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 The Neverending Story
(Atreyu and the Great Quest)

Based upon the novel by

MICHAEL ENDE

Adapted for the stage by

DAVID S. CRAIG

Dramatic Publishing Company

Woodstock, Illinois ● Australia ● New Zealand ● South Africa

FOR AUTHORIZED DIGITAL USE ONLY

 *** NOTICE ***
The amateur and stock acting rights to this work are controlled exclu-
sively by THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY without whose
permission in writing no performance of it may be given. Royalty must
be paid every time a play is performed whether or not it is presented for
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or we may be contacted by mail at: DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COM-
PANY, 311 Washington St., Woodstock IL 60098.

COPYRIGHT LAW GIVES THE AUTHOR OR THE AUTHOR’S

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For performance of any songs, music and recordings mentioned in this

play which are in copyright, the permission of the copyright owners
must be obtained or other songs and recordings in the public domain
substituted.

©MMX by
DAVID S. CRAIG
Based upon the book The Neverending Story by
MICHAEL ENDE
Printed in the United States of America
All Rights Reserved
(THE NEVERENDING STORY)

ISBN: 978-1-58342-697-5

FOR AUTHORIZED DIGITAL USE ONLY

IMPORTANT BILLING AND CREDIT REQUIREMENTS
All producers of the play must give credit to Michael Ende as the author
of the book and David S. Craig as dramatizer of the play in all programs
distributed in connection with performances of the play and in all in-
stances in which the title of the play appears for purposes of advertising,
publicizing or otherwise exploiting the play and/or a production. The
name of Michael Ende must also appear on a separate line, on which no
other name appears, immediately following the title, and must appear in
size of type not less than fifty percent (50%) the size of the title type.
The name of David S. Craig must also appear on a separate line, on
which no other name appears, immediately following the name of Mi-
chael Ende, and must appear in size of type not less than twenty-five per-
cent (25%) the size of Michael Ende. Biographical information on Mi-
chael Ende and David S. Craig, if included in the playbook, may be used
in all programs. In all programs this notice must appear:

“Produced by special arrangement with

THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois”
In addition, all producers of the play must include the following ac -
knowledgments on the title page of all programs distributed in connection
with performances of the play and on all advertising and promotional ma-
terials:

“The Neverending Story was first commissioned and produced

by Imagination Stage, Janet Stanford, artistic director, and the
Seattle Children’s Theatre, Linda Hartzell, artistic director.”

“The stage adaptation of The Neverending Story has been

authorized by Verlag fur Kindertheater Uwe,
Weitendorf, Hamburg.”

FOR AUTHORIZED DIGITAL USE ONLY

PRODUCTION HISTORY

The Neverending Story was commissioned in 2006 by

Imagination Stage (Janet Stanford, artistic director) and the
Seattle Children’s Theatre (Linda Hartzell, artistic director).

It was subsequently produced in the 2007/2008 season as

follows:

West Coast Premiere: Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle,

Wash., December 7, 2007.

Rockeater/Cairon/Troll/Falkor . . . . . . . . . . . . Hans Altwies

Bastian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabriel Baron
Nighthob/Childlike Empress . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Chisholm
Teacher/Witch/Morla/Uyulala . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa Estridge
Dad/Gmork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bradford Farwell
FairyAdult/Ygramul/Urgl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Harlett
Bookseller/Chancellor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Timothy Hyland
Caretaker/Artax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chad Jennings
Atreyu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Place

Directed by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Bennett

Scenic Design by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carey Wong
Costume Design by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Catherine Hunt
Puppets designed and built by . . . . . . . . Douglas N. Paasch

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East Coast Premiere: Imagination Stage, Bethesda, Md.,
June 28, 2008.

Bookseller/Nighthob/Falkor . . . . . . . . Michael John Casey

Attendant/Childlike Empress . . . . . . . . . . . Mollie Clement
Bully/Sassafranian/Morla/Urgl . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Garner
Artax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Lawrence
Bastian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Nguyen-Mason
Gmork/Cairon/Engywook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carl Randolph
Father/Caretaker/Chancellor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark R. Ross

Directed by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janet Stanford

Scenic Design by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Conroy
Costume Design by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathleen Geldhard
Puppets designed and built by . . . . . . . . . . . Eric Van Wyk

The playwright acknowledges Roseneath Theatre and The

Canadian Stage Company in the development of this script.

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 Praise for The Neverending Story

“The Neverending Story is a perfect balance of stunning

visual displays, clear and concise plot and engaging
performances.”
—Bess Rowan, HuffingtonPost.com

“Neverending thrills … Considering the high caliber of the

adaptation, it should come as no surprise to learn that it is
the handiwork of David S. Craig.”
—John Coulburn, Toronto Sun

“We just wrapped our two-week run of The Neverending

Story to great acclaim and the appreciation of our little
community … No one was prepared for the emotional
roller coaster that the playwright had so expertly woven
into the adaptation for this production … It all started with
a really, really good script.”
—Mike Sokol, Greer Cultural Arts Council, Greer, S.C.

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 THE NEVERENDING STORY

CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)

* indicates characters in the real world. All other characters

live in Fantastica.
ACT ONE

* Bastian, a boy of ten

* Bastian’s Father
* Bully #1
* Bully #2
* Bully #3
* The Bookseller
* Gmork (in human form)
* Pedestrians (3)
* The Caretaker
* Teacher (voice only)
* The Bat in the school attic (puppet)
Gmork, a werewolf
Purple Buffalo (3 - one of whom speaks)
Atreyu, a young hunter (ah-TREY’-you)
Artax, a horse (R’-tax)
An Elder of Atreyu’s people
Cairon, a centaur (KAE’-ron)
Eribo, a small man with a sword, in a balloon (eh-REE’-bo)
A Sassafranian adult (played by a child) (sass-a-FRAY’-knee-n)
Sassafranian children (2 - played by adults)
A Troll
The Purple Buffalo (Atreyu’s Dream)
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Morla the Ancient One (MOR’-la
Falkor, a Luck Dragon (FALL’-core)
Ygramul the Many, a large spider-like creature (played by 3 or
more actors) (ee-GRAH’-mull)

ACT TWO

Engywook (ENG’-gee-wuk), a gnome

Urgl (RRR’-gull), his wife
Uyulala (you-you-LA’-la), a being of sound and light
Geese (birds played by puppets or people)
The Four Winds - Lirr (LEER), Baureo (BOW’-ree-oh), Sheerek
(SHE’-wreck) and Mayestrel (MAY’-est-ruhl)
Maya’s Entourage
The Childlike Empress

Other Pronunciations: The Auryn (OAR’-in), Ende (EN’-day).

Set: In writing the play, the playwright has imagined two ele-
vated towers framing the acting area stage left and right. The
stage right structure represents the Caretaker’s broom closet be-
low and Bastian’s attic above. The stage left structure is also a
two-storey structure where Atreyu hides at the end of Act One
and where Engywook has his observatory in Act Two. In a
semicircle (extending upstage) between these structures are
hung two layers of curtains, one light and the other dark. The
dark curtain emerges through the light, pushed by actors off-
stage, when the Nothing is active. The light curtains droop and
fall as the Nothing consumes more and more of Fantastica.

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 THE NEVERENDING STORY

PROLOGUE

(A bare stage.
We hear a drum call. Others respond. Soon the air is
filled with the thunder of drumming.
The drummers enter, moving downstage or through the
audience. They begin to shout, encouraging one another.
The sound reaches a climax. The drumming ends with a
crash and a shout.
A thunder clap. Lightning. Rain.
The drummers fade away.)

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FOR AUTHORIZED DIGITAL USE ONLY
 ACT ONE

SCENE ONE: Bastian’s Dad

(Lights up on BASTIAN’s FATHER standing motion-

less in front of an ironing board. BASTIAN enters the
light dressed in a private school uniform carrying a
book.)

BASTIAN (gently). Father… (louder) Father!

FATHER. Yes, Bastian.
BASTIAN. I think you may be burning my shirt.

(The FATHER lifts up a shirt with an iron-shaped

burn.)

FATHER. Well look at that.

BASTIAN. It’s OK.
FATHER. No it’s not. It’s ruined.
BASTIAN. I’ve got another one.
FATHER. You do?
BASTIAN. I’m wearing it. See?
FATHER. Well then…
BASTIAN. Were you thinking about Mom?
FATHER. Yes. She always did the ironing, remember?
BASTIAN. And when she ironed, she sang.
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12 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

FATHER. Did she ever. Even when she was sick she
sang and sang… I’ve made your lunch.
BASTIAN. Do I have to go to school today?
FATHER. Of course. Is there anything wrong?
BULLY #1. Hey, Bastian.
BULLY #2. Come on out.
BULLY #3. We’re waiting.
BASTIAN. Oh no. I just thought maybe we could, you
know, have a mental health day. You could sit in
your chair and I could read you some of this amazing
book.
FATHER. We don’t have time for books, Bastian. I
have to work and you have to go to school.
BASTIAN. It’s just one day.
FATHER. But it’s not “just one day,” is it? It’s every
day. These books are filling your mind with fantasy
and make believe and it’s not good for you. Real
things. Useful things. That’s what’s important. For
both of us.
BASTIAN. OK.
FATHER. Good boy. (BASTIAN turns to go.) Bastian.
(The FATHER holds up his book bag.) Lunch.
BASTIAN. Thanks.
FATHER (as he exits). And don’t try and come home
early. I’ll be here all day.

(The lights widen. The BULLIES move forward.)

BULLY #3. Look who’s here.

BULLY #2. Baby Bastian.
BULLY #1. What’cha reading, Bastian, huh?
BULLY #2. What’cha reading?

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 13

BULLY #3. What’cha reading?

BULLY #1. What’cha read ing? (He snatches BAS-
TIAN’s book.)
BASTIAN. Give it back!
BULLY #3. Ooo. Look. He talked.
BULLY #2. Talk to yourself like ya do at school.
BULLY #1. He talks to himself?
BULLY #2. All the time. Don’t’cha, baby? (He pushes
BASTIAN.)
BULLY #1. That’s sick. (He pushes BASTIAN.)
BULLY #2. Sick lit tle baby. (He pushes BAS TIAN
down.)
BULLY #3. Hey! Leave the poor guy alone. He needs
help. He needs a little “solitary confinement.”
BASTIAN. No!

(BASTIAN manages to dodge between two of the BUL-

LIES who collide. BASTIAN runs. The BULLIES give
chase.)

BULLIES. Ow! Way to go! He’s getting away! Get him!

(Lights up on the bookstore. BASTIAN runs through

the door. A jingly bell rings as he enters. BASTIAN
hides behind the door as the BULLIES run past.)

