Visual Story A visual resource for children and adults with

Autism, Asperger’s, Sensory Processing Disorder and associated conditions.

This resource is intended to help prepare any visitors for a new experience and to help them to become familiar with the show,

surroundings and situation.

The Show

The show lasts for approx. 50 mins and does not have an interval.

There are 2 performers in the show. One of the performers plays the part of the boy and the other performer is the elephant. The elephant is a big puppet that is attached to the performer.

The show has recorded music and songs.

Synopsis

What’s big, blue, bossy, and turns up uninvited?

A slightly annoying elephant, of course! One day Sam gets a very big surprise as a tired, hungry, antique-loving, cycling enthusiast elephant turns up on his doorstep. Adopting an elephant at the zoo turned out to be a lot more than he bargained for as he didn’t realise the elephant would actually come to live with him – silly boy!

This hilarious story by comedian and author David Walliams is brought to life through puppetry.

Characters

The boy is played by one of the performers.

The Elephant is played by another performer wearing an Elephant puppet suit.

Sam—The boy

The elephants that come to visit are

represented by elephant masks

The Slightly Annoying Elephant

The performer who plays Sam also

plays the part of the Zoo Keeper and

the Airline Steward.

The Show

In this section special alerts are written in blue ink.

Play Notes

When you enter the auditorium this is how the stage is set. Music is playing in the background.

When it’s time for the show to start the lights get darker.

We hear a voice off stage.

Sam is saying bye to his mum.

Sam comes onto the stage.

He is all alone. He reaches

for the biscuit tin and puts the

TV on.

The TV makes squeaky

cartoon music and noises as

Sam settles down to watch.

There is a knock on the door.

Sam freezes. Music starts and

he sings a song about who

might be at the door.

During the song we hear

knocking and ringing noises as

the person at the door keeps

trying to get in.

Sam goes to see who it is at the door.

We hear his voice offstage as he opens

the door. He comes back into the room

carrying a large case. Following behind

him is an elephant!

The elephant finds it hard to squeeze

through the door! Sam has to help him.

He pulls him and falls to the floor.

After lots of squeezing and pulling the

elephant finally gets in by folding his ears.

Once he’s in the house he crashes

around .

The elephant turns – Sam ducks. He turns again, Sam ducks. The elephant follows Sam round. He nearly trips on the beanbag, but Sam picks it up. He knocks the shelf and it wobbles. He nearly knocks the lamp, but Sam rescues it. He backs up and knocks the picture frame. Sam straightens the frame as the elephant teeters towards the kitchen. He teeters back. He teeters over the audience with his head and then his backside. He loses one ear, then the next. He loses one foot, it reattaches to his hand. He loses the other and it reattaches to his hand. He twirls and then stops facing forward,

jigging his legs.

Once he has settled down the elephant

announces that he needs the toilet. Sam

shows him where to go

The elephant goes off and we hear loud

toilet noises!

When he comes out of the toilet he

sneezes loudly and calls Sam by his name.

Sam doesn’t know how the elephant

knows his name. The Elephant shouts

“Silly Boy!’ and the lights go darker.

They swirl around and the lights flash and

we see a flashback scene at the Zoo

where Sam is adopting an elephant. The

sneaky elephant puts his trunk through

the shelf to change the wording on the

contract!

The elephant shouts “Silly Boy!” again the

lights flash and the performers swirl

around and the scene returns to Sam's

house.

Sam asks the elephant how he got here.

The elephant shouts “On a plane of

course—Silly boy!”

The lights flash and the performers swirl

around and we see the elephant on the

plane while an air steward tries to work

out how to sit him in a plane seat! It is

darker on the plane.

Back at the house the elephant

decides he needs a shower!

Sam helps him with his bath hat and

he showers behind a curtain. As he

showers the lights turn blue and real

bubbles float out from behind the

shower curtain,

The elephant sings a song while he is

showering.

Now that the elephant is clean he wants

something to eat. While Sam is in the

kitchen the elephant pokes his trunk

through a gap in the shelves.

Sam mixes all the things the elephant

likes that he can find into one big bowl.

Music plays as he mixes the mismatched

ingredients together. The elephant

tastes it with a slurp and finds it

disgusting! They add ketchup, which

makes all the difference! The elephant

slurps it up hungrily.

The Elephant wants a nap! He goes off

to Sam’s bedroom and we can hear

loud snoring! Sam sings a song about

all the things he has done that have

been hard, but he’s not sure any of

them have been as hard as having an

elephant for a house guest!

During the song the snoring increases

and the walls of the house start to

wobble!

The elephant returns from his nap and

decides he wants to watch TV. His

favourite antiques programme is on!

He settles into the beanbag and turns on

the TV. After a few moments he falls

asleep and starts snoring again. Sam

steals the remote to turn over the

channel to watch cartoons but the

elephant wakes up! This happens twice,

but after the second time the elephant

decides it is time to do some exercise!

The elephant wants to borrow Sam’s bike.

Sam is worried because it’s his new bike

and the elephant is much too big for it!

The elephant tells Sam he was in the tour

de France. Lights flash and we see a

flashback of the elephant riding in the

tour de France.

The elephant cycles off on Sam’s bike.

As he rides off he toots the bike horn

and shouts “weeeeeeee!”

We hear crashes and smashes and dogs

barking and cats yowling and the

elephant cycles around offstage.

Sam listens while all of this is going on,

worrying about his bike.

Finally we hear a screech and a crash

and a jangling sound. Sam rushes out.

Sam comes back onto the stage holding

just a wheel and the handle bars of his

new bike. The elephant has crashed it!

The Elephant decides that he needs to

do some more exercise. He asks Sam

to get his exercise gear out of the case

and he puts it on. He begins his

exercise routine.

He sings a song while he exercises and

makes Sam join in with him as he jumps

and crunches.

When his exercise session ends the

Elephant tells Sam he needs to go and

make himself presentable, but he

doesn’t tell him what for.

Sam takes the opportunity of some peace

and quiet to sit down on the beanbag

and watch some television. He turns

on cartoons.

Just as he is beginning to relax there

is a knock at the door. Sam starts

singing the door knocking song again.

He goes to the door. It’s another

elephant! There are 12 knocks and

12 elephants arrive at the house with

their suitcases —They’ve all been

invited to stay by the first elephant!

Sam is getting desperate! He tries to find

the adoption certificate from the zoo.

He searches around the house.

He continues to search. He is determined he is going to find that certificate. He is sure it didn’t say anything about houseguests. He eventually finds it. He reads it aloud. The certificate says that Sam has successfully adopted an elephant and that he also consents to the elephant coming to live in his house and inviting all his elephant friends to stay. Sam drops the certificate in disbelief. The first elephant re-enters. He tells Sam he should have read the small print and shouts silly boy! The lights flash and the Elephant laughs and trumpets. The lights go out.

This is the end of the show.

The lights come back on again and music

plays and the performers take a bow.

You can clap them if you want to.

We hope you enjoyed the show!