Thomas Moon's Last Crime - Victorian crime and punishment

This play was written for a class of 32 eleven year old children when the school at which I was working was holding a 'Victorian Day'. My class's contribution was on the theme of 'Law and Order' in Victorian society. Rather than produce a static display detailing the development of the police force, and crime and punishment, I decided to undertake some research about local villains and the justice they were dealt.

In the records of the Magistrates courts in the early 1800s, I found one name kept cropping up, one Edward Kenward esquire, who owned a large chicken farm, and many young men attempted to deprive him of a fowl or two. As the birds roosted in the trees overnight, anyone with a head for heights and sense of adventure could slip out after dark, shin up a tree and grab a supper. Many men tried it and many were caught, because Mr Kenward employed bailiffs to patrol the woods and capture any poachers

Thomas Moon and Henry Worley were two such vagabonds, and in 1837 they indeed were trapped, red-handed, Moon up the tree, Worley at the foot. Mr Worley immediately said "it's a fair cop guv" but Moon tried to make a run for it. He was unsuccessful, and they were charged and found guilty of stealing two chickens and six eggs, for which they were sentenced to deportation to Australia!

The play centres on these facts, but employs artistic licence to fill out the characters in this sad story. It has songs and lots of action and was very successful with the children who performed it, and with the audience.

Incidentally, there are still several Moons, Worleys and Kenwards in the town where we performed the play, and the present day Mr Kenward, when told this story, was very proud to show me a set of ancient handcuffs handed down from one of his forbears. With them was a book issued to magistrates detailing crimes and the appropriate punishments.

Comments

"We performed Thomas Moon's Last Crime last week and it was incredibly successful. The children enjoyed taking part and the parents enjoyed watching. We used 71 children so we padded out the pub scene and the last scene at the docks." Hartburn Primary School NE England

"We have started to work on your play " Thomas Moon's Last Crime" and the children are loving it".. "They are quickly picking up the songs and enjoying them."

Age Range: 9 - 11 years

Duration: 40 minutes

Cast: 12 or more

Number of Songs: 6

Prices:

£25.00 Copy of the script
£7.50 CD of songs
£15.00 Piano Score

Samples:

A Rascals Song
Thomas gives a short summary of his life.

Scene Sample
The first two scenes from Thomas Moon

Images
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