BULLIES (cont’d). He went down here. C’mon! Get

him! Wait for me!

(The BULLIES exit. BASTIAN stands motionless.)

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14 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

SCENE TWO: The Bookseller

(The lights come up on a large, high-back chair behind

a desk made entirely of books. The chair is facing up-
stage, concealing its occupant. A small cloud of smoke
appears from behind the chair and then a voice.)

BOOKSELLER. Either come in or go out but whatever

you do, close the door!

(BASTIAN does so. A bell jangles. The chair spins

around revealing the BOOKSELLER. He is a rotund
man with ferocious whiskers. He is smoking a huge,
hooked pipe.)

BOOKSELLER. Good grief! A child! A youth! A juve-

nile! What are you doing in my store?
BASTIAN. The door was open.
BOOKSELLER. And because the door was open you
thought you could just walk right in?
BASTIAN. Yes sir.
BOOKSELLER. Then you can just walk back out.
BASTIAN. Please sir. Let me stay a little longer.
BOOKSELLER. Stay?! Listen, “sonny.” I don’t like
“children.” Oh I know it’s popular to think children
are the most wonderful creatures in the world but as
far as I’m concerned they’re good for nothing except
screaming, whining, breaking, tearing and smearing
books with jam. See all these wonderful books? Not
one for “children.” What’s the point? Children don’t
read anymore. They just sit and watch television un-
til their brains dry up and then play video games un-

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 15

til their thumbs fall off. So now that we understand

each other, close your mouth, turn around and get
out! (The BOOKSELLER turns back to his desk. BAS-
TIAN goes to speak.) And close the door behind you!

(BASTIAN walks slowly back toward the door, stops,

and then summoning all his courage turns back.)

BASTIAN. Not all children are like that.

(A clap of thunder. The BOOKSELLER turns slowly.)

BOOKSELLER (menacing). What did you say?

BASTIAN. I said not all children are like…like what
you said.
BOOKSELLER. And I suppose you’re different.
BASTIAN. Yes sir. I like books.
BOOKSELLER. You like them?
BASTIAN. No. I love them.
BOOKSELLER. Which ones?
BASTIAN. Well…I don’t love math books. I love books
about heroes that take me to faraway lands.
BOOKSELLER. What’s your name?
BASTIAN. Bastian Balthazar Bux.
BOOKSELLER. Interesting. Three B’s. My name is
Carl Conrad Coreander.
BASTIAN. Three C’s.
BOOKSELLER. Precisely. Why did you come in here?
BASTIAN. I was running.
BOOKSELLER. From the police?
BASTIAN. No sir. From bullies.

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16 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

BOOKSELLER. Bullies! Ha! Did you give them a good

punch in the nose?
BASTIAN. No sir.
BOOKSELLER. Why not?
BASTIAN. “Fighting doesn’t solve anything.”
BOOKSELLER. Oh please…
BASTIAN. They were bigger than me.
BOOKSELLER. But you still have a voice. Why didn’t
you talk back at them?
BASTIAN. I tried that but they threw me into a dump-
ster and tied down the lid.
BOOKSELLER. So now you’re frightened.
BASTIAN. Yes.
BOOKSELLER. And you run away.
BASTIAN. Yes.
BOOKSELLER. And you’re no good for anything.
BASTIAN (weakly). I can read.
BOOKSELLER. But can you read all night, under your
blankets, with a flashlight, hiding from your parents
because they have some ridiculous notion that you
need a good night’s sleep?
BASTIAN. Yes.
BOOKSELLER. And do you cry, real tears, when a
story comes to an end, because you’ll never see the
characters that you love again?
BASTIAN. Yes.
BOOKSELLER. And can you imagine a story so clearly
that you think what you’re reading is real?
BASTIAN. Yes.
BOOKSELLER. And would you like a book that will
never end?
BASTIAN. Oh yes.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 17

(The BOOKSELLER reveals the large book.)

BOOKSELLER. Then you should read this one. It’s

called…The Neverending Story.
BASTIAN. May I?
BOOKSELLER. No.
BASTIAN. Why not?!
BOOKSELLER. Because I don’t sell books to children!
(The phone rings. The BOOKSELLER stares at BAS-
TIAN for a few rings.) I’m going to get that and when
I come back you’d better be gone.

(He goes to his desk and answers the phone. While

he’s talking, BASTIAN approaches the book, hesitates,
grabs it, runs out the door and exits.)

BOOK SELLER (cont’d). Hello?… Yes, I’m Carl

Conrad Coreander… Yes, I do have that title but it’s
part of my private collection… Normally, yes, but the
book… (he smiles) has just left the store… I tell you
the book is gone… No! There’s absolutely no point
in— (the other person hangs up) coming down here.
(The BOOKSELLER goes to his front door and anx-
iously looks up and down the street as the store light
fades.) Good luck, Bastian.

(Drumming. Wind and rain.)

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18 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

SCENE THREE: Running and Hiding

(GMORK enters. He is wearing a trench coat, hands in

his pockets, with a fedora pulled low over his eyes.
PEDESTRIANS carrying umbrellas walk across the
stage into the wind. BASTIAN follows them. He is try-
ing to conceal the book under his coat. GMORK steps
forward.)

GMORK. Where did you get that book, little boy?

BASTIAN. From the bookstore.
GMORK. The bookseller said it wasn’t for sale.
BASTIAN. He gave it to me.
GMORK. I think you’re lying. I think you stole it. And
now, little thief, you’re going to give it to me.

(He lunges toward the terrified BASTIAN who steps

back and falls. GMORK reaches down, when suddenly
the school bell rings and the school playground lights
snap on.
The three BULLIES loudly race across the stage and
off into the school. The CARETAKER enters with a
broom.)

CARETAKER. Come along, Mr. Bastian, we don’t

want you late for school again.

(BAS TIAN gets up and runs off past the CARE -

TAKER. GMORK exits, furious. The CARETAKER ex-
its following BASTIAN.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 19

The lights change. We are now inside the school.

As we hear the following scene, we see BASTIAN, on
his way to class. He doesn’t know what to do with the
book.)

TEACHER (OFF). Good morning, class.

BULLIES (OFF). Good morning, Miss Rowling.
TEACHER (OFF). Tolkien?
BULLY #1 (OFF). Here, miss.
TEACHER (OFF). Pullman?
BULLY #2 (OFF). Here, miss.
TEACHER (OFF). Ende?
BULLY #3 (OFF). Here, miss.
TEACHER (OFF). Bux? Bastian Bux? Bastian Baltha-
zar Bux!?

(BASTIAN hides in the CARETAKER’s broom closet.

The CARETAKER enters and heads toward the broom
closet. BASTIAN sees him coming and looks for a
place to hide. He finds a ladder in the back of the
broom closet, climbs it, pushes through the trapdoor at
the top and closes it just as the CARETAKER opens
the door be low. The CARE TAKER puts down his
bucket and mop, closes the door and exits.
BASTIAN is standing in the dark attic. We can hear
the wind blowing and the rain beating on the roof.
He gropes his way around. Inadvertently, he pulls the
sheet off a hanging skeleton. He turns on a light. He
takes off his coat, looks for a place to hang it and sees

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20 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

the skeleton. He stifles a cry. He hangs his coat over

the skeleton.
The attic has old books, a blackboard, stuffed animals
and some old gym mats. BASTIAN pulls one of these
down to make a seat.)

BASTIAN. What have I done? I’m a thief. A criminal. I

will be expelled from school. I will never be able to
go home. I’ll have to hide up here for the rest of my
life with nothing but this book. (He lifts the book onto
his lap. Reverently.) The Neverending Story. (He strug-
gles briefly and then the book opens. A bat flies up,
around the room and off.)

BASTIAN (cont’d). Chapter One. Atreyu lived on the

Grassy Plains.

(Instantly, there is drumming. Figures race across the

stage; twirling, leaping, howling shadows released as
the story begins. Curtains fall and billow as if in a
storm. Lights flash. Huge shadows sweep the stage. The
thea tre shakes to its foun da tions as the drum ming
reaches crescendo.
GMORK enters, dressed as before, striding downstage.
As he walks, his coat and hat are stripped away reveal-
ing him as a werewolf. He howls and exits.
The drumming stops.)

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 21

SCENE FOUR: Atreyu of the Grassy Plains

(We hear flies buzzing. Three PURPLE BUFFALO are

grazing. They munch, swat, grunt and chew. They hear
something. They become agitated. They begin to run.
The drumming gets louder. ATREYU, a young hunter,
and ARTAX, an older horse, race on, galloping after the
charging BUFFALO.)

ARTAX. We have them, Atreyu. Split them apart.

ATREYU. Where?
ARTAX. Anywhere!

(ATREYU and ARTAX ride up to the BUFFALO and try

to separate one from the other two. The BUFFALO keep
their tight formation. ARTAX and ATREYU fall back.)

ARTAX (cont’d). Don’t hesitate, Atreyu. Drive through

them.
ATREYU. I’m trying.
ARTAX. Stop trying and ride!
ATREYU. Hah-ya!

(They charge again. This time they succeed in separat -

ing one of the BUFFALO. The other two swerve away.)

ARTAX. Now! Your spear! Quickly.

(The action moves into slow motion. ATREYU tries to

stab the BUFFALO but fumbles his spear.

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22 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

The two other BUFFALO have had time to swerve back

into ARTAX. Real time action resumes as hunter and
horse are thrown to the ground. The BUFFALO storm
off triumphantly. ATREYU lies still.)

ARTAX. Atreyu?

(ATREYU tries to get up but can’t.)

ARTAX (cont’d., concerned). Atreyu. What’s wrong?

