RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET by Bob Carlton : Based - very loosely on the 1956 film Forbidden Planet which was a sci-fi version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Cambridge Theatre, London - September 18, 1989 (1516 perfs) SUMMARY: On a stormy night way back in the winter of 2009, mad scientist Doctor Prospero worked late in his laboratory, aided only by his wife, Gloria, as he developed the elusive formula with which he would change the world. The apparently faithful Gloria, however, duped him and sent him off into hyper-space in an old spacecraft. Unknown to Gloria, her infant daughter, Miranda, slumbered peacefully in the craft and was now catapulted light years into the future in her father's company. Fifteen years later, a routine survey flight under the command of the chisel-jawed Captain Tempest leaves earth's orbit with a new Science Officer aboard - a hard and bitter woman. As a shower of meteorites hits the ship, the Science Officer flees, and the craft is pulled inexorably towards the plant D'Illyria - the Forbidden Plant. The adventure begins ....... THE STORY: Act 1 Scientific Survey Flight Nine takes off. The Crew headed by Captain Tempest and Bosun Arras are joined by a new Science Officer. To Tempest's discomfort it is a woman. The spacecraft is caught in a violent asteroid storm which damages the ship. Unsure of what to do Tempest sends for the Science Officer. Bosun reveals she has taken the last shuttlecraft and abandoned ship. There is a crash and the ship lands on an unfamiliar planet. The Navigational Officer identifies it as D'illyria, however it is not marked on the charts. A face appears on the scanner screen, which Captain Tempest recognises as Prospero, a great scientist who fifteen years ago defected to the other side. Prospero rejects this saying he was the victim of a dreadful plot. Just as his great invention was nearing fruition his beloved wife and partner Gloria betrayed him. She bundled him into a rotten satellite and sent him into space with little chance of survival. Unknown to her, their baby daughter was asleep on board. Touched by his tale Tempest welcomes him to feast with him on the ship. A disgruntled Cookie is not impressed as this means more work for him. The air-lock opens and Prospero enters followed by a robot called Ariel. A beautiful teenage girl follows them. Prospero introduces her as his daughter, Miranda. She has seen no other humans except her father and is immediately struck by tempest's looks, and falls in love with him at first sight. Cookie too is love struck, and asks Bosun how he can win Miranda's love. Ariel reports that the Science Officer is on her way to the ship. He also confides in Tempest and Bosun the secret of Prospero's great invention. Telegenisis, he explains, is a scientific process that can create matter simply by thought. This was the result of the drug the x factor which Prospero developed in his laboratory and tried himself. Prospero is reluctant for Ariel to reveal his secrets, and dismayed at Miranda's feelings for Tempest, he tells her she must choose between them. Puzzled at her father's reaction she entreats him to look kindly on the Captain but says if she has to make a choice it will be Tempest. Seething with anger Prospero leaves. Tempest, though deeply attracted to Miranda, is fighting his emotions. When she declares her love for him he tells her that she is too young. Cookie is beside himself with pain and jealousy. He is desperate to win the love Tempest has spurned. Prospero does not know how to control his anger, images take shape in his mind, he takes a test tube marked
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