slighcarp to send the girls off and take over the chase starts and she takes them to an orphan school in Blastburn run by her friend, Gertrude Brisket. The girls end up escaping with the help from Simon, they go to Mr Wilderness to help Sylvia recover from her weak state. They travel to London and the true plans of Slighcarp, Grimshaw and Brisket are shown to other characters (Gripe). They travel back to the chase to find that it has been turned into a school with children locked in dungeons (Emma). Although it is believed Sir Willoughby and Lady Green have died on the boat that sunk, they arrive in the scene and Slighcarp and Brisket are arrested and punished for their crimes. (Grimshaw was arrested in London). Sir Willoughby decides to keep open the school but for good causes and everyone goes to sleep. The End.


Relationships:
I think the main theme that is explored within the play is relationships. There are many different relationships that are shown within the play, such as Bonnie and Sylvia or Mr Grimshaw and Miss Slighcarp.

The relationship between the two girls is very clear from the moment they meet. Bonnie is very happy to have someone else around and the two very quickly become best friends or more like sisters. They look out for each other throughout the play and especially through the evil doings of Miss Slighcarp. 

Another is the relationship between Slighcarp and the girls, it is very clear that neither of them like each other. Slighcarp is very self absorbed and all she cares is about the money that she can scam out of Sir Willoughby. This relationship is one that doesn't go right from the very start and the girls know how evil Slighcarp is, therefore showing how they (later in the book) end up in London and actually get the help to catch Slighcarp for her evil plans.

The girls' relationship with Simon is another one you see at different points in the play. To the girls Simon is a good friend, almost big brother to them. He looks after the girls when the wolves are near, he gets them away from Briskets school and then also when he is taking Sylvia to Mr Wilderness for help. 

Lastly the relationship between Grimshaw and Slighcarp is very powerful. Slighcarp holds a lot of authority and power over Grimshaw. She is the one that decides when things are to be done and what is to happen. You can see that the relationship between the two is mostly one sided with Grimshaw just following her lead. This relationship however is very different from what it would of been like in the real 1832, men were the more dominant gender and women would not spoke until they were spoken to. 


Metaphor:
The main metaphor for me within the play is the cheese. It stands for greed, not only with Brisktet but also Slighcarp. 

Slighcarp is a very greedy character when it comes to the power and wealth within the play. She wants to authority and power to do what she wants. As her time at the chase goes on, it becomes clear that she is very greedy and wants nothing but it. You can see this in the scene where they have found the will. She is questioning Grimshaw about things that may cause a problem and making sure her plans go right. 

Briskets metaphoric greed also goes with her name. Both being food items and with the fact she is always eating. This is shown a few times, one being when she first meets Bonnie and Sylvia, she is picking cheese out of her pocket and shoving it into her mouth. Another is when the children have done the cheese alphabet for the school inspector, her line is something like "here at the Brisket Blasturn Academy For Girls, concentrate on the three R's; reading, writing and really tasty snacks". The metaphor is not only greed for food when it comes to Brisket as it is clear that she also wants power and by running the school the way she does, it is achieving what she wants. Plus she is getting into the plans of Slighcarp and Grimshaw which means she will gain more power if their plans go right. 

Another metaphor within the play is the wolves. I think they represent the evil within some of the characters; Slighcarp, Brisket and Grimshaw. 

Fiction:
"once upon a time that never was
in 1832
in the reign of king James lll"

This opening bit of chorus gives the audience the first bit of knowledge that this play is fictional and that the events or facts aren't actually true.  An example would be the "in the reign of king james lll", this wasn't true and in actual face the real king of the time was William IV who was on the throne from 26 June 1830 till his death 20 June 1837. 

There are many other things within the play that seem to be untrue. The channel tunnel was not open in 1932, with it only opening over 150 years later 1994. Which would mean that there was no chance of the wolves passing through. This fictional point is the main point to the story, as the wolves represent the evil but also show the dangers of what is happening within the play.