ATREYU. Something’s broken.
ARTAX. What?
ATREYU. My reputation as a buffalo hunter.
ARTAX. Ha! Don’t scare me like that.
ATREYU. I’m serious. I’ve lost my self-respect, my dig-
nity, my pride. (ARTAX begins to laugh.) Stop laughing.
(ARTAX stops.) I looked like an idiot. (ARTAX begins to
laugh again.) It’s not funny! (ARTAX tries to stop
laughing.) You think it’s funny because horses don’t
have feelings.
ARTAX. We have feelings. But we have our feelings one
after the other.
ATREYU. OK. Here it is in horse. I fell. I hurt. I’m humil-
iated.
ARTAX. It’s because you hesitate.
ATREYU. I can’t help it.
ARTAX. You need to drive through the herd and strike.
ATREYU. Can’t this wait until next year?
ARTAX. No. Today is your hunt. The day when you bring
down a buffalo and become a man. The day when my
promise to your father is finished.
ATREYU. So you’re trying to get rid of me.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 23

ARTAX. You are my life rider, Atreyu. I would carry you

anywhere. But it’s time you chose a new horse, a young
horse.
ATREYU. It’s because I fell, isn’t it?
ARTAX. It’s got nothing to do with you.
ATREYU. Then why?
ARTAX. If you tell anyone I will kick you into a tree and
then kick the tree up a mountain.
ATREYU. My lips are sealed.
ARTAX. My knees hurt. (ATREYU begins laughing.) Stop
laughing.
ATREYU. How can your knees hurt? You are the fastest
horse on the Grassy Plain.
ARTAX. I don’t want to be fast anymore. I want to graze,
slowly in the high pasture, where the snow water flows
and where the mares go in the springtime.
ATREYU. Artax!
ARTAX. That is my story, Atreyu, and I want to live it.
ATREYU. And all I have to do is bring down one Purple
Buffalo?
ARTAX. Yes.
ATREYU. All right.
ARTAX. Thank you. (They hear the BUFFALO approach-
ing.) Now quick. What did you do wrong?
ATREYU. I fumbled my spear.
ARTAX. Yes.
ATREYU. So what should I do?
ARTAX. Don’t fumble your spear. Here they come!

(The BUFFALO storm on again. ATREYU and ARTAX

follow.

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24 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

ATREYU. Hee-yah!

(They try to separate one of the BUFFALO but are re -

buffed.)

ARTAX. Split them apart.

ATREYU. Faster, Artax. Faster!

(They charge forward and separate one of the BUF -

FALO. The other two veer off.)

ARTAX. Now! Now!

(ATREYU stabs the side of the lone BUFFALO. It imme-

diately falls. Seeing this, the other two cry out and race
off. ATREYU leaps from his horse and approaches the
BUFFALO.)

ARTAX (cont’d). Well done, Atreyu. Now strike hard.

(ATREYU raises his spear and stops.) What are you
waiting for?
ATREYU. I need to speak the words.
ARTAX. All right, but say them quickly.
ATREYU. I honour you, fallen one, as I honour my parents
who once fell beneath your hooves. (ATREYU raises his
spear and stops.)
ARTAX. What now?
ATREYU. He’s staring at me!
ARTAX. Who cares? It’s a buffalo. You are a buffalo
hunter. Strike now!

(ATREYU raises the spear. The ELDER enters.)

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 25

ELDER. Stop! Atreyu, release this animal.

ATREYU. Why?
ARTAX. He brought it down fairly.
ATREYU. What have I done wrong?
ELDER. You have done nothing wrong.
ARTAX. Then why is he being robbed of his hunt.

(CAIRON enters.)

CAIRON. Because of me.

ELDER. This is Cairon, the Great Healer. He brings a mes-
sage from the Childlike Empress.
CAIRON. I carry the Auryn to show that I speak on her
behalf.
ELDER. Show your respect.
CAIRON. Why are they staring at me?
ELDER. Forgive them, Cairon. In our land we have people
and we have horses but we don’t have people who are
also horses. Stand forward, Atreyu. This is the boy you
are looking for.
CAIRON. Him?
ELDER. Yes.
CAIRON. Hmmm…
BUFFALO. Can I go now?
ATREYU & ARTAX. No!
CAIRON. Do all the animals in your land speak?
ELDER. Yes. (To the BUFFALO.) And sometimes they
speak too much. (To ATREYU and ARTAX.) Let it go.
Let it go!
ATREYU. All right. You are spared.
ARTAX. But your life belongs to us.

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26 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

(The BUFFALO exits.)

CAIRON (to the ELDER). Are you sure that this is the
only Atreyu? Is there not someone older with the same
name? His father, perhaps?
ELDER. He has no parents. They both died in the hunt.
Atreyu means “Son of All.”
ATREYU. Elder, why are you talking about me?
CAIRON. Be cause Fantastica is in dan ger, Atreyu. A
shadow is moving across the land, and where it passes,
no shape, no sound, no light remains. Few beings have
seen this shadow and survived but those that have say
that they feel they have gone blind and lose all hope. We
have called this shadow the Nothing and it is every-
where.
ELDER. But if the Childlike Empress is powerful, why
doesn’t she just send the Nothing away?
CAIRON. Because, friends, she is dying.
OTHERS. No…
CAIRON. Ever since the Nothing appeared, she has grown
weaker and weaker; and if she dies everyone in Fan-
tastica will die with her. Yet, even in her weakness, she
believes that a cure exists. And to find that cure, she has
chosen a hero. Someone who will face every danger and
hardship with courage and wisdom, strength and endur-
ance.
ATREYU. Why are you looking at me?
ELDER. She has chosen you, Atreyu.
ATREYU. Me? I’m not a hero.
CAIRON. I will tell her you said so. (He begins to leave.)
ATREYU. Wait.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 27

CAIRON. In her weakness, she has confused a boy with a

man.
ATREYU. I’m not a boy.
CAIRON. And you’re not a hero. You said so.
ATREYU. I mean that I don’t feel worthy.
CAIRON. Then you accept the Great Quest?
ATREYU. I…
ELDER. You’re putting words in the boy’s mouth. Let him
think.
ARTAX (threatening). Yeah. Let him think.
ATREYU. Cairon, is the Childlike Empress the wisest in
Fantastica?
ELDER. She is.
ATREYU. Then if she thinks I am a hero there must be
wisdom in her choice. Artax, will you carry me? I can’t
do it without you.
ARTAX. As far as you wish and farther.
ATREYU. Cairon, tell the Childlike Empress that I, Atreyu
of the Grassy Ocean, riding the great horse, Artax, ac-
cept her Great Quest.
ARTAX. Bravely said.
ELDER. You will bring honour to your people.
CAIRON. I’m sorry. You can’t take the horse.
OTHERS. What?
CAIRON. The hero of the Great Quest must walk alone.
It’s a rule.
ELDER. The hunters of the Grassy Ocean do not walk,
they ride.
ARTAX. It’s a rule.
CAIRON. Then he cannot go.
ATREYU. Cairon, I am willing to go on the Great Quest.
But I will not go without my horse.

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28 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

CAIRON. I begin to see why the Empress made her choice.

All right. I will allow it. But I warn you. This is not a
good beginning. Step forward, Atreyu. (Drumming.) Be-
hold the Auryn! With it Atreyu becomes the voice of the
Childlike Empress. Like her, he must never use the
Auryn’s power as a weapon. (His spear is removed.)
Like her, he must treat all beings—good and evil, beau-
tiful and ugly, foolish and wise—with equal respect. Do
you swear to this, Atreyu?
ATREYU. I do.

(CAIRON places the Auryn around ATREYU’s neck.)

CAIRON. The hero has been chosen. The Great Quest has
begun.

(The others bow. The drumming ends. We hear a were -

wolf cry.)

ATREYU. What was that?

ELDER. A dark sound.
CAIRON. It is the werewolf, Gmork.
ATREYU. Here?
CAIRON. You are the hero, Atreyu, but he is the villain.
He will follow you until the end—however it may end.
ARTAX. We must go.
ELDER. We will disguise your trail.
CAIRON. Farewell, Atreyu.
ELDER. Swift be your riding!
ATREYU. Good-bye, home! To the Great Quest, Artax.
Ride!

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 29

(Exit all.
GMORK howls.
Music/drums.)

SCENE FIVE: Bastian Identifies With Atreyu

BASTIAN. To the Great Quest, Artax. Ride! So far, this

book is really cool. I like the hero, Atreyu, ’cause
he’s not all brave and perfect. He’s even a bit like
me. He’s lost two parents. I’ve lost one. He’s not
good at hunting. I’m not good at anything. The only
difference is that he’s been picked to be the hero of
the Great Quest! I wish I could be picked for some-
thing…except being picked on. (He reads.)

SCENE SIX: Atreyu Meets the Nothing

(ARTAX and ATREYU enter.)

ATREYU. Why are you stopping? Artax?

ARTAX. Listen.
ATREYU. I can’t hear anything.
ARTAX. But there should be sound—birds, crickets, wind
in the trees.
ATREYU. Cairon said when the Nothing passes, no shape,
no sound, no light remains.
ARTAX. It is near. What are you going to do?
ATREYU. When it ap pears I will destroy it with the
Auryn.

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30 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

ARTAX. But Cairon said—

ERIBO (OFF). Make way!
ATREYU. Someone approaches.

(ERIBO enters in a basket pulled by a hot-air balloon

with glass bottles of starlight hanging below.)

ERIBO. Make way! (Seeing ATREYU and ARTAX.) Ah!

Ah! Giants!
ATREYU (to ERIBO). Greetings, friend.
ERIBO. You’re no friend of mine. Stand back or I’ll run
you through with my sword.
ATREYU. Peace. We mean you no harm.
ERIBO. That’s what all giants say. And then they step on
you and break everything and say “oops, sorry.”
ATREYU. We will not harm you. We are looking for the
Nothing.
ERIBO. Then you’ve come to the right place. It’s right be-
hind me. Make way! Coming through!
ATREYU. Farewell, little person.
ERIBO. Are you calling me little?
ATREYU. You seem small to me.
ERIBO. I’m not small. You are disgustingly huge! Now
leave me alone or I will carve you into sausages. (As he
sails off.) Bot tled star light. Precious cargo. Coming
through!
ATREYU. I didn’t mean to offend you. What’s wrong,
Artax?
ARTAX. A troll is coming.
ATREYU. A troll?! All these stories are getting mixed up.
ARTAX. Here he comes.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 31

(A TROLL enters.)

TROLL. Rum tum tiddly I yum I yum. Rum tum tiddly I

yum…
ATREYU. Greetings, friend. (The TROLL stops.) I am
Atreyu of the Great Quest. (The TROLL regards him.)
And this is my horse, Artax.
TROLL (slowly). I eat horse.
ATREYU. Uh…
ARTAX. Say no. Atreyu, say no!
ATREYU. I have to treat him with respect. Fine Troll, we
are looking for the Nothing.
TROLL (turning away). Nothing.
ATREYU. Yes.
TROLL. Go see Nothing.
ATREYU. Wait.

(The TROLL exits toward the NOTHING.

The SASSAFRANIANS—one adult [played by a child]
and two children [played by adults]— enter.)

CHILD. Ah! A troll.

ATREYU. Fear not, child. I will protect you.
CHILD. What are you doing in my land?
ATREYU. I will explain it to your parents.
CHILD. Those aren’t my parents. Those are my children.
ATREYU. But they’re older than you.
CHILD. Of course. In Sassafrania we are born old and
grow young.
ATREYU. That’s backwards.

