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SYNOPSIS & CHARACTERS
Mort is Terry Pratchett's 4th Discworld Novel and has been adapted to the stage by Stephen Briggs.
The Discworld
The Discworld exists on the edge of reality, it is a strange and wondrous place where mythical creatures roam the planes and magic is still a force to be harnessed. The Discworld rests on the shoulders of four giant elephants who are standing on the back of a giant star turtle that swims through space, it's seas pour ceaselessly over the rim into the void in giant waterfalls. When the sun shines through the mist a rainbow of eight colours hangs in the sky, the eighth colour of the rimbow is octarine, the colour of magic.
On the Discworld belief is a potent force, for example Death as a robed skeleton is not just a metaphor for the process of mortality; he really is a robed skeleton with a rich existence of his own. The chances of anything so absurd existing are millions to one, but magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.
As you can imagine, conventional wisdom gives up rapidly and goes for a drink.
The Story
Being Death's apprentice is a good job; board and lodging, free use of the company horse and you don't even need time off for your grandmother's funeral. Looking like a skeleton is not compulsory either and you get to meet interesting people, although, of course, not for very long. All in all, it's a job for life. Well, nearly. It would have been if Mort had remembered that he wasn't supposed to rescue princesses. After that it all began to go dead wrong…
There are six principle characters and numerous supporting roles:
Mort |
The youngest son of Lezek. He has the kind of vague cheerful helpfulness that serious men soon learn to dread. Despite many drawbacks, Mort is chosen by Death to become his apprentice, and during that time becomes considerably more serious and less undirected. |
Death |
A 7ft skeleton. An anthropomorphic personification who is almost the oldest creature in the universe (obviously something had to die first). Despite rumour, he is not cruel. He is just terribly good at his job. There is a strong suggestion that Death is somehow on our side. |
Ysabell |
Death's adopted daughter. She is a 16 years old, and has been for 35 years. It says something for her basic mental stability, that she remained even halfway sane in Death's house, where no time passes and everything is black. She has an obsessive interest in tragic heroines and a fixation for the colour pink. |
Albert |
Death's manservant. He is about 67, although he has been living with Death for around 2000 years. He has grown accustom to his routine and his skills at cooking just cover fry-ups. |
Cutwell |
Young wizard who is basically good humoured. Cutwell enjoys food, although not to the point of actually cooking any; he grazes, more or less on whatever seems to be available when the cupboards are rummaged at 3 a.m. |
Keli |
Princess of Sto Lat. Her only role in life was to fail to be killed by an assassin owing to the gland led incompetence of Mort. |
Other supporting roles include, Goodie Hamstring (a witch), Rincewind (a wizard), Bursar (of the Unseen University), Duke of Sto Helit (the villain), Mr Keeble (a job clerk), Lezek (Mort's father) and more.
Contact us: mort@urbanmyth.org