The Frogs
The show opens with two "actors," played by the same actors as the main characters of the play but considered different in the libretto, discussing which play they should perform. One actor suggests "the one about the man who kills his father and sleeps with his mother", but the other actor is in too good a mood for tragedy and they decide to perform a comedy instead. However, before they can perform, they must make an invocation: dedicating the performance to the theatre gods, and instructing the audience how to behave ("Invocation and Instructions to the Audience"). Just as they are about to further delay the action, the Chorus enters demanding the actors begin. The Actors return as Dionysos, god of wine and drama, and his slave Xanthias. Dionysos is in despair about the state of the world, and has decided to travel to Hades to bring back the great writer George Bernard Shaw, who Dionysos believes will speak to society and help with its problems ("It Is Time We Start Our Journey") ("I Love to Travel"). His first stop is at the house of his half-brother Heracles to gain advice on how to enter Hades. Heracles says that Dionysos should don a lion-skin and pretend to be Heracles, and instructs the rather weak-willed god in proper heroic behaviour ("Dress Big"). The lesson seems to take, although Dionysos soon reverts to his old self. Heracles also warns them of the Frogs, dangerous creatures who live on the River Styx and are terrified of change. The pair travel to the Styx ("I Love to Travel (Reprise)"), where they meet the severely depressive ferryman, Charon ("All Aboard"). Charon agrees to take Xanthias and Dionysos to the Underworld, and claims that there are no Frogs on the river. Traveling on the River, Dionysos recounts the (mythologically accurate) story of his deceased wife Ariadne ("On The River Styx"). When he took her to Mount Olympus to marry her, she was worried that she could not compare to the Olympian gods, he made her a crown of stars to help her look like a goddess. However, as she was only a mortal, she died soon afterwards, and Dionysos threw her crown back into the sky. He says he is glad that there are no stars in Hell ("Ariadne"). Later that night, Dionysos is awoken by a cry of "brek-ek-ek-ek!" He soon works out that the Frogs have come; they drag him out of the boat and tempt him into a life of frogdom, hopping around without any cares or worries ("The Frogs"). Although Dionysos is briefly rescued by Xanthias, the Frogs return while Xanthias is distracted, and drag Dionysos back into the water. Dionysos climbs back on the boat drenched and covered with weeds, still quivering from his horrible confrontation with the frogs. Undaunted, Charon steers them to the dock, where Dionysos and Xanthias disembark. They run into Dionysian worshipers ("Hymn to Dionysos"), but Xanthias reminds Dionysos of their mission, and they continue to the Palace of Pluto. Aeakos, keeper of the keys to the palace, sees Dionysos in his Heracles disguise and vows vengeance on the god who slew the three-headed watchdog of Hades. At the urging of Dionysos, Xanthias dons the Heracles suit, and they encounter Charisma, the beautiful handmaiden to Persephone. Mistaking Xanthias for Heracles, she invites him to a sensuous bath in hippopotamus milk. Tantalized, Dionysos takes back the lion skin and encounters Virilla, Queen of the Amazons, who accuses him (Dionysos, again dressed as Heracles) of stealing the girdle of her leader Hippolyte. At the height of all the confusion, Pluto enters, surrounded by the flames of Hades. Dionysos sheds his Heracles disguise, and Pluto welcomes the god with open arms, disabusing him of the misconception that Hades is a dangerous place ("Hades"). Dionysos tells Pluto of his plan to bring Shaw back to earth, and Pluto reveals that all the dead playwrights are banqueting at his palace at that very moment. As Pluto and Dionysos discuss the dire situation on Earth, the Greek Chorus offers ironic commentary to the audience: though serious matters are being weighed onstage, there is no cause for alarm ("It's Only a Play"). Following the banquet, Dionysos bursts out of the palace to proclaim the entrance of George Bernard Shaw and his loyal passel of Shavians ("Shaw"). When William Shakespeare emerges from the palace, the philosophical tension between the two titans escalates swiftly until they almost come to blows. Dionysos defuses the situation by declaring a contest between the two playwrights. Each will address the important issues of humanity using only the words of his own writings. The supporters of Shaw and Shakespeare assemble into an arena where the verbal battle begins. Dionysos, high in his referee's chair, calls out the topics: first woman, then man, then the Life Force. Shaw and Shakespeare are sharp in their responses, Shaw delivering his pointed orations and Shakespeare responding with his poetic imagery. Grappling for a final topic (and concerned whether the people of earth will accept Shaw's rigorous social views), Dionysos calls a time-out. His deceased wife Ariadne appears, comforting her husband and advising him to follow his heart. Looking lovingly into his eyes, Ariadne assures Dionysos that the final topic is "staring you in the face". The contest resumes, and Dionysos announces the final topic: Death. Shaw responds with a stirring passage from Saint Joan, and the crowd is hushed. Then Shakespeare speaks of death from an old man's point of view ("The Contest"). Dionysos, wanting to hear more asks him to speak of a young man's feelings. Shakespeare's response is the song ("Fear No More") from Cymbeline. The powerful poetry moves Dionysos to declare Shakespeare the winner and offer him passage to the world of the living. A disgruntled Shaw is dragged kicking and screaming from the stage as Charon the boatman announces the return trip ("All Aboard"). Xanthias, who has elected to remain in Hades with the Amazon Virilla, bids his master farewell, as the voices of Ariadne and the chorus accompany Dionysos home ("Hymn to Dionysos (Reprise)"). Dionysos and Shakespeare arrive back at the same theatre that the actors were at in the beginning. Dionyus beckons Shakespeare to speak, and the playwright responds by calling for a new play to be written to inspire humanity. As the entire company is revealed, Dionysos steps forward and addresses the audience. He urges us to shake off lethargy, to take action to resolve the earthly problems that plague our times ("Final Instructions to the Audience"). And with that, his mission is complete.