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32 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

CHILD. It’s not backwards! It’s normal! You’re the one

who’s backwards. Who wants to grow old when you can
grow young? (The lights begin to dim.) The Nothing is
erasing the light. Run, children, run!

(The SASSAFRANIANS exit.)

TROLL (OFF). Aaaaah…

ARTAX (warning). Atreyu.
TROLL. Aaaaah…

(Drumming.
The TROLL enters as best he can. His bottom half has
been consumed by the NOTHING and he is dragging his
body with his hands.)

ATREYU. Poor creature. What happened?

TROLL. Iz go close Nothing. Nothing dark. Nothing blind.
And den…den my eggs iz gone!
ARTAX. Atreyu! Look!

(The NOTHING appears. It sweeps slowly and inexora -

bly across the stage, billowing toward the TROLL.)

ATREYU. Come away.

TROLL. Iz wan my eggs. (The TROLL heads back toward
the NOTHING.)
ATREYU. No.
TROLL. Iz coming fine dem!

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 33

(ATREYU grabs the TROLL. The NOTHING surrounds

the TROLL. ATREYU pulls the TROLL out but the effort
is too much. The TROLL slides back into the NOTHING.
ARTAX moves away. ATREYU stands and holds up the
Auryn.)

ATREYU. In the name of the Childlike Empress, disap-

pear!

(The NOTHING surges toward ATREYU. ATREYU is

confused, transfixed. ARTAX notices.)

ARTAX. Atreyu!

(ARTAX runs back, and together they exit before the

NOTHING can touch them.)

SCENE SEVEN: Bastian Identifies With the Story

(BASTIAN closes the book. Blackout onstage.)

BASTIAN. Whoah… First there was a werewolf and

now there’s the Nothing. It’s like there are two vil -
lains and Atreyu is powerless against them. This is
pretty scary for a children’s book, if you ask me. It
could cause nightmares and parents would complain
and the book would be banned. Which is too bad
’cause I like being scared as long as what’s scary
stays in the book. But where else could they go?
D o n ’t g e t a n y sc a r i e r , O K , B o o k? I ’ m n o t

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34 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

brave…like Atreyu. (BAS TIAN opens the book.

Drumming is heard.)

SCENE EIGHT: Atreyu’s Dream

(Nighttime. ATREYU and ARTAX are sitting by a fire.

We hear GMORK howl.)

ATREYU. Is that Gmork?

ARTAX. Yes. He’s been following us all day.
ATREYU. He has?
ARTAX. A hunter knows when he’s being hunted.
ATREYU. I thought the Auryn would destroy the Nothing.
But instead, the Nothing almost destroyed us.
ARTAX. Cairon said the Auryn could not be used as a
weapon.
ATREYU. Then what is it good for?
ARTAX. You’re asking a horse?
ATREYU. I thought horses had horse sense.
ARTAX. We do. That’s why I’m going to sleep.
ATREYU. But what about tomorrow?
ARTAX. Tomorrow you will lead and I will carry you.
ATREYU. And the next day?
ARTAX. You will lead and I will carry you somewhere
else.
ATREYU. But I don’t know where to go.
ARTAX. When your father needed advice, he used to pray.
Perhaps the Auryn will help you with that.
ATREYU. What would I do without you, Artax?
ARTAX. Find a younger horse.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 35

ATREYU. One that doesn’t snore.

ARTAX. I snore? (They laugh.)
ATREYU. Good night, brother horse.
ARTAX. Good night, brother man.

(ARTAX sleeps. ATREYU prays over the fire. Flames ap-

pear in the sky. The face of a huge PURPLE BUFFALO
appears in the centre of the flames.)

BUFFALO. Atreyu! Atreyu!

(ATREYU stands and faces the apparition. The BUF-

FALO, who was spared, appears from the fire.)

BUFFALO (cont’d). Atreyu. I am the Purple Buffalo you

would have killed to be a hunter. Because you let me
live I will help you.

(The drums surge then fade.)

ATREYU. I will be guided.

BUFFALO. Go to the Swamps of Sadness. Find Morla the
Aged One. (The BUFFALO returns to the fire. His voice
continues louder and louder.) Go to the Swamps of Sad-
ness! Find Morla the Aged One! Go to the Swamps of
Sadness! Find Morla—

(A school bell rings loudly. The stage goes to black.)

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36 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

SCENE NINE: Lunchtime

(The lights come up on BASTIAN. He closes the book.)

BASTIAN. Lunchtime! I have to get back to class! I’m

going to leave you here, Book. I’m going to sneak
downstairs and then go to history with Mr. Drone.
This is so stupid. Why am I studying old battles when
I’m in a new one? The battle to save Fantastica! I’m
not leaving. Not yet. Not when Atreyu is going into
the Swamps of Sadness. What kind of friend would I
be?

SCENE TEN: The Swamps of Sadness

(ATREYU and ARTAX enter.)

ATREYU. What is it, Artax?

ARTAX. I am tired.
ATREYU. You have ridden bravely. A swallow chased by
an eagle could not have travelled so far, so fast. (ARTAX
stops.) What’s wrong?
ARTAX. I don’t like this place.
ATREYU. It’s just a swamp. Are you afraid of a little wa-
ter?
ARTAX. Maybe I am.
ATREYU (surprised). Artax.
ARTAX. There’s just no sense in all this. For days we’ve
been chasing after something you saw in a dream. What
if we don’t find Morla the Aged One and even if we do

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 37

what if the Childlike Empress has already died and ev-

erything we’re doing is useless?
ATREYU. You have never spoken like this before.
ARTAX. It’s my heart. With every step it grows heavier
and heavier.
ATREYU. You’re sinking.
ARTAX. My heart is pulling me down.
ATREYU. Keep moving. Come on.
ARTAX. I can’t. My heart is too heavy.
ATREYU. How can that be? I am standing in the Swamps
of Sadness just like you and I feel fine.
ARTAX. The Auryn protects you.
ATREYU. Then you must have it.
ARTAX. No! The gem was entrusted to you alone.
ATREYU. I have to save you.
ARTAX. You have to let me go.
ATREYU. Don’t say that.
ARTAX. This is the way my story was meant to end.
Cairon told us. The hero walks alone.
ATREYU. I can’t go without you. I’ve never gone any-
where without you.
ARTAX. You must be brave, Atreyu. And you are. That’s
why you were chosen.
ATREYU. Oh, Artax.
ARTAX. But there’s one thing I must ask of you.
ATREYU. What?
ARTAX. Turn away.
ATREYU. Why?
ARTAX. I don’t want you to see me at the end.
ATREYU. Oh, Artax…
ARTAX. Just turn away. Please. It’s all I ask. (ATREYU
turns away.) Thank you, friend rider. We will never hunt

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38 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

on the Grassy Ocean and I will never graze in the high

pasture but I will always be with you. When you hear
my hooves, you will know I am near.
BASTIAN. No.
ARTAX. Farewell…and thank you. (ARTAX slips into the
swamp.)

SCENE ELEVEN: Bastian Mourns Artax

(There is a blackout onstage.)

BASTIAN. Nooooooo!! That can’t happen. Artax is one

of the heroes. Heroes don’t die until the end of the
story. It’s too soon. Too soon. Stupid book. (He slams
the book shut and goes to the window. We hear the
sound of students in the playground.) Life is going on
as if nothing has happened. And something has hap-
pened. Artax is dead and Atreyu is alone. When my
mom died, I heard people in the hospital laughing
and I wanted to say, “stop laughing, stop laughing,
something has happened, my mother has…” I’m not
going to eat anything else, ever. No sandwich, no ap-
ple, no— (surprised) chocolate bar…thanks, Dad. But
I’m not going to eat it. I’m staying hungry, with
Atreyu. (He opens the book and continues.)

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 39

SCENE TWELVE: Morla the Aged One

ATREYU. Morla! Morla! I’m going to pull up every tree,

every bush, every rock until I find you. Morla! Morla!
Artax is gone but (jumping) I’m still here!!!

(There is a creak and a groan and the floor shakes.

ATREYU is knocked off balance. The floor of the stage
rises into an enor mous shell from which MORLA
emerges.)

MORLA. Goodness gracious, who’s making all that noise?

Jumping on our shell! Waking us up!
ATREYU. I am.
MORLA. Who are you?
ATREYU. I am Atreyu of the Great Quest and I have come
for your help.

(MORLA examines ATREYU.)

MORLA. Go away.
ATREYU. Wait! I speak for the Childlike Empress.
MORLA. Go away!
ATREYU. I carry the Auryn.
MORLA. Oooooo…sparkly.
ATREYU. The Empress is dying.
MORLA. Haven’t seen the Auryn in a thousand years,
have we, old woman? No.
ATREYU. If the Empress dies, so will Fantastica.
MORLA. So?
ATREYU. If Fantastica dies, so will you.
MORLA. Who cares?

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40 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

ATREYU. You don’t care if you die?

MORLA. Look, tadpole. I’m the oldest being in Fantastica
and when you’ve lived as long as we have nothing mat-
ters. Not even death. (MORLA disappears.)
ATREYU. Wait!
MORLA. Go away!
ATREYU. But—
MORLA. And never come back!
ATREYU. If you’re so old, you must be smart.
MORLA (from within). We are.
ATREYU. Very smart.
MORLA (peeking out). We are, aren’t we old woman? Oh
yes. Very smart.
ATREYU. Then you must know how the Childlike Em-
press can be cured.

(MORLA re-appears.)

MORLA. We do! Oh yes, we do! We know exactly how to

cure her!
ATREYU. How?
MORLA. Why should we tell you?
ATREYU. Because I want to cure her.
MORLA. It won’t make any difference.
ATREYU. It will save Fantastica.
MORLA. I don’t care about Fantastica. I don’t care about
anything.
ATREYU. You have to care about something.
MORLA. No I don’t.
ATREYU. Yes you do.
MORLA. Don’t.
ATREYU. Do.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 41

MORLA. Don’t.
ATREYU. Do.
MORLA. Don’t.
ATREYU. You care enough not to tell me.
MORLA (pause). That’s true. We don’t care a lot, but we
do care an itsy bitsy bit! (Begins to laugh.)
ATREYU. So what’s the cure?
MORLA (roaring with laughter). You tricked us. Haven’t
been tricked like that in a thousand years!
ATREYU. Tell me the cure!
MORLA. All right, all right. Goodness gracious. So loud.
So rude. So young. (She clears her throat.) Could you
scratch my ear? The other one. (ATREYU does so.)
Ahhhh… (She snores.)
ATREYU (calling into her ear). Morla? Morla?
MORLA (waking). Huh?
ATREYU. What’s the cure?
MORLA. She doesn’t need one.
ATREYU. But she’s sick.
MORLA. Yes, but she’s not sick because of the Nothing.
Oh no. She’s sick because everyone has forgotten her
name. Even us! Find her a new name and she will be
well and Fantastica will be well and everyone will go on
doing useless things forever. (She begins to go in.)
ATREYU. Who can give her a new name?
MORLA (going in). I don’t know.
ATREYU. You have to know. (ATREYU pushes into
MORLA’s shell.) Who else am I going to ask?
MORLA (OFF). What are you doing in here?
ATREYU (OFF). I need to know—

(MORLA sneezes and blows ATREYU out of her shell.)

