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By Julita and Maggie
The play THE WIZ, performed by 7th form, is based on a very famous American story called The Wizard of Oz. Our reporters tell us the true story
Written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow, The Wizard of Oz is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture thanks to the movie that, in 1939, made Judy Garland famous.
The story is about a girl, Dorothy, who lived in Kansas, on a farm with her uncle, her aunt and her dog, Toto. One day their house was caught up in a tornado and the poor girl was taken to the country of the Munchkins. The falling house killed the Wicked Witch of the East.
The Good Witch of the North greeted Dorothy and gave her the pair of shoes the Wicked Witch of the East was wearing when she died and told her that to return to Kansas, she had to go to “Emerald City” and ask the Wizard of Oz to help her.
On her way to “Emerald City”, Dorothy found the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion and convinced them to go with her to see the Wizard. Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, courage. He agreed to help them only if they kill the Wicked Witch of the West, who ruled over the Winkie country.
The Wicked Witch sent them a lot of obstacles, but the travellers managed to pass them. Finally, she summoned the Winged Monkeys using the power of the Golden Cap and told them to capture them. And they did it.
When the insatiable witch took one of Dorothy´s shoes, the little girl grabbed a bucket of water and threw it at her. She began to melt. The Winged Monkeys had been under a spell which was now broken, they were free. The Winkies loved the Tin Man and asked him to become their ruler which he agreed to after helping Dorothy to return to Kansas.
The Wizard said to the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion that what they lacked weren’t brains or a heart or courage, but faith in themselves. Then he realized that to be able to return home, Toto and Dorothy (helped by the others) would have to create a hot air balloon. Revealing himself to the people of “Emerald City”, the Wizard told Scarecrow to rule in his stead.
When they were on the balloon, Toto ran after a kitten in the crowd. Before Dorothy could stop him, the ropes broke leaving the Wizard to rise and float away alone.
The Winged Monkeys had an idea: the Good Witch of the South might be able to send Dorothy and Toto home. On their way to meet the Good Witch of the South (Glinda), they encountered a gigantic spider which was terrorizing the animals in a forest, and the Cowardly Lion killed it. Afterwards he agreed to return there to rule them.
When Dorothy finally got there, the witch told her that she had the power to go home. The silver shoes she wore could take her anywhere she wished to go. She hugged her friends, who would return to their respective kingdoms: the Scarecrow to “Emerald City”, the Tin Man to Winkie country, and the Cowardly Lion to the forest. Then she gave the Cap to the Winged Monkeys’ king so they would never be under its spell again.
Dorothy and Toto returned to Kansas. The silver shoes were lost during Dorothy’s flight and were never seen again.
