You’re walking down a hallway. Suddenly, a door bursts open and man steps out. 

GERALD: Hark! Halt! Stand you back! 

He looks like royalty of some kind. Maybe a Prince? 

GERALD: Not a step further, I say! I was here first! You can’t have her!

Who? You ask.

GERALD: The Princess, of course. I love her. And the Princess loves me! Or…she would. If only I could woo her. You see, I have a way with words. Or, I did. But today I can’t seem to find any of them. A rose is like a nice…bug. See? I can’t even put them in the right order to do good speaking! UGH! Usually I can improvise the most romantic poems and verses and just this morning I had a sonnet on the tip of my tongue and then *poof*. Gone. This is why my parents always said to write things down! I have an appointment with the Princess to woo her and I’ve got nothing. I need help to write a poem. And not just any poem - the most beautiful love poem in the world. Isn’t love amazing? Have you ever been in love?

You think about it. You haven’t. He asks a few more people until finally your teacher says that yes, they’re in love right now, in fact. Huh. You didn’t know that. 

GERALD: Then you understand! Love IS amazing. And I will lose it, forever, if I cannot present to the Princess a poem that perfectly encapsulates my love for her. She’s very particular about her poetry, has a real discerning eye. She actually has her PhD in Poetic Literature. I love that about her. Wait a sec. Maybe you all could help me. You know what love is. And you, there with the glasses, you look like a poet. This is perfect. 

You’re not actually a poet, but you offer to help anyway. You’ve always wanted to meet a Princess. 

GERALD: Oh, thank you! It’s a miracle! A miracle of love! Isn’t love amazing!? Follow me. This way. Quickly, quickly. 

You follow the Prince to a new area.

GERALD: Welcome lovers, poets, and bards to the Royal Garden. Gorgeous, isn’t it? I do all my best writing here. 

You look around the room. It really is beautiful, decorated with all sorts of colourful flowers and greenery. There’s also three ponds in the room. They sort of look like that inflatable pool you played in this summer but instead of water they’re filled with funny little styrofoam peanuts. How will any of this help you write a poem?

GERALD: You see, all great writing is composed of verbs, adjectives, and nouns. These are the enchanted pools of language, filled with stories and, most importantly, the verbs, adjectives and nouns I need to write my poem. I would reach into them myself but I can’t risk getting my outfit wet, I have to meet a Princess, after all. 

The Prince tells you all to go fishing in the ponds and fetch one noun, verb, and adjective that delight you. Off you go! You find lots of verbs at first - Run, Burp, Slap, and you pick a favourite: Flounce. 

GERALD: Quickly! Love waits for no one! Isn’t love amazing?

Soon you find an adjective - Spooky, and a noun - Crumpet. Everyone has three words in hand and the Prince reveals a large scroll. It’s got writing on it, but some of the words are missing, like a giant Mad Libs. The Prince starts calling for what he needs to fill in the blank spaces.

GERALD: I need a noun!

Someone shouts LAMP! 

GERALD: A verb!

Many people call out. The Prince picks your verb - FLOUNCE! For the next minute there’s a cacophony of voices shouting words as the Prince fills in his poem. BRAIN! CRUSH! FART! YOGA MAT! Finally, the poem is complete. 

GERALD: My goodness. You’ve done it! And now, to meet and woo my love. Isn’t love amazing?

Gerald gathers his large poem scroll, you follow him through another door and run into -

HAROLD: Hark! Halt! Stand you back!

Another Prince? He’s with another group of searchers and has a similar scroll in hand. Are they brothers? Enemies? 

GERALD: Harold.

HAROLD: Gerald.

GERALD: (to you) The only other poet who rivals my talents. His work has brought me to tears on several occasions. I love that about him. 

The Princes circle one another, staring deep into the others’ eyes. It’s electric. 

GERALD: I see you’ve come to woo the Princess.

HAROLD: And you, my friend. 

GERALD: Well if I have to be in competition, I’m honoured that it’s with you. 

HAROLD: I feel the same. 

GERALD: May the loveliest Prince prevail.

BOTH: Isn’t love amazing?

GERALD: And now we wait for the Princess. 

HAROLD: But wait!

GERALD: Hark!

BOTH: Stand you back!

They part the crowd, their sights are locked on your teacher. 

GERALD: The Princess! 

HAROLD: Sweet angel, please, come sit and let us woo you.

Your teacher bravely joins the Princes and takes a seat on a beautiful throne. They each hand her a rose. 

GERALD: Shall we?

HAROLD: After you.

They each unfurl their scrolls. Where’s that music coming from? Gerald starts to sing. His poem is a song, it turns out. 

GERALD: (sung) Isn’t love amazing? It wraps me in its THORNS…

      Isn’t love amazing? With all the CRUSH-ing FART it brings…

      Isn’t love amazing? I feel it deep down in my YOGA MAT

      Love’s amazing and SPOOKY too, and baby, so are you.

The words your group found in the ponds have all been incorporated into the poem which has turned into an epic song. You think to yourself ‘I’d listen to this on spotify for sure’. Harold’s poem makes up the second verse of the tune, clearly he asked his group to find words as well. To finish, the Princes sing together, in beautiful harmony. They’re quite a pair. When they finish they turn to the ‘Princess’. What did she think? They hand her another scroll, she reads, giggles to herself, and addresses the Princes.

PRINCESS: My subjects. Your poetry was lovely. 

PRINCES: Isn’t love amazing?

PRINCESS: It really is. But, I must confess, while your work is outstanding, I cannot be wooed by either of you. My heart belongs to another. 

GERALD: A fiend! 

HAROLD: A rapscallion! 

PRINCESS: I’m sorry. 

Your teacher gives the roses back to the Princes. They forgive the Princess and let your teacher return to the crowd.

HAROLD: A dark day for Princes everywhere. 

GERALD: Indeed. But I will be brave.

HAROLD: I love that about you.

GERALD: I love that about me, too. 

HAROLD: Isn’t love amazing?

GERALD: Harold.

HAROLD: Gerald?

GERALD: Perhaps we have no need of Princesses…

HAROLD: Perhaps…love was here all along.

The Princes take each other’s hands. It’s electric. They laugh and turn to leave when -

GERALD: But wait!

HAROLD: Hark!

BOTH: Strand you back! 

GERALD: Poets. Friends. We owe you our thanks.

HAROLD: Please, take this rose as a remembrance of our time together. 

GERALD: And our love.

BOTH: Isn’t love amazing?

You take the rose - another piece of a story! Yes! The other rose is handed to a searcher from the other group. 

GERALD: That was very generous of you.

HAROLD: I was going to say the same.

BOTH: I love that about you.

The Princes wander off, hand in hand. Love really is amazing.