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42 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

MORLA. Goodness gracious, if you weren’t wearing the

Auryn we would eat you up just to get some sleep.
ATREYU (pleading). Tell me where I can find the Child-
like Empress a new name and I will go.
BAS TIAN. Me. I could give her one. I’m good at
names!
ATREYU. Please.
MORLA. Well, you could try Uyulala in the Southern Ora-
cle. She might know.
ATREYU. Is it far?
MORLA. Far?! Ha! It’s so far you’d be dead before you
got there.
ATREYU. Then what am I going to do?
MORLA. Give it up, boy. Give it up. But most of all leave
us in peace!

(There is a windstorm. MORLA exits. ATREYU struggles

through the tempest until he sinks exhausted. The wind
subsides.)

SCENE THIRTEEN: End of School

(The school bell rings loudly.)

BASTIAN. End of day. I need to go home. (Putting on

his coat.) Good-bye, Book. We can finish the Great
Quest tomorrow, OK? Why am I talking to a book?
It’s just a story. Even though it seems real. I’m not
re ally leav ing Atreyu in his hour of need; even
though it feels like I am. I’m just leaving a book in
the attic of my school and going home. And that’s

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 43

what I’m going to do. After I read two more pages.

But just two! That’s all! Two. Times two. Times two.
(BASTIAN sits and opens the book.)
ATREYU (shivering). Artax. Can you hear me? Hunger is
putting dark clouds around my heart. What should I do?
I can never reach Uyulala. Maybe I should prepare for
my death. But if I do, I will betray the Childlike Em-
press, and the Great Quest and you. (We hear ARTAX’s
hooves.) What should I do? (ATREYU suddenly stands
alert.) A hunter should know when he’s being hunted.

(ATREYU climbs the stage-left structure. GMORK ap-

pears stage right, following ATREYU’s scent. He crosses
the stage and exits left, under ATREYU’s careful eye.)

SCENE FOURTEEN: Falkor and Ygramul the Many

(Suddenly there is a loud cry offstage left.

FALKOR rushes onstage. His arms are bound tightly to
his body with spider web which stretches back offstage.
He pulls against the web and falls.)

FALKOR. Oh brother.
YGRAMUL (OFF). Come here.
FALKOR. No. I am going to break free. One flex of my
powerful muscles… (he struggles) one flex and I will be
free… (he struggles) free…
YGRAMUL. Having trouble, luck dragon?

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44 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

(YGRAMUL en ters slowly. She is a multi-per son,

multi-limbed creature of uncompromising malevolence
but initially we see her as one large spider.)
[Note: YGRAMUL has one main voice. However, when
she repeats a word, the repetitions are spoken by her
children individually. When a word is underlined, all her
voices speak in unison.]

FALKOR. I’m fine.

YGRAMUL. Are you ready to give up?
FALKOR. Never.
YGRAMUL. You will never escape.
FALKOR. Look. I admit I flew into your spider web. That
was a mistake. Sometimes I sleep and fly. But that
doesn’t mean you’ve caught me.
YGRAMUL. I have caught you and now I will sting you
and then I will eat you.
FALKOR. Oh! Oh! That’s just— Oh! That’s just— Oh!
(YGRAMUL begins reeling FALKOR in.) Hey! May I re-
mind you that I am a noble luck dragon. I swim through
the air of heaven.
YGRAMUL. Full of hot air.
FALKOR. I do not float. I fly!
YGRAMUL. How? You don’t have wings.
FALKOR. I don’t need my wings. I’ve got my legs.
(FALKOR runs up to YGRAMUL. She stings. He dodges.
He runs around YGRAMUL. She spins clumsily.) See.
Even on the ground I’m faster than you.
YGRAMUL. You think this is a game?
FALKOR. Let me see. It’s fun. I’m winning. Yes, it’s a
game.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 45

YGRAMUL. It’s not a game to me. I’m starving and you

are going to feed me for a long, long, long time.
FALKOR. You’ll have to catch me first.
YGRAMUL. All right. (YGRAMUL’s children break from
her body and surround FALKOR.)
FALKOR. You did that very quickly.
YGRAMUL. These are my children.
FALKOR. They’re very ugly.
YGRAMUL. They’re very hungry. (They reveal their sting-
ers.) Still feeling lucky, dragon?
FALKOR. I don’t feel lucky. I am lucky.

(YGRAMUL begins to move in on FALKOR.)

FALKOR. Oh sure. Gang up on me. (YGRAMUL strikes.

FALKOR dodges.) Whoah. Those things are sharp.
YGRAMUL. Sharp and poisoned.
FALKOR. You know, I’m very al ler gic to poi son.
(YGRAMUL strikes. FALKOR dodges.) And I have very
sensitive scales. (YGRAMUL strikes. FALKOR dodges.)
OK, OK, you win! Let’s make a deal.
YGRAMUL. Here’s the deal. I sting and you die!
(YGRAMUL stings.)
FALKOR. Ow! Can I at least make a— (YGRAMUL
stings.) Ow! I guess not. (YGRAMUL stings.) Ah!
YGRAMUL. Still feeling lucky?
FALKOR (weakly). Just watch. I’m going to be rescued.
YGRAMUL. Then maybe we should finish, finish, finish
you off! (YGRAMUL holds up her stingers.)
ATREYU. Stop! In the name of the Childlike Empress,
stop.
FALKOR (weakly). Told you I was lucky. (He collapses.)

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46 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

(ATREYU climbs down and approaches YGRAMUL.)

ATREYU. Friend, I am Atreyu of the Grassy Plains. I am

on a Great Quest and I need your help.

(YGRAMUL slowly surrounds ATREYU.)

YGRAMUL. I am Ygramul the Many and I have been hun-

gry, hungry, hungry for years. Now I have two tasty
morsels and I’m going to eat them. Starting with you!
(YGRAMUL raises her stingers.)
BASTIAN. Stop!

(The word echoes loudly in Fantastica. Everything on-

stage freezes, listening, looking.)

YGRAMUL. What, what, what, what, what, was, was, was,

was, was that?
BASTIAN. Uh…it was me.
YGRAMUL. It was a trick. (She raises her stingers.)
ATREYU. Wait. I hold the Auryn! Emblem of the Child-
like Empress.
YGRAMUL. So?
FALKOR. You can’t eat the voice of the Childlike Em-
press. What kind of creature are you?
YGRAMUL. A hungry one!
ATREYU. But you are still a part of Fantastica, and I call
on you to respect the Auryn and give me your help.
YGRAMUL. Ooooo… Not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair,
not fair, not fair!!!
FALKOR. But you know you have to do it.

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 47

YGRAMUL (wailing). Aaaaaaaaaah… (YGRAMUL lets

ATREYU go.)
ATREYU. Thank you, friend. I honour your sacrifice.
YGRAMUL. Spare me your hero talk and leave me to eat
this dragon.
ATREYU. But…I need the dragon too.
YGRAMUL. Noooooooo!
FALKOR. Yes!
YGRAMUL. Why do you need him?
ATREYU. I need him to fly me to Uyulala in the Southern
Oracle.
YGRAMUL. Ha! This Luck Dragon cannot fly, two-legs.
He will be dead in an hour. Even if he could fly, the trip
would take a thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand
days.
ATREYU. Then there’s no hope. Fantastica will be de-
stroyed.
YGRAMUL. Do you mind if I eat you first?

(GMORK enters above. He can’t climb down. He exits.)

FALKOR. Who was that?

ATREYU. The werewolf, Gmork. He will kill me and the
Great Quest will be over.
YGRAMUL. All right!!! I will help.
ATREYU. How?
YGRAMUL. I will sting you.
ATREYU. How is that going to help?
YGRAMUL. Quiet! (Pulling ATREYU aside.) My poison
kills, but it also gives you the power to travel anywhere
in Fantastica.
ATREYU. And the Luck Dragon? Will you let him travel?

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48 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act I

YGRAMUL. No! You have no right to ask that of Ygramul

even if you are wearing the Auryn. The Childlike Em-
press takes us as we are. That’s why Ygramul respects
her emblem and agrees to let, let, let, you, you, you, go.
ATREYU. Then do it. (The drumming begins. YGRAMUL
sur rounds ATREYU.) For give me for leav ing you,
dragon.
FALKOR. You have done more for me than you know.
(YGRAMUL stings ATREYU.) Ah! To the Southern Ora-
cle! Farewell! (He sinks out of sight, surrounded by
YGRAMUL.)

(GMORK enters. He attacks YGRAMUL. YGRAMUL

flees to ward FALKOR. ATREYU has dis ap peared.
G M O R K , a s t o n i s h e d , t u r n s t o w a rd F A L K O R .
YGRAMUL has surrounded FALKOR. GMORK attacks.
YGRAMUL scatters. FALKOR has disappeared.
GMORK roars in frustrated rage filling the land with its
echoes. He turns toward YGRAMUL.)

YGRAMUL. Run, children. Run! (They exit.) Mama has

work to do.

(YGRAMUL and GMORK approach each other.

BASTIAN closes the book.
Musical sting. Blackout onstage.
BASTIAN sits up from his reading like a runner cross-
ing the finish line.)

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Act I (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 49

BASTIAN. Wow! (Then he realizes he needs to go the

washroom.) Oh…

(As the houselights come up, he climbs down the lad-

der and carefully makes his way off.)

END OF ACT ONE

[Note: The play can run, in a slightly amended version,

without an intermission.]

FOR AUTHORIZED DIGITAL USE ONLY

 ACT TWO

SCENE ONE: Bastian Returns

(As the audience returns to their seats, we see the

CARETAKER sweeping the stage. He puts the broom
into the broom closet and closes the door. Then he be-
gins switching off lights in the school which simulta-
neously turns off the houselights in the theatre.

While he is doing this, BASTIAN sneaks on, goes into

the broom closet and knocks over the mop. Frightened
by the sound, he leaves the door open and begins
climbing the ladder. The CARETAKER investigates.
He looks into the broom closet just as BASTIAN closes
the trapdoor to the attic. The CARETAKER closes the
door and exits.)

