Surprise - The Abandoned "War Child" Movie Outline

Whilst rummaging around the home attic for various Tull historical items (at the ever polite push of the webmaster Dave), Ian happened upon the original conceptual outline for the "War Child: A Musical Fantasy." Believed to be the only existing copy, it has now been "remastered" in pure QWERTY digital bit imagery for those hardy souls interested in such time capsuled musings.

What follows is just a taste for now. Never fear, the whole sixty-something page document will be posted overtime. Here are Ian's comments scribbled on the front cover , the executive summary of the outline, and a cast of characters.

This is the surviving copy of [the] synopsis written in '73/'74 around which the songs for the album "War Child" were written. The synopsis itself derived from the lyrical material on the "Passion Play" album.

It seems, of course, rather naive on re-reading it now, and the black comedy elements seem to be missing the point and lurking only in memory. Still....

                                                                     --- Ian Anderson


War Child - A Musical Fantasy - Conceptual Outline

Said Arthur Clark in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, "Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the rate by which the dead outnumber the living." Since it is out of the question to attempt a numerically faithful pictorial representation of beings possibly existing in an after life, this will be a picture of the Heaven/Hell inhabitants in qualitative rather than quantitative terms. God and Satan are personified in stylised roles. Heaven and Hell, in the sense of being societies, are represented as geographically (to say the least) opposed sides of a small English town: While containing elements of black comedy, the musical, and heavily stylised drama, the story has been contrived to be in essence a morality play. But then again, it might be simply a whimsical fantasy.

Most of the music has already been written and both the song lyrics and dances are to take place of dialogue in a very real sense. All of the points where these scenes occur have not necessarily been included in the story synopsis. All the songs are sung by the character Peter du Jour with the exception of one or two each by Satan and God. The dances and mimes are the expressions of the girl (Evelyn), whose part is mostly mute, but there will be a corps de ballet with soloist for one scene, and the main characters will "dance" in other scenes.

STORY OUTLINE IN BRIEF

Our story deals with the short stay of a girl in the after life. On arrival she is met by a guide named Peter du Jour who owes allegiance to neither Heaven nor Hell, preferring to remain comfortably in the middle. The girl is judged most fitting for and sent to Heaven. Straying from his middle path, Du Jour has begun to work secretly for Satan and tricks the girl into helping him. Her involvement is discovered and she is dismissed from Heaven and sent to Hell. Du Jour feels guilt at having corrupted her, and making a deal with God, begins to work for the forces of Good in an effort to obtain her freedom. However, having "risen" to a position of responsibility working for Satan himself, the girl prefers to remain in Hell and in turn uses Du Jour to help Satan in his machinations. Realising he has been duped, Du Jour returns to his disillusionment with the absolutes of Good and Evil. He regains the wilful allegiance of the girl and engineers a violent conflict between the armies of Heaven and Hell. Wishing to avoid all out aggression, both God and Satan agree that there is no place in the after life for this foolish pair who seem unable to make up their minds as to which side they are on. They are banished to lives of reincarnation on Earth (which perhaps, after all, is the real Hell). At the end of the story it is suggested that finally we all must choose which path to follow, since to attempt to stray down the middle is ultimately the least forgiveable sin.

MAIN CHARACTERS AND BACKGROUNDS

THE GIRL (EVELYN)

She is about 17 years old and unmarried. At the beginning of the story she is pregnant. The father of her baby has no part in the story until the final scenes. Information given in the film suggests that he is a successful professional businessman in his late twenties and is politically ambitious. In Earth life, the girl is possibly a student of ballet, her studies discontinued for a few months while she bears the child. She has obviously made a difficult decision as to whether or not to have the baby and in the final stages of pregnancy is having doubts about having done the right thing. She is in a fairly emotional state at the point where our story begins.

PETER DU JOUR

A cocky, self assured young man of about 27. His 'employment' in the Heaven/Hell situation is to meet recently departed souls from Earth life and bring them emotionally secure to the registration office of the after life. In fact, his flippant and irreverent attitude, and cryptic commentary do more to confuse than enlighten the new arrivals. His other duties include short guided tours of Heaven/Hell.
He is aligned to neither the left hand (Evil) nor the righthand (Good) paths, but is one of the few neutrals (newts) who live in 'City Centre'. Very much his "own man", he makes what he can on the side by currying favours from the economic and political hierarchy of both Left and Right, though as the story progresses, he begins to secretly assist Satan in the cold war balance of power which exists in the after life.

GOD

Personified in the story by G. Oddie of G. Oddie & Son Ltd. This is the business corporation monopoly that economically and socially rules City Right (Heaven). G. Oddie & Son deal mainly in the supply of those products which are the necessities of "Life", i.e. food, clothing, spiritual and cultural "entertainments". G. Oddie himself is a man of many moods sometimes the benign avuncular figure who provides and cares for his "children": sometimes, more like the jealous God Jehovah, he is given to militaristic reprisals and vengeful outbursts against those "employees" who are letting the firm down. His power and wealth are very much inherited he is of "higher breeding". However, he occasionally appears somewhat emasculated by his inability to control and has moments of doubt and inaction.

LUCIFER THE FALLEN ANGEL SATAN

Personified by Samuel Lucius Browne, known to all as Lucy, of Samuel L. Browne & Co. This is the controlling business corporation of City Left (Hell). It deals in luxury commodities of a trivial nature, but more importantly, in the supply of domestic and industrial power, e.g. gas, coal, oil and electricity. Perhaps also property investment, the building trade and certainly the provision of lower quality entertainment strip clubs, cinemas, bars, brothels, etc.

Lucy's background is that he once worked for G. Oddie & Son Ltd. rose to the position of a director, but was sacked for attempting to control the shareholding. He then formed his own company and in direct competition with G. Oddie, has now become equally powerful. There exists a stalemate between the two companies but there is always a sense of impending and complete domination of one company over the other. For the moment, however, both G. Oddie and Lucy are content to bide their time in relatively gentlemanly competition rather than risk the open offensive action which seems inevitable.

Lucy is, then, the epitome of a successful middle class businessman of Northern English background. He is very much the self made man (and aware of it). He is secretly of transvestite inclinations. All his employees are aware of his dual sexualty and encourage him in subtle fashion, although he is never sure whether or not they are teasing him.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Some of the other character roles in the story should be cast so that some actors play two or more parts which might gain from that strengthened relationship.

THE CITY

It is divided broadly into two geographical areas City Left/Hell domain of Samuel L. Browne & Co. and City Right/Heaven under the control of G. Oddie & Son Ltd. A much smaller area known as City Centre (which is in fact the town square of this small English town) is the neutral territory it consists of a few buildings including:

• The registration office, where new arrivals, or trainees sign in.
• The cinema, where the cinematic synopses of their lives are shown for judgement to be passed on the mode of employment most befitting them.
• Some private houses, one of which is the domicile of Peter du Jour.
• The hostel for the temporary accommodation of newly arrived trainees.
• The office of the Overtaker, who arranges for the transfer of individual souls to a mysteriously hinted at "further existence" above and beyond the City (which turns out at the end of the story to be a reincarnated life on Earth).
• The barracks of The Pipe Band, 4th Det., City Centre.