Act 1

It was a cold dark morning at Woodlands, the rain lashed down on the depressingly horizontal concrete roof as the rusty gates squeaked and squealed in the ravaging wind. 

The hallways of Woodlands are cold, dark, concrete, beige unforgiving, but for a singular stripe of red running through the center of the wall. Adding a dash of colour. 

Ringgggggggg! – The bell rattles in its shell. 

Mr Mardy confidently struts into the room, old and wise, he has black and grey hair with a pointed beard, short in stature. He shouts: ‘Good morning class!’ The class respond in unison: ‘Good Morning Mr Mardy!’ 

Mr Mardy says: ‘I will just go through a register to make sure everyone is here’. 

Mr Mardy: ‘Rufus!’ 

Rufus: ‘Yes!’ 

Mr Mardy: ‘Charlie!’

Charlie: ‘Yeap’ 

Mr Mardy: ‘Billy!’ 

Mr Marty – ‘Where’s billy?’

Cooper shouts from the back: ‘He left sir!’

Darcy: ‘Oh, I didn’t know that’. 

Cooper: ‘I’m still here sir!’ 

Mr Mardy: ‘Ah yes, thank you Cooper’ 

Mr Mardy continues his register. 

Lola! Yisss

Feliz! Si!

Mr Mardy: ‘Okay, so in today’s class, because of your terrible performance, you’ll be learning how to be teacher’s pets’. 

Rufus shouts: ‘why should we want to do that!’

Mr Mardy: ‘Because, you’ve been led astray, and I’m here to help you!’. 

Mr Mardy: ‘Now, first lesson. Always sit and listen when the teacher…

Rufus whispers to Cooper, ‘can you see that bird?’

Cooper: ‘Oh yea, wonder what he’s doing’. 

Mr Mardy creeps up to them and shouts at them ….. ‘is speaking! Pay attention you two!’. 

Rufus: ‘Sorry Sir!’

Mr Mardy: ‘Second lesson: It’s important to turn in your assignments on time’. 

Lola: ‘But sometimes I lose the assignment sir!’. 

Mr Mardy: ‘How can you lose the assignment Lola?’

Lola: ‘I don’t know, sometimes I can’t find it’. 

Mr Mardy replies in exasperation: ‘Just keep your focus Lola’. 

Mr Mardy ‘Okay, lesson 3 — always respond to a question’.

Cooper: ‘No sir!’

Mr Mardy: ‘Good Cooper, but that wasn’t a question’

Charlie: ‘What if I don’t know the answer?’

Mr Mardy: ‘Just have a go, at least try – making the effort is a good sign and people appreciate that’.  

Mr Mardy: ‘Okay – Lesson 4, always be nice, this is very important, no one likes a fight starter’. 

Mr Mardy: ‘and finally lesson 5, be yourself’. 

The rusty bell rings out, and everyone rushes to leave the room. 

Mr Mardy shouts over them: ‘Okay, that’s enough for today, remember everything I told you!’. 

Rufus: ‘Bye bye Mr Mardy!’

Lola: ‘Bye Mards!’ 

Feliz: ‘Adios, señor’.’

Mr Mardy: ‘Bye everyone, Adios Feliz’. 

Act 2

It was a beautiful day at Houndsville High School, Olivia a teacher herself is sat with her daughter Trinity at a parent’s evening. Trinity’s teacher Mrs Able speaks in a concerned tone: ‘I don’t know what is going on, Trinity’s grades are falling, she needs to do better!’.

Trinity and Olivia leave the school and walk back to the car. Olivia turns to Trinity and talks to her in an earnest tone: ‘Are you okay Trinity? Why are your grades falling like this?’. 

Trinity says ‘it’s fine, I don’t want to talk about it’.

Olivia: ‘But we have to talk about it, it can’t go on like this’. 

Trinity sulks and slides into her shoulder pressed against the car door. 

Olivia: ‘I love you trinity, please tell me’. 

Trinity: ‘I’m really sad mum, I’m sad I lost my friend’. 

Olivia: ‘Alice? I know honey, but I can’t do anything about it’. 

Trinity: ‘She always listened to me, and we could do things together, we could go out, have fun, smile, she was always there for me’. 

‘Now, i’m just sat at home, it’s difficult to make new friends’. 

Olivia: ‘Oh I know honey, it can take time…’

‘Let’s go home we can talk about it some more and try and do something to help’. 

As Olivia and Trinity are driving back, Olivia notices the sign for Woodlands. 

She says: ‘Hmmmm, Trinny we’re going to take a detour’. 

Their car pulls up, trinity looks out of the window to see the flat concrete roof of Woodlands. 

Trinny says to her mum Olivia: ‘What is this place?’ 

Olivia say’s: ‘you’ll see’.

They open the door to the hallway, the receptionists ‘Anna’ greets them. An elderly and enthusiastic lady with spectacles like magnifying glasses. 

Anna: ‘Hey there folks, nice to meet ya and see ya, welcome to Woodlands!’ 

‘I suppose you’re ere for a reason?’

‘Let me show you around!’

She opens the door to the dark concrete hallway. 

They walk down the corridor, Anna says – ‘it’s nice to have you here, we don’t get many new faces coming, they stop suddenly, and turns to Trinity and says: ‘so I’d like you to meet Mr Mardy’. 

Trinity looks 

Mr Mardy sits upright, his thick shiny black and grey coat on show, he howls down the corridor.   

Anna: ‘He’s getting on, but there’s life in the old dog yet’. 

Why is he called Mr Mardy? 

Anna: ‘Ah well, when he first came here, he was always bad tempered’, she laughs, ‘so we called him Mr Mardy, now he’s better’. 

Anna: ‘This next one, his name is Rufus, thank god he’s asleep, he’s usually running around like a mad man’. 

Anna: ‘Next is Charlie’ 

Trinity leans down and says ‘hello Charlie’, Charlie responds ‘Howwooooooooo!’ 

Anna: ‘Haha, he doesn’t usually do that’. 

Anna: ‘This is Lola, she’s really nice, she used to be terrible at fetching things, now she’s amazing haha’. 

They move on to the next cage, Anna Continues ‘this is Feliz, he’s a Spanish Terrier also known as a Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz, he always looks happy and of course he is Spanish, so Feliz’. 

Anna turns to Trinity and asks: ‘So Trinity, what do you think?’

Trinity smiles, ‘I have an idea’.

Act 3 

The next day at woodlands, the bell rings and Mr Mardy walks into his class: ‘Good morning all!, how are we doing?’

Class: ‘Morning Mr Mardy!’ 

M’r Mardy: I’ll just go through the register:

Mr Mardy: ‘Rufus!’ 

Rufus: ‘Yes!’ 

Mr Mardy: ‘Charlie!’

Charlie: ‘Yeap’ 

Billy! 

Mr Mardy – ‘Where’s billy?’

Cooper shouts from the back ‘He left sir!’

Darcy: ‘Oh, yes sorry I forgot’

Cooper: ‘I’m still here sir!’

Darcy: ‘yes you are Cooper’ 

Mr Mardy continues his register. 

Lola! 

Feliz: 'Lola has left Señor Mardy'

Mr Mardy: 'Well… didn’t I tell you, being a teacher’s pet isn’t a bad thing at all'. 

Mr Mardy: ‘Okay Class let’s Continue!’