BASTIAN. I came back, Book. I shouldn’t have but I

did. In a second the caretaker is going to lock the
doors and turn on the alarms and if I leave, the mo -
tion detectors will go off and the police will come and
I’ll be thrown in jail and my life will be ruined. If I
don’t leave right now, I will have to stay here all
night and read. (We hear the loud sound of the doors
locking.) Yes! Now I have no choice but to stay with
50
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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 51

Atreyu until the Great Quest ends—however it may

end.

(BASTIAN opens the book. Lights up onstage.)

SCENE TWO: Atreyu Meets Falkor

(A rust-red desert mountain at night. ENGYWOOK’s ob-

servatory stage right overlooks the stage. The white cur-
tains no longer completely ring the acting area. Now
portions of dark are visible, a sign that the NOTHING is
gaining ground.
FALKOR and ATREYU enter and meet. They are both
near death.)

FALKOR. Atreyu!
ATREYU. Dragon!
FALKOR. Call me Falkor. (He collapses.)
ATREYU. Are you all right?
FALKOR. Yes. I just wanted to see the world from down
here. How are you?
ATREYU. I’m losing the feeling in my (he collapses) legs.
FALKOR. That’s Ygramul’s poison. It’s going to paralyze
us.
ATREYU. You sound happy.
FALKOR. I am.
ATREYU. Being paralyzed makes you happy?
FALKOR. No. Fol low ing you to the South ern Oracle
makes me happy.
ATREYU. I thought Ygramul was going to eat you.

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52 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

FALKOR. So did I. But luckily, I overheard her tell you

that her poison would take you anywhere in Fantastica.
Well I was full of her poison, so when you disappeared I
knew I had to make a decision…escape or be eaten, es-
cape or be eaten. (Beat.)
ATREYU. Did you have to think for long?
FALKOR. No! I wished to be here and here I am. How
lucky is that?
ATREYU. But why here?
FALKOR. I wanted to be with you. On the Great Quest.
ATREYU. But why didn’t you go somewhere you could’ve
been cured?
FALKOR. Who says we’re not going to be cured here?
ATREYU. We’re in the middle of nowhere.
FALKOR. The centre of everything.
ATREYU. We’ve got an hour to live.
FALKOR. An hour more than we had.
ATREYU. Falkor, we’re dying!
FALKOR. No. We’re waiting for a cure.
ATREYU. You’re hopeless.
FALKOR. It’s hopeless to be hopeless. I’m hope-full!
(Beat.) You think I’m foolish, don’t you?
ATREYU. I think you’re unrealistic.
FALKOR. I want to help you. What’s wrong with that?
Why walk when you could be flashing through the sky
on a Luck Dragon?
ATREYU. You fly?
ARTAX. Like a lightning bolt.
ATREYU. But you don’t have any wings.
ARTAX. Of course I have wings. We all have wings.
ATREYU. And you really think you’ll fly again when you
can’t even stand up?

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 53

FALKOR. Of course! You saved my life, Atreyu, and I

want to give my life to you…if you will accept it.
ATREYU. Falkor. Your life, what’s left of it, I accept. My
life, what’s left of it, will be grateful to you forever.
FALKOR. I’m so lucky. (He passes out.)
ATREYU. Falkor! When a Luck Dragon dies, does his
luck die too? (He gasps.) I guess…it…does. (ATREYU
passes out.)

(The lights, which have narrowed to a tight spot, snap

out.)

SCENE THREE: Bastian Complains

BASTIAN. No! That can’t happen. Atreyu can’t die.

He’s the hero. What about the Great Quest? What
about Fantastica? What about all the pages left in the
book? Someone has to save them. Someone has to
save them right now!

SCENE FOUR: The Gnomics

(URGL and ENGYWOOK suddenly appear.)

URGL. Time for your medicine!

BASTIAN. Hey…
URGL. Wakey, wakey.
BASTIAN. Did I do that?
URGL (ATREYU sits up). Drink.
ATREYU. Yuck.

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54 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

URGL. Are you feeling better, dear?

ATREYU. Much better.
ENGYWOOK. See? He’s better.
URGL. He’s better but he’s not well. He’ll be well when I
say he’s well.
ENGYWOOK. But it’s my turn.
URGL. It’ll be your turn when I say it’s your turn.
ENGYWOOK. When is it my turn to decide whose turn it
is?
URGL. Hush. (To ATREYU.) Does your arm hurt?
ATREYU. No. (URGL hits his arm.) Ow!
URGL. Does it hurt now?
ATREYU. No. (URGL hits his arm again.) Ow! All right!
It hurts.
URGL. That’s better. For your arm to heal it has to hurt. If
it didn’t hurt you would be dead. And dead you almost
were until I found you. (She moves to FALKOR.)
ENGYWOOK (to ATREYU). Don’t pay any attention to
her. She’s just a little blunt, a little crotchety, a little
rough around the—
URGL. What are you saying?
ENGYWOOK. Just singing your praises, dear.
URGL. Ha!
ENGYWOOK. Let me introduce myself. My name is Pro-
fessor Engywook and this is my wife, Urgl. (Proudly.)
We are the Gnomics. (Beat.) The Gnomics. (Beat.)
Haven’t you heard of us?
ATREYU. No.
ENGYWOOK. You obviously don’t travel in scientific cir-
cles.
URGL (poking FALKOR). Wake up. Wake up, dragon.
Come on, kitty.

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 55

FALKOR (yawning). Well hello there.

URGL. Drink this.
FALKOR. Mmm. Delicious.
ATREYU. Falkor.
FALKOR. Atreyu.
ATREYU. I can’t believe we’re alive.
FALKOR. Get used to it. You’re travelling with a Luck
Dragon now.
URGL. He’s right. We’re the only ones left. Everyone else
has run off to escape the Nothing.
FALKOR. It’s here too?
URGL. Look for yourself. Even the sky is disappearing.
ATREYU. I have to go.
URGL. Sit down.
ATREYU. I have to find Uyulala.
ENGYWOOK. Who!?
URGL. Oh no.
ENGYWOOK. Are you Atreyu of the Grassy Plains?
Atreyu of Great Quest?
ATREYU. Yes.
ENGYWOOK. I knew it!
URGL. Here we go.
ENGYWOOK. Enough out of you, woman. This young
man is going to cure the Childlike Empress and I’m go-
ing to help. At last! Recognition!
ATREYU. Do you know Uyulala?
ENGYWOOK. Know her? I’ve studied her my whole life.
ATREYU. That’s perfect!
FALKOR. And lucky.
ENGYWOOK. Luck or fate, coincidence or providence,
chance or destiny, I am at your service.
URGL. Try not to make a fool of yourself.

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56 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

ENGYWOOK. Pay no attention to her. She has no feeling

for the great over-arching ideas of the mind. Please,
come to my observatory.

(They climb up to the observatory which includes a won -

derful, odd telescope.)

ATREYU. Are we going to meet Uyulala?

ENGYWOOK. Goodness no. I am a man of science. I
don’t meet. I ob serve. I am about to pub lish my
book—The Great Riddle of Uyulala as Explained by
Professor Engywook.
URGL. He hasn’t written a word of it yet.
ENGYWOOK. Details! Details! It’s going to be a huge
suc cess! In the mean time, ask me any thing about
Uyulala. Anything at all.
ATREYU. Where can I find her?
ENGYWOOK (has a little fit of frustration). Why did you
ask me that?
ATREYU. I need to know.
ENGYWOOK. But your question is too direct, too specific,
too practical. Ask me something I can answer. Ask me
something vague.
ATREYU. I have to find Uyulala. It’s a matter of life and
death!
ENGYWOOK. Life and death, life and death, it’s always
life and death. All right! I’ll tell you—bluntly, directly
and without a trace of nuance. To meet Uyulala you
must go through three gates. Each one will test you in a
different way. You can see them through this telescope.
(ATREYU goes to look.)
ATREY. I don’t see anything.

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 57

ENGYWOOK. You don’t? (He looks.) Well of course you

don’t. The gates are invisible until you approach them.
ATREYU. Then I will approach them at once. Farewell,
friends, and thanks.
FALKOR. Farewell.
ENGYWOOK. Atreyu. The hero must face the gates alone.
ATREYU. Again?
FALKOR. I could bring him luck.
URGL. Don’t be so sure. Many brave creatures have died
facing the gates.
ATREYU. I will succeed. I must. (He exits.)
URGL. Be careful.
FALKOR. Be lucky.
URGL. Dress warmly. What’s wrong, dear?
ENGYWOOK. He didn’t ask me any questions.
URGL. Oh…
ENGYWOOK. I hold the wisdom of the ages and he goes
off without a backward glance.
URGL. Never mind. He’s only young.

(Drumming.)

FALKOR. What’s that?

ENGYWOOK. The sound of the first gate. (He looks
through the tele scope.) Yes! It’s ap pear ing. Look,
dragon, you are going to see a wonder. The Sphinxes,
Guardians of the Great Riddle Gate.

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58 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

SCENE FIVE: The Great Riddle Gate

(The SPHINXES, massive and tall, fly in/appear. Their

eyes open. The sky fills with stars.
ATREYU enters and moves downstage but with each
step, his progress becomes more and more difficult. He
is weighed down or held back by unseen forces. By the
time he is standing between the SPHINXES, he can go
no farther.)

ATREYU. What kind of gate is this? No door. No bars.

And yet…I cannot move. There’s nothing but sand and
stars, sand and stars. (He looks up.) Millions of stars sur-
rounded by millions and millions of worlds. How many
people are there like me on all those worlds? Billions?
Trillions? What is my life worth when there are so many
others? (He is pulled to his knees in the sand.) Sand…a
million years ago it was here. A million years from now
it will remain. What is my life compared with the life of
one grain of sand? So short. So small. So alone.
BASTIAN. You are not alone, Atreyu.
ATREYU. But I am not alone. I have the Auryn, and
Falkor and the memory of Artax. And I am needed. I
have to save Fantastica from the Nothing. (He stands.)
How lucky to feel the sand beneath my feet. How lucky
to see bright stars in a dark sky. How lucky to be alive.

(The SPHINXES’ eyes close. His bonds are released.)

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 59

SCENE SIX: The No-Key Gate

ALL. Hooray!
ENGYWOOK. He did it!
URGL. I knew he would. I had a feeling.
ENGYWOOK. Urgl, how many times have I told you?
Feelings are not scientific.
URGL. I’m sorry.
ENGYWOOK. Don’t be. I had a feeling too!
ALL. Hooray!
FALKOR. What’s next?
ENGYWOOK. The No-Key Gate
FALKOR. Does that mean it’s locked and it has no key?
ENGYWOOK. That would be too simple. The mystery of
the No-Key Gate is that it is unlocked and easy to open.
URGL & FALKOR. Huh?
ENGYWOOK. If you can remember why you want to open
it.
URGL & FALKOR. Ah…

(The No-Key Gate has appeared. ATREYU is circling it.)

