A Shoggoth on the Roof is a
parody musical of
Fiddler on the Roof based on the
works of
H. P. Lovecraft.
Published by the
H. P. Lovecraft Historical
Society, it is credited to a member of the society who is
referred to only as "He Who (for legal reasons) Must Not Be
Named".
There have been many legal difficulties in performing "Shoggoth";
however, it was staged for the first time, in a Swedish
translation, at Miskatonicon, a H. P.
Lovecraft convention
in Sweden
, on November
4, 2005.
It was
staged for the first time in English at a games convention,
Leprecon[290278], in Ireland
on February
23, 2007. The production was organised by the Trinity College,
Dublin
Gamers Society. They avoided the legal
issues surrounding the
Fiddler on
the Roof score by using a completely new score for the
musical.
Story
The story parodies that of
Fiddler on the Roof, following the
tale of
Professor Henry
Armitage, the librarian at the fictional
Miskatonic University, and his
attempts to marry off his three daughters.
It is set in 1920s
America
.
The action
is set in the fictional town of Arkham,
Massachusetts
. The action opens in a manner reminiscent of
Fiddler, with a
shoggoth on the
roof of the Miskatonic library building. Armitage addresses the
audience, speaking of all the strange things in Arkham and its
horrific history. He then explains how a shoggoth can stay up on
"such a pointed roof": Tentacles! ("Tentacles")
Back at Armitage's house, his three daughters, Prudence, Asenath
and Jill, along with their mother Marion are cleaning. The three
daughters begin chatting and Prudence reveals that she's fallen in
love with
Herbert West, a doctor and
assistant professor at the university. Meanwhile, Armitage arrives
home, and he and Marion discuss finding a suitable husband for
Prudence. Marion suggests
Wilbur
Whately, and Armitage agrees to ask him to lunch. ("Arkham,
Dunwich") Prudence hears this and rushes off to see Herbert.
The action then moves to a graveyard, where
Randolph Carter and
Harley Warren are
discussing how best to enter an ancient tomb. A
ghoul spies on them as they break in.
Prudence and Herbert meet outside the library, and she confides in
him about her parents' plans. He exclaims that he "needs her too
much," and will ask her father for her hand in marriage.
Later that night, Jill and Asenath sneak out to visit the library,
and it is revealed that Asenath has plans to summon an
incubus. They take the
Book of Eibon from the library and summon a
byakhee. ("Byakhee, Byakhee") However, the
creature frightens them and they run away.
Meanwhile, Carter and Warren are opening the tomb, and Warren
arranges to go down and relay information to Carter via the
telephone equipment they have. He then seems nervous of actually
entering the tomb, so Carter pushes him in.
In a scene that appears to take place a few days later, Jill and
Asenath attend a ceremony at the
Esoteric Order of Dagon. The head
cultist intones a prayer to
Cthulhu and
sacrifices a victim. ("Shoggoth Prayer") Asenath seems attracted to
the cultist, and asks Jill to follow her down to the beach to watch
him. Jill, however, decides to stay, and watches
Obed Marsh, a
decrepit old man, clean up the hall. He sings to himself, wishing
he were a
Deep One. ("If I Were a Deep
One") Jill then comes out from her hiding place and chats to him.
He's attracted to her, but Jill plays hard to get, going to join
her sister.
A few days later, Armitage encounters Wilbur Whately at the
library, and asks him to go on a date with Prudence. Wilbur
accepts. ("Arkham, Dunwich - reprise") After Wilbur leaves,
however, Prudence and Herbert West come to see Armitage, and
Herbert asks his permission to marry her. He explains to Armitage
about his "great work," the reanimation of dead tissue. ("To Life")
Overwhelmed, Armitage gives his consent.
