COMING UP:

The Scarecrow Girl

This story is set in Sweden, in the 1950s. The main character is a 15-year-old girl called Loella. She and her two younger brothers, Conrad and Rudolph, live in an isolated house in the woods. Loella has never met her father and now her mother is leaving too. There are great job shortages in Sweden and Loella´s mother is going to try her luck in the United States.

However, this leaves Loella with the huge task of looking after her brothers on her own. As long as their neighbours Cousin Carl and his brother David are able to visit them every once in a while, and bring them provisions, this is a tough but not impossible job. Unfortunately, Carl then has an accident that leaves him incapable of looking after Loella and her brothers in person. David still visits sometimes but he is only a boy of Loella´s age.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Loella´s mother has charged a friend of hers, Agda Lundkvist, with the job of looking after Loella´s two brothers. Agda isn´t very enthusiastic about the task and has delayed her visit to Loella for as long as she could. But because Loella´s mother is paying her, she can´t possibly refuse. When she does go to see Loella, Loella refuses to let her brothers go. The local authorities have to come down to the house in the woods to place Conrad and Rudolph in Agda´s care by force and take Loella to an orphanage in the nearby city.

Troubled by her parent’s abandonment and by having to take care of her playful young brothers without money, Loella escapes into her fantasy world. She has found a replacement father in Papa Pellerin, a scarecrow in the fields near her house. She brings him food and clothes, and talks to him about her troubles. He really is her only friend, because she doesn´t appreciate any comments on her present state from either strangers or acquaintances. To her new class mates in the city she keeps up the pretence that she does have loving parents, to the extent that she even buys them Christmas gifts.

Loella´s fantasies take on wilder and wilder shapes as she envisages her father´s return. But time flies, and even when Cousin Carl recovers and Loella and her brothers are reunited in their house in the woods, she keeps hoping that her father might one day return…

About Us

Founded in 1999, Networks Theatre has always been a place of both education and entertainment. The theatre programme at Networks English Studies academy began by educator Lee Alexander and theatre professional Nick Moore has been home to well over 110 shows in its unique history.

Networks Theatre! It’s not just a youth theatre; it’s not just a language school.  Thanks to our talented team, dedicated to the artistic designs, costumes, choreography, light and sound settings that enhance the stage experience, Networks Theatre has become a home for superb theatre with a reputation for excellence across the region.

Welcome to the home of theatre in English in Orihuela, Networks Theatre.

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