ATREYU. How strange. I was in such a rush to get here

and now…I was supposed to do something but…oh
well, it can’t have been that important. What’s important
is to stop rush ing. I go so fast I miss ev ery thing.
Enough! (He sits.) I’m just going to sit here and watch
the world go by.
BASTIAN. Atreyu.
ATREYU. What a relief.
BASTIAN. Go through the gate.

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60 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

ATREYU. Hold on. There was something I was supposed

to do. (He stands.) I came through a gate… (he looks for
it) which is gone. (Turning back to the No-Key Gate.)
Unless this is the gate…and if it is I’ve already come
through it. Phew. Relax. Sleep.
BASTIAN. Atreyu.
ATREYU (lying down). Sleep!
BASTIAN. The gate.
ATREYU (sitting up). I can’t get this gate out of my mind.
BASTIAN. Look at it.
ATREYU. All right. (He gets up.) Let’s take a look at it.
It’s small. It’s unlocked.
BASTIAN. Open it! (He pushes the gate and it swings
open.)
ATREYU. And it goes nowhere! Useless. Stupid.
BASTIAN. Go through it.
ATREYU. I think I’ll go through it. What am I saying?!
I’m going to sit here and rest.
BASTIAN. No.
ATREYU. Yes.
BASTIAN. No.
ATREYU. Yes.
BASTIAN. Noooooooo!
ATREYU (standing). I am possessed by a demon!
BASTIAN. Please.
ATREYU. A polite demon. Perhaps if I crawl through this
gate… (He crawls through the No-Key Gate.)

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 61

SCENE SEVEN: The Magic Mirror Gate

(Lights up on ENGYWOOK, URGL and FALKOR.)

URGL. He’s through! He’s through!

ALL. Hooray!
FALKOR. Only one more.
ENGYWOOK. The hardest of them all. The Gate of the
Magic Mirror.
URGL. What does he have to do?
ENGYWOOK. Look into a mirror!
URGL. That’s all?
ENGYWOOK. He doesn’t see an ordinary reflection. He
sees a part of himself that he has never seen before.
Some people see monsters and run screaming for their
lives.
URGL. And if he gets through?
ENGYWOOK. Ah. If Atreyu passes through the Magic
Mirror Gate I can confidently predict, based on years of
scientific study, he will be in the palace of Uyulala.
URGL. So you mean all these years you were actually do-
ing something up here?
ENGYWOOK. What did you think I was doing?
URGL. Avoiding me.
ENGYWOOK. Oh my dear.
URGL. Engywook Orfyster Plink, you are a brilliant man.
ENGYWOOK. And you…you are my love. (They em-
brace. They rub noses.)
FALKOR. Hello. Dragon in the room. (They ignore him.
He looks through the telescope.) The mirror is changing!

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62 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

(The lights come up on ATREYU standing by the Magic

Mirror. A fuzzy image appears. It slowly comes into fo-
cus. We see BASTIAN reading in the attic.)

ENGYWOOK. What does it show?

FALKOR. A boy in a small, dark room.
ENGYWOOK. Just a boy? Not a monster?
FALKOR. Just a boy sitting with a blanket around his
shoulders, wearing glasses.
URGL. What’s he doing?
FALKOR. Reading a book.

(Musical sting.)

SCENE EIGHT: Bastian Is Seen

BASTIAN. Are they talking about me?

ATREYU (speaking to the image). Hello.
BASTIAN. Aaaah! (Looking up.) OK, this is getting re-
ally, really weird. I mean this book was always weird
but it was OK weird. Now it’s just weird weird. (He
reads.)
ATREYU. I am Atreyu.
BASTIAN (softly). Aaaaaaaaaah!
ATREYU. Don’t be frightened.
BASTIAN. I’m not frightened. I’m completely freaked
out. Pull yourself together, Bastian. There just hap-
pens to be a character in the book that is looking at
another character in the book that just happens to
look like me.
ATREYU. Are you in Fantastica?

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 63

BASTIAN. No.
ATREYU. Then why are you holding a book with the
emblem of the Childlike Empress!
BASTIAN. It’s a coincidence.
ATREYU. Help me.
BASTIAN. No!
ATREYU. I need to get through.
BASTIAN. You’re a character in a book!
ATREYU. Reach out your hand. Please! Just reach out to
me. (BASTIAN reaches out his hand. ATREYU grabs it.)
Now pull! Pull!! (BASTIAN does and ATREYU steps
through the mirror.)
BASTIAN (to himself). It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s
not real. (Beat.) It’s not real. (Beat.) But if it was, this
would be the best story in the world. (He reads.)

SCENE NINE: Uyulala

(ATREYU stands in the Palace of Deep Mystery, a forest

of columns.)

ATREYU. Hello… (His voice echoes.)

UYULALA. Hello…
ATREYU. Who’s there?
UYULALA. Who’s there?
ATREYU. I am Atreyu.
UYULALA. I am Atreyu.
ATREYU. Answer me!
UYULALA. If questions you would ask of me
You must speak in poetry

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64 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

For rhymeless words that reach my ear

I do not hear, I do not hear.
ATREYU. I’m not a poet.
UYULALA. I’m not a poet.
ATREYU. If I must speak in poetry
Then will you let me see…who you are?

(UYULALA laughs. ATREYU tries again.)

ATREYU. Uyulala, where are you hid?

I cannot see you and wish I did.
UYULALA. I hear you now, your words are clear
I understand as well as hear.
ATREYU. I hope it isn’t going too far
For you to tell me what you are.
UYULALA. I have no shape that you can see.
The voice you hear is all of me.
(The palace shakes.)
But it will not last long
For the world has gone wrong.
ATREYU. Not here too.
UYULALA. The Nothing is quick
The Empress is sick
My Palace will perish
With all that I cherish
ATREYU. Then tell me, quickly, who can give
The Empress a name that will let her live.
UYULALA. There is a world outside our own
The Outer World—the distant home
Of those who through their art create
The stories that become our fate.

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 65

Humans—most of all their youth

Have the power to see the truth.
Find one. A human child must name
Our Empress to bring her health again.
Find one. A human child must name
Our Empress to bring her health again.

(The NOTHING approaches. The Pillars of the Palace

crumble and fall.)

ATREYU. Falkor! Falkor!

(Drumming. FALKOR enters.)

FALKOR. Hold onto my back.

ATREYU. Why?
FALKOR. I’m going to fly you out of here.
ATREYU. You don’t have any wings.
FALKOR. We all have wings. (Wings fly out of FALKOR’s
shoulders.) Hold on. (They rise into the air.) Where are
we going?
ATREYU. To the border of Fantastica!

SCENE TEN: The Wind Giants

(The drumming continues.

A flock of geese appear and are overtaken.
They fly past ERIBO in his balloon.
The drumming subsides.)

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66 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

ATREYU. Falkor…what’s the matter?

FALKOR. I’ve been think ing…maybe we should turn
back.
ATREYU. Turn back to where?
FALKOR. To the Childlike Empress.
ATREYU. You want me to go back a failure?
FALKOR. You haven’t failed. Your quest was to find her a
cure. And you have. She needs a new name.
ATREYU. But what good is that without a human child to
give her that name?
FALKOR. All right. But have you looked down?
ATREYU. It’s too dark to see anything.
FALKOR. That’s not darkness, Atreyu. That’s the Nothing.
It’s covered practically all of Fantastica. Soon, there
won’t be a place for me to land.
ATREYU. Please, Falkor, just a little bit further.
FALKOR. All right, but hang on. We’re in for a storm.
The Wind Giants are coming.
ATREYU. That’s perfect. I want to talk to them.
FALKOR. You can’t talk to a Wind Giant.
ATREYU. Why not?
FALKOR. Because they’re too busy arguing.

(The WIND GIANTS enter. From their mouths pours a

white wind. FALKOR and ATREYU are buffeted.)

WINDS. We are the winds of oceans wide,

We are the winds of mountains high,
We storm across the open skies
As hurricanes we roar and cry!
ATREYU (holding up the Auryn). Stop! In the name of
The Childlike Empress. Stop!!! (There is a sudden si-

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 67

lence.) We are travelling to the Outer World. Where is

the border of Fantastica?
LIRR. There is no border in the North.
SHEEREK. None in the South.
BAUREO. No border in the East.
MAYESTRAL. And none in the West.
ATREYU. There must be a border somewhere.
LIRR. Who are you that speaks for the Childlike Empress
and doesn’t know that Fantastica has no borders?

(The WINDS laugh. One blows at the other. A fight en -

sues. FALKOR is spun round and round.)

ATREYU. There must be! There must be a border!

FALKOR . Hold on, Atreyu. (ATRE YU falls from
FALKOR.) Atreyuuuuuuu!

SCENE ELEVEN: Bastian’s Hopes Revised

BASTIAN. Atreyuuuuu!!! (BASTIAN closes the book.

The lights go out on the stage.) This has got to stop.
(He backs away from the book.) You’re just a book.
Atreyu is a character. He’s not going to die because
he was never alive in the first place. (A police siren is
heard. BASTIAN goes to the window.) It must be so
late. I wonder if Dad called the police. I wonder if the
police are out there right now trying to find me…just
like Atreyu and Falkor are trying to find me. Stop it.
No one in the book is trying to find you. Atreyu will
find a name and save the Empress. That’s the way it
always happens. They don’t need you! OK. Real

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68 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

things. Useful things. That’s what’s important. So no

more reading. OK. And go to sleep. OK. And finish
reading the book. (He approaches the book.) But just
read the book. Don’t talk to it and don’t let it talk to
you. OK? OK. (He sits down and reads. We hear the
sound of waves.)

SCENE TWELVE: The Spook City

(ATREYU swept onto the shore. We hear drumming ap-

proaching. ATREYU wakes up. The drumming becomes
louder, dominant. He hides.
A grotesque group of nighthobs, kobolds, ghosts, vam-
pires, witches [old ones with humps and beards and
young ones who are beautiful but wicked] enter in a
wild dance.)

MAYA. Sisters! Brothers! The Nothing is before us. Who

welcomes it?
OTHERS. We do!
MAYA. Yes. We do not run like cowards, we do not hide
like rats, we embrace the end of time and rejoice!
OTHERS. Rah!
MAYA. Can you feel the Nothing calling us?
OTHERS. Yes.
MAYA. Let it fill you.
OTHERS. Yes.
MAYA. With every breath, let it caress you.
OTHERS. Yes.