The action then returns to Carter and Warren. Carter is being
chased by a ghoul, while Warren discovers the tomb is actually
empty, except for an inscription saying "Asenath was here". They
decide to head home, but encounter Armitage on the way, who is
being attacked by ghouls on his way home. Carter and Warren fight
them off, but Armitage is still worried about how to break the news
of Herbert and Prudence's marriage to his wife. A chance remark by
Carter gives him the idea to tell his wife about a nightmare to get
her consent.
That night, Armitage and his wife are in bed, when Armitage starts
screaming and tells his wife about a nightmare he had, featuring
her Grandma Prudence and
Lavinia
Whately, saying that Prudence should marry Herbert West. ("The
Nightmare") Marion is impressed by this and agrees to marry
Prudence to Herbert.
The next day, Jill goes to visit Marsh in his shack. The two of
them talk about the Deep Ones, and they end up staring into each
other's eyes. Meanwhile, Asenath finally talks to the head cultist
at the beach, and he confesses he's fallen in love with her.
("Victim of Victims") They agree to ask Armitage's permission to
marry.
Obed Marsh and Jill ask Armitage for his blessing for them to
marry, explaining that they've fallen in love. Armitage is
horrified at the concept, but Jill explains her feelings ("Very Far
From the Home I Love"). Armitage eventually gives them his
blessing. Asenath and the head cultist then come to ask his
blessing. However, Armitage has a violent prejudice against the
cultists and refuses absolutely.
The scene then changes to Prudence and Herbert's wedding, with
almost everyone in the town present. Carter and Warren turn up, and
head to the buffet table. Asenath and the head cultist then turn
up, and they try to explain to Armitage how they're part of the
same community. ("Arkham, Dunwich - second reprise") The song is
interrupted by Wilbur Whateley, who is enraged at both being denied
Prudence and at not being invited to the wedding. He vows revenge,
and reads an incantation from the
Necronomicon to summon Cthulhu, who
appears behind the library and crushes many of the villagers. He
then eats Wilbur, and demands to know what's going on. ("Do You
Fear Me?") Cthulhu goes on a rampage, destroying the university and
killing the entire cast. He then departs, and Herbert West uses his
reanimating formula to return himself to life, as well as the rest
of the cast. They discuss what to do, now that the
Great Old Ones have returned. Armitage
explains that no matter what the Old Ones do, they can't kill
knowledge, and that knowledge is the only weapon against them.
("Miskatonic")
Songs
(As they are listed on the original cast recording)
- "Tentacles" (7:04)
- "Arkham Dunwich" (3:32)
- "Byakhee Byakhee" (3:46)
- "Shoggoth Prayer" (1:54)
- "If I Were a Deep One" (4:30)
- "To Life" (3:35)
- "The Nightmare" (7:19)
- "Victim of Victims" (1:57)
- "Very Far From The Home I Love" (2:09)
- "Do You Fear Me?" (2:46)
- "Miskatonic" (2:47)
Attempts to perform "Shoggoth"
- A
Shoggoth on the Roof was originally attempted by The Other Gods
Theatre Company in 1979 in Los Angeles
. The production imploded for reasons that
are not entirely clear. The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society have
a spoof documentary of this production on their website.
- In 2002 Chicago's Defiant Theatre contemplated a production.
They eventually pulled the plug after being threatened with
litigation.
- Additional performances have been
contemplated/attempted and/or aborted at: New York
University
's (NYU) Tisch
School of the Arts, Brandeis University
, University of Calgary
, Harvard
, Stanford
, St.
John's College, and many, many other colleges and universities
worldwide.
- The
2005 Teater Tentakel production in Stockholm and the 2007 Trinity
Gamers production in Dublin, Ireland
are so far the only known successful productions of
the show.
Lovecraftian References
References
External links
- http://www.cthulhulives.org/shoggoth - The H. P. Lovecraft
Historical Society's page about "Shoggoth"
- http://www.miskatonicon.com/eng_index.html - Miskatonicon
official website
- http://www.leprecon.ie - Trinity Gamers' Leprecon website
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