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 69

MAYA. And when your skin is on fire, give in to its power

and go!

(The drumming and dancing resumes. The black curtains

billow out toward the dancers. One after the other they
throw themselves into it. ATREYU is drawn out of hid-
ing.)

MAYA (cont’d). Atreyu! Follow us!

(She beckons to him and then leaps into the NOTHING.

ATREYU approaches the edge and hesitates.)

SCENE THIRTEEN: Gmork

(GMORK enters and stealthily approaches ATREYU

from behind. Before he can attack, ATREYU turns. They
circle each other.)

ATREYU. Welcome, friend.

GMORK. I am not your friend. I am your death.
ATREYU. Then truly you are my friend. (GMORK attacks
and is repulsed.) Come, death. I am ready. (GMORK at-
tacks but is repulsed. ATREYU approaches.) What is
this? Does my death have no teeth? Attack!
GMORK (recoils in pain). Aaah! Stay away.
ATREYU. I’m not touching you.
GMORK. It’s the Auryn. It’s burning my heart.
ATREYU. So. The Childlike Empress protects me even
when I do not wish to be protected. (Speaking to the
Auryn.) I’m sorry, lady. I have failed. You should have

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70 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

chosen someone else. (He drops the Auryn.) Now, I am

no longer a hero. Now I am just Atreyu the Hunter and
Atreyu will not be killed by a cat.
GMORK. I am not a cat.
ATREYU. You slink like a cat. You have a tail like a cat.
GMORK. I am the werewolf, Gmork!
ATREYU. Is that a roar? I think it’s a purr.
GMORK. I am Fantastica’s death (lunge) and the Empress’
death (lunge) and your death (lunge).
ATREYU. I am already dead. I cannot find the Empress a
new name.
GMORK. Is that what you were looking for? A new name?
What a pathetic story you’re in.
ATREYU. Don’t mock me, friend. I am Atreyu of the
Grassy Ocean! Horse rider! Dragon rider!
GMORK. You’re Atreyu the character in a story created by
humans. (Laughing.) You didn’t know, did you? You’re
a made-up character in a made-up world going round
and round in a neverending story.
ATREYU. I am real. Fantastica is real.
GMORK. Of course you would say that. Delusions always
think they are real but I can prove it. If you need a new
name, why don’t you just make one up? Go on. Invent
one, create one, imagine one. How hard can it be?
What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?
ATREYU. I can’t.
GMORK. Because you don’t have what every human child
is born with—an imagination. You’re a lie and you
watched your best friend die for a world that doesn’t
even exist.

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Act II (Atreyu and the Great Quest) 71

ATREYU. I’m not a lie. Fantastica exists. Artax exists.

And I can prove it. (He grabs the Auryn and rushes to-
ward GMORK, pinning him to the ground.)
GMORK. Stop!
ATREYU. Are you feeling real pain?
GMORK. Yes.
ATREYU. Fantastica exists. Artax exists. I exist.
GMORK. You are using the Auryn as a weapon!
ATREYU. For give me, lady. (He drops the Auryn.
GMORK immediately lunges and wounds ATREYU.)
Ah!

(GMORK stands weakly but keeps him self be tween

ATREYU and the Auryn.)

GMORK. “Never use weapons”! Where but in a fantasy

would you hear anything so pathetic.
ATREYU. If Fantastica is made up, then you are too.
GMORK. No. I come from the human world.
ATREYU. Then you could save us.
GMORK. I could, but I want this farce of fantasy and
make-believe to be destroyed.
ATREYU. Falkor! Falkor!
GMORK. Are you looking for your flying friend?
ATREYU. What have you done to him?
GMORK. Taught him that luck has its limits.
ATREYU. No!
BASTIAN. No!
GMORK. Your wings are gone. The Nothing has sur-
rounded us.

(The NOTHING surges forward toward ATREYU.

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72 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

BASTIAN for the first time stands and looks down

onto the acting area.)

BASTIAN. Everyone has wings, Atreyu. Everyone has

wings.
GMORK. There is no escape.
BASTIAN. Atreyu! Everyone has wings!
GMORK. The fantasy is finished!
ATREYU. Everyone has wings.
GMORK. You think you’re going to sprout wings? You
think you’re that lucky?
ATREYU. I don’t think I’m lucky. I know I’m lucky. (He
flies up. GMORK desperately tries to stop him.)
GMORK. No! No! Noooooooo! (GMORK is consumed by
the NOTHING. ATREYU flies above it.)
ATREYU. To the Ivory Tower. Fly!

SCENE FOURTEEN: The Childlike Empress

(Drumming.
ATREYU lands in the Magnolia Pavilion.
The CHILDLIKE EMPRESS is waiting.)

CHILD LIKE EM PRESS. Wel come Atreyu, my brave

hunter. (ATREYU lays the Auryn at her feet.) How much
you have suffered. Take heart. Soon, all will be as it was
or better.
ATREYU. But the Nothing has covered everything. We are
the only ones left.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. That is true.

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ATREYU. I have failed.

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. That is not true. You have done
everything perfectly.
ATREYU. How can you say that?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Because you have brought a hu-
man child.
ATREYU. No, I didn’t.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. You did. He’s right here. (She
looks up to BASTIAN who looks directly at her and
then instantly looks back to the book.)
BASTIAN. No!
ATREYU (looking around). I don’t see anyone.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. You will. His world is very close
to ours right now and soon he will give me the name
only he can give me.
ATREYU. You knew you needed a new name?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Of course.
ATREYU. You knew what Morla told me in the Swamps
of Sadness and what Uyulala told me in the Southern
Oracle?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. I knew it all.
ATREYU. Then why did you send me?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. To do exactly what you did.
ATREYU. But there was no need. No need for a Great
Quest. No need for me to face Gmork. No need to lose
Artax and Falkor.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Atreyu…
ATREYU. It was a joke. A wicked, wicked joke.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. It was not a joke. I am well
aware of what you have sacrificed. I sent you on the
Great Quest to bring a hero. I needed a story full of ad-
ventures and perils and yours was that story. He took

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74 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

part in everything you did. He saw himself through your

eyes. Right now, he can hear every word we’re saying.
BASTIAN. No!

(The lights begin to dim. The NOTHING begins to creep

across the stage toward the CHILDLIKE EMPRESS and
ATREYU.)

ATREYU. Then why isn’t he here?

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Yes, Bastian, why aren’t you
here?
BASTIAN. Because I’m in the attic of my school.
ATREYU. What if he doesn’t know the right name to give
you?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. He’s already chosen it.
BASTIAN. This isn’t happening…
ATREYU. What if he wants to come but he doesn’t know
how?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. All he has to do is to call my
name.
BASTIAN. It can’t be me. No one chooses me.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. I am choosing you, Bastian. Give
me a name.
ATREYU. He’s not coming.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. He must. He’s our only hope.
ATREYU. He doesn’t care.
BASTIAN. No! Don’t say that!
ATREYU. Doesn’t care about you, doesn’t care about sto-
ries, doesn’t care about Fantastica!
BAS TIAN. I do care. I care so much. Moonchild!
Moonchild! I’m coming!

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(An anthem of voices.

BASTIAN steps off his riser/attic into thin air.
Blackout.

The anthem reaches crescendo and then descends under

the following.)

BASTIAN. Hello?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Don’t be afraid, Bastian.
BASTIAN. It’s dark.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. It always is at the beginning.

(A light ap pears from the CHILD LIKE EM PRESS’

hands. BASTIAN approaches.)

BASTIAN. Everything is gone.

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Yes. But soon everything will be
born again from your wishes.
BASTIAN. My wishes?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. I am the Golden-Eyed Com-
mander of Wishes. Make a wish and I will command it.
BASTIAN. How many wishes do I get?
CHILD LIKE EM PRESS (de lighted). As many as you
want.
BASTIAN. I can’t think of anything.

(The anthem of voices falls apart in a discordant note

and then stops.)

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. That is bad.

BASTIAN. Why?

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76 THE NEVERENDING STORY Act II

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Because if you don’t wish for

something, the Nothing can not be defeated because
that’s what the Nothing is—a world without imagina-
tion. Are you frightened?
BASTIAN. I would feel safer if Atreyu was here. Why are
you laughing?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Because you have made your
first wish.

(ATREYU enters or is lit.)

ATREYU. Hello, Bastian.

BASTIAN. Atreyu!
ATREYU. Thank you for saving us.
BASTIAN. I wish I could save Artax.

(ARTAX enters or is lit.)

ARTAX. Here I am, Atreyu.

ATREYU. Thank you, Bastian.
BASTIAN. And Falkor?

(FALKOR enters.)

FALKOR. Now there’s a lucky wish.

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. Don’t stop.
BASTIAN. Urgl, Engywook.

(They appear.)

URGL. Hello, Bastian.

ENGYWOOK. Hello.

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BASTIAN. Morla, the turtle.

MORLA (OFF). Leave us in peace!
CHILD LIKE EM PRESS. You have brought Fantastica
back to life.
BASTIAN. But Empress, Gmork said Fantastica doesn’t
exist.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. I wouldn’t believe everything a
werewolf tells you. Do you believe in Fantastica?
BASTIAN. Yes.
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. And you are not alone. Here. I
have something for you to take back to the human
world. (She passes the light.)
OTHERS. Visit us, Bastian! Please! Come fly!
BASTIAN. But…can’t I stay here?
CHILDLIKE EMPRESS. You can but…

(The EMPRESS gestures and a light comes up on BAS -

TIAN’s worried FATHER.)

CHILDLIKE EMPRESS (cont’d). …don’t you want to go

home?
BASTIAN. Yes. Yes I do! (He runs toward his FATHER
and stops at the edge of his light.) Father? (The FA-
THER freezes.) Father?
FATHER. Bastian…? (He opens his arms. BASTIAN flies
into them.)
BASTIAN. I’m home.
FALKOR. I was so worried…I thought you’d…where have
you been?
BASTIAN. Dad, I’m OK.
FATHER. Really?
BASTIAN. Really.

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FATHER. Then where were you?

BASTIAN. Someplace special. And beautiful. And I want
to go there with you. If you want…
FATHER. I would like that very much.
BASTIAN (relieved). And, Dad, from now on things are
going to be different for us.
FATHER. They are?
BASTIAN. Oh yeah. See. We’re lucky.
FATHER. We are?
BASTIAN. Oh yeah. Very, very lucky.

(BASTIAN and his FATHER embrace. The drumming

begins. The characters from Fantastica surround the
FATHER and SON, smiling, greeting. The singing we
heard in the Prologue is added. The sound builds.)

THE END

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 NOTES

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 NOTES

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